HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 01 Annual Joint Work Session with the Planning Commission AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 7/16/2012
Meeting Type: Work Session
Staff Contact/Dept.: Greg Mott
Staff Phone No: 726-3774
Estimated Time: 40 Minutes
S P R I N G F I E L D
C I T Y C O U N C I L
Council Goals: Promote and Enhance
our Hometown Feel
while Focusing on
Livability and
Environmental Quality
ITEM TITLE: ANNUAL JOINT WORK SESSION WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION
ACTION
REQUESTED:
Discussion of the Council’s expectations for the recently established Development
Advisory Committee and the role of the Planning Commission in this project.
ISSUE
STATEMENT:
The Planning Commission recently reviewed and approved the citizen participation
opportunities included with the Development Advisory Committee project. As a
result of this review, the Planning Commission had questions about issue
identification, scope of recommendations, and their role in this project.
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Council Briefing Memorandum 7/16/12
2. Summary of Developer Input Process from 5/14/12 Council Work Session
3. Minutes of the 5/14/12 Council Work Session confirming the establishment of
the Development Advisory Committee
4. Final Council Briefing Memorandum from the Joint Work Team (11/21/11)
DISCUSSION/
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
The Planning Commission, acting as the Committee for Citizen Involvement,
recently reviewed and endorsed the citizen participation opportunities for the newly
established Development Advisory Committee (DAC). During the course of this
review the Planning Commission identified several aspects of this project they felt
would be timely and beneficial topics of discussion for the annual meeting with the
City Council. These topics are:
1. What is the charge or mission of the DAC? Are there subject sideboards, or can
the DAC pursue any provisions found in the Development Code?
2. How does the Planning Commission fit with the mission of the DAC? The
Council normally relies on the Planning Commission for early warning and advice
on Code deficiencies and amendment. It appears as if the DAC will independently
identify Code provisions for review, and then through that review, recommend
amendments.
3. How do the DAC membership categories support and advance the mission of the
DAC? The Code represents the broader interests of the entire community, not just
specialization targeting developers.
4. Is the JWT list of projects an element of the DAC mission (Attachment 2 page
6)? Those ideas were generated by members of the development community;
shouldn’t other voices be heard before a project list is developed?
M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield
Date: 7/16/2012
To: Gino Grimaldi
COUNCIL
From: Len Goodwin, DPW Director
Greg Mott, Planning Manager
BRIEFING
Subject: Annual Joint Work Session with
Springfield Planning Commission
MEMORANDUM
ISSUE: The Planning Commission recently reviewed and approved the citizen participation
opportunities included with the Development Advisory Committee project. As a result of this
review, the Planning Commission had questions about issue identification, scope of
recommendations, and their role in this project.
COUNCIL GOALS/
MANDATE: Promote and enhance our hometown feel while focusing on livability and
environmental quality.
BACKGROUND: On the evening of July 3, 2012, the Planning Commission, acting as the
Committee for Citizen Involvement, reviewed the citizen participation aspects of the
establishment and operations of the proposed Development Advisory Committee (DAC). This
included the proposed interest categories represented in the DAC membership, the process for
topic selection, analysis, and option development, and the employment of a variety of public
events, advanced communication techniques, and public hearing venues.
The CCI did officially endorse the various citizen involvement opportunities, but also raised
some process questions independent of citizen involvement, including the role of the Planning
Commission in a function (Code amendment) traditionally a fundamental responsibility of the
Planning Commission. When the CCI meeting was adjourned, the Planning Commission
convened a work session to discuss this matter in preparation for the joint work session with the
City Council. It was the conclusion of the Planning Commission that the following issues
should be discussed in some detail with the City Council to provide more direction for the DAC
as this project proceeds towards final recommended action:
1. The charge or mission of the DAC.
2. The role of the Planning Commission in this project.
3. The relevance of the membership categories carrying out the mission of the DAC.
4. The development, review and approval of a project list or project categories.
There are no limits to what the City Council can direct the DAC or the Planning Commission to
undertake in the implementation of this project. However, the mission of the DAC will be set by
the Council, and a well articulated mission or purpose statement could inform the development
of some general guidelines to be used in the selection of the topic areas to be pursued by the
DAC. The Planning Commission and City Council could mutually perfect the DAC purpose at
their joint meeting and then define the sideboards the DAC would use to identify and nominate
specific topics contained in the Development Code that should be evaluated for their
effectiveness and continued relevance to the community. The following discussion is intended to
be a basis for these sideboards.
Attachment 1-1
Inasmuch as the title of the committee is the Development Advisory Committee it would be
appropriate for the Council to direct that the committee’s primary focus be on Chapter 5 of the
Springfield Development Code: The Development Review Process and Applications. This
chapter of the Code contains most of the regulations applied to development in the City and
therefore is most directly related to the experience people or businesses have when developing
land or constructing/modifying buildings anywhere in Springfield.
The significance of Chapter 5 also is directly related to the Council Goal under which this
project falls: Promote and enhance our hometown feel while focusing on livability and
environmental quality. The primary purposes of the regulations found in Chapter 5 (other than
regulations mandated by the state or federal government) are the health and welfare of the
citizens, and community standards for appearance and compatibility between uses. Whether
your perspective is that the city is too restrictive or too permissive, the provisions found in
Chapter 5 are the logical starting point for this discussion.
To a lesser extent, but likely to be of interest to the DAC is Chapter 3: Land Use Districts. This
is a classic element found in almost every zoning code in the country: identifying uses of land
and buildings that are permitted, conditionally permitted or prohibited based on the underlying
zoning district (residential, commercial, industrial, for example). While development per se
(how development is reviewed and approved) is more closely linked to the regulations imposed
during plan review and construction, whether development is allowed is regulated by the zoning
district. So certainly if development is viewed as more than the requirements for building
permits and site development approval, the regulation on where a use is allowed or prohibited
should be part of the conversation. The broad list of categories to be represented in forming the
membership of the DAC is designed to enhance the likelihood that the proposed topics will
reflect a range of interests reflecting the breadth of the entire community, not simply one sector.
The Council retains the authority to select from among those topics nominated to assure that the
DAC addresses issues of interest to the Council. The Council is, of course, free to work with the
Planning Commission to carry out any appropriate role either in the process of defining the
sideboards and selecting or prioritizing nominated topics.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff recommends that the Council and Commission agree on
the charge to the committee: The Development Advisory Committee shall: 1. review the
process and requirements of land use and development in the City of Springfield; 2. provide the
Planning Commission and City Council with recommendations on improving this process and
outcome consistent with the Council Goal of promoting and enhancing our hometown feel while
focusing on livability and environmental quality; 3. provide another forum and venue for
citizen participation in this process.
Staff recommends that the DAC identify those sections of Chapters 3 and 5 they wish to
investigate, consistent with its charge, and that this product is shared with the Planning
Commission and Council as a preliminary scope of work. Upon Council confirmation of this
project list, the DAC and staff will conduct the level of analysis necessary to enable the DAC to
prepare recommendations on which sections of the Code should be considered for amendment.
These recommendations should then be the subject of a joint work meeting of the Planning
Commission and DAC for clarification, refinement and recommendation to Council. The
Council would then decide which amendments to pursue and instruct the staff to work with the
DAC to develop the proposed set of Code amendments.
Attachment 1-2
Attachment 2-1
Attachment 2-2
Attachment 2-3
Attachment 2-4
Attachment 2-5
Attachment 2-6
Attachment 3-1
Attachment 3-2
Attachment 3-3
Attachment 3-4
Attachment 3-5
Attachment 3-6
Attachment 4-1
Attachment 4-2
Attachment 4-3
Attachment 4-4