HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-11-2003 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
August 13, 2003 Medina City Hall
7 00 PM 501 Evergreen Point Rd.
Mayor Becker called the regular meeting of the Medina City Council to order at 7:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present: Council Members Drew Blazey, Thomas Morgan, Robert Rudolph, Deputy Mayor Mary Odermat, and
Mayor Daniel Becker
Staff Present: City Manager Doug Schulze, City Attorney Kirk Wines, Police Chief Michael Knapp, Public Works
Superintendent Sheldon Jahn, Consultant Planner Joseph Gellings, Consultant Landscape Consultant
Kristin Hoffman and Interim City Clerk Shirley Jordan.
Absent: Council Member Todd Nunn
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor reported that he would like to move item 1-1 Appoint Vacant Council Member position to the front of the agenda.
We had 4 applicants, and one has applied to the vacant seat, the personnel committee felt it would be prudent to appoint
that person Miles Adam to the Council position for the next three months until the election. That is the recommendation
from the personnel committee. Based on that, if there is a motion.
Deputy Mayor Odermat moved, seconded by Councilmember Morgan to nominate applicant Miles Adam, present
chair of the Planning Commission, (P.C.) to fill vacant Council seat, commencing with the August 11 Council Meeting.
Motion carried unanimously.
Miles Adam was sworn in by Interim City Clerk Jordan, and took his seat on the Medina City Council.
Mayor Becker announced there will be an executive session after the meeting, and doesn't expect any action to be taken.
City Manager Schulze reported the purpose of the executive session is to discuss pending litigation, and a personnel
natter the Council needs to discuss.
City Manager reported that with the appointment of Miles, we now have 2 vacancies on the P.C. We will be taking applica-
tions for those vacancies. Applications are available at City Hall.
Public Works Director Jahn reported that the park board meeting is scheduled for the 3Id Monday each month. This month
we have several Park Board Members who are going to be gone, so we have rescheduled the meeting to Tuesday, the
261h of August. It has been noticed.
CONSENT AGENDA
Council Member Blazey moved, seconded by Deputy Mayor Odermat, to approve the consent agenda as listed below.
1. Minutes from July 14, 2003
2. Minutes from July 28, 2003 Council Study Session
3. Approval of July 2003 Checks — Claim Checks 18175 — 18285 - S164,312.44 and Payroll checks #19967-
20043 in the amount of $50,723.49
4. Authorize contract with Montgomery & Associates for development of Terrorism/W MD annex to CEMP
Deputy Mayor Odermat amended the minutes, to acknowledge Shannon Gibson as a big part of the program and she is
not mentioned in the minutes at all. Also the minutes should reflect that Gary Andreini resigned from the Planning
Commission due to relocation to Bellevue. So that the purpose is clear.
Councilmember Morgan asked what amount the grant for the terrorism. City Manager reported S14,500.
Motion carried unanimously. Consent agenda approved as corrected.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
vlayor Becker opened the meeting to the audience for non -agenda items.
Fred Gerber — 8418 Overlake Drive W. 2 weekends ago was Seafair, and as part of Seafair the Blue Angles perform
between 1130 and 1:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Across from where I live is a small park and a lot of people
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gather to watch the Blue Angles. They gather between 11:45 and 12:00 and are gone by a little after 1:00. There were a
lot of people this year. 200 people. They have a problem parking, they park alongside the street. This year the Medina
Police, Saturday in particular came along and made an announcement that many of the folks were improperly parked and
would be ticketed if they didn't move. Some didn't hear that announcement and got ticketed. I think that is a wrong thing
to do. I think the Medina Police, during the 90 minutes three times a year, should facilitate parking by directing people who
come to that park where to park legally. At no time did these people ever narrow the street to where 2 fire trucks going 60
miles per hour couldn't have made it down cleanly. 1 asked the Council to direct the Police Department to facilitate parking
during those three 90-minute periods that come once a year. Councilmember Blazey explained that we are looking at our
parking problems. Deputy Mayor Odermat thanked Mr. Gerber for his comments.
David McGrath — 8305 Overtake Drive W — I want to address the Dock Ordinance. The 100' limit. Recently the Hearing
Examiner granted a variance of 40' allowing a dock to be extended 40' beyond the 100' limit into the lake. I can
understand how a variance could and should be extended for hardship reasons. But if you create your own hardship, for
instance if you have a boat that draws 10' — 12' feet of water, therefore needs deeper water in the lake, you have created
your own hardship. I don't think a variance should be granted on that basis. The dock should fit the boat not the boat fit
the dock. A variance for hardship reasons, for navigational reasons, but to have a 40% variance on something that is
totally out of character in the neighborhood, to be granted by the hearing examiner who is obviously not respecting the
ordinances that have been approved by the City of Medina. I think you should address the Hearing Examiner, and ask
what are they doing. The applicants name is Jane. The associate planner specified in his report that there had been
many variances between Groat and Dabney point. There has not been one variance granted. Get a new consultant
planner. Get a new hearing Examiner, because they are not respecting your ordinances. Joseph Gellings responded it
was the second Hearing Examiner that heard the case in question. As to the staff report and what it said about other piers,
it was written 4 months ago, I don't recall if the statement had to do with docks greater than 100' being variances as
opposed to legally built. Important point to remember is that 150' docks were allowed for a long period until the mid
1990's. Several docks in that vicinity exceeds the 100' closer to 1507 legally because they were built prior to that code
change. McGrath disagreed. City Manager stated they would ask staff to take some measurements.
Henry Paulman — 1415 801h — Wanted to say when Mr. Jahn came on board his first request was to try to see if he could
get some additional land in the shed area. Next to the park. I thought that was a pretty good idea, I asked around and has
a name of Howard Strong who is with ESE and actually is in a position to do something, and is has positive attitude about
working with the City of Medina, would like to see the city capitalize on that and move toward using that space, if not a
purchase which they might not go along with, but they would go along with some kind of usage. City Manager Schulze
stated that we are now in the process of working with PSE to set up an agreement with them for use of space. As a result
of a citizen request PSE informed us that we are encroaching on their land. Jahn reported the shop area is inadequate for
the space needs. If you go to the south into PSE area, Jahn was concerned that we might get into some permit
requirements in order to push out — that is something we should address down the line a little bit.
Councilmember Rudolph commented that he was disappointed in the recent election process in Medina. 2 years ago we
had 3 contested races for City Council. The citizens had a chance to meet and question the candidates, there was a
debate, held at St. Thomas's that was well attended. This year 2 of the 3 positions were contested. However 3 candidates
withdrew within days of filing for the election. The net result is we have 3 positions with no contest at all in the City of
Medina. This is a peculiar phenomenon in Medina, and seems unique. If one reviews the list of withdrawn candidates in
King County, with a single exception of a single position in Normandy Park, no candidate anywhere in King County
withdrew leaving only a single candidate for City Council position except in Medina. He wanted to bring this up because it
is important for all of us to be aware that this has occurred.
STAFF REPORTS
PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT
• Chief Knapp stated he wished Mr. Gerber hadn't left. The Police Dept. is anxious to develop a coherent policy on
parking. Chief Knapp reported 6 car prowls during the past month. Previously we brought in a dog and were able
to track down the person, not so this time. Chief Knapp reminded everyone to please lock the cars and don't
leave items of value in the car.
• Chief Knapp reported that on The 23rd of July a Medina Police officer arrested a young man. He had several false
ID's. The drivers name, when they determined the correct name was found to be an escapee from the Dept. of
Corrections. They looked in the car and saw mail (including some of Councilmember Blazey's), drug
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paraphernalia, and stolen property, some blank license forms. He is being charged with 5 misdemeanors. The
gentleman is one of 9 who will be charged with identity theft.
• Meeting on Friday to organize the first Anna Rideholm fun run. He reported that Medina Days went will as far as
police went.
• The P.D. is working with secret service preparing for President's Bush's visit. There already have been signs
hung out on the bridge, which have been removed.
• Chief Knapp reported that mail theft is a real problem. They have tried to get information out. There is information
out and we will put articles in the newsletter.
Discussion was held on Locking Mail boxes. City Manager Schulze reported we have done some research, but we ran into
a problem, mailboxes are private property, the city can't purchase them. It might constitute a gift of public funds, but the
city could coordinate the program.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT
• PWD Jahn reported the Zoning Map has been updated. The new map is on the wall. We identified 80 changes. It
is in good shape. We enhanced some of the colors. Asked if anyone had any questions.
• Councilmember Morgan asked the cause of the crack that ran down 82nd. PWD Jahn reported that it looked like
the Storm Drain system that was put in that section of road was never properly compacted. They had to go back
and relay the area.
• Councilmember Adams felt the parks looked wonderful for Medina Days. He asked about maintenance on the
little park below the View Park on 841h. It doesn't look like anyone is maintaining it, and he wanted to make sure it
was on the maintenance schedule. PWD Jahn reported the Park board has met it has named the little park View
Point Park and Community Dock. He stated that park needs a lot of work, there is money in the budget and we
have improvement plans this fall.
FINANCE REPORT
Councilmember Rudolph reported that revenue is about $87,000 below budget on sales and use taxes, and S94,000 in
)uilding permits, which represents about 5%, for the year. There is some concern. Councilmember Morgan stated that
Building permits were downscaled from previous year. The estimates for building permits were brought down. So we are
considerably down. Councilmember Adam noted that the monthly report for we pretty much explains where we are in
revenues and what is happening. On the expenditure we just say we are kind of on budget. If you look at the detail report
there are a lot of big swings - big pluses and big minuses. It would be helpful if we would highlight the top 4, 5, 6-expense
variances year to date so we could check and see what is happening with those. There are some pretty big variances. He
was asked to give an example Councilmember Adams pointed out that line items for City Attorney, Insurance are a couple
of areas. City Manager Schulze explained that some of those items such as insurance are paid annually, as are a lot of
services in central services. We can do a report to highlight expenditure areas that might be of concern.
PUBLIC HEARING
Proposed Ordinance #743 — Tree and Vegetation Code
City Manager Schulze passed out a summary sheet that shows the proposed changes to the Ordinance. City Manager
Schulze explained some of the proposed changes. Council held a discussion of the proposed Ordinance changes. Mayor
Becker opened the meeting for Public Comment at 8A8 p.m.
Paul Demitriades— 2254 Evergreen Point Road, Lives at the intersection of 241h & Evergreen Point Road which is one of
the areas that would be most affected, but wanted to comment that he has worked with other councils and commissions
on this very subject. We have had numerous meeting, we've worked with citizens, city staff, the city's arborists Otak who
are here, we have reviewed comp plan requirements, the endangered species, looked at the efforts of Hunts Point, Mercer
Island and Seattle to protect trees & vegetation. We put into one ordinance tree preservation which are now scattered
through the municipal code. That has been accomplished. Staff has done a good job with that. So I think we have
addressed most of the problems. The issues Shel brought up tonight are new. I like Dr. Morgan's approach, lets pass the
proposed Ord. 743, the result of all these efforts I have described — Lets pass the rest of the ordinance. It is fair to property
owners, it addresses the tree canopy. The safety issues still need to be addressed.
Jerry Swanson-1247 Evergreen Point Road, Medina, is currently building a house at that address. He recently wrote a
letter to the City Manager. For some background, he has a 25,000 sq. ft. lot, on a private easement. He has 45-50 large
trees. He has measured the canopy of those trees, which measures 8,400 feet which represents 34% of the lot —using
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49% of the city's allowed impervious uses - 91 % of his lot is used. At 100% of the replacement of the trees- the trees were
removed to meet the setback requirements of the city. That allows 9% where I can replace 220" of trees. It would take 55
trees, which would use the rest of my lot to satisfy the requirements. It was his understanding that the trees removed for
the footprint was not counted. 100% is going to jam my lot. If it goes to 200% the fine will be $31,000.00 — if it goes to
125% 1 would have to pay a $7,500.00 fine. He would like to see that percentage be a separate vote so the citizens of
Medina know who voted for a fine or whatever you call it. Councilmember Morgan asked what the total cost of his project
is. About 3 million dollars. Discussion on if this should be called a fine or other charge.
Mark Nelson, 1233 Evergreen Point Road, Is a neighbor of Mr. Swanson. He concurred Mr. Swanson's lot is vegetated
with very old growth. He presented some handouts that pointed out some problems with the code. He is concerned that
we have a conflict, this ordinance requires us to plant trees that blocks sunlight and views. He would like to see that
discussed among the council. He had a few comments — pp17, section 12.28 it states that one of the purposes is to
maintain the existing tree canopy. He would like to see the words " and facilitate the renewal of the existing tree canopy'
added. To increase the tree canopy. - ppB — page 3 the last line is talking about the chapter is not intended to impose
liability on the city, its officers, its agents, consultants of employees running to individual members of the public. He don't
know what that means. Is that a misprint? City Attorney explained that it is intended to limit the liability of the city, intended
to benefit the public as a whole, not to benefit one person. 12.28.020 definitions — on page 7, he would like to see the
definition be expanded. Significant trees - should indicate that a single trunk tree — he has come across a situation a vine
maple that has 7 branches and each one is an inch or inch and a half but when you count them all up it is defined as a
significant tree, questioned if that is the kind of significant tree that t he code is trying to enforce applicants to replace. He
asked for a definition for shrubs and ground cover. Sec 12. page 11, has already been discussed. Question about historic
trees and where are they measured from. Hoffman explained that replacement trees are measured at one foot above the
root crown, existing trees are measured at DBH. Mr. Nelson noted that the city seems to be exempt from this ordinance,
and would like to know the answer. 12,28.050 two paragraphs, which seem to say the same thing. Are they the same.
City Manager Schulze explained that the paragraphs were different. Mr. Nelson showed an example of what this ordinance
does to a lot. He challenged the council to apply this ordinance to a specific lot.
Marilyn Pederson - 8245 NE 26th Street, Medina, Stated she lives in an old part of Medina. They would like to demolish
the existing structure and start all over again and be able to maintain some of the beautiful trees that are on their lot. The
ordinance in its present form even with the changes still remains rather punitive. Those of us who have substantial trees
on our lot compared to lots that have no trees at all or maybe just a bunch of blackberry bushes. She wants to maintain
the tree canopy. The ordinance stifles development Her landscape design calls for an Asian garden. After meeting with
Kristin, she discovered she would have to plant around 50 trees to comply with the ordinance — She would love to file for a
building permit, and would love to help the City of Medina. Are there any possibilities of tradeoff — to lessen the adverse
impact of the tree mitigation program. If she proposes a building and landscape design and 30% of the lot is impervious
surface to it, when the ordinances as they now stand would allow 50% coverage. Wouldn't that be taken into
consideration?
Victor Melfi - 7746 Overlake Drive W. - Just an observation. 1. Is it feels like netting out the square footage as long as
its - the trees that get cut down relative to square footage added assuming its in the perimeters of the code. It seems
reasonable — it's kind of a double counting going on relative to the preservation going on. 2. The whole idea of average
density. Its really not about the community's objective because I was big on the whole tree conversation, people want to
preserve the whole rural environment. It seems like it would be easy to calculate an average density.
Dar Web — Landscape architect. Does a lot of work in the city. He applauds the Council. It is a difficult job to take an
old code and make it respond. One issue he hasn't heard about. Which trees are counted on a lot? The code previous to
the existing one did not count the trees in the building area of a lot. So you didn't have these extreme cases of having to
replace 200 or 300 inches of trees — I think your goal is to try to get people to preserve as many trees on a lot as possible,
but still recognizing the fact that they have a right to build a house on the lot. In the past he never had any project that had
such extreme cases of the mass amounts of inches to replace. Its because you changed the classification to include all
trees on a lot rather than just the ones in the setback areas. By requiring trees within the building envelope to have to be
replaced, that does seem onerous to people who happen to buy a lot that has a lot of trees. It does seem like an unfair
situation. There should be some discussion about whether trees within the allowable building footprint should be counted
for replacement. In addition to Mr. Swanson's site, we are working on some other sites that have similar situations where
've have a lot of trees to try to cram onto a site, in addition to those trees we are going to be donating to the city. Its going
.o be a situation where we plant trees then the neighbor up above is going to be loudly complaining because they are
starting to grow up into the view, so you create all kinds of situations that aren't positive in the long run. Horticulturally
trying to fit these trees onto the sites becomes a real challenge. If you are looking at quality rather than quantity, you have
the old adage that it is better to spend $10 on the hole and $1 on the tree and vice versa, and by requiring so many inches
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you take away the owners ability to spend the money where it really should be and that is on the soil so that the trees that
are planted flourish. He would rather see one tree planted appropriately rather than a bunch of 4" trees that in 5 years are
going to be cut down because they are so thick and overgrown and not thriving.
Mayor Becker closed the public hearing at 9:39 p.m. Mayor Becker asked council what they would like to do with this
ordinance and pointed out they options they have. One — Make modifications or pass the ordinance the way we have it.
Two — or continue the public hearing until the next meeting recognizing that we may get some additional public comments,
make some adjustments to the ordinance that we have heard tonight.
Councilmember Rudolph felt it needed a bit more study. He would like to defer the final vote until the next meeting.
Councilmember Morgan felt new information about site lines needed more study, some of the suggestions that were made
are housekeeping suggestions, and some have real merit. Thinks we ought to sort those out and discuss them.
Councilmember Adam felt we should take one more crack at it, some things that came up needs a bit more study.
Councilmember Blazey stated we have been through this twice. This is good information in terms of the impact on the
replacement percentage, the site lines was new to us tonight. He felt we needed more time to think about it.
Deputy Mayor Odermat appreciated the testimony we had tonight. She wanted more time to reflect on some of the
significant points and particularly Marks idea, and possibly get opinions from a couple more landscape architects too.
Mayor Becker felt there are some issues that are going to take a little longer to resolve. The site line issue might take
longer, maybe we want to pull it out and include that as a separate ordinance. That would at least move everything else
along. The other idea that we never have talked about, we have taken a blanket approach on everything, maybe more of a
progressive percentage for recovery of trees. For instance if you have a lot that you are removing 10% of the trees, maybe
you only have to replace 50% of the caliber inch. So the more trees you are removing, the more you are going to have to
replace. That may be a different approach. If you remove 50% of the trees then you have got to replace 150% or
something like that - which is a little bit more equitable and take care of some of the issues. Councilmembers discussed
hat concept. We can think about this at the next study session.
City Manager reported there are three items for the August study session, two planning commission recommendations
(administrative variances and building heights), and the follow up on the facility issue that was requested at the last study
session. The August study session is full. The direction that was made in the past is to limit it to three items. Mayor
Becker felt that we have momentum on this issue and we should work on it. Consensus of the council was to bring this
back to the study session, if there is enough time to do the research council have asked staff to do. Mayor Becker stated
we need to provide staff with some direction. Councilmember Rudolph — excluding a footprint and sliding scale, and the
housekeeping issues. Councilmember Morgan felt he needed to see some stakes in the ground (white ones for the state
recommendations and red ones for what you are proposing) at a couple of intersections your choice, then we would have a
better idea of what the impact would be. Mayor Becker felt we should look at what other cities are doing about this. City
Manager Schulze suggested pulling other cities codes off the Internet. Mayor Becker suggested Mercer Island, other point
cities, maybe Kirkland. Councilmember Morgan suggested Clyde Hill, Yarrow Point and Mercer Island. Mayor Becker
stated we should stay away from Clyde Hill and Yarrow Point. Deputy Mayor Odermat thought Lake Forest Park would be
a good city to look at. Mayor Becker added Woodinville to the cities to check with. Mayor Becker stated we have 5 other
discussion items, and we need to move on. We are going to keep the green store on the agenda. Council took a 5-
minute break and will reconvene at 10 after 10. Back to order 10:10 pm.
OTHER BUSINESS
MEDINA STORE LAND USE ISSUE
Mayor Becker explained the reason this is back on the agenda — what we talked about at the special session is the
process for moving forward, with the rezoning. Some people have asked why we aren't looking at rezoning the property at
the same time. We're looking at the process for basic rezoning of anything in the city and looking at rezoning that site at
the same time. That's the proposal I would like to put forward to the Council tonight. Do we want to direct staff to in
addition to looking at the ordinance we looked at last time, and moving that ordinance forward - also providing staff
lirection to move forward with rezoning of the parcel that the green store is on for some type of light commercial or some
-)they — I don't know all the zoning classifications that we could identify for that. Councilmember Adam stated that each will
need its own hearing. Councilmember Rudolph asked about the ordinance we requested last time, and the issue of the
land use attorney. City Attorney Wines reported Attorney Jerry Hillis has agreed to review the ordinance, he has a draft of
the ordinance with the modifications that were discussed at the last meeting. Councilmember Rudolph asked if we had
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any idea when he would finish his review. City Attorney Wines stated it would be before the P.C. was going to consider it
in September. Council discussed Mrs. Lee and her future plans for the property the green store sits on.
City Manager Schulze reported to the Council, one of the questions that was asked at the hearing the other night was — we
have had two hearings in front of the Hearing Examiner and why aren't we following their recommendations. That was
from a vocal group that was here the other night. We went back and looked at those Hearing Examiner comments. One
of them recommended that we look at rezoning. The first Hearing Examiner gave us basically a plan for what we could be
doing as far as looking at rezoning, recognizing its historical nature and its commercial history. We did nothing at that
point, so I would say that if the second Hearing Examiner were to look at the first hearing Examiner's report, and I don't
know if she did or not, seeing that none of these steps have taken place, I can understand the denial. Being that as it may,
we do have a plan outlined in the Hearing Examiners first decision, that is one of the things that we could move forward on.
Deputy Mayor Odermat stated we have joint responsibility with not following through with all these suggestions quickly.
City Manager Schulze read from the Hearing Examiner's report "Among the possible courses of action are the negotiated
purchase of property by groups who desire to retain the structure cooperative effort with the applicant to come up with a
plan that identifies the exact commercial proposal and its effect on neighboring properties and changes to Medina Zoning
code that recognizes the historical nature the site and its commercial history. City Manager Schulze commented we had
the option with the first hearing examiner decision. At the time there was no interest in looking at that, and we felt that we
could put together a complete application working with the property owner and present it to the hearing examiner and
ultimately have conditional use permit granted based on the historical use of the property.
Mayor Becker stated that the course of action is to direct staff to move forward with changing the Medina Zoning Code,
recognizing the historical nature of the site, and its commercial history. City Manager Schulze stated that this really sets
the Council up for criticism, when we are creating the process in one public hearing and then turning around 2 minutes
later opening the public hearing that was supposed to comply with that process that you just created. There's submittal
criteria, the notices that would be required, the evaluation for the application. Mayor Becker pointed out that we are going
to be criticized no matter what we do, so either we move on a parallel course or we move on a sequential course. If we
move on a sequential course we may be looking at a new house there, at which point we are going to have quite a bit of
fissention in the city. He suggested we move on a parallel course, we have done rezoning in the city without a process in
place. Lack of a process hasn't stopped our ability to do that.
City Manager pointed out this is creation of a new zone as opposed to a rezone, but as long as the council understands
there is going to be criticism, we can move on. Last meeting we were directed to provide us with an ordinance. When that
ordinance was presented, interest wasn't there at the time to follow through with it. There was a request to delay the
process because of the criticism we received. This will bring more, for creating the process then turning around at the
same meeting and considering a variance. Councilmember Adam asked what direction the Mayor would give to staff.
Mayor Becker stated the process for rezoning that piece of property, or the rezone. Setting up the ordinance, - City
Manager Schulze stated that the procedures for this action are really something we should have in place. City Attorney
stated It should go to P.C. first, they have the freedom to impose any conditions upon any use, all those things. He felt the
enabling ordinance is a very simple thing, and the P.C. would only need to take one look at it and Council would only to
take one look at it. Councilmember Rudolph felt we should find out what groups are available to take over the property.
City Manager Schulze stated at the last meeting Council asked the P.C. to look at the procedures ordinance, but that is not
necessary. Do you want the P.C. to focus on the zoning ordinance, then at the next Council meeting the Council could
look at the provisions again? By consensus, the council agreed to that. Mayor Becker clarified that right now we are telling
staff to remove from the P.C. agenda the discussion of the process, that the Council will deal with that after we see
Attorney Hillis's comments. Then start the process for the rezoning through the P.C. Council agreed. Deputy Mayor
Odermat asked to have Attorney Hillis attend the P.C. meeting. City Attorney wasn't sure if he would be able to attend
because he has planned a vacation at that time, but they would send an attorney from their office. Council agreed.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Tanya Hill — 830 8th Avenue NE, Medina. Stated she will never complain about the length of a Park Board Meeting
again, thanked the Council for what they do. She expressed concern about Mrs. Lee's thinking about tearing down the
store and put up a house. She read a prepared statement about Medina, history. She suggested the city purchase the
store property for use as a community center, rebuild the store, and use the second floor for offices. She would like to see
� place for coffee, sandwiches and Popsicles for the kids. It would be a community -gathering place, as well as help solve
_)ffice space problems. Going to the green store is a right of passage for our kids. Please help maintain part of our
history.
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Allison Jackson — 7633 NE 141h Street. She would like to add there is perception that the city has really dragged its feet
on this. She understood it is a very complicated issue with a lot of pieces to it. But the point is if the city in its dealing with
ier (the owner), was proactive and set forth a plan with which you were trying to make this happen, that potentially — I don't
know if she can wait any longer, but maybe she would be more willing to do that. Ms. Jackson added on to Tanya's
comments about the green store, when her son was in kindergarten, they had a community treasures project that the
whole elementary put together, and the community treasure that they at that time had was the green store. They went
through the green store, spent time in the green store and they learned all the stories about what that green store meant to
this community from its inception, from the beginning when it was here. She had the opportunity to be part of that. So she
encouraged the Council to do whatever it possibly can to retain that part of the community. If it means moving things along
faster than is a little bit comfortable, she hopes they will continue to find everyway possible to make this happen and keep
the green store as part of our community.
Mark Nelson —1233 Evergreen Point Road. Wished to echo the points that have already been made. He thought the
store could be an asset to our community in several functions, whether or not it is maintained as neighborhood retail, or a
public asset in terms of we buy the property, turn it into an historical park of some sort that houses both a store function
and public offices, as a public gathering area. We need to mix in this whole idea of a historical designation. There was a
conditional use permit for the store. He would like to have a copy of those so that the P.C. can hit the ground running if
they are going to look into the idea of a rezone for that particular area.
Carolyn Clark — 2548 Medina Circle. What is the history of looking into purchasing the building? Is it something we
looked into? Or is that still a possibility? Or is it out of the question? Have our citizens ever come together as a
community as a save the building type thing? City Attorney Wines responded that we have considered purchasing the
store. There have been a number of interested individuals. We were waiting to see if the individual groups were going to
go forth. If the city were going to consider purchasing the store, we would do that in executive session. She asked if the
Council needed anything from the people of Medina, to move the process forward in a faster way. Because demolition
could happen in 2 or 3 days there could be a sense of urgency to this. So if you needed support, you could get support
from the community. Are there people that are on the completely side of the fence? Mayor Becker stated there are
)eople of both sides of the fence, and there are people in the middle. Ms- Clark asked if the city needed a petition. Mayor
Becker responded that we needed adult people in the city to write letters. Show up for the hearings and write letters. If a
petition is circulated, be sure to have only Medina people, and include addresses.
Beth Rudolph — 1455 Evergreen Point Road. Suggested that if there is concern that Mrs. Lee may act and destroy the
house quickly, then it is worth considering Tom's idea of a permit to prevent demolition, so that it doesn't happen. She felt
either way you go with either the process that was presented at the study group, or a brand new ordinance is going to take
more time than anyone would like. P.W.D. Jahn asked if there could be a legal challenge to something, could our
timeline be blown out of the water by somebody legally challenge — opposed to the store. Attorney Wines stated someone
can challenge anything. That is potential litigation and should be discussed in Executive Session.
Mayor Becker closed public comment and pointed that it was 11:00, and we need to move on
OTHER BUSINESS
Ordinance No. 757 - Motion made by Councilmember Morgan — Seconded by Deputy Mayor Odermat to approve
Ordinance No. 757 — Non -Conforming Structures.
Councilmember Morgan asked for a minor change in the ordinance. Paragraph D — the phrase "Without the necessity of a
variance" has been struck, he felt erroneously, and he would like to see it restored. Discussion. Deputy Mayor Odermat
agreed with the change. City attorney commented that change would be fine, it was just language. Councilmember Adam
asked if this would allow residents to build right against the setback line, is that correct? Joseph responded yes, but it
would also have to be over existing structure. Councilmember Adam proposed adding the words "existing standard"
between the words "the" and "structural" and "for the lot" at the end in paragraph H. Joseph Gellings stated "Existing
standard" doesn't add anything. Attorney Wines also felt that adding "existing standard" doesn't add anything.
Councilmember Rudolph asked if the addition on the second floor may not exceed the structural lot coverage, but in
addition to that it has to be over the first floor, could someone build one that didn't exceed the lot coverage, but projected
out over the footprint. Joseph explained that is already prohibited in D.
layor Becker called for the vote. Motion carried with Councilmember Adam voting no.
Ordinance No. 759 — Motion made by Deputy Mayor Odermat — Seconded by Rudolph to approve Ordinance #759
Minor Deviations from Numeric Development Standards as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
City Council Meeting
August 11, 2003
Pa,c 8
Mayor Becker reported that agenda Item # 1-2 and Item #1-4 have been deferred to next meeting. He stated we need to go
nto executive session to go over litigation.
Councilmember Morgan asked Council to reconsider at the next meeting the side yard setback recommendations made by
the P.C. Mayor Becker asked if there were 3 people on the Council who wanted to bring that forward.
Mayor Becker stated there were 3 and 3. There was no motion to pass it. Mayor Becker stated we will discuss that at the
next meeting.
Regular Council Meeting adjourned at 11:18 p.m. and went into executive session. Executive session ended at 11:48 p.m.
Motion made by Deputy Mayor Odermat Seconded by Councilmember Morgan to direct the City Attorney to file an
appeal to T-Mobile decision. Motion carried with Blazey opposed.
ADJOURNMENT
By Consensus, the City Council Meeting adjourned at 11:50 p.m.
Attest:
'3hniey Jordan, interim City Clerk