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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/17/2009 PACKET(DRAFT) AGENDA Regular Meeting - Bremerton Planning Commission (Subject to PC approval) February 17, 2009 5:30 P.M. th 345 – 6Street Meeting Chamber – First Floor I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL (quorum present) III. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA IVAPPROVAL OF MINUTES: January 20, 2009 Regular meeting. o V. PUBLIC MEETING A. Call to the Public: Public comments on any item not on tonight’s agenda B. Workshop 1. Discussion of Zoning Code Amendments Work Plan VI. BUSINESS MEETING A. Chair Report: Chairman Wheeler B. Director Report: Andrea Spencer. C.Old Business: D.New Business VII. ADJOURNMENT: The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission is March 17, 2009 Planning Commission meeting packets are available on-line at www.ci.bremerton.wa.us DRAFT FOR APPROVAL ON 2/17/09 Minutes for City of Bremerton Planning Commission Regular Meeting January 20, 2009 I. Call to Order ViceChairman Wheeler The meeting was called to order by - at 5:30 p.m. II. Roll Call Those present were: Commissioner Cockburn, Commissioner Hoell, Commissioner Kennedy, and Commissioner Wheeler. Commissioners Kosusko, Mosiman, and Streissguth were excused. Quorum certified. Also present: Kurt Weist, Richard Weinman, Justin Goroch, and Nancy Austin (BHA & consultants) and Andrea Spencer, and Pam Bykonen (DCD staff). III. Elections Commissioner KennedyCommissioner nominated Greg Wheeler for the position of Chairman. Cockburn seconded the nomination. The vote was unanimous in favor of Commissioner Wheeler being the Chairman of the Bremerton Planning Commission for 2009. Commissioner Wheeler nominated Commissioner Kennedy for the position of Vice-Chairman. Commissioner Cockburn seconded the nomination. The vote was unanimous in favor of Commissioner Kennedy being the Vice-Chairman of the Bremerton Planning Commission for 2009. IV. Approval of Agenda Chairman Wheeler introduced the agenda. It was agreed by general consensus to approve the agenda as presented. IV. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the Regular Meeting held on December 16, 2008 were presented for approval by A motion was made by Chairman Wheeler. It was noted that the date of the minutes was incorrect Commissioner Cockburn and seconded by Commissioner Kennedy to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2008 as amended. Called for a vote: Commissioner Cockburn: Yes; Commissioner Hoell: Abstain; Commissioner Kennedy: Yes; Chairman Wheeler: Yes. The motion carried. VI. Public Meeting A. Call To The Public. (public comments on any item not on tonight’s agenda) Planning Commission Meeting January 20, 2009 Page 1 of 5 DRAFT FOR APPROVAL ON 2/17/09 Chairman Wheeler asked if there were any comments from citizens. Seeing none, he closed this portion of the meeting. B.1.Public Hearing – Bay Vista Sub-Area Plan Amendments: Chairman Wheeler opened the Public Hearing for the Bay Vista Sub-Area Plan Amendments. Richard Weinman, consultant to the Bremerton Housing Authority , presented the revised Sub-Area Plan. Copies of a prepared PowerPoint presentation were distributed to the commissioners prior to the start of the meeting as the chambers’ recording/computer systems were not operational. Mr. Weinman reviewed the proposed changes to the sub-area plan, reiterating that most of the revisions were due to changes in the real estate market and increased knowledge of the topography of the site. The Bremerton Housing Authority had held a series of six weekly community outreach meetings with the first meeting on September 25, 2008, to fully engage the citizens in the amendment process by encouraging their input and incorporating their concerns into the plan. Changes to the sub-area plan include: Increasing the number of housing units from 759 to 875 with 190 units reserved for low income families; Increasing gross density from 9.5 dwelling units/acre to 10.5 du/acres with a density range of 8 – 64 du/acre; Increasing the retail area from 5 acres to 8 acres which could potentially create 360 – 420 jobs; Providing a landscape management plan for the development’s open space and the Bay Vista Preserve; Incorporating Low Impact Development techniques to reduce run-off; Relocating the community center; Correcting scrivener errors Outlining the construction schedule as dictated by the terms of the HOPE IV grant received by the Bremerton Housing Authority; Landscaping and sign standards. Staff has issued SEPA addendum to address the environmental review requirements for the plan which was published January 20, 2009. Chairman Wheeler asked if there were any comments from citizens on this item. Richard Nerf, 1600 Madrona Pt. Drive, Bremerton: “I have to admit that I’d forgotten I was coming here until my PDA reminded me; I had been more interested in the other Washington and what was going on there. And so the plan I’d had to look at this in more detail did not take place. But I had been deeply involved in this from the beginning; I was part of the original Comprehensive Plan team. I attended all the charrettes for the Westpark study and I’ve attended most of the public meetings in respect to this revision. I was more positive before I came here. One of my concerns has been – there has been modification coming in, and I can understand that. Our plan was done in one world; this revision was probably done in another, and may, in fact, be in a third one now. But in doing these changes, particularly with respect to transparency, there is a great feeling of ‘bait and switch’ that occurs within our community as we see these plans move along. And so, I’m on the Parks & Recreation Commission here in Bremerton and to see the parks and open space go down by nearly a factor of two in [inaudible], how did that happen? In the respect of tree retention: when I saw the grading plan, I looked at it and I said, ‘You’re going to lose some Planning Commission Meeting January 20, 2009 Page 2 of 5 DRAFT FOR APPROVAL ON 2/17/09 trees here; I’d like to know more about it’ and I requested a detailed indication of what trees were likely to be there and what weren’t and I never got that. I wanted to walk around and at least get a feeling for what was going to happen and now I’m just seeing ‘clearing 95%’ and it’s like - that makes me uncomfortable. I’m not making any accusations, here, but the transparency has kind of disappeared here in the way that [inaudible]. So that’s one of my issues. This change is considerably different than what you approved the last time we [inaudible], which is a level of discomfort with that change is as to whether it is – I think within all of Bremerton’s renovation, there is a feeling that the powers that be are kind of just taking over from the community and deciding what’s going to happen and that public involvement – as Obama said today, ‘The era of responsibility’, which [inaudible] are part of – it’s kind of disappearing with this [inaudible]. So that’s one issue and I really want to bring it forward, I don’t want to make it an accusation, but I wanted to make it a decent [inaudible]. The second part is: we do have this Comprehensive Plan, we have gone forward with it, and there are definitely – moving all this development to where the old fire station is there is not consistent with the Oyster Bay Center which is part of the Comprehensive Plan. Now, I never thought that the Oyster Bay Center, as configured there, was fiscally viable, but if you approve this then you have an inconsistency in your plan and you’re going to have to reconcile that. Or you’re just going to have a plan which is obviously been overridden by forces that are probably not expressed so if somebody comes in to this, they’re going to say, ‘What’s the use of this plan?’ unless you’ve been paying attention to it because here’s an obvious internal contradiction. So, I think those are my two issues: there seems to be – changes seem to be rolling along without a lot of transparency, without it happening, and these changes are inconsistent with the original documents and there doesn’t seem to be much attention to making the original documents [inaudible]. Thank you.” Chairman Wheeler asked if there were any additional comments from the public. Seeing none, he closed this portion of the meeting and moved on to commission deliberation. Commissioner Cockburn asked if, in light of the downward economy, the Housing Authority factored in flexibility within the plan for low-income units if there is a need for Nancy Austin, Bremerton Housing Authority more than 190 units. , explained that to be within the Federal guidelines to de-concentrate poverty, the Housing Authority cannot have more than 300 low-income units, however, there is no additional Federal funding available to build more public housing units at Bay Vista than what is proposed. The Housing Authority is looking for other funding opportunities. Affordable housing is available throughout the county. Commissioner Cockburn asked staff if the Bay Vista Sub-Area Plan would be in conflict Andrea Spencer, Director of Community with the Oyster Bay Neighborhood Center. Development , felt that the increased density that Bay Vista would provide would benefit the Oyster Bay Center. She also reminded the commission that the perceived reduction of the park and open space was a correction of a typographical error in the Westpark plan and not an actual reduction in area. Mr. Weinman Referring to the Comprehensive Plan, explained that 37 acres along Kitsap Way was designated for redevelopment, incorporating Oyster Bay and Westpark (now Bay Vista). He added that Oyster Bay is required to have a sub-area plan adopted before redevelopment can occur. He does not believe that the Bay Vista Sub-Area Plan conflicts with the Oyster Bay Neighborhood Center or the Comprehensive Plan. Planning Commission Meeting January 20, 2009 Page 3 of 5 DRAFT FOR APPROVAL ON 2/17/09 Commissioner Kennedy noted that the reference to tree removal in the plan referred to trees on buildable lots; trees within the Bay Vista Preserve and the parks and open spaces would Mr. Weinman not be affected. agreed, adding that some of the trees in the parks, open spaces and the preserve would be thinned or removed because they lack diversity or are diseased, but not until the site had been surveyed by an arborist and a landscape architect. Commissioner Hoell asked if trees would be removed to enhance the view. Mr. Weinman did not think the plan was advanced enough to make that determination, but assumed steps would be taken to preserve trees of significance. Chairman Wheeler At Mr. Nerf’s request, re-opened the public comment portion of the public hearing. Richard Nerf: “With respect to the Center, and the division of jobs [inaudible], when we originally did this there was mixed use along Oyster Bay so that dividing resources between Westpark and the Oyster Bay Center was reasonable within the point of view of walking distance. [Inaudible] The outright expectation is that if you have things in the Rite Aid area, and then you have things out at Arsenal Way, those are no longer within walking distance of themselves, each other. They don’t fit the concept of a Center, although, yes, they are nominally partly within Westpark and partly in Oyster Bay. So I think we could consider more that if you cluster things all the way over here at Highway 3 and then you have stuff back over here at Rite Aid, even if they’re nominally close, they’re really not within walking distance. That’s essentially my concern about how the Oyster Bay Center fits with the current Westpark approach. One thing I did not say, I don’t think, is that I really do basically support the [inaudible] involvement that’s going on. I would like to see it happen - in general, the way it’s being approached, that the details bother me, there are some things that I think have the possibility of repercussions. My concerns about the trees is not, in particular, that they’re taking 95% of them – well, in fact, I can understand. I have a Douglas fir that shed a number of big limbs during the last snow storm and that, a lot of what they’ve got there among the houses is Doug fir so it may not be [inaudible]. My objection to transparency was I specifically requested a list of the trees, what they were going to be removing, so that I could walk the site. It was initially promised to me, excuses were [inaudible] it appeared, and – I missed some of your meetings because of personal issues, but I’m here now and I’m suddenly finding out the story’s a lot different. And that is a problem with transparency and someone else could come in and start saying, ‘Hey – what’s going on here? This isn’t right’. The appearance of transparency is not here. I don’t really have – I’m not prone to think about conspiracies – I do think [inaudible]. I am aware now of a number of forces within the current level of discussion [inaudible]. Thank you.” Chairman Wheeler asked if there were any additional comments from the public. Seeing none, he closed this portion of the meeting and returned to commission deliberation. Commissioner Hoell asked for more information regarding additional changes and how the MrWeinman changes could impact traffic. . revisited the list of changes proposed for the sub-area plan, noting that most of the changes made were in the Village Center portion of the Ms. Spencer plan and were actually more restrictive than the previous plan. directed the commissioners to an updated page of the proposed Sub-Area Plan outlining changes to building height measurement, fenestration, and setbacks which were discussed at the previous workshop. Planning Commission Meeting January 20, 2009 Page 4 of 5 DRAFT FOR APPROVAL ON 2/17/09 A motion was made by Commissioner Kennedy and seconded by Commissioner Cockburn to recommend to City Council to adopt the Bay Vista Sub-Area Plan Amendments. Called for a vote. Commissioner Cockburn: Yes; Commissioner Hoell: Yes; Commissioner Kennedy: Yes; Chairman Wheeler: Yes. The motion carried. Chairman Wheeler closed the Public Meeting. VI. Business Meeting A.Chairman’s Report:None . B.Director’s Report: Andrea Spencer, Director of Community Development, reported that the Boundary Review Board (BRB) accepted the SKIA North annexation with no changes and the annexation will become effective on March 1, 2009. The SKIA South annexation is scheduled for a BRB hearing on January 23, 2009. More information should be available on that annexation in February with a hopeful effective date of April 1, 2009. The Manette Sub-Area Plan is moving forward with additional workshops planned for public input. The next workshop is scheduled for Monday, January 26, 2009. C. Old Business:None D. New Business: None. VII. Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m. The next Regular Meeting is scheduled for February 17, 2009. Respectfully submitted by: _______________________________________ Andrea Spencer, Executive Secretary Approved by: _______________________________________ Greg Wheeler, Chairman Planning Commission Meeting January 20, 2009 Page 5 of 5