Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/16/2012 Work Session"`City of Springfield W orlc Session Meeting MINUTES OF "THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CI "FY COUNCIL I3ELD MONDAY, JULY 7 6, 2012 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Rooan, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, _luly 16, 2012 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri, Van Gordon_. Wylie, Moore, Ralston and Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grim aldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Arny Sowa and members o£the staff. Planning Commission Chair Jolnvty Kirschen mann called the meeting o£tlie Planning Commission to order_ "those present from the Planning Commission were Commission Chair Kirsch enm ami and Commissioners Stacy Salladay, Tini Vohs, Steve Moe, Bob Brow and Greg James. ]. Annual Joint Work Session with the Planning Commission_ Planning Manager Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item. The Planning Comn-xission, acting as the Committee for Citizen Involvement �CCI), recently reviewed —cl endorsed the citizen participation opportunities for the newly established Development Advisory Committee During the course fthis review the Planning Commission identified several aspects of this prctject they felt would be timely and benef-icial topics of discussion for the annual meeting with the City Council_ Thaw topics were: 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 tit with the mission of the DAC? The Council normally relies on the Planning Commission for early wa ing and advice on Code de Frcieneies and amendment. It appears as if the DAC will independently identify Code provisions For review, and then through that review, recommend amendments. 3. 1 -low do the ",NC support and advance the mission of the DAC? "the Coda represents the broader interests of the entire commwzity, not just sped alization targeting developers. 4. Is the JW"T list of projects an element of the DAC mission 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? Mr_ Mott noted that Council would be meeting on July 23 to appoint the members to the DAC. He referred to the staff recorrxrnendation in the Council Briefing Memorandum kocated in the agenda paeket. Staff recommended that the DAC= 1 ) review the process and requirements of land use and development in the City of Springfield, 2) provide the Planning Coxrxniis lion and City Council with recommendations on improving this process and outcome consistent with the Council Goal of promoting and enhancing our hometown feel whiles focusing on livability and environmental quality - and 3) provide another forum and venue for citizen participation in this process. Thai could be changed by the Council if they chose, but it was usually helpful for the committee to understand clearly what they were charged with doing_ City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 16, 2012 Page 2 Mr. Mott said staff also recommended that the DAC identify those sections of Chapters 3 and 5 of the Development Code as these two chapters were the most relevant to people interested in developing in the City of Springfield or homeowners who had an interest in what they could do with their property, and for citizens in general who expected that the City's codes and standards were for the citizen's benefit. The other chapters were necessary, but included more legal language and could be tedious for a committee. Mr. Mott said the final recommendation from staff was guidance on tonight's discussion regarding the process to involve the Planning Commission, City Council and DAC from brainstorming to a proposal that would come to the City Council for a decision on whether or not to make changes to the Code. A possible process would be to appoint the DAC, the DAC and staff brainstorm some topics to pursue, forward that list of topics to the Planning Commission and City Council; the City Council refine the list to something of interest to the Council, the DAC and staff would refine that list so Council would know the cost and time needed for the projects. The Planning Commission and DAC would then meet, perfect it more, and bring it to the City Council for a decision on which projects to move forward with. The DAC would work on the identified projects and then go through the normal process. The City Council would be involved twice before they gave direction on specific projects. Mayor Lundberg said it would be appropriate to hear directly from the Planning Commission about their questions and concerns regarding their role. Commissioner James said he appreciated the time to meet with the Council on this topic. From a broad standpoint, he wanted to gain an understanding about the direction of the DAC and how the Planning Commission plugged into the process. Mr. Mott brought more definition to that tonight and that was helpful. Initially there was a joint work team that picked a process. That group brought forward a list of things that were of interest from a development standpoint. A letter dated October 2011 from that group stated that they would like to stay engaged in that process. That was an ad hoc group and was identified to look at specific issues related to development. The group was successful and brought forward some changes and efficiencies to the Council. With the Goal 1 requirement of broadbase interest, the Planning Commission had questions about this group continuing as a committee rather than an ad hoc committee and bringing things directly to the Council. It was the Planning Commission's understanding that the DAC was going to be more broadbased, and they wanted direction from Council about the intent of the process moving forward and how the Planning Commission fit into that process and could assist as the commission. Commissioner Brew said he was put off as a member of the CCI when asked what they thought of the categories after recruitment had already started. It felt just like they wanted a rubber stamp. It was confusing and seemed that the Council had forgotten they had a Planning Commission which did a lot of the things that had been talked about. They wondered where they fit into this process. He didn't feel there was a well laid out plan or mission. Councilor Ralston said he had the same concern about where the Planning Commission fit into this process. The Planning Commission's job was to find things in the Development Code that needed to be changed or revised. Mr. Mott had said the DAC would be coming directly to the Council to provide and receive input, but he wondered when the DAC would give the Planning Commission input. It seemed like there was a step missing. Rather than coming to the City Council twice, he would rather have them go to the Planning Commission to see if what they had come up with was something the Planning Commission could work on, then bring it to the Council. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 16, 2012 Page 3 Councilor Woodrow said she was looking at the DAC as providing information to the Planning Commission then the Planning Commission coming to the City Council. She felt the Planning Commission was the Council's direct line of sorting out information and making recommendations. Councilor Wylie said she was coming from a totally different perspective and she was surprised to hear the Planning Commission had a concern about this process. She thought they were looking at customer service issues when working with developers, and concerns about increases in rates. They wanted to find a way to work better with our community of developers. There was a whole section on customer service and development review and City of Springfield's Development Services principles. She thought they were looking at three things: 1) customer service principles; 2) better relationships with development groups in the community; and 3) how Council could keep an eye on the costs that were occurring for builders. She thought they were going to develop an ongoing committee so Council could get feedback when things were getting difficult for developers to do business so we could keep Springfield's doors open for economic development. That was her understanding. Councilor Pishioneri agreed with Councilor Wylie. When it came to the community, they should always be able to come to the City Council for resolution of issues. There could be other developers outside the DAC that had concerns and those people should be able to bring those concerns to the Council. There were going to be some layered approaches. They wanted to make sure that everyone was heard. The job for both the Planning Commission and City Council was to find the best resolution for the citizens. Councilor Woodrow said there was a balance. If there was a prescribed purpose or pursuit that could be used with the information being fed into the Planning Commission, then that was the informational route that should be followed. It didn't preclude the DAC from coming to Council and having an open door for something that hadn't been prescribed or requested. Commissioner Brew said it sounded like they were presenting an industry advocacy group which was different from what had been presented to the Planning Commission, which was designed to be more broadbased and community -wide. Mayor Lundberg said the group started when the Council had been approached by developers in the community that had felt Springfield was no longer open for business and business friendly as it had been in the past. Things had changed so they decided to talk about it with people from the development community. That initial group made some recommendations based on their experiences about what the City could do to help get Springfield back into a competitive mode for development. The group then saw other places they thought they could explore further. If they continued it could be viewed as an advocacy group, such as the Bike Pedestrian Committee which was an advocacy group for bicyclists and pedestrians. This committee was going to be more broadbased since it had started out too narrow. Mr. Grimaldi provided an example of an issue that could come up in the DAC. The original group was set up to discuss process. In the end, that group wanted to get into broader issues such as the site plan review process. The new group would likely want to discuss this topic as well, specifically the process used by Eugene. That was more of a policy issue. Staff needed to know what to do with that type of issue. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 16, 2012 Page 4 Councilor Moore said when she served on the Planning Commission, she had concerns that the Planning Commission also served as the CCI. She felt that didn't open it up to citizen input and they were dealing with advisory issues. In a sense, this felt like an advisory committee that was dealing more with issues that came before the Planning Commission. She didn't see the need for both of the groups existing, but wasn't sure what issues the CCI dealt with. It was always important to involve as many citizens as possible and they had a long list of groups they were trying to invite to be part of the DAC. She felt it best that the DAC first brought the information to the Planning Commission, then the Planning Commission could bring pertinent topics on to the City Council. The DAC always had the ability to come to Council. She understood the Planning Commission member's confusion regarding their role. Mayor Lundberg said originally this was an approach to the Council. The group had been working under staff support with their own agenda with a broader desire to participate in site plan review. Mr. Grimaldi said the group was not looking to participate in site plan review, but rather to review the site plan review process and possibly suggest some changes. It could be a completely different way to look at site plan review and there could be some dramatic impacts on staff and the Planning Commission. Mayor Lundberg said Council needed to know the extent of possible changes. Mr. Grimaldi said they could determine that this evening. They could gather the group, find out what's on their minds, get their list and somehow process it through the Planning Commission or Council, then put sideboards on it. He didn't want to put limitations on anything until they heard from the DAC. The Planning Commission was looking for their role in this process. Councilor Ralston said he understood the first reason the group was formed, but didn't think it was a great idea that the group continue unless they had another specific issue. If the group was going to exist, he felt they should report to the Planning Commission rather than the City Council. He didn't see any issues out there that were so drastic that needed to be changed now that required Council attention. For rule changes, the Planning Commission was the place to go. Temporarily the group could come to Council. Councilor VanGordon said they would need to see the list of policy options, then get together and agree upon the list. Once they had the opportunity to see the list and put some sideboards on it, that would be the opportunity for the Planning Commission to work on the issues with feedback and experience. Any kind of change needed to go to the Planning Commission first before the City Council looked at it further. Given the list of applicants for the DAC, he could see how the list could become very broad, but he could also see that they could limit it to a small scope. Once they had the list, the DAC could go back and work on it, check back with the Planning Commission, then filter the information back to the City Council. Commissioner Brew said he wanted to be clear. If this was an industry rep organization, he wanted it presented that way. He was confused about the group outlining the issues and bringing them forward. If they had a broad organization with a lot of views, that would take a lot of time. He wanted to know what they were dealing with. Commissioner James said the makeup of the group as presented only had two developer representatives and was broadbased. To meet Goal 1 requirements, staff had put together this group City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 16, 2012 Page 5 with a variety of members. It was important to get input from the development community in how to streamline processes. The question was how that could be plugged into the City process and how they engaged the Planning Commission in that process. He felt they were having a good discussion on that. The makeup of the group would be critical to the issues that came forward and it may not be what Council anticipated and may not align with the original vision. Mayor Lundberg said she wanted to be careful that they recognized that the group came together for a specific purpose and put in some extensive work. When things got sidetracked, it could make people feel badly about the work they had done. The work was started because Council was hearing from the community that Springfield was becoming the less competitive community when it came to attracting business, and they wanted to figure out how to address that issue. There were advisory groups, recommending groups (the Planning Commission) and policy groups (the City Council) and there was a chain of events. It was legitimate to have some type of agreement of the makeup of the DAC. If those that served on the original committee wanted to be on the new formation of the committee with an expanded membership, they would be welcomed as a way to acknowledge their previous work. She didn't want to alienate anyone that had already put in their time. Councilor Pishioneri said the original group was formed for a specific purpose. As the group matured, other needs were seen and the group became more inclusive. The Planning Commission was seeing the contrary of where it started and what it had become. It had started as a specific group and they needed to make sure the group was ready to be more inclusive and expand its scope of topics. He as fine with it being more inclusive, but he wanted to make sure it was ready to be more inclusive and hadn't changed too quickly. Councilor Wylie said she didn't want to duplicate the function of the Planning Commission, who the Council relied upon as an integral part of the City's process. This was clearly a citizen advisory committee making the Council aware of issues regarding economic development in our community. She thought it shouldn't be expanded to address other issues other than how it impacted the economic development of our community and the processes that could impede our growth. The City had gone through some pretty severe times and the reason for this committee was to combat that and help the developers get back to work. We were trying to remove the barriers in that process and not recreate the Planning Commission. The City already had a good Planning Commission. The Council liked to keep up on what the problems were and what was going on. Commissioner Kirschenmann said when the Planning Commission first looked at the flow chart, it looked like the Planning Commission was not included. He felt the original group had done a great job. His thought would be to take that group and add a few more core categories, set some parameters and look at thing to run through the proper channels. Commissioner James said the idea of ad hoc versus standing committee was something for Council to determine. The flow chart as described was presented as an ad hoc group for a purpose, yet it was going to continue. Council would need to determine if once the objectives were set, the committee would continue indefinitely or would be revisited in a year or two to make sure there was the feedback. Having a clear objective was very important to keep any group moving. If the range was too broad, they would get sidetracked. He felt it was very important that the group was directed and had a purpose. It sounded like that was now coming together. Councilor VanGordon said when this was done, he would like to have a check -in point. Then the Council could decide to sunset the group or keep moving forward. He was open to see the end results City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 16, 2012 Page 6 and how it unfolded. If there were no clear long -term objectives, he would be happy to dismantle at that point. Mr. Mott said this was unusual. Traditionally staff brought deficiencies or changes to the Development Code to the Planning Commission. Those changes were generally responses to mandates or an attempt to implement Council policy or direction for something. It was easier for staff to make those connections rather than citizens knowing something was wrong. If staff told Council they had to establish some clean water provisions to comply with State mandated regulations, staff could generate those changes, bring them forward and have the public look at them and understand the consequences to their property. Other times, the Council may experience or see something and come to staff with questions. Staff would then bring back options for Council to consider. When the Joint Work Team left they got a taste of some of the other possibilities for a broad review and update to the Code. They then honed in on specialized elements of the Code. All of the issues that interested them evolved into a broader understanding of the cause and effect of the Code and the City's business practices. One reason they talked about broadening the scope of participation was because once they got into these other issues there were implications across the City and on policy that existed that created the Code revisions in the first place. There was a Metro Plan policy that stated that the City of Eugene and City of Springfield would adopt site plan review processes to address certain policies in the Metro Plan. The City of Springfield agreed to that and so did the City of Eugene, but evidently in a slightly different format. This process was entangled with and was existing to give a direct result of that plan policy. To say the only people that should be involved would be a select group would violate Goal 1. It was fine to get input from a select group, which was done often, but they often felt they had not been involved from the beginning. That was a weakness in doing things that way. They avoided that by having stakeholders involved in the Commercial Industrial Buildable Lands (CIBL) inventory and land use study. Expanding this group was a way to involve the community. There was also an element included in the Code that this was the entire City's code. Staff was required to enforce and implement the Code, but also explain how this benefited the entire community. An objective of the City Council was to ensure the environment was safe, the quality of life enhanced and that people would see this as an attribute of the City of Springfield. Sometimes these things could go sideways as they seemed to benefit one group and be a detriment to others. It was always a balancing act. Right now, it felt like they were floundering a little bit because staff or the JWT weren't suggesting specific Code sections that needed to be improved. There wasn't a lot of public input asking for specific changes. The City was in a lull and calm so it was a good time to do them, but there was a lot to think about. Councilor Moore said when they met on May 14, she had asked about staff time. She assumed that a staff liaison would be assigned if this group was established. It sounded like the interests of the group could involved a lot of time from staff to provide information, history and the law to the group. She asked if they had the staff resources to deal with that type of broad group. The Planning Commission had a staff liaison that provided them with issues for discussion. Mr. Grimaldi said for the initial discussions and the brainstorming for the list, they did have staff that could look at that. They did need to have a serious discussion about how much staff time it would take to explore those issues. Mayor Lundberg said she was looking for a level of support from the Council for the group to be put together. She wanted to know if the group would put the list together with the Planning Commission or if the group would put the list together on their own. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 16, 2012 Page 7 Mr. Mott said staff s proposal was that once the DAC was appointed, the DAC and staff would work together and generate a list of potential Code sections to pursue. That would go to the Planning Commission and City Council, with the Planning Commission acting as the initial filter for the list. The City Council would then select or direct which projects were worthwhile and staff would determine how much staff time and costs those projects would entail. Once that work was performed, the DAC and Planning Commission would have a one or two -hour work session and hopefully come to consensus on the product that would be brought to the City Council. The City Council would then provide direction based on that information. When giving that direction. the City Council would have an understanding of costs and time and a clear picture of the concept of the amendments. There was a research element to finding out that information. Mayor Lundberg said the application process was currently underway. Tonight they were looking for general consensus to move forward and that everyone had more understanding of the process. The group would create the list and then move it forward. She asked if everyone had a better sense of understanding. Commissioner Brew said the role of the CCI was to ensure they had broadbased citizen involvement for issues involving land use Code. They could agree to categories, but how those categories would be filled was up to the City Council. That would make or break their ability to stand up to a challenge if any changes were made to the Code. Councilor Ralston said part of this plan was to promote and streamline the process for the business community. To broaden this group, the opposite could happen. Certain members such as environmentalists, could be counter - productive to what they were trying to accomplish. Mr. Donovan said the application process ended on July 11. Council would be reviewing the applications on Monday, July 23. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: aV -InV >- Amy Sqwk City Rec rder