LUTC MINS 04-24-2017City of Federal Way
City Council
Land Use /Transportation Committee
April 24, 2017 City Hall
6:30 p.m. Council Chambers
MEETING SUMMARY
Committee Members in Attendance: Committee Chair Bob Celski and Committee members Lydia Assefa- Dawson
(via conference call) and Mark Koppang. Council members in attendance: Deputy Mayor Burbidge and Councilmembers
Honda and Moore.
Staff in Attendance: City Attorney J. Ryan Call, Deputy City Attorney Mark Orthmann, Public Works Director Marwan
Salloum, Deputy Public Works Director /PAEC Project Director EJ Walsh, Community Development Director Brian Davis,
Economic Development Director Tim Johnson, SWR Coordinator Rob Van Orsow, Planning Manager Robert Hansen,
Principal Planner Margaret Clark, and Administrative Assistant II Shawna Upton.
Planning Commissioners in Attendance: Chair Lawson Bronson, Vice Chair Tom Medhurst, Tim O'Neil, Diana
Noble - Gulliford, and Dawn Meader McCausland.
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Celski called the meeting to order at 6:33 PM
2. PUBLIC COMMENT (3 minutes)
Dana Hollaway expressed her desire for Council to extend the moratorium on multi - family housing. She feels the
proposed amendments failed to address the impact high- density, multi - family housing has on the City, public
facilities, public services and residents. She further noted the City is struggling financially to provide services to the
current population including police, schools, fire, and roads. She would like to see the City follow its own
comprehensive plan regarding development and growth.
3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Topic Title/ Description
A. ORDINANCE: Adopt Code Amendments Related to Multi - Family Dwelling Units,
Senior Housing, and Special Needs Housing
Mr. Davis indicated the staff memo presented tonight outlines the recommended
code changes as well as address questions received from Councilmembers. He
began with the first question which asked how much developable or redevelopable
land the city has and what zone they fall into. He discussed a table that summarizes
where the vacant land is and how much of that is redevelopable as of 2012. The
four most recent developments since the 2012 inventory are Park 16, Kitts Corner,
Uptown Square and Celebration Center. An updated zoning map was requested,
and was provided, that shows the city center core and city center frame zones.
There was a comment that the requirement for a 100 -foot setback for multi - family
developments that are adjacent to residential zones appeared to be a bit onerous
so staff was asked to consider this requirement if they were next to single - family
zones. Based on the number of effected parcels, staff recommends having this
Forward to Council
May 2, 2017
Committee Members City Staff
Bob Celski, Chair Marwan Salloum, P. E, Public Works Director
Lydia Assefa- Dawson, Member Shawna Upton, Administrative Assistant II
Mark Kgpuann Member 253- 835 -2703
provision apply only when the BC -Zoned developments are adjacent to single - family
zoned areas. A table was provided that outlines the maximum height of multi - family
housing in the different zones. A discussion was held regarding the city center core
zone with building heights varying between 70 and 200 -feet and what determines
the actual allowed height, required setbacks, and building modulation. Under the
current proposal, any building over 100 units they would be required to have 25%
of the parking underground or on the first floor. In the city center areas, they could
construct the parking outside of the footprint if they use a structured parking facility.
Chair Celski proposed that for multi - family zones outside of the city center areas, the
25% parking requirement is too high and that inside the city center areas, 25% is
too low. Staff researched parking requirements of comparable jurisdictions and was
unable to find specific code that addresses a requirement for underground parking.
Further discussion was held regarding parking requirements in the different zones
to determine what the proper ratio would be and how cities like Seattle, Tacoma and
Bellevue are dealing with multi - family parking issues. There was concern with
requiring multi - family developments to provide ground floor retail because there
may be some difficulty in achieving the intent of this requirement. Staff
recommends moving that from a requirement to an option for developers to choose
from. The intent behind common recreational areas is to provide for the recreational
needs of the tenants. It is important for the multi - family developments further away
from the city center core because there are fewer activities as you move away from
downtown. Regarding private open space requirements, staff recommends
eliminating the 48 square feet for each unit requirement for special needs housing
and there could be some flexibility for senior housing and developments in the city
center areas. That sparked further discussion about whether to require a certain
amount of private open space, such as balconies, or to leave the decision and
flexibility up to the developer. Some were concerned that if we didn't require any,
the developer would choose not to provide open space and if we require too much,
it will pose a hardship on the developer and they may build elsewhere. The
Committee asked staff to come back with a recommendation as to what the
appropriate requirement would be. A suggestion was made to eliminate
surveillance camera requirements in senior and special needs housing. Staff
indicated this is not a requirement, but is an option so the decision to use
surveillance equipment would be left up to the developer. A brief conversation was
held regarding a possible Council resolution as a way to express flexibility for future
modifications to the code changes and Transportation Oriented Development. Mr.
Orthmann explained a resolution would accomplish that but it is somewhat formal
for the situation. He indicated the objective could be reached by directing staff to
report back to Committee and Council with further information. A question arose
asking how recycling and composting materials would be enforced. Staff stated that
they review the proposals to make sure that it has recycling and composting
requirements if it applies to the development and they follow through with an
inspection. If there are problems after the fact, staff attempts to reconcile the issue
with the property owner or site manager to remedy the problem. If the property
owner or manager does not cooperate with the City, then staff would follow the
nuisance abatement process. Staff also clarified standards related to compatibility
with the existing neighborhood, mailboxes in multi - family developments, and a brief
discussion ensued regarding rental discrimination. Mr. Davis summarized the
comments he heard from Committee to make sure staff makes the appropriate
changes to the code and provides the additional information they are seeking. Mr.
Davis noted that at the next Council meeting, staff will provide a map that illustrates
how many units we have available in our land capacity, a presentation explaining
the recent multi - family developments and how we measure up with city goals and
other cities as well as Sound Transit being available to give a presentation on Transit
Oriented Development. Also, staff will come back with a recommendation on the
Committee Members City Staff
Bob Celski, Chair Marwan Salloum, P. E., Public Works Director
Lydia Assefa- Dawson, Member Shawna Upton, Administrative Assistant II
Mark Koppang, Member 253 - 835 -2703
proper amount of underground or structured parking required and the appropriate
amount of open space that should be required. Councilmember Honda asked for
a definition of low- income housing to be discussed at the next Council meeting as
well as what the numbers are so the public has a better understanding of what that
means exactly. Chair Celski would also like to discuss Councils desire to shape our
city center as it relates to density, walkability and how developments happen within
the city center core zone. He would like to know what the impact of restricting
multi - family stand -alone structures would be in the city center core or allowing
multi - family as a mixed -use structure where you might have retail on the ground
floor and then multi - family in the same structure. Deputy Mayor Burbidge asked
staff to provide the numbers of existing multi - family within the city center core and
city center frame. Councilmember Honda asked for senior housing to be included
as well. Staff indicated they have the numbers available and will provide that
information. Chair Celski asked if any Planning Commission members would like to
speak on this topic. Lawson Bronson, Chair, spoke and expressed concern about the
amount of land that will be taken up by Sound Transit. He indicated the map
provided to the Committee does not show the land that will be used by Sound
Transit and feels that is an important piece of information that should be
considered. He believes the staff has been severely overloaded by this project. He
addressed three areas of the proposed changes related to the safety plan,
maintenance plan and security cameras portion. He does not feel the city budget
has the available funds to administer those programs. Tim O'Neal, Planning
Commission member, indicated the examining of the multi - family code is being
driven by the moratorium. He indicated that the Planning Commission forwarded
the item to Committee without a recommendation because the proposed changes
do not answer all the questions that were brought forward due to the moratorium.
He feels this is more of a political question than a planning issue based on the
timeline devised by the moratorium. Tom Medhurst, Vice Chair, shared concerns
regarding the timeline of the moratorium regarding multi- housing which presents
a very different set of issues than senior housing issues. He feels that since senior
housing does not create some of the issues that multi - family does, such as parking,
strain on infrastructure and schools, senior housing could be moved forward in a
more timely fashion and then extend the moratorium to address the remaining
multi - family issues. Diana Noble - Gulliford, Planning Commission member, shared
two concerns that will shape the city for years to come. The first is the Sound
Transit project further noting there is an affordable housing element within the ST3
plan, and the impacts of that element are just being realized. The second is the
owner of the Commons Mall who wishes to include multi - family within the property.
She feels the moratorium should be extended so more thought can be put into these
issues. Councilmember Koppang thanked the Planning Commission for their
comments. He shared his support of the safe city camera program but feels the safe
city cameras in the apartments that are not for senior or special needs housing is
a good way to help residents feel safe. There has been some discussion on the
segregation of the senior housing from the multi - family housing and although he
understands the reasoning behind that though, they fall under the same umbrella
and cannot be divided. Sound Transit and the affordable housing will continue to
be discussed with Council as the city moves through this process. The challenge
of how to use the Commons and Belmore Park properties so they don't become a
plight for the city is an issue that will continue to be looked at. Dawn Meader
McCausland stated most of her technical questions were addressed in the changes
that staff brought forward. She shared the Committees concerns regarding parking,
commercial space, and balconies and was happy to see the Committee find some
middle ground. She feels it's important to look at the regional market pressures and
trends when making these decisions and to understand what income levels are
served by affordable housing because it will likely be closer to the median income
Committee Members City Staff
Bob Celski, Chair Marwan Salloum, P. E., Public Works Director
Lydia Assefa- Dawson, Member Shawna Upton, Administrative Assistant II
Mark Kol)panq, Member 253 -835 -2703
level that what is thought. Discussion was held regarding the request by the
Commons Mall owner to extend the moratorium and what their desires may be.
Allen Wallace, Land Use Counsel for Merlone Geier, indicated Merlone Geier just
purchased the property a month ago so the moratorium was brought to their
attention. He stated that the bulk of these regulations do not work for the city
center zone and the purchase of the Commons Mall property would not have
happened without the ST3 and light rail station project. He shared structured
parking scenarios in other cities such as Renton and Bellevue and noted the
approximate costs per stall. The numbers of parking stalls in the proposed
amendments do not work for the city center multi - family redevelopment. The trend
is for people to use Uber or car sharing services. He feels these types of regulations
are focused on suburban multi - family development which is quite different from
urban dense multi - family development. He further discussed concerns with ground
floor retail and rent levels as well as the type of rental groups which would be
interested in this type of urban dense multi - family housing. He would like to see
an exception made to the parking stall count and open space requirement in the city
center area.
Motion to continue the conversation on the multi - family housing
moratorium to the May 1, 2017 LUTC meeting.
Moved: Koppang Seconded: Assefa- Dawson Passed: 3 -0
4. OTHER
5. FUTURE MEETINGS /AGENDA ITEMS:
The next LUTC meeting will be Monday, May 1, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers.
6. ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 8:22 PM,
Attest:
( -Shawn6 Upton
Administrative Assistant II
Approved by Committee: Juxie-, 5 2W/7
Committee Members City Staff
Bob Ce /ski, Chair Marwan Sallcum, P.E., Public Works Director
Lydia Assefa- Dawson, Member Shawna Upton, Administrative Assistant II
Mark Koppang, Member 253 - 835 -2703