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Home My WebLink About03/12/2024 Study Session 292 • MINUTES YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION March 12, 2024 City Hall —Council Chambers -129 N 2nd Street, Yakima, WA 5:00 p.m. Study Session conducted in person and virtually via Zoom 1. Roll Call Present: Mayor Patricia Byers, presiding;Assistant Mayor Matt Brown and Councilmembers Reedy Berg, Janice Deccio (attending remotely via Zoom), Rick Glenn, and Danny Herrera Staff: Interim City Manager Dave Zabell, City Attorney Sara Watkins and City Clerk Rosalinda I ban-a Absent and Excused: Councilmember Leo Roy 2. Public comment(allow 15 minutes) Natalie McClendon, Yakima resident, spoke about the public comments portion of the previous Council meeting where some City residents were not allowed to speak due to lack of time and some non-City residents were allowed to speak. Ron Pelson, Selah resident and Yakima business owner, commented that increases to building permit fees and the new energy code regulations are not helping with construction of affordable housing in Yakima. Daniel Mohrbacher, Yakima resident& business owner, stated that existing AED batteries will expire in June and proposed a community collection of funds to assist with replacing them. 3. Downtown Parking Presentation Communications & Public Affairs Manager Randy Beehler briefed Council on the history of the development and regulation of the public parking lots. Currently, maintenance of the downtown parking lots are supported by funds authorized through the formation of the Downtown Yakima Business Improvement District(DYBID) and the North Front Street businesses. In 2022, a parking study analysis recommended charging for parking to generate revenue for lot maintenance and improvements. During the COVI D pandemic, enforcement of parking regulations were temporarily suspended and resumed in 2023 under the responsibility of the Yakima Police Department. In June 2023, business owners presented an alternative plan to the City Council which was adopted and ultimately implemented in the Fall of 2023. Due to additional concerns from downtown businesses and employees, City Council placed a moratorium on parking enforcement and a public meeting was held in January 2024 to receive input from the downtown community and allow for the development Page 1 of 3 293 of another plan. City Engineer Bill Preston informed Council about the current condition of four downtown parking lots (Millennium Plaza, 2nd Street, Staff Sgt. Pendleton, and 1st Street at Crafted), revised rehabilitation proposals for each lot, and ongoing maintenance of the existing downtown parking lots. The revised maintenance proposal includes crack seal, fog seal (oil coating), sidewalk and curb repair, section repair and striping. The total maintenance proposal cost is approximately$82,340 and the total stormwater drainage improvements amounts to approximately$1,149,200. Interim City Manager Dave Zabell outlined the major policy issues and provided preliminary options for the public's feedback and Council consideration. Option 1 is the major reconstruction of city-owned parking lots and is more expensive. Option 2 includes incremental repair and improvements to address failed areas, drainage systems, and regular maintenance and is more cost effective than a complete rebuild. The following recommendations were presented: • keeping the length of the free parking period at 2 hours; • enforcement hours to be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; • retaining the cost of a monthly permit at$50; • reducing the parking infraction fine to $20 per infraction; • exploring a QR code option with the technology application; and, • public education and consistent enforcement of on-street parking. Council discussed the potential to provide warnings prior to citations being issued and the ability to add multiple users to permit passes. Staff proposed conducting another community meeting on March 21 st to gather input and feedback from the community.A final proposal could be provided on March 26th and Council could take action on April 2nd. 4. Review of Property Maintenance Code Enforcement Code Administration Manager Glenn Denman briefed Council on the Property Maintenance Code (I PMC) regulations and explained general enforcement strategies. He noted that previous codes resulted in confusion for staff and the public due to overlapping and varying requirements with similar case types. Mr. Denman addressed Councilmembers' concerns related to inoperable vehicles, pre-existing/non-conforming uses, anonymity of complaints, residential vs. commercial uses, tire disposal, graffiti, and pest elimination. The following information and recommendations were proposed by staff: • modify the definition to include "apparently" or"visibly" inoperable to prevent blight and accumulation of inoperable vehicles; • pre-existing/non-conforming means that previously approved structures or uses can continue to exist without changes, even if codes change; • requirement for complainants to provide contact information to prevent frivolous or malicious complaints and promote transparency; • the I PMC does not distinguish between residential and commercial case types but there is a distinction between"habitability"within dwelling spaces; • create an ordinance that requires tire dealers to obtain a regulatory license to prevent unauthorized accumulation and dumping of waste tires; • graffiti is a public safety concern which is now addressed by the Refuse Clean City program; and, Page 2 of 3 294 • delete the section regarding pest elimination and instead regulate insanitary or other condition to prevent pest infestations. Council further discussed extenuating circumstances, landlord/tenant issues, clear procedures specified in the ordinance, removing unlicensed vehicles from the inoperable classification, and expanding complaint and enforcement criteria. Staff will provide a follow up report to Council in the near future. 5. Adjournment MOTION: Brown moved and Herrera seconded to adjourn to the next Council regular meeting on March 19, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The motion carried by unanimous vote; Roy absent. The meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m. CERTIFICATION READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY 4491, COUNCIL MEMBER DATE RLD 3 LAfaslayNCIL AEMBER DATE ATTEST: _ F,K►r�q ht j. * SEAL � �� z ,� ' CITY„CLERK �� a MAYOR '%, H I G1O= Page 3 of 3