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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole June 19 2007WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL Committee Of The Whole June 19, 2007 Council Chair Carl Weimer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham, Washington. Present: Absent: Barbara Brenner L. Ward Nelson Dan McShane Sam Crawford Seth Fleetwood Laurie Caskey- Schreiber 1. PRESENTATION OF BASELINE REPORT ON THE DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN BIRCH BAY AS DEVELOPED WITH A NORTHWEST COLLABORATIVE (AB2007 -274) Roland Middleton, Planning and Development Services Department, stated the purpose of this presentation is to be in compliance with the State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development grant for this project. Included in the presentation is a discussion of a town center and other ideas that came from the subarea plan. This has not yet gone to the Planning Commission. They have not yet held all the public meetings required. Davidya Kasperzyk, A Northwest Collaborative Principal, stated he is an architect and bio- regional planner. They put together a team to respond to the community's issues. There needed to be more town planning to develop the design guidelines. He described the public process and his team. The community is very complex. They tried to get as much information as possible about what the community thinks about Birch Bay, how Birch Bay works economically for the development community, and the ecological frameworks. Then they discussed where a town center might best be located, and then created design guidelines. They also created a visualization of the end product. He read from the presentation on three types of town centers that they may have. They asked the community about scale, character, and density. He showed photos of different ideas. Many people want to connect to the natural landscape. They created a series of art- oriented guidelines. He showed photos of potential elements. The County geographic information system (GIS) worked with them to provide maps. The central basin wetland goes deeply inland. It is in the 100 -year flood plain. The original subarea plan looked at that area as a natural place for a town center. However, they have ruled that site out because of the flood plain. He continued to show concepts for development. They promote compact growth within the urban growth area. There are two alternatives for the town center. One alternative is an upland civic center located at the Birch Bay Lynden Road at Harborview Road. The second alternative is at the Alderson Lake T intersection. He compared the two alternatives, and recommends the first alternative. Committee of the Whole, 6/19/2007, Page 1 1 The design guideline process started with workshops in February. They tried to give 2 definition and distinction to the different places in the town. It requires a series of 3 permitted use and conditional use changes. He wanted the guidelines to be as simple as 4 possible and to show a range of design options to the process was clear enough to end up 5 with successful development. 6 7 The cottage district should include an overlay to add value to the character to the 8 community. He continued to show design concepts of how the community may evolve, 9 including transportation. 10 11 Matt Stevenson, Core GIS Principal, stated he worked with Mr. Kasperzyk to come up 12 with a hypothetical visualization of what Birch Bay could look like in 2047, given certain 13 assumptions. He showed an oblique aerial photo view of Birch Bay in 2007 and in 2047. 14 The main change is the parkway, housing around a new town center, two large commercial 15 areas, and lower density residential housing. He explained those different types. They 16 didn't maximize available density under existing zoning for this purpose. In his experience, 17 that hardly ever happens. They lowered the density a bit. To build this visualize, they 18 found existing developed areas that approximated the density that they envisioned for Birch 19 Bay, and visually dropped those areas into the Birch Bay photo model. 20 21 They used the population projection that Bco Northwest developed and extrapolated 22 the projection to the year 2047 to come up with about 11,800 dwelling units. They made 23 assumptions about occupancy. They increased occupancy to .6. They used an estimated 24 household size to 2.33. They ended up putting about 6,700 new dwelling units in the 25 visualization. It resulted in a total population of about 16,400 in 2047. All those people are 26 placed in the Birch Bay urban growth area. 27 28 Weimer stated this is a good project. 29 30 Brenner stated she has lots of questions and suggestions. She will put them in 31 writing. 32 33 Weimer asked if landowner and developers in this area have been involved. It 34 seems like they need those folks to buy into this vision. Kasperzyk stated this is very 35 ambitious. Now they need to get the community and developers together to make it real. 36 They reached out to landowners as best they could. They've had feedback that this is very 37 different than what some of the developers were thinking. A few of those developers were 38 open- minded to the vision. 39 40 2. DISCUSSION AND NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE FOR COUNTY COUNCIL ON OPEN 41 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT (AB2007 -207) 42 43 This item was withdrawn from the agenda. 44 45 2. DISCUSSION OF HOW THE COUNCIL CAN MEET ITS LEGAL OBLIGATIONS 46 AND MOVE ITS POLICY DIRECTIONS FORWARD CONSIDERING THE 47 CURRENT LEVEL OF VACANCIES IN KEY COUNTY STAFF POSITIONS 48 (AB2007 -281) 49 50 Brenner stated she can't think of any reason why long range planning wouldn't be 51 under the Council. That's the Council's job. It's not an administrative function. It's a 52 planning policy function. This is an opportunity for the Council and administration to work 53 together to make a transition that would also free up much of the administration's time. It Committee of the Whole, 6/19/2007, Page 2 1 would allow councilmembers to get direct, timely responses. This is not anyone's fault. The 2 Council really needs direct interaction with those who will advise on long range planning. 3 4 Weimer stated they brought this forward to see if any other councilmembers felt the 5 need for an ongoing discussion about this. 6 7 Caskey- Schreiber stated it's appropriate to have a discussion about what's going on 8 with staffing levels and how the Council can get its work done. It seems like they're falling 9 farther and farther behind on Comprehensive Plan amendments. Councilmember McShane 10 put things forward two and a half years ago that he won't have a chance to address because 11 his term ends in January. The Council is elected to set policy for the County. If that right is 12 not given to them, they can't represent the people they're elected to represent. She asked 13 if the administration has a solution. She is ready to work with the administration. 14 Otherwise, they should consider a slight restructure to at least get Comprehensive Plan 15 amendments up -to -date and approved this year. 16 17 Crawford read from Article 3 of the County Charter. The Executive shall have the 18 power to prepare and present to the County Council comprehensive plans, including capital 19 improvement plans for the present and future development of the county. The Legislative 20 branch may adopt and enact ordinances and resolutions that shall have the power to adopt. 21 Therefore, the County Executive is to prepare and present, and the County Council is to 22 adopt, comprehensive plans. The phrase "long -term planning" isn't used in the Charter. He 23 asked why they think it's the Council's job to do the planning. 24 25 Brenner stated there are administrative plans that the administration creates. There 26 are also policy plans. They can't be compared. It won't eliminate the administration's 27 ability to develop administrative plans. However, the Council sets policy. She's looking for 28 direct assistance with setting policy. It would be like an expansion of what the Council has 29 with its policy analyst. If the Council had direct access to get its questions answered, it 30 would get things through the Council process quicker. The legislative policy and 31 administrative policy are two different things. 32 33 McShane stated there is frustration that issues have gone slowly through the process 34 because of support and staffing. He agrees that these are legislative policy matters. Within 35 the County Code, it's clear that the County Councilmembers can bring forward 36 Comprehensive Plan amendments. When time is of the essence, things have gone slower 37 than they should. 38 39 This is something the County Council has the authority to do. It may be a little 40 messy if the Council does it. He is concerned that they do it right. It takes a while to figure 41 out the positions. It was clear today that Rebecca Craven is of great assistance on complex 42 issues. It was good to have someone in this office rather than call the Planning Department 43 for assistance. The Council should possibly expand that service in the future. 44 45 He does see an opportunity for change in the Planning Department due to the staff 46 turnover. He was impressed with the level of effort that he saw today at the Planning 47 Committee meeting. 48 49 Focus on the Charter section about cooperation between the two branches. The 50 concerns have been heard, and having this conversation will create some focus on this 51 concern. The Council needs to get its priorities and future path clear. If the Council sees 52 that the priorities aren't happening, there is plenty of opportunity to expand staff support in 53 the Council Office. Committee of the Whole, 6/19/2007, Page 3 This conversation should continue. Get a clear picture from the administration of how they can do this. This is an idea that can be pursued if the Council sees ht. Take advantage of the policy analyst that we have at this time. Now, he's not inclined to leap at the proposal. He appreciates that it was brought up. Fleetwood stated the proposal is appropriate to discuss. Comprehensive Plan amendments are not getting done. The Council has the power to reorganize things, but not administer. However, the heart of the issue is what to do, whether the staff is under the administration or the Council. The question is how they can achieve their main priorities. After today, send the Council Chair or designee to have a conversation with the administration to figure out how to achieve the main priority, which is putting more staff people on policy proposals that the council brings forward. He spoke with Mr. Desler, who agrees to work with the Council to achieve its priorities. It was suggested that the rearrangement may not require a budget amendment. That may be true or not. The fundamental problem is that they don't have people to work on staff reports. Staff has too much that it cannot get to. Even when they did have staff in place, there were problems with getting everything done. They may be able to get things forward by considering more staff and also working collaboratively. Brenner stated she is surprised that councilmembers are considering waiting on this. The County hasn't lost just some staff. It's lost close to all the long range planners who were working with the Council. Long range planners have been dividing their time between the Council responses and administrative duties. Not one time has the Council denied the administration more money for the Planning Department when asked. She expected that would include a quicker response time. Part of the reason the department is busy is because of the councilmembers. They still need to have their questions answered directly. They need direct access to staff. When Executive Kremen first took office, he said the Council would have direct access to staff. That got cut back to direct access to certain staff. Now, she can't get a hold of anyone to answer questions. All of the policy stuff is being filtered through administration rather than one -on -one collaboration to figure out policy, with the assistance of the administration. She is disappointed that they don't have the votes to approve her proposal. This has been going on for a long time. She can't do her job now. A better way would be to have long range planners under the Council. The Council already has staff and a policy analyst. They don't get bossed around by any councilmember. This is not a new idea that they can't do because it's administrative. Fleetwood stated he understood that this was just up for a discussion tonight. No one is suggesting that they shouldn't expedite this. Everyone agrees that they need to sit down with administration and solve the problem. Caskey- Schreiber stated she hopes that they have a frank discussion to identify some of the Council priorities and other priorities that need to be put forward, such as the Parks Plan. She agrees with Councilmember Brenner. She can't go on doing this job and being so far behind that.she can't put anything else forward. The process is clearly broken. She can't believe the time it takes to get the policy work done that they're charged with doing. She feels the frustration, would like to take some action, does not want to hit this wall a year from now. She knows that staff is coming on board. However, the Council's access to staff is becoming more and more limited. Now, the Clerk of the Council can only talk to one person in the Planning Department. Having Rebecca Craven has helped tremendously with technical support. She doesn't feel free to call and ask the staff anything. She feels vulnerable because she doesn't have the information she needs. She doesn't want to put the County in a legally vulnerable position. Committee of the Whole, 6/19/2007, Page 4 Crawford stated he's had a completely different experience. All the County staff work for the people of Whatcom County, not the administration or the Council. He has worked on the County Council in a relationship with the Executive branch. (Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.) Crawford continued to state that he witnessed less than great customer service maybe three times. The Executive's Office immediately was on the phone correcting the problem. The employees do an outstanding job. This Council has created situation after situation, particularly in the last four years, of panic situations and burdens in the land use arena. Council members and commissioners from other counties have questioned what they are doing to staff. This Council often does things that have tremendous impact on the administration, without thinking about it. That hasn't been very responsible of the councilmembers. It's inappropriate to say that certain staff should report directly to the Council as a result of the Council creating that chaos. The Charter supports the administration in continuing to do its job. The Charter says that the branches of government must strive to work together for a unified government. The Council must strive to work with the Executive branch. This proposal creates less harmony. He is very opposed. Weimer stated this is not about the current County staff. He has gotten great customer service from the current County staff. People elect the councilmembers and ask the Council to fix things. The frustration is that the ideas are put out to the administration, but the proposals are not coming back very quick. He agrees that they need to have a discussion with the administration about how to alleviate that frustration. The administration is probably just as frustrated with the Council for continuing to add to the staff's workload. This is not about the Charter. It's about moving things forward that the community has asked for. Whether part of the Planning Department works for the Council or just enough of the Council's own staff, they must discuss how to develop ideas without further burdening the administration. It sounds like a majority of the councilmembers think that discussion needs to happen with the administration. Dewey Desler, Deputy Administrator, stated this is a good, healthy discussion. He heard about concerns regarding work load and communication. They live in a time that is one of the most active and vibrant in the county's history. People are concerned about growth. He hears the Council's concerns. The administration is responding to bring forward new staff resources. There are 11 people in long range planning division. There are ten or 11 in that division now. Regarding to work load, a discussion of priorities is an excellent place to start. He would love to hear from the Council about its priorities. The administration would do what it can to make those priorities happen. Sit down together soon to go through an exercise for the Council to detail those most important issues. The administration will designate those things that need to be addressed over the next two, four, and six months. Once the administration has that clarity, the administration will start to work on those things. Regarding communications, the administration doesn't come to work thinking about how it can slow things up for the Council. The administration talks with the councilmembers any time. Their first priority is to respond to the councilmembers. When the Council expressed it's concerns about water resource integration issues, the administration put together a plan for how they would address that over the next six months. The Committee of the Whole, 6/19/2007, Page 5 1 administration will get to all the Council's long range planning priorities and objectives in a 2 way that shows quality and consistency, just as they did with water resources integration. 3 The administration has an excellent staff in the Planning Department. With more discussion 4 about this issue to get thoughts clarified, they can get on track. 5 6 Weimer stated it appears the Council would like to meet with administration. 7 8 McShane stated the administration has delivered on other issues not related to 9 planning. It would be good to have a meeting to talk about priorities. Regarding 10 accountability, the Council has a right to do this proposal if it doesn't get the response it 11 would like from the administration. For now, the Council hired a policy analyst. He is afraid 12 the Council would get bogged down trying to figure out how to do this. It would take the 13 Council so long that other things would be dropped. For now, continue to talk with the 14 administration. 15 16 Brenner moved that the Council meet with administration to see how this can be 17 worked out in a Committee of the Whole meeting. She is convinced still that the Council 18 needs long range planners, but she wants to work with the administration and the majority 19 of the Council. This is no reflection on the administrative staff. She has had good 20 experience with almost all the staff. That was never the point. 21 22 Crawford asked what the Council and administration would meet about. Mr. Desler 23 wants a prioritization. The Council has already done that. He asked what it is they are 24 going to do in this meeting. 25 26 Caskey- Schreiber stated there are at least eight Comprehensive Plan amendments 27 hanging out there. She asked when they can really expect to address those items to get 28 caught up and done. 29 30 Crawford asked if Councilmember Caskey - Schreiber wants a report on the status of 31 the Comprehensive Plan amendments and the timeframe in which they'll be done. 32 33 Caskey - Schreiber stated that's correct. She would also like an update on the Parks 34 Plan. 35 36 Crawford stated those would be land use issues for the Planning and Development 37 Committee to review. 38 39 Caskey - Schreiber stated she would also like to know about all the Comprehensive 40 Plan amendments that may be docketed. 41 42 Brenner stated they need to prioritize in two ways. Many little things never get 43 done because they are put on the back burner, after the big priority items. They shouldn't 44 take a lot of time to get through the system, but now they never get done. She would like 45 to see a tiered priority list. She restated the motion for the Committee of the Whole to 46 meet with the administration to clarify and tier Council priorities. 47 48 Fleetwood stated the Comprehensive Plan and zoning text amendments need to be 49 approved within the year. Now, this priority process may drop those low priority items off 50 the table. If that's what they're considering, they must review the policy for selecting 51 zoning text and Comprehensive Plan amendments. He proposed a friendly amendment 52 to the motion, to send Councilmember Weimer and /or two designees, that are not a Committee of the Whole, 6119/2007, Page 6 1 committee, to meet with Executive Kremen and Deputy Administrator Desler and report to 2 the Committee of the Whole and have another discussion. 3 4 Brenner accepted the friendly amendment. She wants to be one of the designees. 5 6 Weimer stated they will meet with the administration with the idea of defining how to 7 move forward these items in a faster manner, and then report back to the Council. 8 9 Caskey - Schreiber stated she wants to see a realistic timeline for when and how they 10 will get caught up. 11 12 Motion carried unanimously, 13 14 15 OTHER BUSINESS 16 17 There was no other business. 18 19 20 ADJOURN 21 22 The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:10 p.m. 23 24 25 26 Jill Nixon, Minutes Tra scription 27 28 THeltio yroved these minutes on July 10 , 2007. 29 GouNc� %, 30 AT1'�.•P�C� .�• .��� WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL 3z_�`�� %1 WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON 33 r - 34 O - 35 36 D4pa .BFo @fg 0oun(l Clerk Carl Weimer, Council Chair Committee of the Whole, 6/19/2007, Page 7