LUTC MINS 09-11-2000
MEETING SUMMARY
In attendance: Committee members Phil Watkins, Chair, Jeanne Burbidge and Dean McColgan; Deputy Mayor
Linda Kochmar; City Manager David Mosely; Deputy Director of Community Development Services Kathy
McClung; Assistant City Attorney Bob Sterbank; Principal Planner Greg Fewins; Street Systems Manager Marwan
Salloum; Traffic Engineer Rick Perez; Streets Project Engineer Al Empter; Senior Planners Lori Michaelson and
Margaret Clark; Senior Engineering Plan Reviewer Jim Femling; Traffic Analyst Sarady Long; Assistant to the City
Manager Derek Matheson; Administrative Assistant Sandy Lyle.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Watkins called the meeting to order at 5:34 pm.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the August 7, 2000, meeting were approved as presented.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment on any item not included in the agenda.
4. BUSINESS ITEMS
A. 2000 Comprehensive Plan Amendment/Selection Process – The Committee heard each site-
specific request for a change in comprehensive plan zoning in the order listed in the staff report.
Public comment for each request was heard following a detailed synopsis of the location and
specific details of each request. The Committee agreed to recommend to Council to go forward
with further analysis on Site Specific requests 1, 2, 4, and 6. The Committee did not recommend
Requests #3 and #5 be considered for further analysis by the Council. The public and proponents
of each project will be able to comment further at a future public hearing. Consideration of
Request #7 is being deferred until completion of both a market analysis and a transportation
model. Gil Haltsman spoke in favor of Site Specific Request #1. Bessie Danilchick was a
proponent of Site Specific Request #2. Wayne Carlson, Linda Peterson, Wilma Taylor, and Alan
Woida favored Request #3. Susie Horan spoke in favor of Request #4 while Kaitlin Taylor
supported Request # 5. Comments by Len Schaadt and Dick Borcini supported comprehensive
plan zoning changes on Site Specific Request #6. Their concerns are that the expense of
redevelopment along Pacific Highway is so expensive that businesses cannot afford it, and without
necessary redevelopment, blight will occur.
B. Tresden Place Preliminary Plat – The Committee m/s/c recommendation of approval to the City
council at its September 19, 2000, meeting of the Tresden Place Preliminary Plat. The project is a
48-lot single-family residential subdivision at South 298th Street and Military Road South. The
project includes the vacation of the present South 298th Street and its relocation to eliminate it’s
offset intersection with Military Road, if approved by the Council.
C. Transit Pullouts on SR99 and South 320th – The Committee directed staff to include bus turnout
lanes in all future road projects. Based on staff analysis, transit pullouts are not cost-effective on
Pacific Highway South, South 320th Street, or South 348th Street corridors. Right-of-way
acquisition costs are the biggest obstacle to cost-effectiveness. To reduce the cost of pullout
construction, it is recommended that staff continue to implement the Comprehensive Plan policy
TP10, using redevelopment to acquire right-of-way to the fullest extent allowable. When potential
sites redevelop and when capital projects are designed, locations should be subject to a site-
specific analysis.
City of Federal Way
City Council
Land Use/Transportation Committee
September 11, 2000 City Council
5:30 pm Council Chambers
D. SR99/South 312th Street to South 324th Street Improvement Project & 85% Design Status Report –
The Pacific Highway South HOV Lanes Phase I (South 312th to South 324th Streets) Widening
Improvement Project includes adding HOV lanes north and southbound, adding curb, gutter and
sidewalk, adding lighting and landscaping to meet the Downtown standards, adding planted
medians, restricting left-turn movements to intersections as much as possible, and consolidating
driveways where possible. The purpose of the project is to improve aesthetics and traffic flow, to
reduce accidents, and to promote transit and carpool use. Many properties are non-conforming for
Type III landscaping, parking, and setback distance to the sidewalk and right-of-way. This project
will increase the number of properties that will be non-conforming. The City is attempting to
accommodate conformance as is practical. Electrical transmission lines will be relocated to
behind the sidewalk south of the electrical substation. North of the substation, the transmission
system poles would be relocated to the planter strip behind the curb line. The new line would
reuse the existing conductors and would result in a shorter construction time with fewer
construction impacts. Wood poles are standard except in certain circumstances where galvanized
steel poles are required. The Committee m/s/c recommendation of approval to the City Council
at its September 19, 2000, meeting with the understanding that if money is available from budget
savings, galvanized poles are a first priority for consistency of appearance at an additional cost of
$60,000.
E. Sound Transit Update – Staff updated the Committee on recent progress by Sound Transit related
to Federal Way projects. On September 15, 2000, Sound Transit is scheduled to review two
proposals related to financing the Transit Center. One of those proposals was to group all Federal
Way Transit projects into one package. By combining the projects, the total budgeted amount of
$84,394,000 for all the projects is sufficient to cover the projected costs of $83,731,000. Another
alternative was to transfer all cost savings directly to the Federal Way Transit Center. The
Department of Public Works continues to coordinate with Sound Transit identification of
appropriate street, traffic, and surface water mitigation, proposed street frontage improvements on
23rd Avenue South, new traffic signals on South 317th and South 316th Streets, onsite and offsite
surface water quantity/quality, and pro-rata share traffic mitigation. KPFF and their associate4d
subcontractors were selected as the Design Team for Phase II.
F. Commute Trip Reduction (CTR)/Congestion Management Air Quality (CMAQ) Grant
Acceptance – The Committee m/s/c recommendation of approval to the City Council at its
September 19, 2000, meeting of the CMAQ grant from the Washington State Department of
Transportation (WSDOT) to be used to offset the funding shortfall for the Professional Services
Agreement (PSA) with King county Metro and for Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) enhancement
programs.
5. OTHER
A brief introduction of prepared material and slides contained in the Blue Ribbon Report on Transportation
was presented. This item will appear as an item for discussion on the next Land Use/Transportation
meeting agenda.
6. FUTURE MEETINGS
The next meeting will be held in Council Chambers at 5:30 pm on September 25, 2000.
7. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 8:05pm.
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