CITY OF SHORELINE

SHORELINE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING

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September 7, 2017

7:00 P.M.

Shoreline City Hall Council Chamber

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Commissioners Present

Chair Craft

Vice Chair Montero Commissioner Chang Commissioner Maul Commissioner Malek Commissioner Mork Commissioner Thomas

Staff Present

Rachael Markle, Director, Planning and Community Development Paul Cohen, Planning Manager, Planning and Community Development Steve Szafran, Senior Planner, Planning and Community Development Matt Cowan, Chief, Shoreline Fire District

Julie Ainsworth Taylor, Assistant City Attorney

Carla Hoekzema, Planning Commission Clerk


CALL TO ORDER


Chair Craft called the regular meeting of the Shoreline Planning Commission to order at 7:00 p.m.


ROLL CALL


Upon roll call by Ms. Hoekzema the following Commissioners were present: Chair Craft, Vice Chair Montero, and Commissioners Chang, Maul, Malek, Mork and Thomas.


APPROVAL OF AGENDA


The agenda was amended to place Item 6b (Fire Department Comprehensive Plan Amendment) before Item 6a (2017 Development Code Amendments). The remainder of the agenda was approved as presented.


APPRO VAL OF MINUTES


The minutes of July 20, 2017 and August 3, 2017 were approved as presented.


GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT


There were no public comments.

STUDY ITEM: FIRE DEPARTMENT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT


Staff Presentation


Chief Cowan explained that the underlying premise of the impact fee program is that, as the community grows, additional resources will be required to adequately meet the growing demand for services. A direct relationship exists between population and demand for services, which directly links to a need for resources. The program utilizes 20-year growth predictions in 6-year increments. Impact fees for city fire departments have been authorized for quite some time under the State's Growth Management Act (GMA) as set forth in Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.70A.070(3). The law was recently changed to allow fire districts, such as Shoreline, to collect impact fees. He noted that, in his previous position, he was able to implement an impact fee program for the Maple Valley Fire District, which was the first one in the state.


Chief Cowan reviewed that an impact fee program allows fire districts to mitigate for the impacts of new development. It requires developers to pay a fee for new structures that are built. Replacing an existing structure would not require an additional fee because there would be no new impact. Impact fees can only be used for future capital purchases to mitigate the negative impact that development has on fire department performance. To clarify the basis for the fee, he explained the following performance measures:



Chief Cowan pointed out that cardiac arrest and structure fires are two types of incidents identified as critical responses where time is of the utmost importance. These two types of incidents are used by the Shoreline Fire District (SFD) to measure performance. He advised that King County is a leader when it comes to cardiac arrest survival rate, and this is due to proper responses with the appropriate types of resources. Survivability goes down dramatically when the response time increases beyond 4 to 6 minutes. Therefore, this is the SFD's benchmark for emergency medical services (EMS) calls. The benchmark for fire calls is based on the time it takes for a structure to reach flashover (when all the materials in a room reach their ignition temperature and catch fire). At this point, the fire is considered a hostile environment, and firefighters only have 3 to 5 seconds to get out.


Chief Cowan provided a map showing the average response times for all areas of the City. He noted that there are longer response times in the northwest comer of the Richmond Beach area and also into the Highlands due to road access. However, for the most part, if the apparatus is in the station and in service; there are fairly good response times throughout the City. Long-term planning includes a potential station towards the Richmond Beach area.


Chief Cowan provided a chart to illustrate the reliability statistics for 2014 through 2016. He noted that the reliability target is 90%. Ifa unit is between 90% and 95% the condition is considered okay (yellow). Anything above 95% would be green, and the City does not have any. Below 90% is red. He explained that, as calls increase and vehicles are out of service longer, the reliability statistics get worse. This effects response times and has a dramatic impact on the LOS. He emphasized that the reliability statistics show how much time is spent out in the field responding to incidents, but they do not show the time spent in training, fire inspections, etc. Chief Cowan also provided a chart showing drive times based on staff dedicated to apparatus and by station. The chart shows that the response times have increased from 2014 to 2016.


Chief Cowan explained that the SFDs 20-year capital needs have been broken into on-going 6-year increments. He provided a table showing the anticipated capital needs for the four different types of projects (station construction, asset preservation and fixtures, equipment, and apparatus) for the years 2018 through 2023. He also provided a chart outlining the 20-year cosl/funding sources for capital needs. The chart identifies debt interest, as well as potential revenue sources to meet the capital needs. The four revenue sources identified in the table are:



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City of Shoreline


Mr. Cohen explained that the intent is to keep in mind that Shoreline consists primarily of previously-altered landscapes, and applying the standards to the current conditions is sometimes a puzzle. The intent of the proposed amendments is to find a clear step-by-step path that everyone can understand relative to development in critical areas. All of the critical areas and the majority of the classifications require third-party review, which means a developer must hire the City's on­ call consultant to either review their consultant's report or write an entirely new one, if necessary. This is a very expensive process.


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City of Shoreline


Mr. Cohen advised that, although SMC 20.80.025(A) describes resources to determine the existence of a critical area, SMC 20;80.25(B) leaves it open to the property owner and qualified professional to determine the presence or absence of a critical area. Because the City does not have the resources to establish all critical areas for property owners to rely on then it cannot assume there is a critical area unless proven otherwise. The intent of Amendment 30 is to provide clear steps for a property owner to ascertain whether or not they need to continue and comply with the CAO. If a site inspection and/or critical area worksheet, as required in Subsection A, indicates that a critical area might exist, the applicant would be required to hire a qualified professional to identify the presence or absence of a critical area, as well as its classification. This process gives the City more confidence when administering the code.


Vice Chair Montero asked who would do the site inspection called out in Subsection A, and Mr. Cohen answered that it would be done by staff. Vice Chair Montero suggested that this be made clear in the proposed new language.



Public Comment


Ian Barnes, Shoreline, said he lives in the Northridge (Echo Lake) Neighborhood. He said he ran into the City's policy relative to "hardscape" when making improvements to his property that included removal of noxious weeds, putting down weed cloth, and installing a rock garden. He did not learn that the rock garden would be classified as impermeable until he received a visit from the City after someone in his neighborhood complained. He expressed his belief that clarification is due because the issue does not need to be so complicated. He said the proposed amendment seems to make sense. It is important to find


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a way for people to create a nice-looking yard that does not require additional water resources. Though some tweaks may be needed, he encouraged the Commission to move forward with a definition that better meets the needs of the community.


Mr. Szafran announced that three additional study sessions related to the 2017 Development Code amendments have been scheduled (September 2151, October 5th and October 19th). A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for November 2nd. He encouraged the Commissioners to email their questions and comments to him. Chair Craft asked that staff forward the changes recommended by the Commission prior to the next meeting.


DIRECTOR'S REPORT


Director Markle provided a report on the Substantial Permits that are currently under review. The list of projects included: Aldercrest School Phase 2, Alexan (formerly Potala) multi-family project at 900 N 1551h Street, Vision House multi-family and daycare project at 19610 - 20th Avenue NE, Arabella II multi­ family project at 1221 NE 180th Street, North City Townhomes at 1540 NE 175th Street, High Hill Apartments at 18557 Firlands Way N, Ballinger Heated Storage at 20029 - 19th Avenue NE, Shoreline Self-Storage at 19237 Aurora Avenue North, TP Home LLC multi-family project at 1719 North 1851h Street, K & M's Home Construction townhome project at 14709 - 32"d Avenue NE, and Zekarias and Yorda Tesfagaber townhome project at 15313 - 15th Avenue NE. She added that the City just recei ved an application for an additional self-storage unit at 17oth and Aurora Avenue No1th, and a pre-application meeting has been held for the BCRA Design, Tnc. Project at 15010 Aurora Avenue North that would replace the existing Taco Bell with a Taco Time.


Commissioner Thomas asked if there has been any movement related to redevelopment of the post office site at 175th and 15th. A number of the buildings to the south are vacant now. Mr. Cohen said they have averaged one proposal per year for this site, and he feels more confident that the most recent one will go forward. The post office lease ends at the end of 2017. A neighborhood meeting was held last month for the proposal, which includes more than 200 residential units, a courtyard, and two underground levels of parking. The Administrative Design Review has been completed, and the project design was approved with just a few tweaks.


UNFINISHED BUSINESS


There was no unfinished business. NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.


REPORTS OF COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONERS/ANNOUNCEMENTS


There were no committee or Commissioner reports.


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AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING


Mr. Szafran reminded the Board that the September 21st meeting is scheduled as a public hearing on the

2017 Comprehensive Plan amendments.


ADJOURNMENT


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The meeting w

·ourned at 8:56 p.m.



hail", Planning Commission

Cm

Clerk, Planning Commission


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