Planning Commission MINS 12-17-2014CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
PLANNING COMMISSION
December 17, 2014 City Hall
7:00 p.m. Council Chambers
MEETING MINUTES
Commissioners present: Tom Medhurst, Lawson Bronson, Hope Elder, and Diana Noble- Gulliford.
Commissioner absent: Sarady Long (excused) Wayne Carlson (excused), Tim O'Neil, and Anthony
Murrietta (unexcused). Staff present: Principal Planner Margaret Clark, Senior Planner Matthew Herrera,
Assistant City Attorney Ryan Call, Assistant Attorney Mark Orthmann, and Administrative Assistant II
Tina Piety.
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Medhurst called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of November 19, 2014, were approved as presented.
AUDIENCE COMMENT
None
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Principal Planner Clark announced the next meeting will be January 7, 2015, and it will start at 6 p.m.
with a briefing by Economic Development Director Tim Johnson and then a workshop on the critical
areas will start at 6:30 p.m. Staff will hold a briefing on Chapter 8 (Potential Annexation Areas) at the
January 21" meeting.
COMMISSION BUSINESS
BRIEFING — Information on Workshop Structure and Content for the January 7, 2015, Critical Areas
Public Workshop
Senior Planner Herrera delivered the presentation. He explained that the city will update the existing
ordinance to meet the best available science to protect people and resources. He stated there are two parts
to the ordinance: the goals and policies, which are addressed in the comprehensive plan; and the
implementation, which is addressed in the zoning code. Staff has received review comments from the
consultant and they have found no significant failures in the current ordinance. Most of the consultant
suggestions deal with how to implement the ordinance. The consultant did note some gaps regarding
buffering and streams that staff will propose updates to. Staff has done a number of public outreach
methods (public workshop, webpage, meetings with stakeholders and technical advisory groups, and a
public survey). For the January 7`I' Workshop, there will be a brief open house (chance for public to view
poster boards and speak to staff), opening remarks by city staff, break -out groups led by Planning
KAPlanning Commission \2014 \Meeting Summary 12- 17 -14.do
Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 December 17, 2014
Commissioners (with staff and consultants), and a report back to the group as a whole. Staff is requesting
Commissioners prepare to lead the break -out groups by reviewing the comprehensive plan chapter 9
(Natural Environment) considering:
• What's important to you?
• What's missing from the chapter?
• What needs to be fixed /tweaked?
The Workshop is not intended to be a technical review of the zoning code, but rather a fun and engaging
evening with citizens, commissioners, and staff.
BRIEFING — Federal Way Comprehensive Plan (FWRC) Major Update — Chapter Six, "Capital Facilities"
Principal Planner Clark delivered the presentation. She went over the update process. Capital facilities are
infrastructure and services provided by public entities. In the City of Federal Way, stormwater, parks,
roads, police, and community facilities are all provided by the city. Schools are provided by the Federal
Way School District. Water and sewer are provided by Lakehaven Utility District, Highline Utility
District, and Tacoma Water & Sewer. Fire prevention is provided by South King Fire & Rescue. The City
has worked with these entities and other City departments on changes and updates to the chapter. Changes
and updates to this chapter are in response to Growth Management Act (GMA) mandates, Vision 2040,
and King County countywide planning policies.
The majority of edits are updated information for each capital facility, including text, capital improvement
plans (CIP), and maps. There are some tables and information that still need to be updated. Staff intends
to add language incorporating the comprehensive plans of all the capital facilities by reference. Staff is
proposing to replace the word "annually" with "periodically" and "on a frequent basis" in goals in
policies that state the chapter will be updated annually. Since the GMA does not require an annual update
and each City department updates its own CIP on different schedules, it puts an unnecessary burden on
staff to update the chapter annually.
Commissioner Noble - Gulliford asked what response was received from Tacoma Water. Principal Planner
Clark responded that both Tacoma Water and Highline responded that they had no changes. Commissioner
Bronson expressed concern with changing the updates to say periodically. Many times periodical updates
are overlooked. He suggested a tighter timeline for updates. Chair Medhurst noted that on page 4, in the
paragraph that starts "...local jurisdictions..." the words "locally owned" were added. How is locally
owned defined? Also, on page 7, in the paragraph that starts "If the City..." the words "or one -time
spending" were added. Again, how is "one -time spending" defined? Principal Planner Clark responded
that she will research the answers.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
None
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
KAPIanning Commission\20MMeeting Summary 12- 17- 14.doc