Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-23-2006 - Agenda Packet• MEDINA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION AGENDA January 23, 2006 7:00 p.m. 501 Evergreen Point Road Medina, WA A. CALL TO ORDER 7:00 p.m. B. ROLL CALL (Adam, Biglow, Blazey, Lawrence, Phelps, Rudolph, Vall-Spinosa) C. EXECUTIVE SESSION Closed session from 7:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. 1. Labor Negotiations Discussion D. ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Mayor 2. Council 3. Staff E. DISCUSSION 0 1. Permit Streamlining Plan 2. 2006 Legislative Agenda 3. 2006 Council Retreat 4. Council Agenda Calendar • F. ADJOURNMENT PUBLIC PARTICIPATION The Medina City Council encourages public participation and values input from citizens. In an effort to conduct meetings in a fair, but efficient manner, the City Council will follow previously adopted procedures, which are available in the City Clerk's Office. All comments shall be addressed to the Council as a whole in a courteous and respectful manner. Citizens wishing to address the Council should complete a speaker card and submit it to the recording secretary prior to the start of the meeting. Speaker cards are on the podium prior to the start of the City Council meetings. Meeting Agenda is subject to change prior to approval of the agenda during the meeting. Persons interested in a specific agenda item may wish to call the City Clerk at (425) 233-6400 before 4:00 p.m. on the date of the meeting to confirm agenda items. ITEM E -1 CITY OF MEDINA Development Services 501 Evergreen Point Road, Medina, WA 98039 www.modina-wa.gov MEMORANDUM DATE: January 18, 2006 TO: Mayor and City Council 425.454.9222 FROM: Joseph Gellings, AICP, Director of Development Services RE: Permit Streamlining Plan RECOMMENDATION: Review staffs plan to solicit input and take action on streamlining the building permit process. POLICY IMPLICATION: The degree to which this issue is policy -related has yet to be determined as described below. BACKGROUND: In response to comments made during the City Council candidates forum the City Council of 2005 decided to have a discussion about permit streamlining at the January 23 study session. Staff proposes to conduct a workshop process involving recent permit applicants in an effort to identify reform measures that are appropriate for the permit process. An "applicant" could be a homeowner, architect, or contractor. The plan and timeline are as follows: January, 2006 Prepare for Conducting Workshops, Invite Applicants to Participate February Conduct First Workshop March Conduct Second Workshop April Finalize Plan for Reforms The workshops will be facilitated by the City Manager and the Director of Development Services. Recent permit applicants will be individually asked to participate with the goal of assembling a group of participants that represent a good cross-section of Medina construction projects. In the first workshop the participants will be encouraged to share any and all observations and criticisms of the permit process. We want this dialog to be open-ended but we will prepare a list of questions to catalyze the discussion. The questions will focus on themes such as whether staff are accessible, whether the regulations are being consistently applied, and whether procedures are resulting in an orderly review of all aspects of the projects. ITEM E -1 The second workshop will occur at least a few days after the first one to allow staff time to investigate any constraints that may exist on the ideas suggested during the first workshop. The purpose of the second meeting is to delineate the issues into a framework such as the following: 1. Present all of the comments and suggestions staff heard at the first workshop; 2. Present staffs plan for reform action in relation to the comments; 3. Explain which comments cannot be addressed by staff and why; and 4. Confirm that staff heard and understood all of the comments. The Policy Question It is very likely that some of the concerns raised through the workshop process will be rooted in dissatisfaction with adopted City policy and code requirements. A list of such policy / code issues has been previously identified with the City Council and is re -presented below. This list is, essentially, the Planning Commission Work Plan. The Planning Commission has been steadily working on the issues and forwarding recommendations to the City Council. Land Use • Regulation of Nonconforming Structures — restrictive when viewed in context of prevalence of nonconforming homes in Medina. MMC 17.60 • Reconstruction Valuation Limit, (the "60% rule") — some view this construction -cost formula as an arbitrary approach to limiting work on nonconforming structures. MMC 17.60.030-C • Illegal Nonconforming Structures — the hearing examiner recently ruled that MMC 17.60.030-A should be interpreted to mean that no work is permitted to a structure that didn't comply with codes during its initial construction • Stand -Alone Accessory Uses — the code lacks direction on whether vacant parcels can be used for accessory uses such as parking lots • Legal Substandard Building Sites — the separate ownership rule of 17.40.025 is outdated and creates needless process • Home Occupations — MMC 17.74 does not adequately deal with current home occupation problems including boarding houses • Pitched Roof Incentives — Many believe that adding a pitched roof incentive to the height rules is the proper response to the trend towards flat roof designs • Reformulate the Zoning Code's height / lot coverage bonus system to allow for intermediate coverages with intermediate heights • Original grade — this is an unusual system for building height measurement. MMC 17.20.010, 17.21.010, 17,24.010, 17.28.010 • Furthest extent measurement for setbacks — this is an unusual system for setback measurement. MMC 17.20.010, 17.21.010, 17.24.010, 17.28.010 • Subdivision rules — treatment of "panhandle," "dumb -bell," and other irregular lots; treatment of proposals to create new lots with a smaller degree of nonconformity • Water features — ambiguity in how the Zoning Code regulates these • Mechanical equipment allowance — some feel that the prohibition of mechanical equipment from most setback areas leaves a homeowner with no reasonable options. MMC 17.49.020 • Page 2 ITEM E -1 • Building Codes • Medina has adopted IBC for use on most houses whereas most cities rely on IRC. MMC 15.04 • Building Permit Thresholds — current thresholds are much more restrictive than most cities and IBC. MMC 15.04.030 • Permit Renewal / Phasing / fees — sets a penalty for phased construction on a given property; has administrative problems. MMC 15.04.030 • Construction hours / holidays — more restrictive than most cities. MMC 8.06.030 Site Work • Private lane standards — can lead to an unexpected loss of buildable envelope for home buyers. MMC 17.72 • Lack of adopted standards for right-of-way work and grading / drainage designs. • Lack of infrastructure —substandard public storm sewers and water supply systems result in costly measures by property owners during construction Tree and Vegetation Code • Many cities do not have a tree code; the pros and cons of our program were recently reported to the City Council Construction Mitigation • Most cities do not have a construction mitigation program; the pros and cons of our program were recently reported to the City Council Page 3 ITEM E - 2 CITY OF MEDINA City Manager's Office 501 Evergreen Point Road, Medina, WA 98039 425.454.9222 www.modina-wa.gov MEMORANDUM DATE: January 10, 2006 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Doug Schulze, City Manager RE: 2006 Legislative Agenda COMMENT: The following issues are suggested for 2006 legislative concerns for the City of Medina. The City Council is asked to review the issues and be prepared to discuss additions or changes during the January 23, 2006 Study Session. The Legislature reconvened on Monday, January 9, 2006, to begin the short 60-day session. Association of Washington Cities (AWC) staff anticipate this session to be limited to minor issues, and possibly a few agreed -upon major issues. The legislators also returned to Olympia with a $1.4 billion state surplus and no major issues that require attention. Streamlined Sales Tax — The Governor is expected to advance SST legislation in an attempt to bring the state in compliance with the national agreement. If adopted, the SST proposal would shift from origin to destination the apportionment of local sales taxes on goods shipped from one jurisdiction to a red pient in another jurisdiction. This bill would create consistency with proposed national sales tax apportionment standards intended to provide fairness to main street businesses and to convince Congress to require out-of-state vendors to collect and apportion state and local sales taxes on internet and catalog sales. AWC has worked with both the negatively- and positively4mpacted cities and an agreement has been reached. The Legislature has considered this issue in past years, but did not pass legislation due to lack of agreement on how to address negatively impacted cities. The agreement now exists, but assumes the Legislature will appropriate funding to defray the losses to the negatively -impacted cities. Municipal Courts — Negotiating teams representing AWC and the Board for Judicial Administration (BJA) met three times in December, attempting to identify local court -related legislative proposals that both sides could agree upon. Cities' key interests in the proposal continues to be clarification of our authority to contract together to provide court services. This city interest is consistent with the BJA long-term goal of a `regional court system," but they also want to require: o Elections for community court judges; o Concurrent jurisdiction with between community courts and district courts; and o Designation of the presiding judges as a necessary signatory to the interlocal agreement establishing the contract between cities for court services. A comprehensive bill is no longer expected. However, AWC intends to seek legislation to clarify our contracting authority for court services and to establish a population threshold for the election of judges. The BJA is expected to introduce separate bills requiring all judges to be elected and placing limits on court commissioner authority. Land Use and Housing — Almost every legislative session includes proposed legislation from an interest with an ax to grind or a "better idea" on how cities should regulate and manage land use. It is unlikely that support for such ideas will develop during this short session so, most will not move forward. Governor Gregoire's administration has expressed interest in sponsoring a bill that would allow smaller and slower growing cities that plan under the Growth Management Act (GMA) to update their local land use plans and regulations less frequently than what is required of larger and faster growing cities. The Governor is also expected to introduce legislation that would more clearly define what cities are expected to do to "include best available science" when updating local critical areas regulations. However, there is not much consensus on this issue so it will be difficult for anything to pass during the session. There does not appear to be any promising proposals regarding residential zoning densities, which would address the Central Puget Sound Growth Board's decision that requires all cities within the Central Puget Sound area to zone all residential lands at a minimum density of four dwelling units per acre. Subsequent court decisions have questioned the authority of the Board to establish such a requirement, but it remains an issue of great concern to the City of Medina and other cities across the state. HB 2323 is intended to increase the availability of affordable rental housing. It would require all 248 cities planning under the Growth Management Act to allow for ADUs in all single-family residential zoning districts. The bill would also remove much of the discretion that local governments are currently allowed in regulating ADUs. HB 2323 does not appear to be significantly different from MMC 17.50, but the proposed bill usurps local authority over land use regulations. Business License Authority — SB 6138 is a bill that AWC is following. The bill would limit city business licensing authority to businesses with a location within the city, rather than the current authority to license all businesses regularly operating in the city. Currently, more than 180 cities impose a business license and the restrictions to local authority would significantly impact revenues of those cities. MMC authorizes business licenses and City staff will be meeting with a representative from the Department of Licensing to discuss participation in the Master Business License program, which would allow the City to implement the local business license program without creating a significant administrative burden. This is a potentially important issue to the City because implementation of a business license program would generate revenues to diversify the sources of revenue we rely upon, which is important to the long-term financial stability of the City. In addition, the business license program would assist City staff in tracking sales and use tax receipts. • Page 2 • • LEOFF I Benefit Cap —A bill did not surface in advance of the start of the session, but AWC expects a bill to be introduced this year that would: o Eliminate the cap on the number of years of service that can be included in LEOFF I pension calculations; o Reinstate the member and employer LEOFF I contribution rates; and o Establish a threshold in the LEOFF I pension fund, providing that any excess funds above the threshold be transferred to an account to help local governments fund their liability for LEOFF I retiree medical and long-term care. The City of Medina interest in this issue is primarily related to the transfer of excess funds to an account to help local governments fund LEOFF I retiree medical and long-term care liabilities. • Term of Collective Bargaining Agreements — AWC expects legislation to be introduced to set the maximum term for local government collective bargaining agreements at six years instead of the current three years, allowing local governments and their unions more flexibility in bargaining the term of the contract. 0 Page 3 ITEM E - 3 ` CITY OF MEDINA City Manager's Office 501 Evergreen Point Road, Medina, WA 98039 425.233.6400 www.medina-wam MEMORANDUM DATE: January 10, 2006 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Doug Schulze, City Manager RE: 2006 Council Retreat COMMENT: The City Council has conducted a retreat at least once every two years since 1997. The retreats have ranged from off -site professionally facilitated to on -site facilitated by the mayor. Mayor Adam and I discussed the annual retreat recently and reached agreement on the following: ■ A professional facilitator should be used rather than having the mayor or city manager facilitate; ■ City Hall is an adequate location for the retreat; ■ The desired outcome, at a minimum, should be identification of 5 goals/priorities for 2006; ■ If the Council agrees to conduct a retreat, it should be completed in February or March. The City Council has been asked to consider February 25, 2006 and March 4, 2006 as possible dates. The City Council may also wish to discuss other issues during the retreat, such as: 1. Mission a. Agree on fundamental purpose, scope, and benefits of local government b. Clarify respective roles of council and manager 2. Govemance/Leadership a. Clarify council leadership views on the model it wants to adopt for itself b. Define and agree upon strategic issues shaping and defining the community's future c. Establish shared vision, goals, and strategies (5 goals/priorities) 1 d. Link leadership priorities and policies to strategic issues and goals • 3. Management a. Define the working relationship desired by council and manager b. Establish manager's role in determining policies, performance standards, and evaluation process c. Determine the degree to which council wishes to consult in essential attributes of organizational effectiveness, major appointments, and manager performance The City Council is asked to decide the following: 1. Does the City Council wish to conduct a retreat? 2. Confirm March 4, 2006 as agreed upon date for the retreat. Anticipated duration of retreat is four hours. 3. Provide direction/guidance regarding the retreat agenda items. 0 Page 2 r 17- 2006 Citv Council Calendar Description 1/9/2006 Regular Meeting 1/23/2006 Study Session 2/13/2006 Regular Meeting 3/13/2006 Regular Meeting 2006 Study Sessions Completed 2006 Leg Action Plan Discussion 2006 Fee Schedule No Action Annual Retreat Date Discussion ARCH Budget Discussion/Action Emergency Pre aredness Facilities Discussion Election of Mayor Completed Election of Deputy Mayor Completed FY 2005 Year End Financial Report Discussion Labor Negotiations Discussion Discussion Discussion Discussion Marine Patrol Annual Report Discussion Medina Beach Park Project Discussion Oath of Office — Newly & Re -Elected Completed Permit Streamlining Discussion Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan Resolution Adopted Public Hearin Tree Preservation Ord. Discussion Tree Replacement — 84Ih Avenue N.E. Discussion Utility Undergrounding Discussion 3/27/2006 Study Session 4/10/2006 Regular Meeting 5/8/2006 Regular Meeting 5/22/2006 Study Session 2007 — 2012 CIP/TIP Discussion Labor Negotiations Discussion Discussion Discussion Discussion • 01 /18/2006 Page 1 of 2 PA2006 Agenda Packets\01232006\Item E-4, 2006 Council Agenda Calendar.doc City Council Calendar Description 6/12/2006 Regular Meeting 7/10/2006 Regular Meeting 7/24/2006 Study Session 8/14/2006 Regular Meeting 2007 — 2012 CIP/TIP Discussion 2007 Budget Description 9/11/2006 Regular Meeting 9/25/2006 Study Session 10/9/2006 Regular Meeting 11/13/2006 Regular Meeting 2007 Budget C.M. Performance Eval Property Tax Lev Description 11/27/2006 Study Session 12/11/2006 Regular Meeting 2007 Budget • 01 /18/2006 Page 2 of 2 P:\2006 Agenda Packets10123200611tem E-4, 2006 Council Agenda Calendar.doc