City of Burien
BURIEN PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
March 9, 2004
7:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
MINUTES
Planning Commission Members Present: Robert Simpson-Clark, chair; Jon Newton, Rebecca McInteer, Janet Shull
Absent: Barbara Williams
Others Present: David Johanson, senior planner
Chair Simpson-Clark called the meeting to order at 7:18 p.m. Upon the call of the roll all commissioners were present with the exception of Commissioner Williams.
Agenda Confirmation
The agenda was approved by consensus.
Public Comment – None
Approval of Minutes – None
Old Business – None
New Business
A. Discussion and Recommendation Regarding 2004 Zoning Code Update Priorities
David Johanson, senior planner, asked the commissioners to discuss and make a recommendation to the City Council regarding the scope of work and approach to be taken for completing the work of updating the Zoning Code. Mr. Johanson said Title 18 contains the items that were adopted from King County when Burien incorporated; Title 19 includes the issues that have been revamped. Title 17, the Subdivision Code, is not yet on the radar screen but will be a future work program item. The primary benefit of moving items into Title 19 sooner rather than later will be for those who must research the code; having two sections can be confusing. To date the focus has been on upgrading sections before moving them into Title 19. It would be possible to move all of Title 18 into Title 19 in one motion, but that would tend to overshadow the issues that do need to be updated and revised.
Mr. Johanson noted that updating the code is a lower priority item for the City Council. The purpose of having a priority established for which sections should be worked on first is to allow for better scheduling of the updating activities. A proposed order was outlined in the staff memo. It was noted that none of the issues are perceived to be controversial.
Commissioner Newton indicated a preference for keeping Title 19 only for those issues that have already been updated. The approach allows for a clear understanding of what has been fixed already and what remains to be worked on.
Chair Simpson-Clark agreed with the proposal of staff to put first and second on the list Chapter 18.30 Development Standards – Density and Dimensions, and Chapter 18.35 Development Standards Design Requirements. He noted that those issues can tend to inhibit development. What the development community needs primarily is some sense of what the standards are and an understanding that they will remain stable.
Commissioner Newton provided his support for the recommendation of staff as outlined.
Commissioner Shull referred to the concurrency impact fee study in relation to the park impact fees and asked if there is a timeline associated with that issue. Mr. Johanson said there are a number of different impact fees including transportation, parks, and schools. The thinking of staff has been to look at all the various impact fees together. The issue is on the staff work program for review in conjunction with Public Works and Parks toward the end of 2004 or in the first part of 2005.
Calling attention to the Development Standards Density and Dimensions of Chapter 18.30, Mr. Johanson noted that there is a chart that allows partial credit for development that is partially within a critical area. He said the recent action by the council to adopt a new critical areas regulation did not affect the credits chart. Title 18.30 as written allows credit on a sliding scale, whereas the new ordinance allows full credit provided the development can be clustered or grouped in the non-encumbered portions of the sites. That is one issue that will need to be addressed.
Commissioner Newton asked if a different building height calculation is used for residential and commercial developments on sloped lots. Mr. Johanson said the measurement method is the same. However, commercial structures are much larger than residential structures, and the averaging calculation used could result in much more height for commercial structures than intended.
There was consensus to retain the unrevised items in Chapter 18 and not move them into Chapter 19 until they have been updated.
Chair Simpson-Clark proposed dealing with the issues in Chapter 18.30 and Chapter 18.35 first, then taking the following issues in any order.
Mr. Johanson allowed that Chapter 18.70 Development Standards – Adequacy of Public Facilities and Services could be relatively simple to address. The Comprehensive Plan will provide the rule. Chapter 18.80 General Provisions – Temporary Use and Re-use of Facilities, and Chapter 18.105 Decision Criteria, should be linked together; neither is controversial and should not take long to address.
Motion to recommend the first Zoning Code update approach outlined in the staff memo, to address in detail items 1 and 2 as the highest priority, and to address items 3 through 10 as time allows based on the workload, with items 4 and 5 grouped together, was made by Commissioner Newton. Second was by Commissioner McInteer and the motion carried unanimously.
Director’s Report
Mr. Johanson announced that the City has tentatively scheduled a Town Square public meeting for April 15.
Mr. Johanson informed the commission that the Comprehensive Plan has been posted to the web for ready access. He noted that the less frequently used sections will not be uploaded, but all of the goals and policies sections are in place.
The Commissioners were told that a number of interesting projects are nearing completion in Burien. The Prasad building on Southwest 153rd Street is the first mixed-use building in the downtown to be constructed using the new design standards. St. Francis Community Center is coming along; the building is up and some of the roadway improvements are in. Work is progressing steadily for both Gregory Heights and Hazel Valley elementary schools. The surgery center on Southwest 160th Street is nearing completion. Mr. Johanson noted that these are all very positive projects for the City and should be recognized.
Commissioner Newton invited the commissioners to attend the Salmon Creek Basin Plan public meeting scheduled for March 11 at Shorewood Elementary School beginning at 6:30 p.m. He also reported that the Salmon Creek outfall, the sewage plant outfall, Seahurst Beach north of Three Tree Point, and the Miller Creek outfall south of Three Tree Point are all Category 5 waters in Puget Sound, which means they do not meet the standards as a direct result of urban uses adjacent to each area. He said it will be important to address those areas in such a way as to improve their conditions.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Newton. Second was by Commissioner Shull and the motion carried unanimously.
Chair Simpson-Clark adjourned the meeting at 8:14 p.m.
Approved:
/s/ Robert Simpson-Clark, chair
Planning Commission
/s/ Scott Greenberg, director
Community Development Department