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Planning Policy Commission Auto captions

Thursday, May 26, 2022

6:30 PM · 1h 45m
Topic tracked across meetings:
Title 18: Zoning & Uses ID 1139 1/2
Section
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
2a
Minutes of May 12, 2022
packet pp.5–15
Staff report:
MINUTES Special Joint Meeting PLANNING POLICY COMMISSION & DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 6:30 p.m. - Thursday, May 12, 2022
4. REGULAR BUSINESS
4a
Preliminary Recommendation on Proposed Amendments to Title 18 Zoning and Uses Draft Code, (A)
Christen Leeson, Senior Planner Lucy Sloman, Current Planning Manager Minnie Dhaliwal, Director, Community Planning & Development · packet pp.17–31
Topics: Land Use
Staff report:
The purpose of the May 26th Planning Policy Commission (PPC) meeting is for the PPC to deliberate and come to consensus regarding possible changes to the draft regulations included in Bucket 3 while taking into account comments from the public and the Development Commission.
5. REPORTS
5a
Council Update
Valerie Porter, Associate Planner
6. OTHER BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS
6a
Upcoming Schedule
packet pp.33–35
Staff report:
Planning Policy Commission 2022 Schedule (subject to change) 2022 1/20/22 1/27/22 Joint Meeting with Development Commission ▪ Public Hearing: Proposed 2022 Docket of Education: Title 18 - Building and Design Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map ▪ Neighborhood Overlay Standards Amendments January o Olde Town, Central Issaquah, Issaquah Joint Meeting with Development Commission Highlands, Talus Title 18: Education - Building and Design ▪ Neighborhood Overlay Standards o Olde Town, Central Issaquah, Issaquah Highlands, Talus 2/10/22 2/24/22 Joint Meeting with Development Commission Joint Meeting with Environmental Board
0:12 well good evening everybody
0:14 good evening planning policy commission
0:16 good evening staff and good evening
0:19 issaquah residents
0:21 uh tonight after
0:23 our last meeting this meeting almost
0:25 feels intimate
0:27 with so few people here
0:28 so everyone will get a lot of talking
0:30 time
0:32 i would like to call the may 26th
0:33 planning policy commission meeting to
0:35 order and it is currently 6 30.
0:39 due to the virtual format of today's
0:41 meetings
0:42 like all of our meetings for the last
0:43 two years
0:44 i'd like to start by providing some
0:46 guidelines we have participants
0:48 attending by computer and others who may
0:50 be attending by phone
0:52 for all of you our meeting attendees
0:56 speak clearly and pause frequently
0:58 state your name each time before
1:00 speaking
1:01 mute your microphone when you're not
1:03 speaking
1:04 and if you're having any technical
1:05 issues please try joining the meeting
1:07 using a different device such as a
1:09 smartphone or a tablet
1:11 or use the call and information in the
1:13 meeting invite to call in to the meeting
1:17 having said that
1:18 we will begin with attendance
1:21 valerie will you please call the role
1:24 yes
1:25 commissioner milligan
1:28 here
1:29 commissioner lewis
1:32 here
1:33 commissioner monahan
1:35 here
1:37 commissioner voice
1:39 here
1:40 commissioner kim
1:44 and commissioner bader has an execute
1:46 absence chair you have a quorum
1:49 excellent thank you valerie and tonight
1:50 is valerie's first official
1:53 meeting as far as staff liaison tonight
1:56 we're excited to have valerie as part of
1:58 our our small family
2:01 i'm going to move on to the second part
2:02 of the agenda which is approval of the
2:04 meeting minutes from our last meeting on
2:06 may 12th
2:07 are there any corrections to those
2:09 minutes provided in the agenda packet
2:11 that you all have received
2:18 hearing none the minutes are approved
2:23 now we move on to our third
2:26 part of the agenda which is public
2:27 comment
2:29 as everybody here is fully aware this is
2:32 an important part of the process
2:34 which also um factors into the decisions
2:37 we make here at the planning policy
2:39 commission
2:40 so members of the public if you are
2:42 joining us and wish to make a public
2:44 comment
2:45 um what we're looking for is you to
2:47 please raise your virtual hand
2:50 and to do this
2:52 please press
2:54 star 3 on your phone
2:56 or if you are joined by a computer or
2:58 smartphone
2:59 look for a hand icon
3:01 it could vary by device
3:04 one option may be go to the participant
3:06 panel and choose the raised i the raise
3:08 hand icon in the lower right hand corner
3:11 and it may also be located under the
3:13 reactions menu or more menu
3:17 and what we're looking for tonight
3:19 general public comment the public
3:22 hearing has closed so i do ask anyone
3:24 who is participating tonight in public
3:26 comment to please
3:28 uh recognize that that portion is closed
3:30 i will kindly remind you if you begin to
3:32 veer into
3:34 comments on tonight's deliberations
3:37 this is general comments for the
3:39 planning policy commission
3:42 when recognized i ask that you please
3:45 unmute your microphone
3:46 state your name
3:48 speak clearly
3:49 and please limit your comments to five
3:51 minutes or less
3:53 and then when you're done please mute
3:55 your microphone
3:56 for some reason if you do not respond
3:58 after your name or your phone number is
4:00 called
4:01 or your connection is lost the meeting
4:03 will need to proceed
4:04 you are encouraged to rejoin the meeting
4:07 if you are able
4:09 valerie
4:10 do we have anybody signed up for public
4:12 comment this evening
4:18 i do not see any raised hands
4:22 i see um susan deville's hand is raised
4:26 oh one second susan
4:29 [Music]
4:34 susan you're now a panelist you can
4:35 unmute and turn your camera on
4:38 hello
4:41 and i think my videos on
4:45 okay good hi everybody good to see you
4:47 all
4:48 i'm a little confused so i'm gonna do my
4:50 best and you can tell me
4:52 if i'm veering off
4:54 um thank you for allowing the public to
4:57 speak
4:58 i want to talk about something that made
5:01 me addressing tonight it's concerning
5:03 the white board
5:05 and um i have an ask of everyone
5:10 and
5:11 it does pertain to this evening's
5:12 discussion so i'll put it out there
5:16 currently many items have been added to
5:18 the white board
5:19 especially during the natural
5:20 environment section without public
5:22 review or clarification
5:24 and i was hoping sometime this evening
5:28 that the items that were moved to the
5:29 white board for this particular segment
5:31 could be reviewed
5:32 if you feel it it's important to do that
5:35 fellow commissioners or yeah i feel like
5:37 i'm a commissioner at this point
5:39 um excuse me for doing that
5:42 and and
5:43 my other ask is going forward before
5:46 final approval of the first draft could
5:48 the whiteboard items for that particular
5:49 section maybe be listed
5:53 the other item that i wanted to ask
5:57 was
6:01 could
6:03 clarify if testing is going to be done
6:05 for the procedures uses
6:09 that are being discussed tonight
6:11 meaning i think
6:13 um before the second draft occurs
6:18 and if you all agree
6:20 will there be
6:24 application test done
6:26 to go over this process
6:29 so that we can see if it's clear concise
6:31 and easy to read
6:33 which is what our objectives are
6:35 i think as we've gone through this
6:37 process
6:38 we could look at little tiny things but
6:40 we don't know how the actual process is
6:42 going to
6:43 roll out and i'm hoping that the links
6:45 will be live by the time we review
6:48 second
6:50 draft and if someone could clarify that
6:52 publicly i would appreciate it if these
6:54 can't be followed up today
6:56 um maybe we could do it in the future
6:59 thanks you guys for listening bye
7:12 are there any other folks that would
7:13 like to speak
7:20 does not look like there's anyone else
7:29 thank you valerie
7:33 continuation of public hearing for title
7:35 18 zoning and uses updates
7:38 so this is the meat of our agenda
7:40 tonight
7:42 and we're going to be deliberating the
7:43 portion of the public hearing from our
7:45 last meeting
7:46 i'm hoping that most of your clarifying
7:48 questions have already been answered
7:50 whether from the last meeting or through
7:51 email to staff
7:53 and instead looking for policy questions
7:56 tonight
7:57 and then obviously getting to talk about
7:59 it amongst ourselves
8:01 um towards the end
8:03 of each presentation
8:07 as we did on may 12th we're going to
8:08 start with the permitted uses and
8:09 specified use standards and then move to
8:12 form and intensity and conclude with
8:14 subdivisions
8:16 we're going to deliberate each topic
8:18 after they're presented and kristin is
8:20 our first presenter this evening so
8:23 miss leeson please take it away
8:34 oops
8:36 there we go all right you all can see me
8:40 or the presentation at least
8:42 yes okay great thank you
8:45 sorry i'm fixing my other screen so i
8:47 can actually see you okay there we go so
8:50 yes tonight we are doing deliberations
8:52 on title 18 bit three
8:55 uh zoning permitted uses specified use
8:57 standards form and intensity and
8:59 subdivisions however
9:01 lucy and i who will be talking about
9:02 this section are only talking about the
9:04 first four zoning permitted uses form
9:06 and intensity and specified use
9:08 standards because they are so
9:10 intertwined
9:11 so i'm going to start with zone uh
9:14 actually here's how they are intertwined
9:16 and we have zones as a reminder um what
9:19 is the purpose of each zone
9:21 what are standards that go across the
9:22 zones then we have permitted uses
9:25 what uses can go in what zones and what
9:27 zones will allow what uses
9:29 foreman intensity what do they look like
9:31 how high can the buildings be how close
9:32 can they be to the sidewalk how dense
9:35 and then specified use standards which
9:37 are standards that are specific to
9:38 actual uses they don't go across zones
9:41 it's a specific use
9:43 so it's it's it's a fine line no it can
9:46 be a little confusing but um that's what
9:48 that's how we divided it up so as a
9:50 reminder we consolidated five existing
9:53 zones we did imc 1806 zoning districts
9:57 1807 development and design standards uh
10:00 19 a and b 19a central standards chapter
10:03 4 specifically and then 19 b and c which
10:06 are the squad highlands and talus
10:08 replacement regulations
10:11 i want to talk about the first two
10:12 zoning and permitted uses i'm going to
10:14 combine those and just hit some of the
10:16 highlights again just as a reminder for
10:18 those who may not been here last time
10:20 the zoning changes highlights we
10:23 did not change zoning descriptions at
10:26 all
10:26 however there were no descriptions that
10:29 were included in the esco highlands and
10:31 talus replacement regulations so we
10:34 added descriptions for those we added
10:36 clarity for allowed uses in each of them
10:40 the retail zone was removed because we
10:42 don't have it anymore once we did
10:44 central listify the retail zone went
10:45 away most of it became mixed use
10:48 and we relocated several footnotes and
10:50 sections from permitted uses and
10:54 form an intensity
10:55 to zones
10:57 so for example permitted uses
10:59 there were several footnotes underneath
11:01 on each page and it might under there
11:03 have a description for
11:06 oh now i'm going to make the adus and
11:08 how those are supposed to work but that
11:09 should really be in zones or there was
11:12 this description about how if you are
11:15 located in the cbd and on front street
11:16 then you had to have ground floor
11:19 commercial and here's what it had to
11:20 look like so that would go into zones or
11:23 specified use sums
11:26 so the highlights for the changes in
11:27 permitted uses was that we combined four
11:30 different use tables out of four
11:31 different chapters and
11:33 uh the difficulty here was that some
11:34 uses that are actually the same use had
11:36 different names so it may look like some
11:39 uses were removed from his own but
11:40 really weren't the name just changed
11:42 because they're actually the same thing
11:44 we removed the levels of reviews so if
11:46 it used to say in their
11:48 p1 for level one review p3 for pay level
11:52 3 review permitted level 3 review and we
11:55 review remove that and just put in p's
11:57 to say it's permitted
11:59 we did not intentionally um add or
12:02 remove any uses from zones so
12:05 admittedly that's something that we need
12:06 to go back and just double check because
12:08 four different tables four different
12:09 names we need to check it again i got
12:11 the two exceptions as i mentioned last
12:12 time we did remove bike stations because
12:14 the way that the bike share programs
12:16 work now you no longer need the big
12:18 stations that you used to have to have
12:20 so we removed that and the state doesn't
12:22 do emissions testing anymore so we
12:24 removed the emissions testing
12:26 we also removed the individual retail
12:29 uses we kept retail as a broad category
12:33 and we're going to rely on the debt
12:34 we're getting we're going to improve
12:36 that
12:36 sorry of stuttering improve the
12:38 definition of retail
12:40 so that we can
12:42 have criteria for what meets retail but
12:45 the retail uses change so often and
12:47 things come and go and
12:49 it just evolves and we can't possibly
12:51 keep continue to keep a list of every
12:53 retail use and lastly we move footnotes
12:57 as i mentioned before some of the
12:58 footnotes to either reference and notes
13:00 on the right-hand side of the table so
13:02 that you know where to go to look for
13:03 special standards
13:05 or we moved it to zones or special use
13:07 standards and then referred to it
13:11 some of the comments that were made
13:12 there weren't any policy questions that
13:14 we had associated with these and some of
13:15 the things that came up
13:17 were to
13:18 ensure consistency in
13:20 language between
13:22 what was there and what is now fun i
13:24 know mineral resources came up so that's
13:26 that's one that we need to re-look at
13:28 remove
13:30 replication in tables in the table
13:32 sometimes it was listed in three
13:33 different places we need to fix that
13:35 make sure it's in one place or just make
13:37 sure it's clear
13:38 ensure all the references are included
13:40 so all the references may not be there
13:42 yet so once this is done we need to go
13:44 back and make sure that all references
13:45 to all different sections of the code
13:47 are included we need to cross check and
13:49 verify permitted uses consistency so as
13:52 i mentioned four tables we just need to
13:53 make sure that we didn't inadvertently
13:55 delete something
13:57 or add something and we um you all it
13:59 came up several times to confirm
14:01 lakeside properties and zoning so for
14:02 the fun of it i put a map together
14:04 hopefully this will help you all
14:06 so this is lakeside
14:08 everything that you see in the orange
14:10 the stripes and the gray is currently
14:11 owned by lakeside they used to own a big
14:14 parcel over here but they sold it and
14:15 it's now view apartments
14:17 so the underlying zoning for most of the
14:20 entire thing is actually mineral
14:22 resources
14:24 and this part is still mineral resources
14:26 in accordance with the development
14:27 agreement this part is an urban village
14:30 lakeside overlay which is where where
14:32 they are anticipated to do their more
14:34 urban development this parcel down here
14:37 is zoned intensive commercial
14:39 and there's a house here and there are
14:41 two buildings here where they do
14:44 industrial uses they i think um i think
14:47 that might be where they do some of
14:48 their gravel operations
14:50 they were annexed to the city it is
14:52 state law that we were required to allow
14:54 to con
14:56 allow them to continue these uses so
14:58 that ordinance was adopted in 1999
15:01 and then in hello 2012 we did the
15:04 development agreement and that is how
15:06 this wound up looking like this so i
15:08 think there was some confusion and kind
15:10 of how that works so hopefully that
15:12 helps clear it up and that is all i have
15:17 for me
15:18 so lucy i don't know lucy's next i don't
15:20 know if you all are going to talk about
15:22 it now or wait
15:23 um and if you
15:25 and lucy i can certainly keep this
15:26 powerpoint up here if you'd like me to
15:34 uh what staff's opinion should should
15:36 lucy go next on my notes it's it shows
15:39 me breaking down
15:41 moving to deliberation but i know like
15:42 you said these are intertwined
15:46 i don't think there's heavy feelings
15:48 either way just which which way would
15:50 help it flow better i think these are
15:51 short enough my personal opinion um
15:54 these topics they are intertwined and
15:56 they're they're i know that neither one
15:57 of us has a real long presentation so i
15:59 would imagine that you all could just go
16:00 through the whole thing and then
16:01 deliberate
16:03 and then just you do the subdivisions
16:05 separately
16:06 correct correct good
16:10 uh lucy are you ready to present
16:12 sure
16:13 can we
16:14 can't valerie could i have you switch to
16:16 me being a prince presenter
16:19 yes you sound like a robot
16:31 is that better
16:35 not quite
16:40 well unfortunately i can't restart and
16:42 that's all i've got
16:44 okay
16:49 you're now a presenter
16:50 thank you
16:58 sorry that you're gonna get robust boys
17:01 um i'm just gonna step in here would it
17:03 help if we just stopped and deliberated
17:07 um with questions
17:09 because of the technical issues would it
17:11 help lucy if you were to turn off your
17:12 computer and reboot i mean we could do
17:14 it that way because you are coming
17:15 across
17:16 as a robot
17:21 yes that's fun i will um
17:24 start moving back
17:26 okay
17:27 so i guess we'll stick to the original
17:29 script
17:32 i get planning policy commission you're
17:35 looking for
17:36 uh policy questions and deliberations on
17:38 kristen's presentation
17:58 chair you're muted
18:02 takes a village sometimes
18:04 vice chair monahan uh with a question
18:07 yeah hey uh kristen not a policy
18:09 question i'm wondering if you could
18:10 bring us into the belly of the beast and
18:12 describe kind of how this cross
18:14 referencing is going on
18:16 is it like a beautiful mind we've got a
18:18 bunch of papers up in a conference room
18:20 somewhere in city hall i just like a
18:22 little bit of an insight into the
18:23 process because i can only imagine the
18:25 bear that this is to making sure this
18:27 section cross-references this section
18:28 and we're not deleting and
18:30 just a little bit describing the process
18:32 for us
18:33 i appreciate you appreciate that this is
18:36 a bear because it is
18:38 um so we started um by i went through
18:42 every single one of the footnotes that
18:44 was there
18:45 and would talk to i
18:47 kind of sent them to and would talk to
18:50 steven and lucy who were doing the other
18:51 two sections and say hey this is a
18:52 footnote this needs to go in one of your
18:54 sections where does it go and then i'd
18:56 find out where it was and they put it
18:58 there
18:59 and we put the note in the reference
19:02 so that's kind of how it's going but i
19:03 know that we're not done yet because we
19:05 still have revisions so i think what
19:07 we'll have to do
19:08 that's how we've started it and
19:11 a couple of things have come up on there
19:13 and when they say you know we probably
19:14 need to put a reference in there for
19:15 this thing that you know
19:17 that we added
19:18 um or move to this section um
19:22 and i think it's just going to be a
19:23 continuous back and forth and really
19:25 more now it's going to be the other way
19:26 it's going to be looking at the
19:28 zone section and at the specified uses
19:30 section and making sure that we have
19:32 references because i've pulled out all
19:34 the references from the permitted uses
19:35 so now it's we're going to have to work
19:36 backwards the other way
19:39 with a fine tooth comb
19:42 anderson thank you appreciate it
19:48 thank you
19:49 uh commissioner milligan with a comment
19:52 hey uh well first process question i
19:55 think you said
19:56 uh questions and deliberations jump in
20:00 and then we're going over two sections
20:02 i'm sorry about my mic
20:04 zoning and uses and just as an example i
20:07 have about one two three four
20:09 items
20:11 to talk about in these two categories
20:13 should we
20:14 take an item
20:16 and then go back to the end of the line
20:18 and cycle through or should i run
20:21 through all my
20:22 things that i wanted to talk about
20:30 would everybody like to do policy
20:32 questions first and then do a
20:34 deliberation
20:38 you have to ask a yes or no question or
20:40 else we can't answer
20:43 would everybody like to do that
20:46 that's a yes or no
20:48 i'm getting a big thumbs up so we'll do
20:50 questions first
20:51 questions first okay um
20:56 well i don't have any questions so just
20:58 have comments okay
21:00 bye commissioner lewis
21:04 thank you chair boyce all right
21:07 questions on zoning um policy questions
21:10 and i'm really excited to see what
21:11 knight brings to the table i love a four
21:13 point process
21:15 can you remind me first of all i i'm
21:17 gonna add in a comment and tell you
21:18 kristin that i do really enjoy our
21:20 permitted use table much better than
21:23 when i used it before user experience so
21:25 far
21:26 um i appreciate it better can you remind
21:29 me on daycare operations and dry
21:31 cleaning and pressing shops have no
21:33 permitted uses in the table and have
21:35 notes to other places in the imc can you
21:37 remind me for the user experience how
21:40 that's going to work is it going to be
21:42 like a drop link is it going to be
21:46 once we're done we get it into code
21:48 publishing we will have links
21:50 in there okay we'll also still have the
21:52 reference so if anybody just wants to go
21:54 look it up they can but we will have
21:56 links thank you um my other policy
22:00 question is
22:01 um on um draft part 4 zoning 18.400
22:06 and i'm looking at page six of 30. um i
22:10 might i'm going to read out what the
22:11 point is it's d2 but it's to encourage
22:14 the reuse and remodeling rather than the
22:16 demolition of historic buildings to
22:18 provide alternative housing
22:19 opportunities and i want to call out
22:21 this policy because it's incredibly
22:23 important and we've been working on this
22:24 for so many years my question
22:27 specifically is about the use of the
22:29 words historic building and alternate
22:32 housing are those defined
22:36 we've
22:37 i've felt good i mean you um
22:40 we were just looking at that and in a
22:42 section we're working out now realize
22:44 that historic structure is not defined
22:46 technically
22:47 uh if you're a landmark you have to be
22:49 40 years old or older
22:52 that may wind at me i don't know what
22:54 the definite will be definition will be
22:56 but if you're looking at landmarks
22:57 that's what it is
22:58 okay
22:59 i just jumped out to me is when we talk
23:01 a lot about aging in place and the
23:03 different
23:04 crossover policy to code this stood out
23:07 to me as a really important one and i
23:09 just wanted to make sure that we were
23:10 really putting in our intent in a way to
23:13 be able to get that meaningful result
23:16 and i you know it's a good example of
23:18 where sometimes our language is not
23:19 necessarily ambiguous but it also
23:21 doesn't maybe get us to where we want it
23:23 to be so um i was just curious about
23:26 those definitions and how we were going
23:27 to kind of
23:28 frame that with the word historic right
23:30 i think it can be a little bit loaded um
23:33 and so i was trying to figure out how we
23:35 were going to do about that so thank you
23:36 for putting a flag in that for me yeah
23:39 did you have a question about alternate
23:40 you had something about alternate
23:44 it's for alternate oh and for alternate
23:46 housing opportunities i didn't know if
23:48 the word alternate housing was also if
23:50 that term was going to be defined if it
23:52 was the way that we were going to be
23:53 talking about
23:54 um you know maybe there was definitions
23:56 that we're going to be talking about
23:57 adus or you know what i mean
23:59 um how to be able to take an existing
24:01 property um single-family home and be
24:03 able to use it a different um housing
24:05 opportunity way you know what i mean so
24:06 that's what was a second uh definition
24:09 in that point too that i thought had
24:11 some interesting
24:12 give
24:15 so yeah i don't think i'll turn it out
24:16 and look we're looking way far ahead and
24:18 i don't think alternate housing will be
24:20 defined but i think we'll say here are
24:22 forms of alternate hat and then you have
24:23 all the different definitions of what
24:25 those are
24:26 i like that thank you you're welcome
24:40 all right commissioner milligan
24:42 deliberation time
24:48 i don't even have to put it in the queue
24:50 thank you chair um commissioner nina
24:53 milligan here
24:54 uh thank you hey i wanted to start this
24:56 evening with some general comments
24:59 that i i hope will help explain my
25:02 specific comments and first of all i
25:04 want to thank the staff again we don't
25:06 do that and i don't do that enough
25:08 we're doing a fabulous job and and this
25:10 is a
25:15 and that and i know that my
25:17 contributions are quite limit
25:19 uh i depend on the fabulous comments
25:21 that the
25:26 i'm not even trying to
25:31 amplify their voices because their
25:32 voices are so clear and capable i really
25:35 appreciate all the contributions of the
25:36 puppet
25:38 and i just want to say that in the
25:40 comments that i make tonight um and
25:42 really any night and i don't have a pen
25:44 anymore but that's okay
25:47 they're just a few
25:48 that i think are particularly of
25:50 interest to me and that i've had more
25:52 experience in that
25:54 excuse me mr milligan
25:56 yes would you mind turning off your
25:58 camera because you keep cutting out and
26:00 i'm wondering if it might help
26:02 yeah maybe
26:04 um and tell me again kristen if it does
26:06 cut out and i'll just um
26:08 uh to get rid of this headset i was
26:09 hoping it was an improvement is this
26:11 working okay it is you haven't cut out
26:13 since you did that thank you okay
26:15 excellent let's do it this way then okay
26:18 so my point was that um
26:21 comments are focused on a few things i'm
26:23 depending on the capable staff and the
26:25 public to cover
26:27 a lot of things that's just way too much
26:28 for one commissioner
26:31 but in the zoning and uses category
26:35 the best actor is now what i wanted to
26:37 talk about
26:38 has to do with i'm following up on joy's
26:40 comment earlier about reuse and
26:42 remodeling to limit
26:45 the demolition of properties that's the
26:47 first thing i want to talk about and
26:48 that is compatible with
26:50 preserving our neighborhood character i
26:53 had wondered why
26:55 any of the rest of the sentences there
26:57 why
26:58 just historic properties if one of our
27:02 objectives is to preserve neighborhood
27:04 character and to be
27:06 sustainable and a low low waste
27:09 community why would we why wouldn't we
27:13 encourage the reuse and remodeling
27:15 rather than the demolition of properties
27:16 in general so i just wanted to add that
27:20 reflection back on that comment and then
27:24 i uh in
27:27 the way that article two and article
27:30 three relate to one another when you go
27:32 into the standards in article 3 and i
27:34 brought this up last meeting
27:37 the standards referred to
27:43 housing that are residential that
27:45 doesn't have an architecture review or
27:48 other residential standards you know
27:50 like the like old town or the urban
27:52 villages
27:54 but it focuses on
27:56 duplexes cluster multifamily and the
28:00 reason i asked this question last time
28:02 is that i thought why does it not apply
28:04 why do not these standards apply to
28:06 single family
28:08 zones
28:09 and single family in general when we're
28:11 talking about preserving neighborhood
28:13 character when we're talking about
28:14 encouraging reuse and remodeling
28:17 the
28:19 the standards below in article 3 could
28:21 apply
28:23 all residential zones and i'd throw that
28:26 out there as kind of a challenge you
28:27 guys can
28:28 can push on that
28:30 it's an alignment with goal 8 of the
28:32 council to retain charm and distinctive
28:35 character there are a number of items in
28:38 article 3
28:40 that are helpful even in our single
28:42 family zones so if you guys could look
28:44 at that and check me on that and see if
28:46 i'm i'm going the right way
28:48 and uh chair voice um that's those are
28:51 all the comments i have about the zoning
28:52 section do you want me to continue into
28:54 uses or do you want me to wait and see
28:55 if somebody else wants to talk about
28:56 zoning
28:58 and i think we'll just stick with
29:00 continuing on and then we'll have uh
29:02 we'll bring you back
29:04 oh good good yeah and this is good
29:05 because i can put these things out and
29:07 my fellow commissioners can push back on
29:10 this is kind of a question but i i or
29:13 maybe i'm just proofreading under uses
29:16 uh live work units um especially
29:18 directing this to lucy um i wasn't sure
29:21 if this was correct because
29:26 live work units are allowed in the urban
29:29 village single not in the single family
29:32 they're they're allowed along park drive
29:35 but when i look at a zoning map which we
29:38 don't we weren't given a new zoning map
29:40 the only zoning map i have is the one
29:41 that's on the website
29:44 so i need some help on this
29:46 to make sure that the live work units
29:49 especially in izakawa highlands are
29:51 still allowed
29:53 so i'll throw that out there the next
29:55 thing that i want to talk about is um
29:58 and i want to thank
30:00 ann for
30:01 sending in
30:03 comprehensive plan
30:06 goals
30:07 for us
30:08 when we are talking about
30:13 the oh god no i don't have it in front
30:14 of me but um
30:16 land use n301
30:20 call for commercial uses or small scale
30:25 god i wish i could read that to you
30:27 right now
30:28 in our residential when you look at the
30:31 use table
30:32 a couple uses like deli and small scale
30:34 grocers and cafes would satisfy
30:37 land use and 3 and land use 0-1
30:45 again push back people but
30:47 that's what i was thinking might satisfy
30:50 that comprehensive plan goal
30:53 and then the last thing in use is
30:56 self-storage
30:57 and the reason i'm bringing this back up
31:00 is because there has been such a
31:02 controversy and this is an opportunity
31:03 for us to align our our goals with
31:07 the use table
31:09 and
31:11 just uh summarizing and catching just
31:14 just high points of very in-depth
31:16 conversations that this commission has
31:17 had about self-storage in the past that
31:20 self-storage does not contribute to the
31:22 vibrancy of a neighborhood it doesn't
31:23 contribute jobs it doesn't help with the
31:25 economy
31:26 and yet we have them allowed in
31:30 mixed use along all the eastern side of
31:32 gilman and in
31:34 urban villages in the commercial retail
31:36 and in the mixed-use retail sections
31:39 and
31:40 if what we're trying to build is a
31:42 vibrant
31:44 community to allow self-storage to be in
31:47 these areas i think is contrary to our
31:52 comprehensive goals comprehensive plan
31:54 goals
31:57 one idea if you do allow them maybe you
32:00 could put a used standard that the
32:02 ground floor has to be a retail use like
32:05 we do sometimes in uh for other um
32:10 other
32:12 uses or other um oh god no i can't even
32:15 think of the words but anyway that would
32:16 be one way of solving it
32:18 i think the ideal way is to limit the
32:20 areas where it is allowed in the city of
32:22 issaquah if you aren't if we can't do
32:25 that then let's add a standard that at
32:29 least
32:30 ground floor
32:31 is a retail or commercial use
32:35 that's it chair voice thank you very
32:37 much for letting me
32:39 go on that's my biggest section
32:44 thank you commissioner milligan
32:46 fantastic comments particularly liked
32:49 the last comment so
32:51 now we're going to move on to vice chair
32:53 monahan
32:56 joy were you in front of me
32:59 please go right ahead i don't mind going
33:01 after
33:02 okay i'm happy to go second um
33:05 yeah i guess um i did agree with the
33:07 last comment on self storage um and i
33:10 i'm more than happy to be shouted down
33:12 by my fellow commissioners but
33:14 the way i'm viewing
33:16 my role tonight um and sort of
33:18 throughout this process
33:20 is a little bit more limited in that um
33:23 you know we're consolidating as i said
33:25 before i compare this to beautiful mind
33:27 like so much is going into just
33:30 consolidating
33:32 and harmonizing that that role is enough
33:35 at this point and although i think there
33:37 are very good policy discussions we can
33:40 have on various aspects of the code i
33:42 see that somewhat outside the scope of
33:44 what we're doing here today
33:46 instead it's you know to the extent
33:47 there are
33:48 contradictions that need to be addressed
33:50 which i think happens in the subdivision
33:52 section later on right there we need to
33:54 call a ball or a strike okay which one
33:56 are we going to do because you know this
33:57 code says hey this code says b which one
33:59 are we going to do going forward i think
34:01 in these sections where
34:03 and i i fully trust staff i think you're
34:05 gonna do it like they both say a but
34:07 they say a a little bit differently so
34:09 we're gonna try to make it sound a in
34:11 both language
34:12 peace like that's fine let's check the
34:14 box and then once we get this thing done
34:17 and this
34:18 this plane landed then we can start
34:20 kicking the tires and and making changes
34:22 here and there so at least i see this as
34:25 if there is a contradiction we obviously
34:27 need to discuss it and we need to give
34:28 guidance to the staff of okay we want a
34:30 not b or b not a but at least in
34:33 sections where the goal is just a
34:34 consolidation and essentially a
34:36 restatement of everything that's in
34:38 codes everywhere
34:40 again i see my role a little bit more
34:41 limited in just making sure that i
34:43 understand the process i understand how
34:45 we're identifying i think we called it a
34:47 gaps analysis
34:48 you know where there are gaps or where
34:49 there are contradictions and then where
34:51 there are those gaps or there are those
34:52 contradictions i'm more than happy to
34:54 weigh in on my
34:56 you know
34:57 no expert opinion
34:59 i'm happy to provide that um but at
35:01 least at this point
35:03 i'm not going i don't feel comfortable
35:05 enough making policy judgments on
35:07 sections that you know i can read the
35:09 words but i really don't understand the
35:10 issues because we really haven't had the
35:12 time uh to really dive into them so that
35:15 that's at least how i'm viewing uh my
35:17 role at least for the first i believe
35:18 four sections that really just have a
35:20 consolidation aspect to it
35:22 thank you
35:26 thank you
35:27 and apologies commissioner lewis like i
35:29 missed you
35:31 but now my worry is chair voice
35:34 commissioner joy lewis here um
35:36 before i get to my comments um on what
35:39 we're looking at right now i do want to
35:40 make two other comments and uh we had a
35:42 previous susan made a comment during
35:44 public
35:45 discussion uh about the white board and
35:47 i do want to address that because i
35:48 think that it goes to nina's point about
35:50 storage and that is to say that um i
35:52 know that staff is making excellent
35:54 notes about comments that we're making
35:56 and i know i've requested and staff has
35:58 confirmed that we will be having a
35:59 meeting to discuss the whiteboard uh i
36:02 think we've there's been a decision that
36:03 we're not going to do it at every single
36:05 bucket we're going to go through our
36:06 first draft we're going to make some
36:08 some good headway and it's my
36:10 understanding that we're going to come
36:11 back and and we will have a meeting with
36:13 public comments about the white board so
36:15 to let people know that that is coming
36:17 it's just not what we're doing tonight
36:19 and nina's comments are right on and i
36:20 think it's very apt when we do talk
36:23 about the white board to talk about time
36:24 frames right being able to say when do
36:27 we want this to be addressed by staff we
36:28 get that it's not part of this current
36:30 title 18 update but where should it
36:32 where should we advise that fall on the
36:34 scale of things
36:36 and that's where i think that kind of
36:37 where storage be allowed is a great
36:39 discussion for that conversation um i
36:42 really appreciate
36:44 matt's comments um cheerleading tonight
36:46 because when he says it i think a lot of
36:48 us go yes right we see this incredible
36:50 amount of work and we see that the the
36:51 lift that's happening but i do think
36:53 there's a little bit more than
36:55 harmonizing that's happening right now
36:56 we want to be really talking about
36:59 how um policy continuity is happening in
37:01 our code and we really want to be
37:03 talking about a modernization that's
37:04 happening a lot of these sections have
37:06 not been looked at for decades they've
37:09 been ported over and what we want to
37:10 make sure that is that we're not
37:12 limiting ourselves uh
37:14 right now when we do have the
37:15 opportunity to do it because this title
37:17 18 lift is not going to happen every
37:19 single year and typically how ppc
37:22 operates is to look at very finite
37:24 sections and chunks of code
37:26 and so to be able to have this
37:28 overarching view is tremendously
37:30 important
37:31 and i'm going to segue that into some
37:33 comments i have about article six for
37:35 community resources and zones um i think
37:39 this section here is page 18 of 30 for
37:42 those that are following a packet of
37:44 1840 zones
37:46 um right now we have language about
37:48 conservancy and recreation and i think
37:50 that this is an opportunity to be adding
37:52 and strengthening language about the
37:53 production of chemicals being able to
37:56 align our policies to the climate action
37:58 plan
37:59 and to really be talking about larger
38:01 language goals about reducing our impact
38:03 on the environment
38:05 right here is where we are able to do
38:08 that where we're able to put that
38:09 language in i really think that it's
38:11 missing right now from updates that we
38:13 need to have
38:14 and i would hope
38:16 that we would come together as a
38:17 commission and say that these sections
38:19 can be strengthened that a little bit
38:21 more can be done um in these two um
38:23 eighteen four hundred um point one eight
38:26 zero as well as um eighteen four hundred
38:28 point one seven zero uh to really be
38:30 able to tie in some of the new policies
38:33 that we've all
38:34 been working so hard on
38:36 many boards and commissions
38:37 i also think that there's an opportunity
38:40 to be
38:42 re-examining some of the language that
38:43 we use um
38:45 i'm looking about maintenance of land
38:47 vacant and uninhibited commercial
38:49 properties may be maintained to remove
38:51 litter garbage and yard waste and
38:52 control noxious and destructive plants i
38:54 can think of a lot of places right now
38:56 that are within city control where that
38:58 is not happening and we need to think
38:59 about the accountability that we have of
39:01 our partners in the community and also
39:02 of the city and so we need to be
39:04 thinking about how we apply the code to
39:06 ourselves and being able to hold the
39:08 administration to a high standard
39:12 and there's a couple places in this
39:14 section where we talk about what we
39:16 expect but are we really doing it for
39:18 ourselves i think it's incredibly
39:19 important that we have language that
39:22 really holds ourselves to the same
39:25 standards similar to the way that we
39:26 talked about right away and being able
39:28 to have
39:29 similar standards of road maintenance i
39:31 think is
39:32 something that we can have kind of
39:33 across the board as well
39:36 you know in some places i will say that
39:38 we have some language issues
39:40 i look at multi-family standards for
39:42 residential zones 0.6 tells us to ensure
39:45 a multi-family is a desirable component
39:47 of mixed-use development and must be
39:49 encouraged and i can't tell you how many
39:51 times i've been frustrated by words like
39:53 must be encouraged
39:56 i think that it leaves a lot of
39:57 ambiguity and i really hope that we're
39:59 able to fine-tune some of these things
40:02 because here in our zones is where we
40:04 really have the teeth and we're able to
40:06 say what our expectations are
40:08 in different places with the city so
40:10 um i i really do want to echo the
40:13 comments um that commissioner monahan
40:15 made this this is a huge improvement to
40:18 what we had uh and i do think that there
40:20 are
40:21 a lot of amazing things that we can
40:23 carry on and i look forward to seeing
40:24 some of the fine-tooth
40:26 happenings as we go on to the next draft
40:28 thanks everyone
40:33 thank you commissioner lewis
40:36 uh commissioner milligan
40:40 thank you looked like we'd come around
40:42 the circle again i want to make a couple
40:44 clarifying comments about the things i
40:46 said before and thank my fellow
40:47 commissioners for their comments as well
40:49 uh what i was
40:52 pointing to in article three about
40:53 standards is that we have all these
40:55 design standards uh written in there for
40:59 the benefit of the communities that
41:00 don't the neighborhoods that don't have
41:02 design standards and yet they only apply
41:04 to multi-family or duplexes and the
41:08 objective is
41:10 much of our objectives is to maintain
41:12 distinctive character in our
41:14 neighborhoods and it's just inconsistent
41:16 i think it is a housekeeping matter
41:20 address this in a way that
41:24 doesn't just apply a standard to a very
41:27 unique
41:28 set of residential so for instance where
41:31 it's 18
41:32 point
41:37 duplex and attached single-family house
41:39 standard townhouse standards these
41:40 standards could apply to
41:43 all residential it could just be
41:45 residential standards i think most of
41:47 these would apply and they um they refer
41:49 to things like resembling the character
41:51 style and modulation of a single family
41:54 unit you know resembling and being
41:56 consistent with the time period in which
41:58 majority of the homes in the surrounding
42:00 neighborhood were built well wouldn't
42:01 this be important in a place like south
42:03 cover on squawk mountain where
42:06 there is a neighborhood character a
42:07 distinctive neighborhood character and
42:09 you know this phrase from other parts of
42:11 our objectives and goals
42:13 why do we only apply this to duplexes
42:17 and townhouses
42:18 so i come back to this as a
42:21 housekeeping matter and then i
42:25 i hate it when people refer to
42:28 something with an acronym or with a
42:30 letter and a number so i'm going to read
42:32 to you
42:32 the reason why i was talking about
42:35 uses namely delis or small-scale
42:38 groceries and cafes
42:41 to allow them in some way in residential
42:46 zones because l-u-n-3
42:49 says allow for neighborhood hubs and
42:52 mixed-use developments containing
42:53 small-scale commercial retail and office
42:57 uses in residential areas that are
43:00 intended to serve the neighborhood
43:02 residents
43:03 this is in our in our comprehensive plan
43:05 but it's not in the table that's why i
43:08 brought it up not to change things but
43:09 just what we're trying to do is
43:12 implement the
43:13 comprehensive plan in the table and the
43:15 other one was
43:17 land youth policy
43:19 zero one which says encourage a
43:21 well-distributed system of commercial
43:23 uses that serve the needs of residential
43:25 neighborhoods these aren't putting in a
43:27 big grocery store somewhere
43:30 serve the needs of residential
43:32 neighborhoods workplaces and the greater
43:34 isaqah community and are more
43:37 easily accessible via non-motorized
43:40 travel this is one of the things that's
43:42 been frustrating for our satellite
43:43 neighborhoods that were created during
43:45 car dependent land uses uh squawk
43:48 mountain
43:50 code you know they're stranded they they
43:52 don't really get to do anything unless
43:53 they get in their car and use the land
43:56 use table doesn't allow for the
43:57 implementation of these particularly
43:59 these two policies in our comprehensive
44:01 plan so i just wanted to um flesh that
44:04 out a little better than i did at first
44:07 thank you chairvoice
44:14 thank you commissioner
44:18 commissioner lewis
44:22 thank you chairvoice uh since i'm sure
44:24 staff is tallying for our report back to
44:27 council i just want to um second the
44:29 comments that um deny i just made i
44:31 think she uh did an elegant eloquent job
44:34 stating them so i won't restate them but
44:36 i just want to voice my approval with
44:38 what she said thank you
44:46 is there anyone who else would like to
44:48 speak
44:49 um on this particular topic
44:55 i'll just briefly mentioned the
44:56 commissioners all of them courses is a
44:58 fantastic group i
45:00 being honest i have always come at this
45:02 more of the mindset is vice chair
45:04 monahan that's a big cleanup operation
45:06 and it is a heavy lift and i understand
45:08 that staff is
45:10 just the timetable alone to have a year
45:14 is difficult it's a difficult
45:15 undertaking however
45:17 commissioner milligan and commissioner
45:19 lewis being so persuasive as they are i
45:21 do think whenever there's something
45:23 conflict conflicting which often there
45:25 is when these things are consolidated it
45:28 is an opportunity and everything that
45:30 the two of them have mentioned tonight i
45:31 think are opportunities to
45:33 improve the code but i also again look
45:37 at this more of a cleanup operation and
45:39 i don't want to get too bogged down on
45:41 complete and different policy changes i
45:42 know some of the
45:44 feedback we've gotten for the public
45:47 who sometimes question whether or not we
45:48 read these things which we do
45:51 sometimes you're questioning um why
45:52 we're not going much more drastic much
45:55 more heavy-handed you know implementing
45:57 things
45:58 as i'm sure everybody would want to see
46:01 but again that's not the view that i've
46:03 ever taken as far as what we've been
46:05 tasked with doing uh there are some out
46:08 goals that the council has asked us to
46:10 look at
46:11 but uh to matt's point and again i agree
46:15 we kind of need to land the plane
46:17 then we can start kicking tires and
46:19 again i'm not someone who's looking for
46:21 a perfect draft i'm looking for a good
46:24 draft a great draft and the opportunity
46:26 to make amendments uh once a year
46:28 but i do think like i said as far as
46:30 commissioner lewis and commissioner
46:31 milligan
46:33 everything they made were i don't think
46:35 those are heavy lifts and again whenever
46:37 it's conflicting i think we should take
46:38 the opportunity
46:44 would anybody else like to comment on
46:46 this
46:48 this part of this evening's agenda
46:54 staff have you gotten what you needed
47:01 yes i think i have thank you
47:04 thank you
47:06 and i see that we have uh ms sloman has
47:08 returned so i'm sure she's ready to go
47:11 with her presentation so
47:13 i blamed mitchell monahan
47:16 who wanted a technical he said every
47:18 meeting needs a technical
47:20 blip and my computer decided to do a
47:23 major upgrade so um thank you now
47:27 um welcome good
47:29 uh i'm relieved um
47:32 so i um am sharing my screen uh can you
47:36 see it
47:39 happy to hear i don't sound like a robot
47:41 anymore
47:42 okay um i'm taking over for the next uh
47:45 two groups i'll go through form and
47:47 intensity and then let me know if you
47:48 want to discuss there or if i should go
47:51 through
47:53 both groups and then we discuss again
47:59 the highlights of the changes made to
48:02 form and intensity we consolidated
48:05 tables from multiple codes
48:08 uh we reconciled standards from the
48:11 former urban villages esqui highlands
48:13 and talus with central issaquah
48:16 where we found similar types of
48:18 standards that were inconsistent we that
48:22 applied to multiple neighborhoods
48:25 the lower standard was adopted
48:28 we added new standards for odd lots
48:31 mostly regarding which
48:33 which side is front side or rear
48:36 and we changed a
48:38 aas processes to
48:42 more narrowly defined deviations
48:46 there weren't a lot of comments on form
48:48 intensity most of them were around edits
48:51 that we will review and incorporate with
48:54 the consolidated draft
48:56 uh the two uh points i would make one is
49:01 that some of the comments related to
49:03 policy changes which as we've discussed
49:07 we're not making unless they're related
49:08 to goals and outcomes
49:10 so for instance
49:12 minimum far requirements in isqua
49:15 highlands or community facilities
49:18 um wouldn't be part of this um process
49:22 that can be a i like to think we're
49:24 assembling the airplane and then we can
49:27 figure out how to fly it um
49:29 so uh i think that's a flying activity
49:34 and
49:35 we but to uh chair voices point we do
49:39 have to reconcile differences and one of
49:41 the examples that came up
49:45 structured parking
49:47 and whether it counts or not towards far
49:50 different definitions in different parts
49:52 of the city and that's one of the things
49:54 that will have to get reconciled and a
49:57 decision made
49:58 about which approach
50:00 is used and that will be a change
50:04 so that's all on form and intensity do
50:07 you want me to continue with
50:09 specified use
50:10 standards yes please
50:15 so the highlights of uh specified youth
50:18 standards um
50:20 1807 is a massive
50:23 chapter in the existing code and we
50:25 broke it into two parts
50:27 some of it went to
50:29 form the zoning chapter and some of it
50:31 went to
50:32 form the specified uses that we're
50:34 talking about now please note this is a
50:37 correction from the memo
50:39 we didn't say zoning there
50:41 i think we said permitted uses
50:45 we are trying to we we added um
50:49 specifics related to some design
50:51 requirements for areas that are outside
50:55 neighborhoods that have architectural
50:57 standards or hoas
51:00 some elements that are in 1807 got moved
51:05 to other chapters which you'll see in
51:07 the final bucket
51:09 residential mix use was
51:12 removed because we felt that it was
51:14 covered by other sections
51:16 and outdoor recreation was focused on
51:19 private facilities it was unclear
51:21 exactly what it applied to so we focused
51:23 it on to private facilities
51:27 in terms of some of the um comments
51:31 one of the things that we
51:34 one of the dc commissioners
51:36 had commented about retail or production
51:40 we do have um
51:42 both are separately identified in the
51:45 permitted uses table but one of the
51:48 questions that came up
51:50 was whether in the specified use
51:53 standards whether those applied to
51:55 retail or production
51:58 it seems to me that it applies to retail
52:00 but we're going to clarify that
52:02 in the consolidated draft
52:05 there was also some questions around
52:07 adult entertainment and what fell into
52:09 it and are there certain activities that
52:12 are missing
52:13 and in researching that what i noticed
52:17 adult entertainment is actually
52:19 regulated not by title 18 but by title 5
52:23 which is entitled licensing and
52:25 operation of adult entertainment
52:26 facilities
52:28 and um the limitations section that i
52:32 think
52:33 brought up these questions about what is
52:35 and isn't covered
52:37 is actually a duplication
52:39 from title v and so should be removed
52:42 from title 18 because it's just not good
52:44 code writing to have things in two
52:46 places
52:48 and title 18 is only supposed to address
52:51 location and citing
52:54 we'll clean that up in the consolidated
52:56 draft
52:58 and then uh another the other comment
53:02 that i wanted to touch on um
53:04 is an example of when we expand uh
53:07 standard city-wide there was a comment
53:10 about automobile service stations and
53:13 intensive convenience being prohibited
53:15 within 300 feet of daycare and or
53:18 schools
53:19 and i think the point um one of the
53:21 things that we struggle with as
53:23 kristin mentioned there are just
53:27 i untold number of footnotes in the code
53:30 right now and what we've tried to do is
53:32 pull the footnotes out and actually make
53:34 them standard so that it's much easier
53:37 to find them to apply them make sure
53:39 we've got them in the right place
53:42 the the genesis for the the standard
53:47 on automobile service stations and
53:49 intensive commercial comes from
53:51 footnotes that apply
53:54 to commercial zones and so we added them
53:59 standards i've put the exact language in
54:02 here some of them apply only to
54:05 certain kinds of schools and not other
54:07 kinds of schools
54:09 i think that what we're trying to do is
54:10 carry these things forward but i think
54:12 if the commission has
54:14 some policy direction about whether um
54:18 this is the right way to handle these
54:19 footnotes that we're pulling out
54:22 it would be great to hear from you
54:26 and that's the end of my presentation
54:33 thank you
54:44 all right commissioners time to do our
54:46 thing
54:59 commissioner milligan
55:02 yeah commissioner lewis beat me to it i
55:05 saw her she i don't have my camera on so
55:07 she couldn't see me at the right did she
55:08 smooth yeah she beat me right under the
55:11 radar commissioner lewis
55:14 thank you chair voice um i want to make
55:16 a quick comment lucy to your last
55:18 question and
55:20 tell you that unfortunately a little bit
55:22 of my answer is predicated on how we see
55:26 it right one thing that we've kind of
55:27 been talking about is user experience
55:30 and so part of it is when it's printed
55:34 out you know obviously it's not going to
55:37 be how people are actually interacting
55:38 in it so being able to see how footnotes
55:41 will look will be a little bit about you
55:44 guys coming back to us and giving us
55:45 that kind of
55:47 um experience
55:49 that kind of testing situation that
55:51 we've all been kind of dancing around
55:53 it's going to be a little bit easier for
55:54 me to comment on it once we kind of see
55:56 this compilation of how am i how am i
55:58 interacting and using the code so i know
55:59 that's not quite the answer that you
56:01 want but at this point i'm going to
56:03 trust you guys to say we're pulling in
56:05 all these things i very much like that
56:07 the permitted use table does not have
56:09 all the footnotes i think that's a huge
56:10 cleanup and i really appreciate that so
56:14 you guys bring us along this next um
56:17 future round right and be able to say
56:19 hey this is now how we are recommending
56:21 we move through and interact in the in
56:23 the code i think it's going to be an
56:24 important component um
56:26 and i want to thank you for your
56:28 presentation because you cleared up a
56:29 lot of questions that i have and i
56:31 really appreciate the um the follow-up
56:33 so thanks
56:39 thank you commissioner lewis
56:40 commissioner milligan
56:42 thank you chair voice this is
56:44 commissioner nina milligan i don't have
56:46 prepared comments here but the first
56:47 thing i need to say is that i think i
56:49 snuck in youth standards into the last
56:51 section i
56:53 sorry for being out of order
56:55 but then i was inspired um to be helpful
56:58 lucy because you know i love this kind
56:59 of thing
57:01 if it is helpful that last part about
57:03 automobile and
57:05 things around schools
57:08 looking at it that direction
57:11 inspired me or i thought of the uh what
57:14 else do we do like this you know like um
57:17 recreational marijuana so um couldn't we
57:21 simplify what sort of things aren't near
57:24 schools and libraries or whatever
57:26 and turn it that way
57:29 and say there's a number of things that
57:30 we do not allow within a 300 foot radius
57:32 of a school and they are these rather
57:35 than the direction that you're going
57:36 maybe that'll make it
57:38 simpler and shorter so that's all thank
57:41 you thank you for the good work
57:48 great suggestions
57:49 uh commissioner monahan
57:52 yeah hi matt monahan i i just want to
57:53 second uh joy's comments on the
57:55 footnotes and similarly express my
57:57 appreciation for their demise so thank
57:59 you and good work
58:06 thank you vice chair
58:09 would anyone like to speak on this topic
58:13 that hasn't or would like to again
58:20 all right well thank you ms sloman
58:22 appreciate the presentation
58:24 thank you all for the discussion
58:26 and i believe minnie is up with our last
58:29 presentation of this evening
58:31 subdivisions
58:34 ms dollywood
58:38 good evening everyone um so i'll quickly
58:41 share my screen once i have
58:45 permission
58:53 looks like
58:56 you should be a presenter now yes see
58:58 that thank you
59:07 see
59:11 so i'm gonna quickly highlight some of
59:13 the changes that we sort of talked about
59:16 at our last meeting um so in your
59:19 proposed draft we've added a design
59:22 standard section um it addresses street
59:26 connections block size requirements
59:29 designing with the topography
59:31 we talked about open space requirements
59:34 um and
59:35 you know
59:36 based on our discussion with the natural
59:37 amenities space before that we're going
59:39 to do some more research in terms of how
59:41 what the space requirements need to be
59:43 with subdivisions because we talked
59:45 about multi-family development
59:47 but when it's a separate lot
59:50 single-family development what those
59:52 space requirements need to be
59:55 we've added the unit lot subdivision
59:57 process so this facilitates fee simple
1:00:00 ownership of town homes
1:00:02 uh we've added specific criteria for
1:00:05 different types of planning short flat
1:00:07 preliminary flat lot line adjustment
1:00:09 because uh the criteria didn't exist
1:00:11 before or it wasn't for each one
1:00:14 separately
1:00:16 there wasn't any process for lot
1:00:17 consolidation but they were processed
1:00:20 similar to a lot line adjustment so
1:00:23 we've made called them out explicitly
1:00:26 the expiration and extensions were
1:00:28 unlimited um
1:00:30 someone could ask for an extension
1:00:32 forever
1:00:33 in one year increments um which created
1:00:36 a little bit of false ex you know um
1:00:38 that those could go on forever um
1:00:41 but theoretically we could just deny
1:00:43 them after each year so instead of that
1:00:46 we've added
1:00:49 each preliminary plat or short pad is
1:00:51 good for five years
1:00:53 to get your final pad done but you can
1:00:56 ask for one year increment extensions
1:00:58 for three additional years so maximum of
1:01:01 eight as opposed to unlimited
1:01:04 the code wasn't really very clear about
1:01:06 deferred improvements and bonding so
1:01:09 between the preliminary plat someone
1:01:11 could theoretically bond all their
1:01:13 utility work and all their streets and
1:01:16 go strictly
1:01:18 straight away to the final plat that's
1:01:20 not the intent of the state law
1:01:22 so we've made that clear
1:01:24 that you can't build your homes until
1:01:26 all your improvements are built on the
1:01:27 ground and so
1:01:29 but some flexibility for deferring
1:01:32 improvements like the final
1:01:34 um you know
1:01:35 paving of the road because it can get
1:01:37 some time torn up while you're doing
1:01:39 home construction and things like that
1:01:41 so limited amount of deferral but you
1:01:43 need to get all your utilities and your
1:01:45 infrastructure in place before you can
1:01:47 build your homes
1:01:48 um there was no process or criteria for
1:01:52 modification so we put that in there
1:01:55 we're going to continue to look at this
1:01:56 for some guidance from the state law to
1:01:58 to really make it clear between
1:02:00 modification of a preliminary plat
1:02:02 versus a final plat and who does who is
1:02:06 authorized to make that decision so this
1:02:07 may need a little bit more work but uh
1:02:10 there's a section added in there uh
1:02:12 there was no option for phasing
1:02:14 um although phasing has occurred um you
1:02:17 know and so we're trying to add some
1:02:19 clarity around how how phasing is going
1:02:22 to be approved and what the the criteria
1:02:25 for that is going to be
1:02:27 the final paths in your draft are listed
1:02:29 as uh will be considered an
1:02:31 administrative decision the state law
1:02:33 was changed to allow this um
1:02:36 because
1:02:37 the final plat the work really is a very
1:02:40 technical check of everything that was
1:02:42 approved under the preliminary plat it's
1:02:45 already been signed off and inspected
1:02:47 all your infrastructure and utility
1:02:49 works have already gone through an
1:02:51 inspection and final plat is confirming
1:02:53 that all of those conditions have been
1:02:55 carried through and the final lot lines
1:02:57 are then recorded
1:02:59 so that's the highlight of the changes
1:03:02 there was some discussion about um what
1:03:05 you know what was the intent of some of
1:03:06 these changes so goal 13 that was for
1:03:09 came from the council's adopted
1:03:11 discussed uh golden outcomes chart so
1:03:14 there was discussion about what issue is
1:03:16 it with the subdivisions there was some
1:03:19 talk about
1:03:20 outside of physical highlands telus and
1:03:24 the subdivisions haven't a section
1:03:26 hasn't been updated since
1:03:28 a couple of decades uh the objective was
1:03:31 to incorporate um
1:03:33 a more uh recent um design criteria and
1:03:38 and such um and the outcome
1:03:41 intended outcome was that
1:03:43 subdivisions are well designed and they
1:03:46 provide guidance on street connections
1:03:48 garage locations and relationship to the
1:03:50 street
1:03:52 uh some of that is going to come from
1:03:53 your building design section because in
1:03:55 subdivision you're really talking about
1:03:57 the layout lot layout and not the
1:04:00 building design
1:04:02 but where you get access to your homes
1:04:04 uh is sort of addressed during the
1:04:06 subdivision stage
1:04:08 and um so what we've proposed at this
1:04:11 time is
1:04:12 a design section for short flats and
1:04:14 preliminary flats
1:04:16 there was some
1:04:17 comments about the maximum block size
1:04:19 whether that should be limited to
1:04:21 certain sections or areas of the city
1:04:24 there's also a section on zero lot line
1:04:26 shared access and alley access so
1:04:30 you know more
1:04:31 uh judicious use of valuable land and
1:04:34 there are ways to kind of use your land
1:04:36 um not waste uh land
1:04:39 for areas that aren't going to be
1:04:42 that um
1:04:44 well used uh so there's that section
1:04:47 uh the language is still encouraged and
1:04:50 you know not sort of like required but
1:04:52 the code allows some of those things so
1:04:54 we're looking for ppc to discuss this
1:04:57 design section and you know one whether
1:05:00 you want to limit it to certain parts of
1:05:02 the city and whether these these
1:05:04 requirements should be mandatory or
1:05:06 encouraged
1:05:07 and if encouraged then we'll move them
1:05:09 into the intent and purpose section
1:05:13 again
1:05:14 we've included all the detailed public
1:05:16 comments in the matrix but some of the
1:05:17 highlights were
1:05:19 again
1:05:20 related to this design section block
1:05:22 length alley access shared access zero
1:05:25 lot line
1:05:26 uh sort of things so
1:05:28 we included these questions in our
1:05:30 previous packet um so i'll read them out
1:05:33 here as you uh deliberate um the first
1:05:36 one is
1:05:37 the proposed design requirements um
1:05:41 for plant layout including the block
1:05:43 length adequately address the con
1:05:46 the community's desired goals and
1:05:48 outcomes
1:05:49 or do you want to limit them to certain
1:05:51 you know areas that uh like issaquah
1:05:54 island telus and central and not apply
1:05:56 them city-wide like squawk mountain and
1:05:59 south cove in those neighborhoods
1:06:01 [Music]
1:06:03 and the second question is
1:06:05 you know the section that we've included
1:06:07 about the um ali access shared access
1:06:11 do you want to see any changes in that
1:06:13 section do you also want to limit those
1:06:15 in certain parts of
1:06:17 the city
1:06:18 um the open space and recreation space
1:06:21 requirements um multi-family versus
1:06:24 single family should they be different
1:06:27 and if so then we'll come back with more
1:06:30 details on what those what our peer
1:06:33 study standards are what makes sense in
1:06:35 isoqua's context and such
1:06:37 uh so at this time we're just asking if
1:06:39 those should be different and what
1:06:41 additional research would help you make
1:06:43 an informed decision on what that
1:06:45 standard should be
1:06:46 uh the last question is um you know a
1:06:49 process question but throwing it in here
1:06:52 because it's we're talking subdivisions
1:06:54 so right now the city's process is up
1:06:56 four lots is considered a short flat
1:06:59 anything more than four is considered a
1:07:01 subdivision and the process for
1:07:03 subdivision is
1:07:05 you need cpa for more than four lots uh
1:07:08 five or more
1:07:10 but you also require a public hearing
1:07:13 at the preliminary plat stage
1:07:15 and then a final
1:07:17 flat hearing
1:07:20 the question really is should that
1:07:22 threshold be increased from four to nine
1:07:25 um and lastly is a catch-all question
1:07:27 you know have you captured everything
1:07:29 that you think what if you're missing
1:07:31 anything um so that's it
1:07:33 for my presentation
1:07:36 i can leave this on the slide or i can
1:07:38 take it off um
1:07:43 any preference as far as leaving it up
1:07:47 i think you could probably take it down
1:07:49 leave it up
1:07:51 all i can see is one cube so that's the
1:07:53 only reaction i got
1:07:57 all right well thank you ms dollywood
1:07:59 appreciate the presentation
1:08:12 vice chairman
1:08:16 hey so i have comments on three and four
1:08:20 four but it looks like both nine and joy
1:08:22 have questions so i'm going to reserve
1:08:23 comment until they ask their questions
1:08:28 yeah i think with all these uh
1:08:30 well if we want to take them one by one
1:08:32 but at least we'll start with the
1:08:33 questions so
1:08:36 commissioner milligan
1:08:39 thank you chairvoice i have just a few
1:08:42 questions one has to do with well i have
1:08:45 two questions about lot consolidation
1:08:50 where
1:08:51 would lot consolidation be allowed
1:08:54 and what was the reason
1:08:59 add it
1:09:01 to add it at this time
1:09:03 and then i have another question about
1:09:05 um subdivision
1:09:07 sure um so a lot consolidation can occur
1:09:10 anywhere in the city it's basically if
1:09:13 you have you know the law pattern in
1:09:15 some old parts of town occurs over
1:09:18 hundreds of years
1:09:19 so you could have a line
1:09:21 someone you know back in the day it used
1:09:23 to be really skinny lots too so the lots
1:09:26 can vary in different shapes and sizes
1:09:29 and and all that so if you have
1:09:30 contiguous ownership of these lots you
1:09:34 can't eliminate those lot lines now
1:09:36 under the code it just didn't have a
1:09:39 process as to how they would be reviewed
1:09:42 or who makes the decision or what the
1:09:44 criteria is for consolidation so they've
1:09:46 been processed it's not a change from
1:09:48 anything that can't be done
1:09:51 but it's just eliminating a line
1:09:54 anywhere in the city people can
1:09:56 remove lines from interior property line
1:09:58 there's nothing that prohibits them from
1:09:59 doing that it's just establishing a
1:10:01 process and a criteria for it
1:10:04 okay that's great and then my other
1:10:06 question has to do with
1:10:08 help me understand better
1:10:10 the question is about
1:10:13 maximum lot size but how do i
1:10:17 think about that
1:10:19 when we have block length
1:10:22 uh maximum block length are is that the
1:10:25 same thing or are they are they
1:10:27 different are they in different places
1:10:29 how do they interact
1:10:31 so difference between lot maximum lot
1:10:33 size and block length
1:10:36 is that did i understand yeah yeah
1:10:38 that's right i think the question has to
1:10:39 do with should we have a maximum lot
1:10:43 is that the question
1:10:45 going back to
1:10:46 yeah i mean we're not asking that
1:10:48 question i think there was a a public
1:10:51 comment on lot consolidations
1:10:53 uh and the potential for lot
1:10:55 consolidation to create large homes
1:10:59 and so i think in the public matrix we
1:11:01 captured uh a response to that to say
1:11:04 if the there is a policy discussion
1:11:06 about the the size of the homes should
1:11:08 be limited or there should be maximum
1:11:10 size of the lots
1:11:13 then um
1:11:15 then those things can occur but lot
1:11:17 consolidation is a separate you know it
1:11:19 doesn't change policy in terms of
1:11:21 maximum lot size
1:11:24 block length size so block length would
1:11:26 be if you have a road
1:11:29 you know the connectivity between the
1:11:30 road so the entire block length is 250
1:11:34 feet or something um that if you have a
1:11:37 lot that
1:11:38 you know that goes bigger you know if
1:11:40 you have five acres and you're trying to
1:11:42 do a subdivision then you would lay it
1:11:44 out so that you have street connectivity
1:11:48 where
1:11:49 you don't have one road that
1:11:52 in and one road out but you would
1:11:53 actually get some uh sort of a
1:11:55 connection
1:11:56 uh that would break up the larger block
1:11:59 uh maximum lot size yeah
1:12:03 that's what that's all i need to know
1:12:04 just wanted to kind of get that out
1:12:06 there
1:12:06 thank you
1:12:12 thank you commissioner
1:12:14 commissioner lewis
1:12:17 thank you chair voice commissioner joy
1:12:18 lewis thank you for the presentation
1:12:20 minnie i had i had a similar question to
1:12:22 nina about um because where lot
1:12:25 consolidation is allowed as to
1:12:27 and how that can work i think that there
1:12:29 is some concerns
1:12:30 um less
1:12:32 about
1:12:34 how we maximize space but the worry
1:12:38 about minimizing space and if you're you
1:12:40 can if you are able to buy up a number
1:12:44 of properties to be able to then adjust
1:12:46 to be able to use the space in a way
1:12:49 that might be less efficient is trying
1:12:50 to say how do we how do we anticipate
1:12:53 and have some safeguards on that which i
1:12:54 didn't really feel like was present so i
1:12:57 think maybe it's a little bit more of
1:12:59 is this something that staff is still
1:13:00 fleshing out is my question is kind of
1:13:02 is this something that
1:13:04 you feel like is
1:13:06 something we'll be seeing improvements
1:13:07 on in the second draft or
1:13:11 as it relates to lot consolidation or
1:13:14 just use of late inefficient use of land
1:13:18 as as it as it is with law consolidation
1:13:22 across the city because as i read it it
1:13:24 can be anywhere
1:13:25 so is there
1:13:26 particular places where we want to have
1:13:28 maybe more stringent is i'm asking
1:13:31 is staff planning on coming back to us
1:13:34 um and presenting us with law
1:13:36 consolidation in a different way or is
1:13:38 right now establishing this city-wide it
1:13:40 can be anywhere is
1:13:42 is this policy
1:13:44 correct i mean we're not i mean unless
1:13:46 you want us to do some any kind of
1:13:48 analysis but i i
1:13:49 we're not planning on doing any where
1:13:51 lot consolidations can occur because
1:13:54 a lot of
1:13:55 you know they can they
1:13:57 some that we would have to know who owns
1:13:59 contiguous ownership i mean people don't
1:14:01 consolidate lots between different
1:14:03 ownership right so it would have to be
1:14:04 one person who owns
1:14:07 number of lots um that they're trying to
1:14:09 eliminate their lot line in between
1:14:12 for various reasons sometimes they want
1:14:14 to add on to their house and there was
1:14:15 an old existing line that occurred and
1:14:17 the city would require them to eliminate
1:14:19 that line because it creates problems
1:14:21 with building code and other things that
1:14:23 that you have to require the separation
1:14:26 it's really a mechanical
1:14:28 thing to to allow this to happen there
1:14:31 isn't a policy change or anything like
1:14:33 that associated with lot consolidations
1:14:36 so okay
1:14:39 and if i'm reading it correctly it's the
1:14:41 same with zero lot line right we're um
1:14:44 we're encouraging it everywhere in the
1:14:46 city correct
1:14:48 we're not encouraging we're just
1:14:49 allowing it and creating a process for
1:14:51 it yes it's anywhere else um
1:14:54 i think a lot four you see zero lot line
1:14:56 shared access lots and ali access lots
1:14:58 are encouraged
1:15:00 i mean
1:15:02 language in in um in in our pack in our
1:15:05 memo i would say it's not in the code
1:15:07 yeah yeah that's where i that's where i
1:15:10 got it from right yeah yeah
1:15:12 yeah so i think so was it correct with
1:15:14 zero line across the city right
1:15:16 everywhere
1:15:17 that's up for discussion at this point
1:15:19 you know uh so we did put it in there
1:15:22 because uh to achieve the golden
1:15:24 outcomes that we shared you know that
1:15:26 were in that golden outcomes chart so
1:15:28 now the question is do they make sense
1:15:30 everywhere in the city
1:15:32 uh we heard some public comments that
1:15:34 maybe we need to be more thoughtful
1:15:36 about where these um
1:15:38 things are allowed and and to preserve
1:15:40 the neighborhood character of some of
1:15:41 the neighbors that perhaps they
1:15:43 shouldn't be so that's really for
1:15:45 planning a policy commission to weigh in
1:15:47 do we want to encourage these
1:15:49 anywhere
1:15:50 um or not
1:15:53 okay and then um my third question then
1:15:56 is again about um the requirements of
1:15:58 open space right now you're asking us
1:16:00 about multi-family versus single family
1:16:03 um but it's
1:16:05 what is the staff recommendation right
1:16:06 now for we have this 48 feet is like the
1:16:09 number that i i see but
1:16:11 are we only
1:16:14 is this a reduction do we cur what is
1:16:16 you know currently i believe you know
1:16:18 it for i think i think it's an is it an
1:16:20 increase right now for multi-family but
1:16:22 it's actually a decrease in single
1:16:24 family
1:16:25 sure let me explain that so
1:16:27 right now it doesn't seem like a
1:16:29 subdivision design standard exists so if
1:16:32 you were planning there isn't a
1:16:34 requirement for open space a lot of
1:16:37 these flats you know have occurred but
1:16:39 those have been through development
1:16:41 agreements and such where those areas
1:16:43 were designated as parks and open space
1:16:45 in in a more it wasn't for
1:16:48 sort of uh plat it was more for an area
1:16:52 planning kind of a thing
1:16:55 when we discussed the uh natural amenity
1:16:58 space or whatever we end up calling it
1:17:00 now you know the the 48 square feet the
1:17:03 discussion was
1:17:04 we shouldn't allow balconies to be
1:17:06 counted towards common community space
1:17:08 so the balcony should be separate from
1:17:11 common open space right now the code is
1:17:14 you can choose one way or the other but
1:17:16 you have a minimum of 48 per dwelling in
1:17:20 our opinion is that the 48 perhaps makes
1:17:22 sense for multi-family but it doesn't
1:17:24 make sense for someone doing a nine
1:17:26 large short flat so if you have four
1:17:28 lots or nine large at 48 you know you're
1:17:32 what is going to happen with that
1:17:34 community space you're going to get
1:17:35 these small
1:17:36 spaces that aren't really usable or
1:17:39 maintained it depends on
1:17:41 the homeowner association to really take
1:17:43 them on and so so a lot of cities have
1:17:46 that higher threshold if you're doing a
1:17:48 subdivision of x number of lots then you
1:17:51 have this sort of open space
1:17:52 requirements and now this we're talking
1:17:55 plats versus
1:17:56 someone doing an apartment complex right
1:18:00 so in our opinion those should be two
1:18:02 different
1:18:04 the current code doesn't have a standard
1:18:07 for plats
1:18:09 the design section and the plats doesn't
1:18:11 exist at this time
1:18:14 do you do you happen to recall or if our
1:18:16 guru lucies happens to recall what it
1:18:18 was when we did have our urban villages
1:18:21 in place
1:18:22 uh i know that there were requirements
1:18:24 that were obviously diff are down to
1:18:27 funk and sunsetted
1:18:31 to help guide us
1:18:32 it was a hundred square feet per unit at
1:18:36 talus
1:18:37 that was in the original development
1:18:38 agreement it was removed with the first
1:18:40 amendment
1:18:42 uh that allowed not only just
1:18:46 open spaces but also trails it was a
1:18:48 fairly broad definition
1:18:50 at issaquah highlands in fact there was
1:18:53 no particular standard we
1:18:56 what you're probably remembering is we
1:18:58 would often
1:18:59 present
1:19:01 analysis that we had done on various
1:19:03 plats and the amount of open space that
1:19:05 was provided
1:19:07 in the replacement regs i believe it was
1:19:10 250 square feet for any new created unit
1:19:15 which was based on some of
1:19:18 the analysis that we did now that
1:19:21 doesn't mean that's
1:19:22 that was based on existing open spaces
1:19:25 in those two urban villages which may
1:19:27 not be applicable outside of them
1:19:30 thank you no i appreciate that refresher
1:19:33 on the history thank you uh those are
1:19:35 the questions i have
1:19:42 well thank you commissioners for all of
1:19:44 the great questions we are ready for
1:19:47 deliberation
1:20:00 commissioner milligan
1:20:02 thank you cheer voice commissioner nina
1:20:04 milligan here thank you again for all
1:20:07 this work i um i don't really
1:20:10 have complaints you think you guys are
1:20:11 doing a great job of listening and and
1:20:13 uh doing this work and it's really
1:20:14 complicated stuff
1:20:19 i want to uh focus my attention on two
1:20:22 things the
1:20:23 lot consolidation and the open space
1:20:27 requirements um under lot consolidation
1:20:30 i i want to push back a little bit on
1:20:32 this because even though it is an
1:20:34 interpretation of something that's
1:20:35 already there it is a new thing and so i
1:20:39 want to look at it critically for that
1:20:41 reason
1:20:42 also because in another context we were
1:20:46 just talking about zero lot lines and it
1:20:48 was requested of us to think be
1:20:50 thoughtful about where we apply zero lot
1:20:53 lines so why aren't we thoughtful about
1:20:56 where we
1:20:57 uh apply lot consolidation and one of
1:21:00 the reasons why this
1:21:02 came to my mind as being potentially
1:21:05 problematic and something that we might
1:21:07 be able to address at this time because
1:21:09 we are creating
1:21:11 we're fixing something with a new
1:21:14 application of something that was
1:21:15 already allowed
1:21:17 on mercer island i followed the
1:21:19 residential standards
1:21:21 updates and one of the major complaints
1:21:24 of the
1:21:25 of degradation of neighborhood character
1:21:28 came from lot consolidation and
1:21:31 residential and single family areas
1:21:33 where there were a neighborhoods there
1:21:36 was a neighborhood scale but then it
1:21:38 became
1:21:40 very large homes with a lack of of
1:21:43 neighborhood connectivity so
1:21:46 they addressed it in some way
1:21:48 i'm pushing it back
1:21:50 to you all to
1:21:53 maybe
1:21:54 try to follow my thought processes where
1:21:56 my concerns are i'm not gonna i don't
1:21:58 really have any great
1:21:59 solutions but a couple of the goals that
1:22:02 i'm trying to track in um thinking about
1:22:06 being thoughtful about this is that we
1:22:08 want to increase density
1:22:10 in our city and we want to encourage
1:22:13 affordability these are things that
1:22:15 we've talked about so how does lot
1:22:17 consolidation in residential areas
1:22:20 in those two categories in fact it seems
1:22:23 like it would not help now it's not that
1:22:26 loud consolidation is not appropriate in
1:22:28 other places in the city i can see where
1:22:31 we're encouraging mixed use or
1:22:33 multi-family or commercial
1:22:35 where law consolidation would be very
1:22:37 helpful to make a viable lot size in
1:22:39 order to create a mixed use or a
1:22:40 multi-family uh project but in our
1:22:43 single family neighborhoods i wonder
1:22:46 about the application of that
1:22:50 so i'm
1:22:52 just kind of pushing back on that and
1:22:54 saying i think this is where the
1:22:56 concerns of mine are coming from
1:23:00 then you've asked again about
1:23:03 the open space or natural amenity
1:23:05 requirements for multi-family should be
1:23:07 applied in the single family and i don't
1:23:10 know but um you know what's the reason
1:23:12 for it you know why do we have this
1:23:14 reason why do we have this requirement
1:23:16 in multi-family is it because there's no
1:23:20 open space in multi-family because of
1:23:22 the density and the far of those kinds
1:23:24 of projects
1:23:26 or is it also
1:23:27 because the connectivity of our
1:23:29 neighborhoods and the quality of life is
1:23:30 enhanced when there are shared spacious
1:23:33 spaces
1:23:34 now why wouldn't
1:23:36 a single family neighborhood
1:23:39 benefit from shared natural amenities
1:23:43 shared spaces the way that multi-family
1:23:47 i guess it kind of depends on what's
1:23:49 more important you know or what is the
1:23:51 most important objective of the natural
1:23:53 amenity space or the open space and the
1:23:56 multi-family i don't have an answer for
1:23:58 that but it just seems like um it might
1:24:00 be just as important in the single
1:24:02 family
1:24:03 that's it thank you
1:24:09 thank you commissioner million and while
1:24:11 i typically try and hold my tongue until
1:24:12 all the commissioners have had a chance
1:24:14 to speak i would echo uh nina's concerns
1:24:17 because again um
1:24:20 well typically some people might find me
1:24:21 as a build baby build guy which i am uh
1:24:24 there are areas again like i'm thinking
1:24:26 of old town where i think lot
1:24:28 consolidation could go
1:24:30 wrong very quickly so again i i i think
1:24:33 some of those concerns are shared and i
1:24:34 think nana made the point brilliantly uh
1:24:36 there's areas in the city where there's
1:24:37 mixed use in other areas where i think
1:24:39 it's quite appropriate um but definitely
1:24:42 some some guide rails there would be
1:24:44 would be good so
1:24:46 a little piece on that um commissioner
1:24:49 lewis
1:24:52 thank you chairvoice uh i want to go
1:24:54 ahead and let commissioner monahan go
1:24:55 because she had actually
1:24:57 asked to go for comments are you sure
1:24:58 okay before we get our questions um i do
1:25:02 love going after nina i think she very
1:25:04 well put some of my concerns i think
1:25:06 that if you had come to us in an off
1:25:08 year about lot consolidation we would
1:25:10 have seen this a little bit differently
1:25:12 but when we stack it up with open spaces
1:25:15 and with zero lot line i start to get a
1:25:17 little concerned i get that they're
1:25:18 disconnected but the way that the
1:25:20 information was
1:25:22 presented to us with zones i i see some
1:25:25 problems we could be backing ourselves
1:25:27 into and i think that we might as well
1:25:29 fix them while we're here uh i think
1:25:31 it's very appropriate to ask the
1:25:33 question where is this appropriate
1:25:36 at this point i do not advocate to have
1:25:38 a lot consolidation allowed city wide
1:25:41 i think commissioner voice's comments
1:25:43 about old town is something that we've
1:25:45 seen has been a historic problem
1:25:48 and i
1:25:49 i strongly um have issues with
1:25:52 allowing zero lot line everywhere um
1:25:54 throughout the city i think again i
1:25:56 think of neighborhoods like south cove
1:25:58 where this could um be
1:25:59 seriously detrimental it's a
1:26:01 neighborhood character
1:26:02 uh and then that feeds me kind of right
1:26:04 into this kind of discussion about this
1:26:07 this enhancement of shared spaces
1:26:11 i may come at this from the bias of
1:26:13 working
1:26:14 in the highlands on on the ubdc and i
1:26:17 will tell you that i saw great benefit
1:26:20 from the way we planned communities to
1:26:22 be encouraging of neighborhoods
1:26:24 interacting together and i think that
1:26:26 tonight to nina's point of why would we
1:26:28 not do it for one type of housing or
1:26:31 another and what my concern is
1:26:33 is having
1:26:34 while we're trying to address having a
1:26:36 wide breadth of housing in issaquah it's
1:26:39 also important where that housing goes
1:26:41 and if we have developers that are
1:26:43 trying to fit
1:26:44 what we believe the model is for
1:26:46 affordable housing and our missing
1:26:48 middle but then don't allow the same
1:26:50 amenities that we find so vital and
1:26:52 being able to create community we're
1:26:53 really creating an equity issue and so
1:26:56 again maybe if we had looked at these
1:26:58 things a little bit differently but
1:26:59 having them all together i see a lot of
1:27:01 problems and i right now cannot advocate
1:27:03 for us having
1:27:06 having lot consolidation across the city
1:27:08 having a zero lot line allowed
1:27:10 everywhere um and i really think that we
1:27:13 need to look and start to see some
1:27:15 parity the same way that we talk about
1:27:16 requirements for single-family homes and
1:27:18 duplexes i think it's very similar to
1:27:20 the way that we need to be looking at
1:27:21 these open recreation space standards i
1:27:24 don't see any reason why we wouldn't
1:27:27 require developers to have
1:27:30 an hoa in place to be able um to have
1:27:33 requirements of how things are
1:27:35 maintained right we require that of um
1:27:37 all kinds of plantings in the city so i
1:27:39 don't know why we wouldn't also have
1:27:40 that for open spaces and natural
1:27:42 amenities even in small requirements
1:27:46 being able to have that those spaces are
1:27:48 vitally important for how our
1:27:49 communities interact thanks
1:27:56 thank you
1:27:57 uh commissioner monahan
1:27:59 yeah hi matt monahan um on the lot
1:28:01 consolidation piece i'm reserving
1:28:04 judgment and instead i have two
1:28:06 questions that i'd like
1:28:07 uh staff to to think about and that's
1:28:10 what can we do and what should we do um
1:28:13 i know what can we do i just want to
1:28:15 make sure that if there's any
1:28:17 restrictions on lot consolidation that
1:28:19 that is consistent with property rights
1:28:22 um and so you know first understanding
1:28:24 how far can we go and then on the what
1:28:27 should we do i i and i think this goes
1:28:29 to nina's point you know i'd like to
1:28:31 benchmark like what are other
1:28:33 jurisdictions where are they falling in
1:28:34 the in the span between most restrictive
1:28:37 and least restrictive
1:28:38 um and that way we can think
1:28:40 thoughtfully about okay where do we want
1:28:42 to fall within that range of you know
1:28:44 once the law sets the parameters okay
1:28:46 then where where do we fall within that
1:28:48 um on question three on the open spaces
1:28:52 for short flats um i think i'm against
1:28:55 requiring it and i'm just thinking from
1:28:57 an administration perspective you know
1:28:59 are you gonna have an hoa for four
1:29:01 six seven homes i i just could see those
1:29:04 community spaces being run down after a
1:29:07 period of time
1:29:08 um particularly if you hate your
1:29:09 neighbors i know we all love our
1:29:10 neighbors here but i used to live east
1:29:12 coast and i hated some of them and so i
1:29:14 wouldn't be you know pruning the the the
1:29:16 community garden um unless i had to
1:29:19 um and then on question four um on the
1:29:22 increasing from four to nine i think
1:29:24 i've been relatively consistent in
1:29:27 saying yes if we have the flexibility
1:29:30 from state law to kind of increase the
1:29:32 number of of of houses we can we can put
1:29:35 through short plots and i'm i'm i'm for
1:29:37 it so those were my comments thank you
1:29:44 thank you vice chair monahan
1:29:48 to see when you have such eloquent
1:29:50 commissioners as we do you don't have to
1:29:52 repeat the brilliance that they already
1:29:54 have said
1:29:55 i'm just going to say that yes i do
1:29:56 agree with matt on question four or
1:29:58 three
1:30:00 no i'm not in favor of that and four yes
1:30:02 um i too trying to be consistent but no
1:30:05 i do believe raising that threshold to
1:30:07 nine is appropriate and it's also
1:30:11 i believe it's in line with what the
1:30:12 state is
1:30:14 so again more consistency and i think
1:30:16 sometimes people have the feeling that
1:30:18 every behind every single builder or
1:30:20 developer there's a monopoly man with a
1:30:22 monocle
1:30:23 and we need to be careful because we
1:30:25 want to invite
1:30:27 builders to come here because if we
1:30:29 continue to make it harder and more
1:30:30 difficult you can be rest assured
1:30:33 that it will be a monopoly man with a
1:30:34 monocle
1:30:37 again i am for that as well
1:30:40 commissioner lewis
1:30:44 thank you chairvoice i think that's an
1:30:46 apt point when talking about question
1:30:48 i do have a concern about raising it to
1:30:50 nine i know that that is the max allowed
1:30:53 by the state that doesn't mean that
1:30:55 that's necessarily the right move for
1:30:56 our community uh i i would like to see
1:30:59 staff give us
1:31:01 their recommendation of this is the
1:31:03 number and this is why i think it's very
1:31:05 difficult to code to have this is how
1:31:07 many units we need for cipa this is how
1:31:09 many units you need for outdoor lighting
1:31:11 this is how many you need for this and
1:31:13 it starts to vary i'd like very much for
1:31:15 staff to tell us we'd like to have it to
1:31:17 be at seven units we'd like it to be at
1:31:19 six units if you propose it to be at
1:31:21 nine i think it needs to be across the
1:31:23 board for everything and there needs to
1:31:24 be a consistency in our code that's one
1:31:27 of the main things that we're trying to
1:31:28 do with this title 18 update is to have
1:31:30 uh to use matt's previous word
1:31:32 harmonious we need to have some
1:31:34 consistency in our code that says this
1:31:36 is where we consider our threshold of
1:31:39 medium to larger scale development and i
1:31:41 think it's difficult when we start to
1:31:43 jump around on that number so if staff
1:31:46 greatly recommends that we move up to
1:31:47 the maximum allowed then i'd like to see
1:31:50 what that looks like again across the
1:31:52 board on all these different places that
1:31:54 we have these requirements thanks
1:31:59 well said you're here
1:32:01 commissioner milligan
1:32:03 i'm elegant here thank you commissioner
1:32:06 lewis uh i haven't been able to really
1:32:08 get my arms around whether it should be
1:32:10 four or nine and so that kind of it
1:32:12 keeps coming back to us so so i think
1:32:14 that there's some inclination towards
1:32:16 nine but i think the way that uh
1:32:18 commissioner lewis put it in that
1:32:21 and and i haven't thought it through it
1:32:23 would be nice to see it what would it
1:32:25 look like if we based lighting standards
1:32:30 you know the short plaid everything at
1:32:32 one number
1:32:35 could you do that you know i don't know
1:32:37 but that is the kind of simplification
1:32:39 predictability
1:32:42 i would like to see in issaquah so that
1:32:44 the real heartfelt
1:32:47 if purposeful
1:32:49 developers could easily come in and
1:32:52 deliver the kind of product that we're
1:32:53 looking for so with that in mind um
1:32:58 would this get us there or is this just
1:33:00 another little piecemeal thing when you
1:33:01 have to figure out a different standard
1:33:04 for when
1:33:05 for lighting or you know whatever just
1:33:07 to make it easier for everybody i like
1:33:08 the idea i'd love to see how it plays
1:33:12 uh from commissioner lewis's what if
1:33:15 most things were set at one
1:33:18 unit count
1:33:19 and they were all aligned
1:33:22 can you do it
1:33:23 sounds good
1:33:24 so i'm just chiming in
1:33:33 we always appreciate people chiming in
1:33:36 would anyone else like to chime in
1:33:43 i think the remarks as far as
1:33:44 consistency um very important again that
1:33:47 is the major goal so again i will even
1:33:51 take some things that i personally think
1:33:53 and i believe again part of our goals
1:33:56 and outcomes that even overrides that so
1:33:58 i do believe the consistent part is even
1:34:00 more important than
1:34:03 my personal wants and needs
1:34:11 our commission has fallen deftly silent
1:34:15 would anyone else like to speak
1:34:17 on these topics
1:34:18 and does staff feel they have enough
1:34:20 information to move forward
1:34:23 sure um let me just summarize so i can
1:34:27 be sure that i've captured your
1:34:29 discussion um
1:34:31 for our conversation with council
1:34:34 so in terms of the um
1:34:36 block length requirements we didn't
1:34:39 quite talk about that um we did have
1:34:42 some feedback from the development
1:34:44 commission um at the last meeting about
1:34:47 the 250-foot block length requirement
1:34:52 so there was some
1:34:54 that perhaps that shouldn't be a
1:34:56 requirement in every neighborhood is
1:34:58 that sort of where
1:34:59 all of you are at i mean we don't have
1:35:01 to put that in the code that was just
1:35:02 our first attempt at at uh this code i
1:35:05 think the the pro and con of that was
1:35:07 are we taking the same sword are we
1:35:09 densifying some of the neighborhoods and
1:35:11 and really the intent here wasn't to
1:35:14 densify it was more for
1:35:16 connectivity and walkability so that you
1:35:19 you have more of a street connection and
1:35:22 large
1:35:23 um blocks so that's one area i think uh
1:35:27 it would be helpful for us to know
1:35:29 which way to go and then i think we
1:35:31 heard some
1:35:33 uh zero lot line and all those kind of
1:35:35 things perhaps don't make sense in all
1:35:37 neighborhoods so
1:35:38 but which where do they i mean should we
1:35:41 just limit them to highlands talus and
1:35:43 central isoqua and everything else is
1:35:47 i mean where where do we split well if
1:35:49 it's not everywhere then where does it
1:35:51 make sense to have some of those design
1:35:53 standards applied that would be helpful
1:35:55 i think the other two questions number
1:35:57 three about open space we'll come back
1:35:59 with some more additional research
1:36:01 on what makes sense what the thresholds
1:36:03 are some peer city research and all that
1:36:05 uh the threshold from four to nine will
1:36:08 look at consistency of lighting cpu and
1:36:10 these
1:36:12 but i think the feedback from
1:36:14 development commission was leaning more
1:36:16 towards upping it to nine two of you
1:36:18 here feel nine is okay and two are
1:36:21 um ones uh a no and
1:36:24 and and nine are sort of um
1:36:28 i'm not sure where we landed on on the
1:36:30 threshold with united but
1:36:32 somewhat of a mixed um thing um we'll do
1:36:35 some research in terms of consistency
1:36:37 with other thresholds but primarily
1:36:40 the uh the grid pattern or
1:36:43 the this block length 250 feet
1:36:47 and zero lot lines if we don't want them
1:36:50 everywhere in the city are there certain
1:36:52 neighborhoods
1:36:53 that we should limit them to you know is
1:36:55 there any feedback for us related to
1:36:56 design standards that would be helpful
1:37:00 okay well we have our marching orders
1:37:02 commission but i would like to let uh
1:37:04 commissioner lewis go quickly because
1:37:06 i'm sure she was going to want to
1:37:07 clarify something
1:37:09 mr lewis
1:37:10 i do but commissioner um nine is before
1:37:14 okay i just figured you might want to
1:37:15 say something about your position
1:37:16 because i don't think you were a hard no
1:37:18 but i wasn't below not night ago
1:37:21 fair enough okay okay
1:37:23 nina milligan
1:37:24 uh yes sorry i didn't answer the
1:37:26 question about block length
1:37:28 uh i i don't really um without knowing
1:37:32 how that would be implemented in an
1:37:34 established neighborhood like
1:37:39 south coast or squawk
1:37:42 yeah as the nissan highlands resident i
1:37:44 live it every day the benefit of having
1:37:46 limited
1:37:47 block length for
1:37:50 pedestrian
1:37:51 and other you know multimodal
1:37:52 connectivity and i think that is a
1:37:54 really
1:37:55 important
1:37:57 value to pursue through city-wide to
1:38:01 unlock all of our neighborhoods and to
1:38:04 encourage
1:38:05 other modes of transportation through
1:38:09 block length
1:38:12 i wish i could assert it more
1:38:15 confidently but i am not quite sure how
1:38:18 we would implement that in existing
1:38:21 neighborhoods what burden would we put
1:38:23 on people who want to remodel their home
1:38:26 you know if they're over 50 remodeling
1:38:28 do they have to tear out part of their
1:38:30 lot and turn it into an easement for a
1:38:33 block length connectivity i don't know
1:38:35 that's not what i'm in favor of
1:38:37 so i'd have to know more about how it'd
1:38:39 be implemented in existing neighborhoods
1:38:41 thank you
1:38:47 commissioner lewis
1:38:50 thank you chair boys i do appreciate uh
1:38:52 many you bringing us that we completely
1:38:54 ignored blog length so from the way that
1:38:57 i saw it is that it would it would be
1:39:00 onerous in all parts of the city and yet
1:39:03 very beneficial in others and so i think
1:39:05 it makes sense to think about the valley
1:39:07 floor i think it makes sense to talk
1:39:09 about conditional implementation when we
1:39:11 talk about block length because i'm a
1:39:13 huge fan of it but it's very difficult
1:39:16 when you live in a vast terrain
1:39:19 environment right i think you know we
1:39:21 see that in a lot of neighborhoods in
1:39:22 seattle so i i think that we need to
1:39:24 talk about a conditional implementation
1:39:26 and kind of fine-tune and hone in where
1:39:28 we think it would be best used and um
1:39:31 and commissioner voice was right on that
1:39:33 i don't consider myself a straight no i
1:39:35 do think that i need a compelling
1:39:36 presentation to increase to the maximum
1:39:39 i think it makes sense to increase it
1:39:40 when we talk about the missing middle
1:39:42 but what i'd really like to see is
1:39:45 for the city to take
1:39:47 a stance and for the administration to
1:39:48 say this is the number we think it ought
1:39:50 to be regardless of where it falls on
1:39:51 the 49 and this is what it looks like
1:39:54 across the board uh and so i i think
1:39:57 it's hard for me to tell you where i
1:39:59 think we should fall on it when we have
1:40:01 been just getting pieces and parts and i
1:40:03 think that
1:40:04 telling me that it's the maximum allowed
1:40:07 by the state isn't necessarily a reason
1:40:09 why it would move it so i hope that
1:40:11 clarification helps
1:40:27 anyone else like to comment
1:40:32 many do you feel better about the the
1:40:34 discussion five minutes after sure yeah
1:40:37 so we'll capture it in terms of um your
1:40:40 discussion and we'll come back with uh
1:40:42 the open space and um
1:40:45 and and where we think uh the blockland
1:40:48 you know try to quantify that in terms
1:40:50 of uh where that makes sense or it
1:40:52 doesn't make sense we'll give it some
1:40:54 more thought on our end
1:40:58 thank you
1:40:59 yeah thank you
1:41:02 and thank you um the staff for those
1:41:05 fantastic presentations always do a
1:41:07 fantastic job
1:41:11 we are through with the meat of the
1:41:13 agenda and now we are going to uh
1:41:17 cleanup mode batter mode um we are
1:41:19 moving on to reports
1:41:22 and i believe
1:41:24 valerie
1:41:26 valerie gets to provide the reports
1:41:28 tonight
1:41:29 uh there are no council city council
1:41:32 updates
1:41:33 for tonight but we do have a few
1:41:36 announcements so i'm going to hand it
1:41:38 over to lucy
1:41:43 thank you um i wanted to announce
1:41:46 that this is my uh last ppc meeting
1:41:50 because tuesday is my last day with the
1:41:53 and i want to thank you all i've really
1:41:57 enjoyed um being a guest and in front of
1:42:01 this commission
1:42:03 and really enjoyed what a very engaged
1:42:06 and passionate commission you are so
1:42:09 thank you very much
1:42:15 that wasn't the announcement we were
1:42:16 looking for
1:42:20 may i jumped in here really quickly on
1:42:22 lucy's behalf
1:42:24 so i don't know how many of you know and
1:42:25 this really doesn't matter but i'm gonna
1:42:26 say it anyway lucy and i went to the
1:42:28 same high school
1:42:29 we have a in texas of all things so we
1:42:32 have a bond and she actually told she'll
1:42:34 sometimes say she got me the job and she
1:42:36 told me about the job at issaquah so we
1:42:38 have both been here for a very very long
1:42:41 time and i would like to thank lucy
1:42:43 publicly for always having my back when
1:42:44 we come to pbc
1:42:46 um we've both been here so long i know
1:42:48 that she can answer questions that i
1:42:49 can't and so i just have truly
1:42:51 appreciated um working with her and her
1:42:54 dedication to the city
1:42:57 for getting me this job
1:43:02 thanks kristin that's very sweet well
1:43:04 wishing you the best lucy wherever you
1:43:06 do end up i know i could probably speak
1:43:08 for everybody on the commission that
1:43:09 will miss you and the fantastic work
1:43:11 that you provide and the great
1:43:12 explanations and um
1:43:16 can i ch chairplace can i jump in
1:43:19 because i ever since i came to issaquah
1:43:22 lucy has been my guiding light
1:43:26 and uh worked through and and really i
1:43:29 credit lucy with so many of the
1:43:32 lovely
1:43:34 qualities that we have in our urban
1:43:36 villages and the design formats that we
1:43:38 are going forward with i don't know how
1:43:40 we would do these without
1:43:42 you lucy
1:43:44 uh it's a legacy that you should really
1:43:46 be proud of i live it in my you know my
1:43:49 little courtyard here at star point it's
1:43:51 just one of them so now you'll have time
1:43:52 to come up maybe and see me here
1:43:55 but god i can't imagine
1:43:57 doing this without you thankfully you
1:43:59 have provided a lot of leadership to the
1:44:01 city of issaquah and have developed
1:44:03 other people in the staff who will help
1:44:05 continue
1:44:07 the work that you have laid out
1:44:09 i'm really mad at you for announcing
1:44:11 this in public because no one's so
1:44:13 disappointed you'll be going but
1:44:16 thank you for giving me this opportunity
1:44:17 to thank you in public thank you
1:44:20 thank you very much
1:44:28 all right well
1:44:29 that was sad
1:44:31 so no more sad announcements
1:44:33 no no more sad announcements
1:44:36 uh just one more quick announcement so
1:44:39 as a reminder in-person meetings
1:44:41 have been pushed back to july
1:44:44 so before we go back to in-person
1:44:45 meetings the clerk's office and the city
1:44:47 attorney would like commissioners to
1:44:49 participate in a public records training
1:44:52 so a meeting invitation has been sent
1:44:55 out um
1:44:57 for out for a special meeting on june
1:45:00 so during this meeting we'll also be
1:45:03 reviewing and discussing updates to the
1:45:05 commissioner's rules and regulations so
1:45:08 if you haven't received that meeting
1:45:09 notice please reach out to steven um and
1:45:12 that is the last
1:45:13 the last item
1:45:16 fantastic job tonight valerie
1:45:18 thank you thank you for making it a
1:45:20 smooth ride
1:45:23 and um to lucy i'm sure you're still on
1:45:25 there
1:45:26 well done
1:45:29 i think that's it does anybody have
1:45:30 anything they'd like to add for the good
1:45:33 of the order
1:45:39 all right hearing none
1:45:42 i joined the meeting at 8 15.
1:45:45 good night everyone

Attendance

Council / Members (5)
Voiss
Vice-Chair Monahan
Commissioners Kim
Lewis
Milligan Absence: Commissioner Bader (Excused)
Staff (1)
Minnie Dhaliwal, Director, CP&D Christen Leeson, Senior Planner Valerie Porter, Associate Planner