The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About10/17/2016 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY OCTOBER 17,201 b The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday October 17,2016 at 6:28 p.m.,with Council President Marilee Woodrow presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Council President Woodrow and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie,Moore, Ralston,and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Mayor Lundberg was absent(excused) 1. Amendment of Springfield Development Code Standards, Section.5.15 Minimum Development Standards, Specifically Sections 5.15-100-Purpose and 5.15-110-Applicability;Expanding the Size and Type of Development Projects Eligible for Ministerial Processing in the City of Springfield, Case TYP416-00002. Tim Donovan, Planning Supervisor, presented the staff report on this item. This is a revisiting of a ministerial code standard that was reviewed with Council and sent to the Development Advisory Committee(DAC)for further review and drafting of recommendations.The purpose was to make Springfield more competitive in development. Councilor VanGordon served as the liaison to that committee. A work session is scheduled for February to give the Council a report on the rest of the work done by the DAC. The amendment being discussed this evening is something they felt could be addressed now as a tool for making the development process more efficient. Mr.Donovan referred to the recommendation in the proposal regarding the size limitations of the affected sites,both of which were proposed to be doubled.The proposal under review is to amend Sections 5.15-100, specifically Section 5.15-105(D)to enlarge the sites eligible for consideration from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet of new impervious or gross floor area under Minor MDS review procedures and from 25,000 square feet to 50,000 square feet of new impervious or gross floor area under Major MDS review procedures;and expand the Applicability standards at Section 5.15- 110(A)(3)(a-d)to include all Commercial, Industrial,Medium and High Density Residential Zoning Districts to list of eligible zones. Sections 5.15-110(A)(3)(a-d)will continue to provide the applicability,location and public notice standards within the applicable zoning districts with minor revisions. This proposal for minor changes to the existing MDS standards only streamlines the review process for minor or simple development proposals and does not reduce any development or public notice standards. However,the minor revisions proposed may have significant efficiencies in terms of cost and tinning for the development community. Mr. Donovan reviewed the criteria: • A.1 Conformance with the Metro Plan * A.2 Conformance with Applicable State Statutes • A.3 Conformance with Applicable State-Wide Planning Goals and Administrative Rules City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17,2016 Page 2 Council was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the criteria.The Planning Commission vetted the criteria during a public hearing, and has included their unanimous recommendation of approval on the criteria.The criteria are in conformance with the Metro Plan,with applicable State statutes,and with applicable State-wide planning goals and administrative rules. The staff report includes the following: "neither the metro plan nor state planning goals reaches down to this level of a ministerial process". He discussed the findings and how they applied to the Metra Plan, and State statutes,goals and rules. Staff feels this efficiency measure provides flexibility yet retains standards. Staff feels the ordinance and the minor revisions comply with the Metro Plan. Public notice was provided for this process and they have had an extensive public involvement process with the DAC,which includes members of the development community and the public at large. He continued to explain how the proposal complied with State goals and statutes. Councilor Pishioneri asked what the pluses and minuses were for development with the proposed amendments. He wants to know if the City is giving up anything through this change. Mr.Donovan said our interests are overlapping with the development community.The tool does provide a ministerial review that can be done concurrently with the building permit. The DAC was looking for procedures that could be done in approximately 30 days, similar to the MDS process. Staff feels the complexity should allow us to stay within 30 days. MDS is a tool that is subsidized by the City and we don't recover all costs. That was a decision by the Council as it helps both small businesses and other businesses.At this point,this change is a time saver rather than a money saver. The possible downside will be the initial roll-out and education. There will be times when people want to use MDS, but because the site may require further infrastructure, etc. it may require a site plan review. Staff will not always be able to use MDS. There are times now when they have some flexibility in using MDS, but still provide public notice to the neighboring properties. Councilor Pishioneri said he wanted to continue to look at ways to make the process more efficient. Mr.Donovan said he would bring the rest of the DAC's recommendations to the February13 work session.This was the DAC's recommendation on this particular process. Councilor Moore asked if this process was only for an addition to a property and not a new development. She gave the example of someone wanting to make a duplex into a four-plex. Mr. Donovan said it is correct that this process could be used in that situation. If they have a large expansion of multi-unit residential and multi-unit design standards which could warrant a site plan. If an existing multi-unit residential building wanted to put in additional multi-unit housing and the utilities were in place,this process could be used. Councilor Moore said she owns property in medium density zoning,and knows there are limitations on what can be done. This process could save some costs in the appropriate situation. Councilor VanGordon said he sat through all of the DAC meetings and felt this was a good change, making Springfield more competitive.It helps with certainty and timing and he is fully supportive of this change. They still need to do more and those conversations are underway. Councilor Wylie asked if they could make the language easier to understand.It is difficult to share with people who are not in government. She understands it has to meet legal requirements. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17,2016 Page 3 Mr.Donovan said they have put in a four step process at the beginning of the MDS information to help simplify it for the developers. Mr.Grimaldi said over time our Code has gotten bigger and bigger. They are looking into whether or not they want to spend significant time to make it more user friendly. Councilor Ralston said it needs to be specific enough to cover all the technical aspects. Mr.Donovan said staff tries to explain this to those coming in to the counter. Councilor Woodrow agreed that this is the first step and the first tool. She looks forward to getting more done. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: ai 2 Z Amy Sowa City Recorder