HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/25/2007 Adjourned Meeting / Study Session 2
ADJOURNED MEETING /STUDY SESSION
SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
7:30 - 9:00 A.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS - YAKIMA CITY HALL
•
1. RoII CaII
Present:
Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender,
Micah Cawley, Norm Johnson, BiII Lover, Neil McClure, and Susan
Whitman
Staff: City Manager Zais, Assistant City Manager Zabell, and City Clerk
Moore
County: Commissioners Leita and Elliot
Air Terminal: Bill Wheeler, Buck Taylor, and Amber Hanson •
2. Proposed Airport Safety Overlay Review Process with Yakima County
Commissioners and Yakima Airport Board
Mayor Edler opened the meeting and introduced Bill Wheeler, Chairman of the Air
Terminal Board. Mr. Wheeler distributed copies of a proposal about the Aviation
Safety Overlay (ASO), and suggested it would be better referred to as the Airport
Influence Area (AIA). He read the proposal that contained actions and time estimates
to develop plans appropriate for the public review process:
A. The Airport Master Plan will be amended with a supplement to cover the
required issues needing change and will be presented to the City of Yakima by
the end of October 2007.
B. The airport layout plan will be a part of that presentation.
C. Because the actions to create a new AIA plan may require changes to current
zoning, Yakima Air Terminal (YAT) may request changes to the Yakima Urban
Area Comprehensive Plan.
Collaboration between all parties (Cities of Yakima and Union Gap, Yakima County
and the Yakima Air Terminal) will begin immediately concurrent with the
preparation of the Airport Master Plan. We will attempt to define permissible
density levels in all areas within the AIA, will map them and develop written
narrative describing the map designations. We will also review all requirements in
the AIA to ensure they are compatible with the FAA standards as well as the needs
of all the landowners within the AIA.
STUDY SESSION — AIRPORT OVERLAY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
We will attempt to have all of the tasks completed by the end of November 2007.
The Airport Board and management realize that in collaborative efforts full
agreement on all points may not be achievable. In this case, the YAT will
incorporate all items where agreement has been reached and will submit its plans
for approval incorporating the YAT positions in those areas where consensus was
not reached. Once the YAT has submitted the necessary documents for approval,
it is their understanding that the City of Yakima will proceed with the public review
process as required for full adoption. It is the desire of the YAT management and
Board to have all of the processes completed, meeting the needs and desires of
the residents of the Cities and County, as well as assuring the safety and needs of
the Yakima Air Terminal and the FAA. We are looking at an airport operation that
will be sound for fifty years or more.
Council Member Lover requested that the Federal Aviation Requirements (FARs) be
included in the completed plan. Dave Zabell spoke to the timeframe and potential
environmental review process. If rezoning is required, it would have to go through the
Comprehensive Plan update process. Buck Taylor addressed the name change from
ASO to AIA pointing out that the proposal is more than just a safety overlay. Council
Member McClure suggested having County and City elected officials participate in the
group developing the plan. Commissioner Leita noted that it is a work group to
expeditiously bring forward a document and if public servants are involved, it could
slow the process down. Once the document is drafted it will be handed off to the
respective elected officials for review. The goal is to create a document that can go
forward to the public. Discussion continued on the development of the group that will
create the proposal.
3. Audience Comments
David Ketchum, owner of an airport planning business, shared background
information on his business and noted that he generally works with terminals that are
smaller than Yakima. In 2006 he was asked by Congdon Orchards to write a letter
about the process and submit it to the Yakima Air Terminal Board. He is glad to see
this moving forward. He feels one of the core issues of the AIA, is that the airport's
runway length has never been fully justified. It was not done in the 1996 plan, nor
was it justified in the update. If that is not addressed in this plan, there will be future
problems because it will be challenged and could bring us back to ground zero. In
the 1996 plan, the only justification for a runway length extension of over 2,500 feet
was to support large cargo aircraft carrying fruit from the Yakima Valley. It was
never fully vetted in terms of an operational plan, a financial plan, a feasibility plan, or
any kind of logistical justification. It was simply an idea. Also, in the recent update to
the plan, one sentence simply said "we are carrying forward the findings of the
former plan ". The most critical element of the entire Master Plan document is the
runway extension. The most critical part of that element is cargo aircraft carrying
fruit. Instead of reviewing that, the words "carried over" were used. He does not
have a problem with the runway extension if it is justified, nor with developing an AIA
document, but the
2
31
STUDY SESSION — AIRPORT OVERLAY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2007
■
basis has to be sound. What is the best idea about the configuration of the alrpon
over the next 20 -30 years? If after a thorough review by a professional it is U
determined that the runway length requirement is justified, then there is a basis or a
document. His concern is, if you don't go back and have someone thoroughly review
and justify that runway length, it will haunt this process for a long time.
Commissioner Leita commented that this level of discussion will be part of.the public
process in the future and today's session is to move the study forward. Mr: Wheeler
said the Airport Master plan will be amended with a supplement to cover the required
issues and they definitely recognize that the runway length needs to be addressed in
the proposal.
JOHNSON MOVED AND WHITMAN AND LEITA SECONDED TO SUPPORT
MOVING THE PROCESS FORWARD. The motion carried by unanimous voice
vote.
4. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 a.m.
V/g
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY
COUNCIL MEM ER DATE
12 -oi-o7
COUNCIL MEMBER DATE
ATTEST:
ova— /L Lam_ �' ///
CITY CLERK :AVID EDLER, MAYOR
Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office
•
1
3