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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-22-2004 - MinutesMEDINA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MINUTES March 22. 2004 Medina City Hall 7:00 PM 501 Evergreen Point Road Mayor Odermat called the Council Study Session to order at 7:02 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Council members Miles Adam, Drew Blazey, Katie Phelps, Bob Rudolph, Pete Vall-Spinosa, Deputy Mayor Todd Nunn and Mayor Mary Odermat Staff Present: City Manager (CM) Doug Schulze, City Attorney Kirk Wines, Director of Public Works (DPW) Shel Jahn, Planning Director (PD) Joseph Gellings and Recording Secretary Caroll Wedlund ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Odermat relayed an Emergency Preparedness meeting world be held Wednesday, March 24 with Barbara Graff, Director of Emergency Preparedness for Bellevue. Also, a Puget Sound Regional Conference (PSRC) meeting would be held at McCaw Hall at the Seattle CentE!r on March 25 from 3:00 until 4:30 p.m. Further, an SR-520 Round Table at Peter Kirk Hall in Kirkland will take place Wednesday, March 31 from 6:30 to 8 30 p.m. Mayor Odermat also stated, per RCW 42.30.110(g), an Executive Session had preceded tonight's meeting from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. to discuss personnel issues. DISCUSSION Red Oak Tree Planting on NE 7ch Street —DPW Jahn referred to packet information on the Red Oak tree planting on NE 7`h Street, and noted this item was not part of the agenda. Mayor Odermat requested Council concurrence to discuss this subject, and the majority wished to hear audience comments. Council member Vall- Spinosa did not want discussion of the Red Oak tree planting to occur tonight, because it had not been announced and citizens who might otherwise attend were not present. DPW Jahn explained this item had been included in the packets because of timeliness for tree planting. ThE! PW crew had just recently located and purchased a red oak that was scheduled for planting soon in the exact location of the original grouping of trees. He had contacted neighbors regarding this issue. However, the Bindons were out of town and had not been contacted, nor had the Rileys. DPW Jahn clarified the girdled trees were in the city right-of-way, except for the one on the Bindon property. Gary Blackbourn, 8401 NE 71h Street, announced when he purchased his property in 1994, several trees had been removed at his own expense, thereby creating a view to build his home. He had to replace the trees that had been removed, and neighbors exerted pressure upon him because: at some future time, the wrong plantings might impede someone's view. He went along with the neighbors' wishes. Mr. Blackbourn indicated the large maple trees had been a privacy issue. On Labor Day a year ago while he was away for the weekend, someone girdled these trees in what appeared to be an attempt to kill them, primarily to enhance a view and to increase property value. One of the trees had been on the Bindon property. Fie emphasized the girdling of trees in the right-of-way was a criminal act. The Police Department had sent an o`ficer, but no further action was taken. He had been concerned because a tree falling down would have gone tl-rough his garage. Five months later, his neighbor, Mr. Brog, trimmed four of the trees that he had planted at -is expense and at the request of the city. Mr. Blackbourn emphasized it was not a view issue, but rather protection for him and his family. He asked the Council to remember that his neighbors never had a view before he crcated it. Gary Corbett, 8405 NE 7th Street, urged the Council to read DPW Jahn's packet, and not to reward criminal behavior such as that demonstrated by girdling the trees. Consuelo Corbett, 8405 NE 7ch Street, asked the Council to maintain the integrity of the tree scape, and urged them to discourage girdling activity by tree replacement. CM Schulze thought this was an issue of policy implementation, and he was not sure the Council wanted to hear it. DPW Jahn had done an excellent job with documentation, and Council discussion of this issue was opening the way to hear about every contentious right-of-way tree issue. He suggested the Council weigh whether they wanted to spend their time hearing this or whether they wanted staff to take care of it. City Attorney Wines advised MMC 12.28 addressed this issue. CM Schulze recalled the Council had adopted an ordinance concerning preserving significant trees in the right-of-way. DPW Jahn clarified he had been merely trying to respond to a question raised during the last Council meeting, and thought the other side of the story should be provided as well. Deputy Mayor Nunn emphasized it was not the Councils job to make a decision regarding the Red Oak tree planting, nor should they be involved. CM Schulze stated the civil penalty for failure to obtain a permit for removing a tree in the right of way was S5,000. The city was exempt from obtaining tree permits, because they issued them. However, Medina still followed the requirements. DPW Jahn added he had just City Council Study Session Minutes March 22.. 2004 Page 2 confirmed today no police report had been made. Council member Rudolph wanted an investigation and a police report. He suggested the city discourage this type of vandalism by issuing a notice in the Medina Newsletter with a statement publicizing the monetary penalty for such action. CM Schulze stated neighbors had been interviewed, but no one had confessed. The officer must witness the violation occurring in order to issue an infraction, or there would have to be substantial evidence pointing to the tree girdling. The Council requested, with Council members Vall-Spinosa and Blazey opposed and the others in favor, that staff handle this issue per policy, with instructions that an article be inserted in the April quarterly newsletter about tree trimming/removal, and resultant fines. 84rh Avenue Tree Replacement Project —City Attorney Wines explained that review of confidential attorney/client privilege documents from him should be discussed in Executive Session. During a February meeting, the Council had requested information regarding exposure to liability and responsibility for removal and replacement of hazardous trees. Site Plan Review—PD Gellings gave background information, and stated he had talked with professionals at the City of Mercer Island and in Lincoln, MA. He displayed a Power point slide show, covering a variety of lot sizes and configurations. He noted enacting a site plan review program would supplement existing MMC provisions for the construction of large homes in Medina. Site plan review lent itself better to large lots than smaller ones. With small lots, it was a long, expensive process to go through site plan review. Further, large lot owners had flexibility to obtain meaningful results from the site plan review examination of how the overall plan would be used. The site plan review procedure would involve two oublic meetings. There would be a public comment period of 15 days, like that for the administrative variance process. Anyone could write a comment after reviewing the file. PD Gellings noted Mercer Island's design review program had been overhauled two years ago to ensure that it was legally defensible. The way their code now read was very clear and usable for developers. Further, Mercer Island's appeal rate was very low. The Lincoln topics in decision criteria matched well with those for Medina. Further, their appeal rate was very smal . Deputy Mayor Nunn commented Lincoln was more like Medina, and requested to review a copy of their site plan review program, as he could not make a decision without more information. CM Schulze commented with the exception of Hunts Point Circle, all the HP lots were street to the water, so their formula worked because the lots were pretty consistent in size and configuration. This was not the case in Medina. Deputy Mayor Nunn cautioned he would be forced to recuse himself if the Council were to cover lot coverage. Mayor Odermat stated the Council needed to conduct a review of PC recommendations regarding the new site plan review program and verify that the policy direction of their recommended ordinance met the Council's intentions. Council member Vall-Spinosa moved, seconded by Council member Phelps, to send the Site Plan Review to the PC for 'inal draft of ordinance. The motion carried with the majority in favor, Deputy Mayor Nunn abstaining, Council member Adam against, and Mayor Odermat against. CM Schulze suggested CC discussion of site plan review at the June meeting. Direction to PC on Building Height —It was noted the PC was again reviewing height issues. PD Gellings stated the PC had requested permission to again review pitched roofs. The PC felt they could come up with a replacement for the 25-foot rule that would be an incentive for pitched roofs, resulting in better homes. CM Schulze noted this issue went back to 1997, and encouraged the Council review those old PC and CC minutes. The Council directed the PC to stop working on the building height issue, by a vote of four to three, with Council members Phelps, Vall-Spinosa and Rudolph voting nay. Council Protocol Manual —By consensus, the Council decided to remove Chapter 10. CM Schulze requested Council members to send him an e-mail with suggested changes for incorporation. He clarified if a citizen sent a letter regarding a certain issue, it should be copied to the entire Council. He also explained the Council dealt with issues like overnight travel by elected officials when they adopted the budget. CM Schulze offered to change the word 'will" to 'may' under Section 5.06 Medina Newsletter — Council Corner. Council member Phelps moved. seconded by Deputy Mayor Nunn, to adopt the 85-page version with the removal of Chapter 10, to change will' to may in the first sentence of Section 5.06, to change the review to every four years rather than two years, and to call it the Medina City Council Guidelines. By consensus, the Council accepted the above motion, with Council member Adam voting nay. The Medina City Cou icil Guidelines were moved to the April 12, 204 Consent Agenda. CDs for Council Members —Staff was requested to burn a CD for all Council members and for City Attorney Wines, with the exception of Council members Adam and Phelps. City Council Study Session Minutes March 22, 2004 Page 3 Agenda Calendar —Mayor Odermat requested alphabetization of :he agenda calendars. Council calendar agenda changes were made. EXECUTIVE SESSION Per RCW 42.30.110(i), the Council recessed into Executive Session at 9:26 p.m. to discuss potential litigation. The meeting reconvened at 11:00 p.m. ADJOURNMENT It was moved and seconded to adjourn at 11:00 p.m., and the m tign carried unanimously. Mayor Mary Odermat Attest: i Caroll P. Wedlund, Recording Secretary