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Development Commission Auto captions

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

7:00 PM · 1h 57m · Council Chambers, 135 East Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topic tracked across meetings:
Site Development Permit Application for Park Place Townhomes, Quasi-Judicial AB 6970 7/25
Section
1. CALL TO ORDER
1a
Commission Membership
packet pp.3
Staff report:
Development Commission About Staff Liaison Created in 1983, this commission reviews all land Christopher Wright, use actions requiring a Level 3 review. The Project Oversight Manager Commission further serves as an advisory board to Email the City Council on land use actions requiring council approval (Level 5 review). Regular Members 2018 - Vacant The appearance of fairness doctrine prohibits 2018 - Raymond Leong Development Commission members and City 2018 - Richard Sowa Council members from discussing the merit of 2019 - Michael Brennan specific land use development applications outside 2019 - Randolph Harrison of the formal public meeting process. Citizens, 2020 - Melvin Morgan however, may discuss any issue with the City's 2020 - Kevin Price Development Services Department. Written comments are also welcome. Alternate Members 2017 - TJ Ginthner Membership 2017 - Vacant The…
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
2a
Minutes of June 8, 2016
packet pp.5
Staff report:
CITY OF ISSAQUAH DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES June 8, 2016
4. AGENDA ITEMS
4a
Sunset 7 Apartments - Site Development Permit - SDP16-00004
Amy Tarce, Senior Planner · packet pp.7–31
Topics: Land Use
Staff report:
CITY OF ISSAQUAH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
0:26 Good evening and welcome to the July 6th meeting of the Issaquah Development Commission. Tonight
0:33 we will be looking at a, this is a public, obviously a public
0:39 meeting, and the process will be explained For those of you who don't
0:45 have a copy of it or didn't look at it, there will be approval of
0:48 minutes, which is the next item. Then there will be a session primarily for the
0:54 benefit of members of the commission that is a review of the process
1:00 that is involved with our work here. And then the agenda item is a site
1:06 development permit application for process or
1:12 applicant SDP 16-0004 and that will be the primary thing that
1:18 we'll be doing this evening is looking at presentation by the city. There
1:24 will then be, a part of this will be, and the applicant and then we'll
1:28 have questions, clarifications and so on by members of the commission.
1:34 There will also, there's also a sign in sheet there if there, Normally there isn't
1:39 a part the public comment, but we're going to do that today if there's anybody
1:44 that would like member of the public that would like to be heard on this
1:48 We'd ask you to sign it in please and then when you come up Excuse
1:52 me when you come up to the microphone If you'd give your name and your
1:56 address if you'd like to be on the record, okay All right with that The
2:02 first item is the approval of the minutes are there any Corrections?
2:10 Legions? If not, can we get a second? Mr. Chair, move. Move. Motion, please. Move.
2:15 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
2:16 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
2:19 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
2:21 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
2:27 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
2:31 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move.
2:34 Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move. Move My name is Christopher Wright and I'm
2:39 the project oversight manager for the Development Services Department. And in the interest of
2:44 continuing to train you, especially the new members, but also as a refresher
2:50 for some of you old timers, we thought we would take a few minutes to
2:54 go over kind of what the Development Commission's purview is and what kind of applications
2:59 you see and why.
3:05 This is a list of the different types of applications that you see. There are
3:10 site development permits, SDPs, which is what you're reviewing this evening. Community
3:15 conference, which is kind of a preliminary meeting that you do for some site development
3:21 permits, and I'll get to that in a minute. Master site plans, development
3:26 agreements, and then some signs. I put that in there for you, Mel. Thank you,
3:32 Mr. Wright. Because there are some signs, if they are outside of an urban village,
3:37 outside of central Issaquah, on a major street, new signs not replacing existing
3:43 signs that would come to the Development Commission. And we'll be evaluating
3:49 whether the Development Commission is going to continue to review signs sometime in the next
3:52 year or so, hopefully, when we draft a unified sign code.
3:59 Because right now we've got five different sign codes for different areas of the city.
4:02 So we'd like to correct that. But just know between now and then, you may
4:06 see some signs. So the main
4:12 applications we wanted to talk about are site development permits, master site plans, and development
4:17 agreements. And again, a majority of what you see are site development permits. And they're
4:22 what we call a level three review. And if a project is
4:27 outside of an urban village and outside of central Issaquah, level three
4:33 reviews are required for projects that either are a level three level of review on
4:39 the table of permitted land uses, which in the land use code are the blue
4:43 sheets, but also sites that are greater than three acres and on a primary street.
4:49 So that's kind of the determining factor on when something is a level three site
4:54 development permit or not. And I mentioned a community conference a little bit ago. Community
4:59 conferences are a required step in the site development permit process, again, for
5:05 projects that are not within central Issaquah. And again, tonight is an example of a
5:11 project that is on a major street on Sunset Way and went through the community
5:15 conference process a few several months ago. And for a level three
5:21 site development permit, the development commission is the decision maker and it's through a quasi
5:27 judicial process and Amy's gonna talk a little bit more about that in a minute.
5:32 And what you're reviewing there is consistency with the development regulations, the design criteria
5:38 checklist or the green sheets in the land use code and technical review
5:46 of items that are within the land use code. For a master site plan,
5:52 and those are kind of getting phased out as well, because there are no master
5:56 site plans either in the urban villages or in central Issaquah. But outside of those
6:01 areas, if a parcel is greater than 15 acres and is anything other than
6:07 single family residential, it goes through a master site plan process. Examples of
6:13 master site plans that you've seen in the last few years, usually it's been schools
6:17 like the high school or the middle school because that whole property is greater than
6:20 15 acres. Confluence Park was another example because that was greater than 15 acres. But
6:27 there's only a couple of parcels left in the city that could possibly go through
6:31 a master site plan process. And for those, the development commission is not the decision
6:37 maker, but actually you make a recommendation to the city council. And often,
6:43 especially in the case with the schools, you'll be reviewing the master site plan concurrently
6:47 with a site development permit, usually. And for those, a
6:53 master site plan by itself, the plans are more kind of a site plan. You
6:57 wouldn't usually see building elevations necessarily. It's mostly the site plan that you're reviewing
7:04 for compliance with the comprehensive plan and land use code. And there's specific criteria for
7:08 master site plans in the code as well. And then development agreements, I think it's
7:14 been a while since you've seen one, but you may be seeing one at your
7:18 next meeting for Silverado. uh... but development agreements come to the development commission
7:24 for uh... when a uh... cluster development is proposed or when uh... project is utilizing
7:30 the transfer of development rights or what we call td ours in a cluster cluster
7:35 development uh... just by way of explaining is when uh... there's uh... a
7:41 residential proposal and the proposing in a single-family zone to either cluster attached
7:47 units or make smaller lots in an effort to preserve more open space.
7:53 So we do see those sometimes. And like I said, you may have an example
7:57 coming up of that. And that too, like master site plans, you're not the decision
8:01 maker on a development agreement, but instead you're making a recommendation to the city council.
8:09 So this is just really generally kind of the process that most applications go
8:16 through us and then through you. And this is a site development permit, as example.
8:22 Usually, we'll have kind of an introductory meeting. Sometimes we call it a project feasibility
8:26 meeting internally when we go over with the applicant just what the development standards are,
8:31 what the zoning is, the permitted uses. and just kind of see if what they're
8:37 proposing will meet the code. And then we will have what we call a collaboration
8:41 meeting where they may have some kind of preliminary sketches, some conceptual designs. In that
8:47 meeting, we usually have a planner and an engineer, and we kind of share the
8:50 vision for whatever area they're proposing their project in and just kind of talk a
8:56 little bit more about the process. And then the first real application that's made is
9:00 a pre-application and we have a pre-application meeting.
9:06 And those are plans that are starting to get a little more firmed up at
9:12 least to the point where we would route it to all of the different permit
9:17 reviewing departments in the city and kind of gather their comments and share them with
9:21 the applicant again talk a little bit more about what recommendations we have before they
9:27 make their larger land use application and talk a little bit more detail about the
9:31 process and expectations at that point so then the actual site development permits the middle
9:37 that's the big one that's the that's the land use permit application and so we
9:42 take that in again it's routed it's all of the city departments we notify
9:48 adjacent property owners and parties of record what the application is submitted
9:54 and then subsequently then we notify them again when the public hearing date is set
10:00 And when we set the date for the public hearing, we've compiled all of the
10:03 comments from all the departments and the planner drafts a staff report,
10:10 which includes our overview of the project, description of the
10:15 project, and then also our recommended conditions. And then it becomes
10:21 before the development commission in a public hearing, which tonight is an example of. And
10:26 then if the development commission approves it or conditionally approves it, we draft a notice
10:31 of decision. And this goes into a little bit more detail about the
10:37 steps that you're involved in. As I said, the staff report that the staff writes
10:42 is sent to you about a week before the hearing. And at the hearing,
10:49 And there's kind of two parts to it. I mentioned if you're outside of central
10:53 Issaquah and it's a site development permit, we will have had a community conference earlier
10:59 on to give just kind of initial comments and feedback without making any kind of
11:03 decision. But if it's within central Issaquah, it's kind of a two-step public hearing process.
11:09 We'll have the first public hearing where we get your input, get public input, and
11:14 then we hear whatever issues or concerns that you have. we kind of go
11:20 back, try to work with the applicant to address those, and draft up what we
11:25 call a briefing response memo that is kind of an addendum to the staff report
11:30 addressing those things that came out in that first meeting. And then in the second
11:34 public hearing portion is when you will see when and how and if we've
11:40 addressed those things, and at that point you would make your decision on the project.
11:46 And the reason for the two parts, I know, I said when we got rid
11:50 of the community conference step in central Issaquah, if we just had one hearing, it
11:55 would be kind of difficult for you to make your decision and for us to
11:59 address all of your concerns all in one meeting. So that's why we've kind of
12:03 broken it up so we have a chance to go back and address your concerns.
12:09 And then finally, as I said, the staff prepares a notice of decision with the
12:15 decision and all the conditions, and we prepare that for the chairperson's signature.
12:21 And that is the approval of a site development permit. And I'll just point out
12:25 now, for all of the... Because like I said, there are many different codes and
12:28 plans and chapters that we use in evaluating
12:34 projects. And I just wanted to point out that all of those are available on
12:38 the city's website. And in particular, there's a section called the Document Center on the
12:44 city's website. And this gives you just an example of where the central Issaquah plan
12:49 design standards are. But you can also get to the land use code, the sign
12:53 code, the critical area, ordinance you can get to all of our codes that we
12:59 use through there so i just wanted to make sure you were aware of that
13:04 and do you have any particular questions yes christopher is that process the preceding couple
13:10 of slides is that on the on on the website as well the city's website
13:14 um no not exactly there's a more detailed flow charts
13:20 uh that are part of the land use code and part of centralistic, but this
13:26 is kind of an abridged version. Okay. Can I suggest that maybe you
13:32 send copies of that to us individually
13:38 so that we can always have it, new members can continue to refer to it.
13:44 What was that, you old guys, was that the? The old timers, yeah. So we
13:49 can refresh our failing memory by looking at it too. It would help, I think.
13:54 Also, I think if you go forward a bit, if you notice down the lower
13:59 left, you need an N on recommendation there. Oh yeah. Okay. Anything
14:04 else? So the two public hearings that's really taken place,
14:10 so the first one, would have been called a community conference before? Is there a
14:15 difference? Well, there is, yeah. A community conference and a public hearing? The difference between
14:20 them really is that at a community conference, the plans are still kind of preliminary.
14:25 They're in the early stages. And so...
14:32 The goal there is to provide your input before they make their more
14:38 detailed plans. But in the site development permit public hearing for centralistic while the plans
14:43 are a little bit further along. They're complete basically at that point, but then
14:50 they may be revised in between those two meetings. But the level of detail in
14:53 the plans is the big difference. I had a question.
15:00 With respect to tonight's project, where does it map
15:06 to this? The last hearing? Yes, it's
15:11 basically this one here. Since it's not in central Issaquah, as I said, there was
15:16 a community conference that was done for this project a few months ago. And so
15:21 what we're entering into now won't be a two-part public hearing. It'll just be this
15:25 one, and this is where you'll be making your decision on the project.
15:33 Anything else? Okay, Christopher, thank you. I appreciate it. I think this is the kind
15:38 of thing that from time to time we need to do. It's good to back
15:41 up. Yeah, and it also helps to have this in the public portion of it
15:45 too so people have the opportunity to understand what the process is.
15:51 Exactly. And now Amy's going to talk a little bit more about the quasi-judicial aspect
15:54 of it.
16:02 Thank you, Christopher.
16:09 So I think Christopher had already touched on your role
16:15 as a development commission. So I am going to skip along to the next slide.
16:21 So basically, just a very brief description of what quasi judicial mean.
16:27 In this particular instance, basically, the process is like a court basically you serve almost
16:33 like a court, and the proceedings have to be fair and appear to be fair.
16:40 And there are two aspects of what
16:46 your role and your responsibilities are focused on. One is the
16:52 procedural due process, and then the other one is the substantive due process. So in
16:57 both cases, in both situations, I'm sorry, both situations have to be met.
17:04 So for procedural due process, we look at whether we followed all the steps
17:09 that's required by law. And also, basically, there's a
17:16 focus on your role with the person who's benefiting from
17:21 the decision, which is the applicant. For substantive due process, basically, we look at
17:27 The adopted regulations, whether or not staff established that the
17:33 project met the standards, and also the conditions that we
17:39 recommend and that you eventually accept and use for the approval
17:46 is reasonable and related to alleviating a problem created by the project.
17:52 So this is where we talk a lot about nexus and proportionality.
17:58 So for tonight's public hearing, we go through this
18:04 exercise for the new members. Basically, we have these six
18:09 questions that we ask everyone to evaluate on your own. I'm not gonna read all
18:15 of them, but I'll give you time to kind of look through them, and then
18:20 at the end, I'm just gonna check and see where everyone's at.
18:42 So hopefully everyone's done. Looks like you guys are looking at me, which means you
18:45 read a lot faster than me. So is there anyone in the
18:51 Commission that would answer yes to any of these questions?
18:58 Okay, that's great. And we're good. So the other aspect that...