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LUTC MINS 09-22-2008G:\LUTC\LUTC Agendas and Summaries 2008\9-22-08 Minutes.doc City of Federal Way City Council Land Use/Transportation Committee September 22, 2008 City Hall 5:30 PM City Council Chambers MEETING MINUTES In attendance: Committee Chair Linda Kochmar, Committee Member Jim Ferrell, Committee Member Dini Duclos, Council Member Jeanne Burbidge, Assistant City Manager/Chief Operations Officer/Emergency Manager Cary Roe, City Attorney Pat Richardson, Director of Community Development Services Greg Fewins, Deputy Public Works Director Ken Miller, Acting Deputy Public Works Director Marwan Salloum, City Traffic Engineer Rick Perez, Senior Transportation Planning Engineer Sarady Long, Senior Planner Margaret Clark, Planning Manager Isaac Conlen, Contract Senior Planner Jim Harris and Administrative Assistant II Darlene LeMaster. 1. CALL TO ORDER Committee Chair Kochmar called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The September 8, 2008 LUTC meeting minutes were approved. Moved: Ferrell Seconded: Duclos Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 3. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment was received. 4. BUSINESS ITEMS A. Portable Signs in the Public Right of Way Margaret Clark provided background information on this item. Committee Member Ferrell expressed concern as to whether or not the Planning Commission is a ware the staff is proposing to materially alter the Planning Commission’s recommendation. Ms. Clark was not certain of what level of awareness the Planning Commission has of staff’s proposal. There was further discussion as to how many signs Planning Commission intended to be allowed for open houses. Committee member Duclos questioned the potential to have 18 signs allowed per realtor for an open house. Sarady Long of the Planning Commission addressed the committee that his interpretation was that for each realtor, 10 offsite signs and 8 signs in the right of way would be allowed (18 signs total). Committee Member Ferrell asked if sign code officers are not working on Saturday or Sunday and the sign code is not being enforced during that time, why limit signs in the right of way from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Ms. Clark responded that the 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM time frame was designed for week day events. Committee Member Duclos sought confirmation that offsite signs are not allowed to remain overnight either. Ms. Clark confirmed that to be correct. At present, offsite signs are allowed from sunrise to sunset. Public Comment: Marilyn Gates, Windmere Realty – Ms. Gates requests that the allowed sign count remain at 10 but be allowed in the public right of way. Ms. Gates doesn’t believe 18 signs are really needed. Joy Marsh, Local Realtor – Ms. Marsh stated that the more signs that are allowed for the seller, the better. Signs are expensive; the realtors do not want their signs picked up. Ms. Marsh requested that when enforcing the sign code, as much leniency is allowed as possible. Diana Noble-Gulliford – Ms. Noble-Gulliford is in favor of signs being allowed in the public right of way and would like staff and Planning Commission’s recommendations moved forward to Council for approval. Sam Pace, Seattle-King County Association of Realtors – Mr. Pace feels the sign code is very important. He also feels that the issue of determining what is and is not in the public right of way (utility corridor) is very Land Use/Transportation Committee Page 2 September 22, 2008 G:\LUTC\LUTC Agendas and Summaries 2008\9-22-08 Minutes.doc problematic and is therefore supporting portable signs in the public right of way. Mr. Pace also questioned if signs are being looked at only during weekday office hours how it will be determined if a particular sign has been left out overnight. Mr. Pace suggested a signs be allowed at 9:00 AM, thus giving staff an opportunity to enforce from 8:00 AM to 9:00 daily. Stretching the curfew of signs to be allowed to sunset would allow those signs more time to be visible (ie. evening commute). Mr. Pace also stated that as to the possibility of allowing 18 signs per realtor…he doesn’t believe that was ever the goal of the Planning Commission. Mr. Pace also shared his suggested definition of “open house” as: “the period of time of which a good, product or real estate is held open for public viewing at the location that does not change and is other than the premises of the business offering the good, product or real estate for sale or lease.” Committee Member Duclos asked why we would alter the definition of “open house”. Mr. Pace stated that he was just making a suggestion in attempt to find a solution to a staff concern. Committee Member Duclos wanted to make clear that we are here in support of the realtors as the committee re-evaluates the sign code. Lori DeVoe, Realtor – Ms. DeVoe shared that signs are critical for her to be able to do her job. Ms. DeVoe encourages the Committee to consider staff’s recommendation. Ms. DeVoe’s concern is with the 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM window for right of way signage. In response to Committee Member Ferrell asking what typical hours are used for open houses, Ms. DeVoe stated that 6:00 PM is usually the latest an open house will go. The majority are typically from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM or 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Committee Chair Kochmar asked City Attorney Richardson for direction on a definition for “open house”. Ms. Richardson cautioned that the definition needs to be content neutral and that the verbage “goods, products and real estate” is broader than staff originally intended. Committee Member Duclos asked for Ms. Richardson’s thoughts on the Planning Commission’s recommendation. Ms. Richardson stated that in order to be considered an open house, the sign holder (owner of the sign) needs to be present at the open house. Ms. Richardson also stated that she would not alter the definition without appropriate time and consideration given to the matter. Committee Member Duclos suggested that portable signs be allowed in the public right of way between 9:00 AM and sunset; that a maximum of 10 signs be allowed per realtor not per property; delete the verbage regarding offsite signs from the current Code; and, have staff re-evaluate the definition of “open house” to be content neutral. Moved: Duclos Seconded: Ferrell Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 Committee forwarded the Planning Commission’s recommendation as contained in Exhibit 3 with the following revisions to the October 7, 2008 Ordinance agenda for approval: Allow 10 portable signs in the public right of way; delete 10 offsite signs that are allowed in the current code; signs allowed from 9:00 AM to sunset; and, request staff to re-evaluate the definition of “open house”. B. BPA Trail at SW 356th Street – Pedestrian Crossing Rick Perez and John Perlic from Parametrix (consultant) provided background information on this item. Committee Member Duclos asked for clarification on the location of the crosswalk sign. Mr. Perlic showed how signage will be overhead over the crosswalk, side mounted at the curb and mounted with the median signals. Committee Member Duclos was concerned with how to make drivers more aware that the lights are flashing. Mr. Perlic and Mr. Perez said that data suggests that this design is much more effective of making drivers aware of the signal. As well, the pedestrian crosswalk is staggered. Pedestrians cross to the median, walk facing traffic and then continue across the oncoming lanes. This crosswalk design makes pedestrians more aware of where cars are at and allows them to stop midway (median). Councilmember Burbidge suggested extending the reflective sheeting on the sign down onto the post and that this may draw a driver’s line of sight to the crosswalk and make them more aware of pedestrians. There was brief discussion between the committee and Mr. Perez as to other locations that have similar pedestrian crosswalk signage and design. Committee Member Ferrell asked about the safety of the center island refuge. Mr. Perez answered that the railing in this design is ‘break-a-way” so that it will collapse on impact and not potentially cause more harm by injuring a driver as well. Land Use/Transportation Committee Page 3 September 22, 2008 G:\LUTC\LUTC Agendas and Summaries 2008\9-22-08 Minutes.doc Public Comment: Mr. Roe, Belmor Park resident – Mr. Roe would like to see the City’s budget for a pedestrian crosswalk program spread evenly around the City in order to provide safer pedestrian crosswalks in multiple locations. Moved: Ferrell Seconded: Duclos Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 Committee forwarded Option 3 (consultant’s recommendation with staff’s recommended revisions as noted in the Staff Memorandum, page 2 of 3) to the October 7, 2008 City Council Consent Agenda for approval. C. Wynstone Final Plat No presentation was given on this item. There was no discussion. Moved: Ferrell Seconded: Duclos Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 Committee recommended approval of the Wynstone Final Plat application to the October 7, 2008 City Council Resolution Agenda for approval. D. 2009 Street Sweeping Services – Authorization to Bid No presentation was given on this item. There was no discussion. Moved: Duclos Seconded: Ferrell Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 Committee forwarded Option 1 to the October 7, 2008 City Council Consent Agenda for approval. E. West Hylebos Cooperative Agreement No presentation was given on this item. There was no discussion. Moved: Ferrell Seconded: Duclos Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 Committee forwarded Option 1 to the October 7, 2008 City Council Consent Agenda for approval. F. Steel Lake Maintenance Yard Paving – Final Approval and Retainage Release No presentation was given on this item. There was no discussion. Moved: Ferrell Seconded: Duclos Passed: Unanimously, 3-0 Committee forwarded Option 1 to the October 7, 2008 City Council Consent Agenda for approval. 5. FUTURE MEETING The next regularly scheduled LUTC meeting will be October 6, 2008 at 5:30 PM. 6. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 7:07 PM.