Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2003-06-09 0 e, LI � I.(n��of usw. AAi L LCL FL,J City of Lake Oswego 1 _ in } Planning Commission Mutes OREGOO .) � =' June 9, 2003 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Daniel Vizzini called the Planning Commission meeting of Monday, June 9, 2003 to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 380 A Avenue, Lake Oswego, Oregon. II. ROLL CALL Commission members present were Chair Daniel Vizzini, Vice Chair Frank Groznik, and Commissioners James Johnson, Kenneth Sandblast, Mark Stayer and Alison Webster. Staff present were Dennis Egner, Long Range Planning Manager; Sidaro Sin, Associate Planner; Susan Millhauser, Assistant Planner; Evan Boone, Deputy City Attorney; and Iris Treinen, Senior Secretary. III. CITIZEN COMMENT—Regarding issues not on the agenda. None. IV. GENERAL PLANNING—WORK SESSIONS The Commissioners agreed to reverse the order of items on the published agenda. P 01-0002 Lake Grove Town Center Plan—Planning Process Staff coordinator is Susan Millhauser, Assistant Planner. Dennis Egner, Long Range Planning Manager, and Susan Millhauser, Assistant Planner, distributed a draft Lake Grove Town Center Plan Phase 2 Process Outline that anticipated that the Phase 2 process would take a year and the City Council would appoint a work group to assist staff with the development of code and plan amendments to implement the town center plan. Mr. Egner confirmed that the City could start to form an urban renewal district before the Phase 2 process was finished. Chair Vizzini recommended that all interested parties review the consultant's report over the summer to prepare for fall hearings. City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 1 of 6 Minutes of June 9,2003 Public Comment Jeff Gudman, 4088 SW Orchard Way, Lake Oswego, 97035-1871, applauded the Commissioners for their public outreach effort. He stressed that the final town center plan should discuss financing: what was to be done, what it would cost, and how it was to be paid for. He encouraged the community to take advantage of current low interest rates by passing a general obligation bond measure that would allow the City to realize interest savings and make improvements within twenty years. Michael Buck, 3155 Edgemont Road, Lake Oswego, 97035, reported that six of eighteen local restaurant owners he had talked with so far had agreed that he and Nathan Spaccarelli should represent food and beverage businesses on the work group when it was created. He explained the two men could discuss issues that were unique to that industry, including parking requirements, outside dining, and water usage. R. F. "Vic" Keeler, Vic's Auto Center, 17781 Overlook Circle, Lake Oswego, 97034, volunteered to serve on the work group as a representative of retail businesses. He reported there were over a hundred businesses in that business category. He said they were concerned about issues that arose during the public workshops related to ingress, egress, setback alternatives along Boones Ferry Road, street enhancements, landscaping, new intersections and cross walks, and a common area. He recommended that there be two representatives from retail businesses on the task force. He clarified that he would represent retail service businesses and that he would personally contact each of the business owners to solicit their input. James Searles, Naomi's Lampshades, 15942 SW Boones Ferry Road, Lake Oswego, 97035, indicated that he agreed that Mr. Keeler should be appointed to the work group to represent retail businesses along Boones Ferry Road. He asked that meeting minutes be made available more quickly. He questioned whether input from the public workshops ever got back to the decision makers. Chair Vizzini related that he had recently re-read minutes of meetings dating from April 2002 and found that except for recent questions about the process, the issues of concern to the business community had remained the same and all of them had been documented. He explained that his concern was that the business community did not understand the legal constraints and context in which the Commissioners had to work. He stressed such an understanding was essential for the process to be successful. Mr. Searles explained that the business community had begun to question the process after they attended a public workshop and endorsed a particular concept plan and then observed that plan maps had been changed in subsequent drafts. The Commissioners indicated they believed the upcoming joint Planning Commission/City Council study session would be an important opportunity for the Commissioners to convey the business community's concerns to the decision-makers. Chuck O'Leary, 1420 Morningside Ct., Lake Oswego, 97034, stated he owned the Lake Grove Building at 16325 Boones Ferry Road. He said he was the appointed representative of the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce and he felt he could also City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 2 of 6 Minutes of June 9,2003 unofficially speak for local professional office building owners and tenants until they selected their representative. He reported that those groups desired to be represented in the work group when it was formed. He said they were concerned about "last minute" changes in the plan, including the elimination or reduction of municipal area parking lots in the latest revision of the plan, the shift of the burden of residential infill onto the shoulders of commercial property owners, and expansion of the town center study area. He clarified that he personally agreed with town center boundary the expansion because it would increase the City's tax base. He also clarified that whoever represented the interests of local professional office building owners and tenants would represent 150,000 to 200,000 square feet of Class B and C office space and several thousand tenants. He explained that he had monitored the progress of the corridor plan and the public workshops and reported back to Chamber members. Ms. Millhauser noted that the plan had not changed in regard to municipal parking lots. Staff added that the proposed project list includes two municipal parking lots. George Pshihogios, 14021 Edenberry Ct., Lake Oswego, 97035, owner of the Andrews Furniture Gallery, and Sid Smither, PO Box 1337, Lake Oswego, 97035, owner of a commercial building at 15560 SW Boones Ferry Road, asked about the size and composition of the future work group. Chair Vizzini suggested that it be a small group of representatives who would work for the interest of the community as a whole and be guided by applicable planning principles. He asked for their recommendations regarding the work group. The two men volunteered to serve on the work group as representatives of 45 owners of commercial property who owned 47 corridor area buildings. They reasoned that since those owners had the most to gain or lose in the process and provided significant tax revenue to the City they should comprise half of the work group. They clarified that five of the owners could be considered both property owners and business owners. They encouraged the City to keep the planning process moving forward. The Commissioners recalled that past work groups had both voting and nonvoting participants and they stressed that consensus decision-making was important if the plan was to move successfully from the work group through the Planning Commission and be eventually adopted by the City Council. They recalled the Floodplain Work Group had five voting members and three non-voting attendees who had been able to eventually reach a consensus recommendation. Chair Vizzini listed some important attributes of the work group, including consensus based decision-making; a small group that reflected diverse interests; participants who were willing to take the time to absorb detailed information found in documents such as the consultant's report, the neighborhood plans, the corridor plan, the Comprehensive Plan and the Metro Functional Plan; and participants who were able to understand political realities when preparing proposals to submit to public hearings. The Commissioners suggested that there should be scheduled "check-in" points at which the group reported to the Commission. They stressed the importance of good internal and external communication and open work sessions to ensure that no one would be able to say later that they had not heard about the process. They discussed the possible composition of the work group and considered a group of approximately seven voting representatives City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 3 of 6 Minutes of June 9,2003 • [including voting representatives from business (2), property owners (1); general public (1); neighborhood associations (2) and representatives from the school district, or those with finance or development interests] and a non-voting Planning Commissioner chair. Then they directed the staff to research and report to them how the West Lake Grove Design District planning committee had been fashioned. They observed that an odd number of voting participants would facilitate decisive voting results. Ms. Milihauser related that the Hollyfield facility had indicated to her they desired to send a representative. Vice Chair Groznik suggested the work group should regularly update the Transportation Advisory Board and the Development Review Commission as well as the Planning Commission. The Commissioners generally agreed that before beginning their work the group should hold an orientation session with members having already carefully reviewed the Lake Grove Town Center Report. Additionally, early in their process, the group should consider and define what constitutes the unique character of the Lake Grove Town Center. The work group should also examine whether the existing zoning could accomplish the objective of the Lake Grove Town Center Plan while accomplishing the goals of the Comprehensive Plan and the Metro Functional Plan. The Commissioners recalled the business community had listed issues that the work group could be asked to address. They acknowledged that the group's work might show that a corridor plan change should be considered to more appropriately tie the land use plan with the transportation plan. They called the Phase 1 report the planning group's "toolbox." They directed the staff to take extra steps to ensure that neighborhood association chairs (none were in attendance at the meeting) were kept informed about the status of the planning process. They generally agreed the work group should practice consensus driven decision-making. Commissioner Johnson suggested that whenever the group was unable to make a decision they should present the Planning Commission with options to resolve the issue. They generally agreed the work group should be directed to "check in"with the Commission after they defined the character of the Lake Grove Town Center, and after they fashioned zoning and design standards. The Commissioners agreed that the entities and organizations to be represented should nominate their own representatives. They heard a suggestion that the representative from the public at large could be someone from outside the planning area who frequented the area. They differed on whether the nominees should be able to recount actual experience in consensus decision-making and communication skills, or whether an expressed intent was acceptable. The staff agreed to provide information on the composition of the West Lake Grove planning committee. Chair Vizzini asked the staff to distribute postcards and start an email contact list to communicate planning progress with the public. He noted the Commissioners were scheduled to examine the planning consultant's report and determine the planning process at their July 14 meeting and then they would discuss the process at a joint study session with the City Council on September 9, 2003. City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 4 of 6 Minutes of June 9, 2003 Chair Vizzini then closed the work session on the Lake Grove Town Center planning process, announced a five-minute break in the meeting, and subsequently reconvened the meeting. u7(03-0003 East End/Commercial Zone Changes Staff coordinator is Dennis Egner, Long Range Planning Manager. Dennis Egner, Long Range Planning Manager, advised that the staff had examined the Community Development Code, the Comprehensive Plan, the Lake Oswego East End Redevelopment Plan and the Lake Oswego Urban Design Plan to find the City's stated vision for Downtown. He pointed out that Comprehensive Plan Policy 9-17 allowed mixed-use development Downtown except for "regional draw businesses" other than those providing specialized services and unique goods. The Plan defines a "regional draw business" as having floor area greater than 35,000 sq. ft. He noted that the size limit had been established at a level that was under the size of most new grocery stores. He confirmed that "main street" and "town center" had similar definitions. He showed slides of pedestrian-oriented downtown areas in a number of different cities and pointed out features such as rear parking, good pedestrian connections, courtyards, street furniture, mixed use buildings and small-scale shops. He also showed slides of auto-oriented uses, such as grocery and video stores, that were configured and designed to reflect a pedestrian scale through side or rear parking, fake pedestrian fronts to parking lots, public art and murals on blank walls. He explained to the Commissioners that the staff had suggested a 3,000 sq. ft. limit for retail stores after they observed that pedestrian-oriented businesses were typically small and that 3,000 sq. ft. was about one-half of the size of a typical 6,000 sq. ft. downtown lot. The Commissioners observed the size limitation would encourage establishment of a lot of small stores rather than a few large ones. The Commissioners then discussed the questions of how or whether the staff-suggested list of permitted uses in the EC Zone should be modified. Mr. Egner explained that the City Council had asked the City Manager to specifically look at the issue of residential care facility development Downtown, and the staff had also been asked to examine the 35,000 sq. ft. size limit (which was specified in the Comprehensive Plan, but not in the Code) and auto sales along State Street. The Commissioners observed that a prohibition against outdoor storage or fleet parking was inconsistent with equipment or auto service and that it might be better to disallow a particular use instead of setting a limit on the number of allowable vehicles for that use. They indicated it might be better to consider appropriate uses along specific streets at a future time when the Downtown town center was planned, instead of making piecemeal changes. They observed the (vintage 1988) Lake Oswego Urban Design Plan segmented downtown into different sub-districts. When they asked the staff if the list of proposed permitted uses reflected the staff's interpretation of the Zoning Code and the East End Redevelopment Plan, Mr. Egner related that the staff committee had created the list after they had identified whether a use was pedestrian- or auto-focused. He also clarified that not all of the concepts City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 5 of 6 Minutes of June 9,2003 described in the Urban Design Plan had been adopted into the Development Code. The Commissioners recalled the intense interest of stakeholders in the Lake Grove Town Center planning process and they anticipated a similar level of interest if they proposed to limit uses downtown. They questioned their ability to address this issue and the issues related to the Lake Grove Town Center planning process at the same time. They also recalled they had already devoted a great deal of time and energy considering and recommending appropriate siting characteristics for residential care housing. They agreed to forward a memorandum to the City Council requesting authority to begin a process to consider the issue of the 35,000 sq. ft. size limit. The memo was also to ask the Council whether the Planning Commission should revisit the issue of siting of residential care housing even though they had already made a recommendation related to residential care housing that they did not feel should be changed. They generally agreed to advise the Council that they believe that any other proposed changes should be examined during the future process of planning a downtown town center. VI. OTHER BUSINESS None. VIII. ADJOURNMENT There being no other business, Chair Vizzini adjourned the meeting at approximately 10:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Iris Treinen Senior Secretary City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 6 of 6 Minutes of June 9,2003