Planning Comm MINS 05-17-2000
City of Federal Way
PLANNING COMMISSION
Regular Meeting
May 17, 2000 City Hall
7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
MEETING SUMMARY
Commissioners present: Robert Vaughan (Chair), Hope Elder, Karen Kirkpatrick, Eric Faison, and
William Drake. Commissioners absent: John Caulfield. Alternative Commissioners present: None. Staff
present: Community Development Services Director Stephen Clifton, Community Development Services
Deputy Director Kathy McClung, Senior Planner Margaret Clark, Administrative Assistant E. Tina Piety,
Parks Director Jennifer Schroder, Parks Planning & Development Manager Jon Jainga, Public Works
Deputy Director Ken Miller, and Traffic Engineer Rick Perez.
Chair Vaughan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of May 3, 2000, were approved as presented.
AUDIENCE COMMENT
None.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Moved to the end of the meeting.
COMMISSION BUSINESS S 1999 Comprehensive Plan Amendments
The Public Hearing was reconvened at 7:10 p.m.
Parks Plan
Mr. Jainga presented the Parks Comprehensive Plan. The current plan was adopted in 1995. A Parks
Commission Subcommittee worked 18 months on revising the plan. The Subcommittee consisted of Jim
Baker, Laird Chambers, Dini Duclos, Karl Grosch, Jerry Bollen, and David Kaplan. Mr. Janiga went over
the major changes in the Parks Plan. One change was the development of a vision, goals, and a mission
statement. The level of service has been changed from 17.1 acres of parkland per 1,000 population (which
was unrealistic) to a goal of 10.9 (the current level of service is 10.7). The planning area was changed from
including the Potential Annexation Area to within the city limits. The sub-area boundaries were redrawn
and a finance plan tied into the city’s budget developed.
Planning Commission Page 2 May 17, 2000
Discussion was held on the Parks section of the Capital Facilities chapter of the 1999 Comprehensive Plan.
The Commission stated that the first sentence of the last paragraph on page VI-14 should be changed to
state, “…maintain goal of 10.9…” not the current level of service which is 10.7. The Commission asked if
we annex an area, does the city automatically inherit any parks in the area? Ms. Schroder replied that the
city works that out on a case-by-case basis with King County. King County’s policy is to hand over park
area, unless it is consider a regional center (such as the Aquatic Center). Mr. Clifton noted that the city
conducts a financial analysis of any area seeking to annex to the city and this analysis would include any
parkland.
Chapter 3. Transportation
There are only a few housekeeping changes to this chapter, one was to Cross Section A, Figure 3(a-b),
page III-19. Public Works is currently conducting a transportation model, which will be used to make
changes to the five-year update.
Chapter 6. Capital Facilities
Geri Walker, Federal Way School District, and Bert Ross, Lakehaven Utility District, were present to
answer any questions. Ms. Clark went over the substantive changes. The Community Facilities section has
been expanded to include all city facilities, not just police. The Federal Way School District has updated
their plan, so the city has included that in the 1999 amendments. The Lakehaven Comprehensive Water
Plan was updated in 1998 and the city has incorporated those changes. Mr. Ross responded to a question
about the status of the Oasis project. This broad aquifer recharge and storage project would store water for
summer use. The program is still alive and they have done some successful testing.
On page VI-57, the Fire Department proposed to change their response time from less than six minutes to
less than seven minutes. The Commission questioned why the change? A Fire Department representative
was not available, so Ms. Clark will research the answer and respond to the Commission. A discussion was
held about informing emergency services about road construction and coordinating construction to make it
less of a chore for emergency vehicles to move about the city. Lastly, Ms. Clark remarked that there are
some new goals and policies adopted from the Surface Water Management Plan.
Chapter 7. City Center
The city has included color maps and graphics to better highlight the vision of this chapter. Ms. Clark went
over the changes in this chapter. The city has change ‘multi-family’ to ‘multiple family’ housing to better
indicate the wide variety of such housing. On page VII-20, the location of the Transit Center has been
stated, since it is now known. The Commission noted that on the new maps, Jefferson High School should
be Truman.
Chapter 8. Potential Annexation Areas
Most of the changes in this chapter are housekeeping. There is a new PAA map in color that shows the
PAAs of neighboring jurisdictions.
Chapter 9. Natural Environment
New goals and policies from the Surface Water Management Plan have been added. Policy NEP44 on
page IX-10 has been changed to state current policy. Goal NEG7 (and related policies) on page IX-11 has
been deleted because the city has adopted a tiered wetland buffering system. The last paragraph on page
IX-19 is proposed to be stricken. However, a new stream definition has not been adopted; therefore,
language should be added that the city will be adopting a new stream definition at the time it looks at code
amendments necessary to implement the endangered species act.
Planning Commission Page 3 May 17, 2000
Chapter 10. Private Utilities
Mary Ausburn, Puget Sound Energy was available to answer any questions. The city did not seek to work
with service providers to make substantive changes, choosing to wait until the 2000 update. The city did
make some housekeeping changes we knew about (i.e., change of cable company) and Puget Sound
Energy did give their input.
The Public Hearing was closed at 8:35 p.m. It was m/s/c to adopt the 1999 Comprehensive Plan
Amendments as drafted with minor amendments. Mr. Clifton thanked the Commission for their work and
the attendees for being available to answer questions.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Ms. McClung thanked Ms. Clark and Ms. Piety for all of their work on preparing the 1999 Comprehensive
Plan Amendments. The next code amendments to the Commission will be the first stage of the
miscellaneous amendments at the meeting of June 21.
As it is agreeable to the Commission, the meeting of June 7 will be a dinner. We will start at 6:00 p.m.
Presentations will be given on the city budget and Community Development Department. The Commission
requested that Debra Coats, Economic Development Coordinator, also give a presentation.
Ms. McClung gave a development project update. The Commission deadline is Friday, May 21. There
have been few applications received. The city is working on getting public notices on the web site. Ms.
McClung discussed sign enforcement. Currently, the city is down to 340 open cases, from 597 in
September.
Mr. Clifton announced that the Land Use/Transportation Committee (LUTC) will be meeting June 12 for a
presentation on the Endangered Species Act (and the 1999 Comprehensive Plan Amendments). On June
19, there will be special joint meeting of the LUTC and City Council on the draft Market Analysis. He
invited, and encouraged, the Commission to attend both these meetings.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
None.
AUDIENCE COMMENT
None.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
K:\CD Admin Files\PLANCOM\2000\Meeting Summary 05-17-00.doc/Last printed 1/11/2005 9:35 AM