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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 01/09/1991 '." . . AGENDA PORT ANGELES PLANNING COMMISSION 32f Easf 'FIfth Street Port Angeles, W A 98362 January 9, 1991 7:00 P.M. ,. I. CALL TO ORDER ll. ROLL CALL ill. APPROV AL OF MINUTES: Meeting of December 12, 1990 IV. PLANNING STUDIES: 1. Parking Business Improvement Area (PBIA) Review V. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC VI. STAFF REPORTS VB. REPORTS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS VllI. ADJOURNMENT All correspondence pertaining to a hearing item received by the Planning Depanmem at least one day prior to the scheduled hearing will be provided to Commission members before the hearing. Planning Commiuion: Lany Leonard, Chair; Ray Grover, Vice-Cbair; Bill Anabel; Roger Calls; Donna Davison: 1im Hulett: Bob PIillpott. Planning Staff: Brad Collins, Planning Director; Sue Roberds, Planning Office SpeciAlist. . . . PLANNING COMMISSION Port Angeles, Washington January 9, 1991 I CALL TO ORDER Chairman Leonard called the meeting to order at 7:05 P.M. II ROLL CALL Members Present: Ray Gruver, Roger Catts, Jim Hulett, Larry Leonard, Bob Philpott, Cindy Souders, William Anabel. Members Absent: None. staff Present: Brad Collins, Sue Roberds, Ken Ridout. III APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Anabel moved to approve the minutes of the December 12, 1990, meeting as presented. Mr. Philpott seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. IV PLANNING STUDIES Parkinq Business Improvement Area (FaIAl Review Mr. Collins reviewed the issue before the Planning Commission. He further explained that the request for ordinance revision had been brought to the city Council by the Port Angeles Downtown Association (PADA) and had been referred to the Planning Commission for a recommendation. Mr. Philpott noted the October 2, 1990, letter from the PADA to the City requesting the proposed change to the ordinance. He asked if the letter still represented the PADA's recom- mendation and request. Mr. Collins answered that the ordinance as presented was approved by the City Attorney, working with Tim Haley, President of the PADA. Tim Haley, 113 South Valley street, President of the PADA, expressed his hope that this forum would be informal, allowing an interchange between the Downtown business representatives present and the Planning commission, rather than the formal meeting forum usually observed. He explained that the PADA would like to further review the request prior to the Planning commission forwarding a recommendation to the City Council. Jean FairChild, 952 Mt. Pleasant Road, co-owner of the Tourist Trap business in the Downtown, and Chairman of the Parking Committee of the PADA, clarified that the State passed legis- lation (RCW 35. 87A. 010) enabling cities to create a PBrA. PLANNING COMMISSION January 9, 1991 Page 2 . The Port Angeles Downtown Association asked to be and was appointed by the city Council as manager of the PBIA, responsive to the c~ty Council for their actions. . Mr. Haley added that as a result of management of the PBrA the Port Angeles Downtown Association decided it would be appro- priate to charge $600 a space to cover the cost of development and maintenance of a parking space in the Downtown PBrA for those businesses which could not supply their own parking and who are members of the PBIA. Over the past several years, it has become apparent that the parking space fee may be a deter- rent to new businesses in the Downtown. Although the cost of development of a private parking area is approximately $5,000 per space, the $600 per space appears to be a hinderance to development of the Downtown. The Downtown is a unique area which is limited topographically for expansion possibilities. Therefore, in order to encourage development in the Downtown, the recommendation by the PADA to remove some of the restric- tions presently placed on prospective business owners was developed. There is a surplus of parking spaces in the Downtown at present, due largely to two major employers moving from the Downtown. If it becomes apparent at a later date that there is a shortage of parking spaces, a further amend- ment to the ordinance could then be requested or possibly a parking structure erected. In response to an inquiry from Chairman Leonard, Jim Hague- wood, past president of the Port Angeles Downtown Association, stated there are 1,643 off-street parking spaces in the Down- town and there are presently 123 businesses in that area. The Downtown operates under a mutual parking theory, due to land restrictions. There was discussion between Chairman Leonard, City Councilman Jerry Cornell, Jim Haguewood, and Tim Haley as to the motiva- tion and legislation established enabling the Downtown to operate differently than other areas of the city in their parking requirements. Chairman Leonard stressed that in other areas of the city the burden is on the property owner to develop private parking: whereas, in the Downtown area, businesses are allowed to operate without specifically designated parking areas. It was noted that any area of the City could develop a PBIA with approval from the City Council. . Jerry Cornell, 1019 East Ninth street, noted that overlapping uses in the Downtown allows businesses to share many parking spaces; i.e., businesses which operate during the day but do not operate at night, and vice versa. The amended regula- tions, as proposed, would allow infilling of uses in the Downtown, which presently has a parking surplus. If there were to become a shortage of available parking due to the proposed amended regulations, perhaps the regulations would need further amendment. The difficulty is that the proposed legislation may not be fair to business owners who have contributed heavily to the parking in the Downtown, as opposed . PLANNING COMMISSION January 9, 1991 Page 3 to new business people who would not be required to contribute in a like fashion. The proposed change would only affect remodels or change of use businesses. In order to further encourage development in the Downtown, the PBIA allows a business owner to pay a portion of the assessment initially, with the balance being due in five years. The Port Angeles Downtown Association is divided on how to provide parking without undue hardship to prpspective business owners when it appears there is adequate parking in the Downtown at the present to support the infill of the vacant buildings. Jim Haguewood, 705 Christman Place, indicated there are two questions which need to be addressed. (1) Does the Parking and Business Improvement Area have to provide 100% parking for its businesses, or can those spaces be shared. (2) Is the $600 per space assessment an effective manner to maintain and generate a cash flow for upgrade to the facilities. He added further that although there is adequate parking available to serve Downtown businesses, convenience to the customer is not as easily provided. Lots on the perimeter of Downtown are rarely full, while the more centrally located parking lots are owned by private businesses and operated as such. . Craig Whalley, 1000 Mt. Pleasant Road, owner of Odyssey Book- store, said that $600 per space is an incredible bargain for what would cost $5,000 a spot if developed privately. He is not convinced there is a surplus of parking in the Downtown, and the need to provide parking should be considered for peak demand periods. Adoption of the ordinance as proposed could allow development which could cause saturation of the avail- able parking spaces. Who will pay then for the need in the future? He concluded that we should look at other ways to stimulate Downtown development rather than reducing the parking requirement for a short term fix. Mr. Cornell further stated that a third problem the Downtown is facing is that some older buildings which are vacant are nearly unusable due to the fact that there is no "grandfather" issue for parking. If businesses were to be established in those structures, they would be required to comply fully with the current parking requirements. He suggested that perhaps a provision should be placed in the PBIA ordinance to estab- lish a "grandfather" clause for uses which have not changed. Ms. Fairchild requested, as Chairperson of the Parking and Business Improvement Area Parking Committee that the issue be returned, with the Planning Commission I s recommendation to the PBIA for more consideration prior to referral to the city Council. Ms. Fairchild requested the item be continued to the March meeting of the Planning commission. . Dan Miller, 210 West First Street, submitted information on parking lot locations and usage and said that lending insti tu- tions require parking to be dedicated with the building, and in most cases, not in a parking pool. . . . PLANNING COMMISSION January 9, 1991 Page 4 It was the consensus of the Commission to continue the item to the March 13, 1991, meeting. V COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC None. VI STAFF REPORTS A 10-minute video entitled f1Shoreline Management" from the Department of Ecology was shown. Mr. Collins answered questions concerning the recent Daishowa America Shoreline Permit appeal proceeding. He stated the Tribes and Daishowa had come to an agreement providing for an archeologist on site during the proposed construction of the recycling facility~ therefore, the appeal was dismissed. Mr. Collins stated he will not be at the March 27th meeting. VII REPORTS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS Mr. Gruver stated he will not be in attendance at the April 10th meeting. Mr. Catts gave a brief report on the progress of the Compre- hensive Plan Advisory Committee meetings. The sub-committee dealing with human services conducted a meeting January 8, 1991, at which approximately 25 to 30 agencies were repre- sented. Ms. Souders noted that Director Collins would be giving a presentation to the Comprehensive Plan Advisory group on January 22nd and January 23rd, 7 A.M. to 9 A.M. each morning, concerning the Growth Management Act. Ms. Souders encouraged all Commission members who could attend to be at the infor- mational meeting. Chairman Leonard noted that a computer diskette is available from Buck & Gordon Association dealing with the Growth Management legislation. Mr. Hulett requested a copy of the recent survey done by Washington State University. VIII ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:30 P.M. ~ ns, Secretary .' .... " .. CITY of PORT ANGELES ATTENDANCE ROSTER .o{14 Ntn~G TYPE OF }:tEETING DATE OF 11EF:l1NG lDCATICN PLANNING COMMISSION J:-~(?.:JI 9/ /99/ ADDRESS: NAME: PO-I] Ihi//tr 7}11 ~J )-"';;-1 Vv.~Jr )r.l ~J-- :I ~/1.