Planning Comm MINS 11-20-2002K:\Planning Commission\2002\Meeting Summary 11-20-02.doc
City of Federal Way
PLANNING COMMISSION
Regular Meeting
November 20, 2002 City Hall
7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
MEETING SUMMARY
Commissioners present: John Caulfield, Hope Elder, Dave Osaki, Dini Duclos, and Grant Newport.
Commissioners absent (excused): Bill Drake and Marta Justus Foldi. Alternate Commissioners present:
Merle Pfeifer and Lawson Bronson. Alternate Commissioners absent (unexcused): Tony Moore and
Christine Nelson. Staff present: Community Development Director Kathy McClung, Community
Development Deputy Director Patrick Doherty, Senior Planner Margaret Clark, Associate Planner Rox
Burhans, Traffic Engineer Rick Perez, Assistant City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick, and Administrative
Assistant E. Tina Piety.
Chair Caulfield called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF SUMMARY
It was m/s/c to adopt the summaries of October 23, 2002, and November 6, 2002, as presented.
AUDIENCE COMMENT
None.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
None.
COMMISSION BUSINESS
PUBLIC HEARING – 2002 Comprehensive Plan Update, Chapters 6 – 10
Ms. Clark presented the staff report and gave the Commissioners an outline of her presentation. She gave
the background for the 2002 Comprehensive Plan Update process. The updates to these chapters are based
on input from various outside agencies (Federal Way School District, Federal Way Fire Department,
Lakehaven Utility District, Puget Sound Energy, etc.), input from City departments (Surface Water
Management, Traffic, Management Services, and Parks), and the 2002 Census and other new or updated
information.
Chapter Six, Capital Facilities – The updates to this chapter are mainly housekeeping in nature. The
information related to transportation has been deleted and a reference made to the transportation chapter.
Table VI-2 on page VI-10 has inaccuracies and will be corrected for the Land Use/Transportation version.
The Commission had no questions or comments.
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Chapter Seven, City Center – Mr. Doherty gave the presentation on this chapter. The updates to this
chapter are mainly housekeeping in nature. The section on existing conditions has been moved to before
the section on vision to improve the flow of the chapter. Language was added to Goal 11 on page VII-10
because one of the visions for the City Center is to move away from single-use parking to more shared
parking and the new language better reflects that vision. Language relating to the choice to live in higher
density housing was moved from the City Center Frame section to the City Center Core section on page
VII-13. The reason for this is that with the recent development of properties in the frame for retail,
redevelopment opportunities for residential (and other uses) are now more likely to be in the Core.
Modification was made to policies for high capacity transit system because it is unlikely that light rail or
monorail connections will occur within the time frame of this comprehensive plan. Policy 20 and Goals 39-
42 on pages VII-24 to VII-25 were deleted because they are duplicated in the next section. On page VII-35,
the bullet on new municipal facilities will be changed to state that it is a potential project.
Chairman Caulfield noted that Policy 9 (on page VII-15) was added to promote the siting of cultural and
civic uses and asked the reason for the new policy. Mr. Doherty replied that a mix of uses (retail, office,
lodging, civic, cultural, and residential) is what makes a successful city center. A policy to promote cultural
and civic uses was added because the chapter includes policies for the other uses. Ms. Duclos stated that in
regards to promoting civic uses, there is no direct correlation between locating a city hall in a city center
and economic development of that city center. Further discussion was held on the topic. Ms. Duclos
suggested the staff strengthen the policy by broadening it to say, provide incentives to encourage cultural
and civic uses in the city center. Staff will research this change.
Chapter Eight, Potential Annexation Areas – Ms. Clark resumed delivery of the staff report. She stated
that Mr. Burhans is the project planner for the Potential Annexation Area (PAA) subarea plan and is in
attendance to answer questions and provide back up as needed. The City is working with King County to
prepare a Federal Way Subarea Plan and Annexation Feasibility Study. When it is complete, the study will
replace this chapter. The Annexation Feasibility Study will guide the City on the feasibility and phasing of
any potential future annexations. This chapter has been updated based primarily on the PAA inventory
report completed in June 2002. The City’s PAA was divided into seven areas (Redondo East, Star Lake,
Camelot, North Lake, Jovita, Lakeland, and Parkway). The inventory report has produced several new
maps of the area that have been incorporated into this chapter. In regards to the discussion of Law
Enforcement on page VIII-5, it should be noted that King County does not plan to expand or provide any
new facilities. Because of this, the level of service could decline as development occurs. One important
aspect is that most of Federal Way’s PAA is a nearly level upland plateau and is headwater to several
significant streams, including Hylebos Creek. This makes the surface water management of the area very
important to the City. Section 8.4 on page VIII-11 was deleted because the information is outdated. The
Planning Commission had no questions or comments.
Chapter Nine, Natural Environment – On page IX-3, language was added to describe the recently
completed study on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES). The study concluded that there were no major compliance issues, but there are a number
of areas where regulations could be improved. Chairman Caulfield asked how is the City ensuring that
private stormwater systems are checked? Ms. Clark replied that currently the City only checks private
systems when we hear that there is a problem. Ms. Elder commented that this is an important issue and the
City needs to research what kinds of problems runoff from new development may cause. Mr. Perez
commented that the budget has an increase in Surface Water Management fees, which will allow the
division to hire an additional inspector. He noted that it might take years before a problem manifests itself
and the City is proactively working to solve such problems.
The Wellhead Protection Areas section (starting on page IX-8) was updated to reflect Lakehaven Utility
District’s August 2001 Wellhead Protection Program update. Ms. Clark commented that it would be too
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confusing to show all the Wellhead Capture Zones on one map; therefore, there are three maps. The City
will address the wellhead protection regulations in a future code amendment. She also stated that the City
is working to ascertain where the City’s aquifer recharge areas lie. Mr. Newport commented that the
wellhead capture zones seem to be placed on the three maps at random. They would be easier to
understand if they were match with the aquifer they come from. Ms. Clark replied the staff would research
this request. Mr. Newport also said that there is new information regarding geologic hazards the City
should be aware of. Ms. Clark asked, considering the amount of work, if he had any objection to the staff
researching the geologic hazards information for next year’s update and Mr. Newport replied that he had
no objection.
Chapter Ten, Private Utilities – Ms. Clark stated that the updates to this chapter are mainly housekeeping in
nature. The various utility providers were contacted and asked to provide an update. Most providers did not
respond, but Puget Sound Energy did provide updated information. The utility providers were sent an
invitation to the Planning Commission meeting, but did not attend. Commissioner Newport stated that the
coal-fired plant (bottom of page X-2) in Centralia has been sold. Ms. Kirkpatrick noted that under the Cable
TV Plan section (starting on page X-9), AT&T Cable Services should be AT&T Broadband. There was no
other Planning Commission questions or comments.
Public Testimony was opened at 8:28 p.m.
Merle Pfeifer, Planning Commission Alternate Member – He asked if there was any provision to
place fiber optic cable along Pacific Highway South during the current construction? This would
save having the road torn up again to add the cable. Ms. Kirkpatrick answered that the City
contacted these providers and told them about the construction. Mr. Pfeifer stated the City should
contact them again and encourage them to do any work at the same time as the construction.
Lawson Bronson, Planning Commission Alternate Member – He asked what is the difference
between City Center Core Policy #1 and #9, which both talk about cultural and civic uses in the
core? Mr. Doherty replied that Policy #1 concentrates on supporting uses, while Policy #9
specifies cultural and civic uses, which was not done before.
Public Testimony was closed at 8:30 p.m.
It was m/s/c to continue the Public Hearing on the 2002 Comprehensive Plan Update to Wednesday,
December 4, 2002, at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
Chairman Caulfield, Commissioner Newport, and Alternate Commissioner Bronson will not be here for
the December 4 meeting.
AUDIENCE COMMENT
None.
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.