Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2003-09-22 City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Minutes September 22, 2003 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair James Johnson called the Planning Commission meeting of September 22, 2003 to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall at 380 A Avenue Lake Oswego, Oregon. II. ROLL CALL Commission members present were Chair James Johnson and Commissioners Mary Beth Coffey, Mark Stayer, Alison Webster* and Daniel Vizzini. Vice Chair Frank Groznik and Commissioner Kenneth Sandblast were excused. Commissioner Webster was excused prior to her arrival at 7.00 p.m. City Council liaison Jack Hoffman attended the meeting. Staff present were Dennis Egner, Long Range Planning Manager; Sidaro Sin, Associate Planner; Evan Boone, Deputy City Attorney; and Iris Treinen, Senior Secretary. III. CITIZEN COMMENT – Regarding issues not on the agenda None. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Stayer moved for approval of the Minutes of August 11, 2003. Commissioner Coffey seconded the motion and it passed with Chair Johnson and Commissioners Coffey and Stayer voting yes. Commissioner Vizzini recused himself from the vote and Vice Chair Groznik and Commissioners Sandblast and Webster were not present. There were no votes against. Commissioner Vizzini moved for approval of the Minutes of August 25, 2003. Commissioner Coffey seconded the motion and it passed with Commissioners Vizzini and Coffey voting yes. Chair Johnson and Commissioner Stayer recused themselves from the vote. Vice Chair Groznik and Commissioners Sandblast and Webster were not present. There were no votes against. City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 1 of 6 Minutes of September 22, 2003 Commissioner Vizzini moved for approval of the Minutes of September 8, 2003. Commissioner Stayer seconded the motion and it passed with Chair Johnson and Commissioners Coffey, Stayer and Vizzini voting yes. Vice Chair Groznik and Commissioners Sandblast and Webster were not present. There were no votes against. V. GENERAL PLANNING – OPEN WORK SESSION Outlook 2025 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review (P 02-0001) • Special District Plans (including neighborhood plans) • October 27, 2003 Public Workshop – Program Discussion Identification of issues to address during 2004 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review. Staff coordinator is Sidaro Sin, Associate Planner. Special District Plans (Including Neighborhood Plans) Sidaro Sin, Associate Planner, presented the staff report. He explained that this section of the Comprehensive Plan gave individual neighborhoods a voice in policies that affected their local areas. He advised that there was no corresponding statewide planning goal. He pointed out the locations of 19 recognized neighborhood associations, three county planning organizations (CPOs), the Mountain Park Homeowners Association, and one stand-alone subdivision on a map. He recalled that the City had created the Neighborhood Planning Program in 1993 and subsequently adopted the plans of six neighborhood associations, starting with First Addition (FAN) and Old Town. He observed that recently adopted plans called for implementing measures that would require Code amendments. As an example, he pointed out that the Waluga Neighborhood Plan called for a prohibition against new drive-through businesses along Boones Ferry Road. He advised that special districts also included areas with existing or forming special area plans like Lakewood Bay Bluff, Marylhurst, Forest Highlands, Foothills and the Lake Grove Town Center. During the ensuing discussion the Commissioners and staff observed that the 1986 Forest Highlands planning document was not a formal neighborhood plan. Mr. Sin then reminded the Commissioners of the state criteria for determining whether a change in the Comprehensive Plan was necessary. He recommended that the Comprehensive Plan should be modified to recognize the Glenmorrie, Waluga and Lake Forest neighborhood plans; the new uses in Marylhurst; and the future Foothills and Lake Grove Town Center plans. He observed a need for intergovernmental coordination between the City and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Tri-Met in the Foothills Road and Lake Grove Town Center areas. Dennis Egner, Long Range Planning Manager, announced that the City had been awarded a Transportation Growth Management Planning grant to fund planning for highway access to the Foothills Road area. Mr. Sin suggested that the Commissioners endeavor to clarify the purpose and format of neighborhood plans and Special District Plans and address the problem of delayed implementation due to a need for Code amendments. He reported that the staff had received a City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 2 of 6 Minutes of September 22, 2003 communication that day from someone who suggested that the Comprehensive Plan and neighborhood plans should have stricter rules about parking vehicles in front of neighbors’ properties, the Commissioners observed that was not a land use issue. The Commissioners made suggestions to rename “Special District Plans,” to “Special Area Plans,” and to reorganize the Comprehensive Plan to make it easier to understand how Goal 9 business and employment areas related to Special District Plans. Chair Johnson then invited the audience to submit comments. Public Comment Jim Bolland, 804 Fifth Street, Lake Oswego, 97034, stated that he was Chair of First Addition Neighbors (FAN) neighborhood association. He observed that many neighborhood plans included policies that had not been implemented and he stressed that it was important for neighborhoods to be allowed to apply specific zoning regulations. He reasoned that it was because the FAN plan had identified and addressed the “infill” issue in 1996 that FAN had been able to deal with recent growth. He related that neighborhood residents had found it a challenge to convince the City to install stop signs at locations where they had been specified in the FAN plan. He observed that some FAN plan projects - such as a storm water system - that had been listed in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for many years, were yet to be funded. During the ensuing discussion the Commissioners observed that the neighborhood planning process had become too labor intensive and focused on the wrong things. They opined that the process could be made more focused and efficient if the local planning committee first took time to review and understand the Comprehensive Plan, and then identified the things that were unique to their neighborhood that warranted additional Comprehensive Plan protection. They observed that if the characteristics of a particular neighborhood were defined and measurable it would be easier for the Planning Commission to determine whether a zone change request was “uncharacteristic” or inappropriate in that area. The Commissioners anticipated that they would work on implementation language for existing neighborhood plans. They heard a suggestion to discuss with the City Council a new system of budgeting for CIP projects that would give more weight to the projects in neighborhood plans. Mr. Bolland confirmed that FAN had reviewed the Comprehensive Plan at the start of their local planning process. He suggested that the staff could guide neighborhood planning committees and keep them on track by helping them identify the top issues in each neighborhood. Mr. Egner observed that while the first two adopted plans increased the size of the Comprehensive Plan by up to 15 pages, more recent plans were over 50 pages each and reiterated many existing Comprehensive Plan policies. Sherry Finnigan, 128 Condolea Drive, Lake Oswego, 97035, related that neighborhood plan implementation was one of LONAC’s top goals. She opined that neighborhood planning was not sufficiently encouraged by the City and she recalled that the local planning process for Lake Grove had been challenged by a reduction in staffing resources. She explained that the Lake Grove planning committee had used the City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 3 of 6 Minutes of September 22, 2003 Comprehensive Plan as a guide as they wrote their plan. After she asked the Commissioners to explain their understanding of the purpose of a neighborhood plan, Chair Johnson and Commissioner Vizzini explained that a neighborhood plan was to reflect and help implement the Comprehensive Plan in a local area and to address any neighborhood-specific issues that were not addressed in the larger plan. Matt Finnigan, 128 Condolea Drive, Lake Oswego, 97035, opined that neighborhood planning would not be allowed to languish if there was a deadline for implementing them. He urged the Commission to develop a timeline for this purpose. John Pullen, 18 Britten Court, Lake Oswego, 97035, urged the City to prioritize plan implementation. He recalled how FAN residents had been frustrated that their plan carried no weight during a recent development review hearing. Chair Johnson agreed that codification of local plans was an important issue to be addressed during periodic review because new development was subject to the Code. Jim Hall, 232 Berwick Road, Lake Oswego, 97034, stated he was co-chair of the Country Club/North Shore Neighborhood Association. He reported that his association had used adopted neighborhood plans as a guide. He said that after his association had worked for about a year and one-half to develop a first draft and presented it to the staff they had been frustrated by the large amount of language the staff had proposed to remove from the document as not appropriate material for a neighborhood plan. He asked the City to provide the association with an outline of what should be in a local plan. Chair Johnson stressed that local planning committee ideas should not be discouraged while they were in the brainstorming phase. Commissioner Vizzini recalled that some type of local planning guide had been provided to a local planning committee in the past and he asked if it was still available. Mr. Hall confirmed to the Commissioners that his association had been working on their plan on their own and without staff to help them through the process. The staff recalled meeting with a representative of the association to discuss the draft plan. They reported that they had advised the association to define what was unique about their neighborhood; to avoid repeating existing Comprehensive Plan policies. They also advised that a City adopted neighborhood plan should establish City policy and not focus on guidelines for how the neighborhood board distributes its newsletters or reacts to a zone change proposal. Commissioner Vizzini stressed that the idea content of the initial draft plan was important and should not be lost while the format of the plan was reworked. Mr. Hall asked for a written outline and a staff presentation at the beginning of the local planning process. Mr. Bolland explained that the FAN planning committee had benefited from a staff advisor who translated their concepts into Code language. The Commissioners observed that it might also be beneficial for residents to take the time to understand and discuss issues and not to be rushed by a timeline. City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 4 of 6 Minutes of September 22, 2003 Wilma McNulty, 4100 Coltsfoot Lane, Lake Oswego, 97035, stated she belonged to the Holly Orchard Neighborhood Association, which had formed a planning committee. She said the staff had encouraged the committee to start by thinking about what they valued about their neighborhood and that the committee planned to survey the residents. She reported her Association had heard that the Waluga Neighborhood Association had become frustrated with the local planning process. She opined that a regular neighborhood newsletter could serve as a vehicle to inform residents and encourage them to participate in the planning process. She said the staff had indicated there might be sufficient funding available for four newsletters a year, however, she believed that it would be necessary to distribute more than four per year. Mr. Egner advised that because some neighborhoods never produced a newsletter, there might be sufficient funding for two to four per year for those neighborhoods that distributed them. The Commissioners suggested that the neighborhood could use emailed newsletters and discuss the possibility of a neighborhood news supplement to the Oswego Review with the newspaper. They acknowledged the need to discuss what neighborhood planning was with the City Council before residents became more discouraged. *Commissioner Webster came up from the audience to join the meeting. October 27, 2003 – Public Workshop Mr. Egner presented a draft agenda and outline for the public workshop the Planning Commission was hosting on October 27, 2003. The Commissioners suggested that there be many maps and visual exhibits to help spark public interest. VI. OTHER BUSINESS Neighborhood Plans Mr. Boone related his experience reconciling previously adopted neighborhood plans with the Comprehensive Plan. He recommended that the Commissioners separate neighborhood plan adoption and implementation into two phases. Grant Proposal for Downtown Planning Mr. Egner announced the City was applying to Metro for a Town Center planning grant for Downtown. The Commissioners agreed to send a letter from the Planning Commission with the application. City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 5 of 6 Minutes of September 22, 2003 City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission Page 6 of 6 Minutes of September 22, 2003 Agenda for October 13, 2003 Mr. Egner described the October 13, 2003 meeting agenda, which was to include a proposal to address cell towers in the Public Facility Zone; a limit on the square footage of retail developments in the EC Zone; a lakefront zoning report; and a discussion of infill on steep slopes. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no other business before the Planning Commission, Chair Johnson adjourned the meeting at 8:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Iris Treinen Senior Secretary