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Home My WebLink About04-08-15 YPC MinutesFORTICK RECORD / FILE City of Yakima Planning Commission (YPC) City Hall Council Chambers Meeting Minutes of April 8, 2015 Call to Order Chairman Dave Fonfara called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Roll Call YPC Members Present: Chairman Dave Fonfara, Bill Cook, Al Rose, Patricia Byers, Ron Anderson, Carmen Mendez YPC Members Absent: Vice -chair Scott Clark Staff Present: Robbie Aaron, Assistant Planner; Valerie Smith, Senior Planner; Jeff Peters, Supervising Planner; Mark Kunkler, Senior Assistant City Attorney Others: Phyllis Musgrove, Connie G. Simmons, Jay Sentz, Reed Ball, Mark Johnson, Miguel Alvarez Staff Announcements Jeff Peters announced that an item will be added to today's agenda regarding the Public Participation Plan. Jeff also announced that another public comment has been received in regards to the mission and community resource service center uses. He proceeded to pass the comments around to the commission members. Jeff added that staff is still working diligently on the Airport Safety Overlay. Continue Review of the Public Participation Plan for the Comprehensive Plan Update 2040 Valerie Smith went over the changes made to the plan as requested by the commission. The staff recommended that the commission make a motion for approval of this plan and to send it to City Council for their consideration of approval. Chairman Dave Fonfara expressed that he wouldn't want to make any motion for an item not on the agenda. Commissioner Al Rose commented that he would like some additional time to review the document with the changes made to it. The commission had consensus to set the item aside for now in order to have the necessary time to review the document. a None noted. rCOMM U R02151 Zoni!i,% Districts Jeff Peters reminded the commission of the direction they gave staff at the last meeting to separate the two mission related issues by choosing to make a recommendation on mission use and to move the discussion on the community resource service center use to a study session format. He added that staff has revised the draft findings to differentiate the two processes. He communicated that with the commissions approval -1- of the draft findings, staff will give the community resource service center proposal a new Text Amendment file number to separate it from the other mission related issue. Al Rose made a motion to send the draft recommendations dated April 8, 2015 to Yakima City Council for text amendments to YMC 15.02 Definitions and Table 4-1 Permitted Land Uses adding the use of "mission' to the city's Urban Area Zoning Ordinance. Commissioner Patricia Byers seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Study Session Discussion on "Community Resource Service Center" Use and Definition Jeff Peters announced that an interpreter is present at the meeting for anyone needing translation. The interpreter made the same remarks in Spanish. Al Rose explained why the mission definition issue is being separated from the proposal for a community resource service center. Peters suggested that an additional study session be held regarding Neighborhood Health's proposal for a community resource service center in order to allow enough time to review Neighborhood Health's changed proposal. Commissioner Bill Cook asked how the action of the Hearing Examiner differs from what the Planning Commission is doing. Mark Kunkler discussed the difference in the authorities of the Hearing Examiner and the Planning Commission. He added that the structure of the Municipal Code when it comes to the amending process for the Yakima Urban Area Zoning Ordinance envisions a process where a change to the code is achieved through a legislative process including hearings before the Yakima Planning Commission and ultimately the City Council. Peters further described the difference in authorities of the Hearing Examiner and Planning Commission. Kunkler also mentioned that on April 7, 2015, City Council adopted an ordinance extending the moratorium on missions for up to 90 days. Rhonda Hauff, Chief Operation Officer of Yakima Neighborhood Health Services, announced to the commission and staff that the revised definition of community resource service center has not been fully prepared. Bill Cook brought up a previous question he asked about if a "needs" test has been conducted in the past in regards to zoning. Peters replied that he researched this question and did not find any examples of this. Commissioner Patricia Byers added that she wants to hear back from James Carmody and Neighborhood Health about their research regarding mitigating factors for other small community centers. Commissioner Al Rose added that he wants to see how specific parts in the definition that Neighborhood Health is proposing are going to correlate with the SCC and LCC zones. Mark Kunkler brought up the question of what in the definition would distinguish the proposed use for a resource community resource center from a mission use and if there will be any benchmarks of service, beds, housing components, etc. to distinguish a community resource service center from a mission. -2- Kunkler also asked how the "needs" test will be determined. He brought up a situation that happened with the adult entertainment issue in which concerns were raised over first amendment issues and exercising too much discretion. Chairman Dave Fonfara mentioned a key point of Neighborhood Health's legal counsel which was the size and scope of the project. Fonfara mentioned, however, that Neighborhood Health's definition does not mention size. Kunkler mentioned that the definition can be brief but then refer to a section of the code that goes into more detail. Audience member Reed Ball asked about amending the zoning code and asked why this proposal wash t denied when it came in. Dave Fonfara answered that the proposal required a text amendment to be filed and to go through the public hearing process. Rhonda Hauff reiterated the fact that Neighborhood Health is only proposing to go into one location. Another member of the audience, Miguel Alvarez, commented that he lives at 104 S. 7+h Street and his neighbors are not homeless. He added that Roy's Market is the wrong place for this proposal. Reed Ball asked why there are 17 areas being examined if the proposal is aimed at one location. Jeff Peters explained to him the process that Planning Commission and staff are going through to come to a decision on the proposal. Anita Monoian, CEO of Yakima Neighborhood Health Services, spoke about limited resources for serving the homeless in Yakima. Peters clarified that this is not a site-specific proposal. Bill Cook added that the process the application must go through makes it appear as if Neighborhood Health is targeting all 17 SCC locations. Al Rose noted that the zones are not being changed but rather a new use may be added to a zone potentially. Mark Johnson asked why the project can't be site specific. Peters provided a detailed explanation of the complex situation. Dave Fonfara brought up the issue of spot -zoning. Phyllis Musgrove made the observation that there's not a high density of homeless people in one neighborhood even though this proposal offers housing for up to 50 people. Other Business Jeff Peters made it known that he won't be at the next Planning Commission meeting but Mark Kunkler and Joan Davenport will be available to carry on this discussion. Dave Fonfara reiterated that the commission is awaiting the new definition of community resource service center from Neighborhood Health. Dave, Bill, Patricia, and Carmen confirmed that they will not be able to attend the Planning Commission meeting on April 22, 2015. The commission agreed to meet on April 29, 2015, scheduling the approval of the Public Participation plan as an item on the agenda. Rhonda Hauff added that the revised definition of community resource service center should be prepared by that meeting date. -3- A motion to adjourn to April 29, 2015 was passed with unanimous vote. This meeting adjourned at 5:06 p.m. j Chairman Dave Fonfara Date This meeting was filmed by YPAC. Minutes for this meeting submitted by: Lisa Maxey, Department Assistant II