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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2023-09-27MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION Hybrid Meeting – In Person and Virtual City Council Chambers: 321 E 5th Street, Port Angeles, Washington 98362 September 27, 2023, at 6:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER Acting Chair Schwab opened the regular meeting at 6:04 P.M. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Andrew Schwab (Acting Chair) Richie Ahuja Tammy Dziadek Marolee Smith James Taylor Colin Young Commissioners Absent: Benjamin Stanley (Chair) – excused City Staff Present: Ben Braudrick (Planning Supervisor) Shannen Cartmel (Deputy Director of Community Services) Zach Trevino (Associate Planner) Ethan Walker (Housing Administrator) Public Present: Laurel Cripe, Skip Hutchinson, Kate Jacobs, Jake Purvis, Steve Workman, additional unidentified members of the public PUBLIC COMMENT Acting Chair Schwab opened the meeting to general public comment. The following individuals provided comment: • Kate Jacobs explained that she and her family are residents of Port Angeles and have experienced short-term rentals (STRs) in their neighborhood. She noted that STRs are prohibited in her zone but that there are more than one dozen operating in her neighborhood. She has reported these to the Code Enforcement Division, but no action has been taken. She is concerned that the vetting process for occupants of STRs is not thorough enough to ensure safety. She knows the zones in which STRs are prohibited but does not know of any enforcement actions that have been taken in response to STRs operating in those zones. She advocated for a requirement that STRs be commercially zoned. She distributed written comments to staff following her verbal comments. • Laurel Cripe distributed written comments to staff and the Planning Commission. She asked to table the discussion of STRs so staff can focus on enforcing existing regulations. She explained that in 2017 she was told that Code Enforcement capacity DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 2 did not exist. She explained that data must be gathered before new regulations are formulated. She asked why the Planning Commission is talking about regulations without data from GovOS. She noted that the City does not ban STRs altogether, but that current regulations must be enforced. Requiring platform compliance should be added to the code as a process modification. She noted that the City needs to address this before conducting an outreach process. • Steve Workman expressed a desire to reiterate what Laurel Cripe stated. He claimed that lack of enforcement is the reason for the proliferation of STRs. He encouraged the Commission to talk with City Council to make an effort at enforcing existing City policy. • Jake Purvis operates an STR in the City. He volunteered for participating in the subcommittee that is scheduled to be created. He explained that limiting STRs to high density neighborhoods is counterproductive because it incentivizes the creation of single-household dwelling units in high density neighborhoods. • Stephen Pelayo wants to educate the community about STRs. He noted that there has been a net decrease in overall hotel capacity and that STRs are integral to the tourism industry. The City lacks sufficient capacity for lodging. He claimed that the largest share of lodging tax revenues comes from STRs. An STR is a product that is in demand. • Steve Workman spoke again with permission of Acting Chair Schwab. He explained in response to Stephen Pelayo’s comments that metrics do not exist regarding STRs. Acting Chair Schwab closed the meeting to general public comment. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Smith moved to approve the minutes from the August 9, 2023 regular meeting of the Planning Commission. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and passed unanimously (6-0) through a consent vote. DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. Short-Term Rentals – Public Engagement Plan Planner Braudrick introduced the item by noting that the City Council directed staff to move forward with STR data collection and review, reviewing potential regulation updates, and identifying a way to permit/license STRs. One purpose of the work being conducted by GovOS is to help with creating a regulatory framework. The proposed Public Outreach Plan is a part of the larger public engagement plan. Staff is working to develop a standardized engagement plan that can be used for this and other City initiatives. Staff wants to solicit constructive feedback on the draft vision, goals, and objectives provided to the Planning Commission. Planner Braudrick read the vision statement and noted that the goal is to create a conversation. He proceeded to read the draft goals and objectives, obtaining feedback from the Planning Commission one goal at a time. Commissioner Ahuja noted that zoning for STRs already exists, but the existing policy is just not enforced correctly. He asked why the City should pursue engagement when the existing regulations are not enforced. Code Enforcement in the City is based on voluntary compliance. DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 3 He explained that the most important thing that GovOS is doing is a comprehensive inventory and analysis process, stating that the public process should occur after the analysis. Commissioner Ahuja noted that compliance through the STR platform is more efficient than pursuing compliance by household. Deputy Director Cartmel responded by noting that here was not a robust public engagement process when the original STR regulations were adopted. Commissioner Smith noted that the Pursuing Housing for All process did incorporate engagement related to STRs. An enforcement officer now exists. She noted that the existing regulations need to be enforced before additional steps are taken. She explained that companies like Airbnb and VRBO will take down STRs immediately if the City requests that they do so. Business licenses do not presently provide an opportunity to monitor STRs. The City needs data from GovOS before a public engagement conversation occurs. The existing law on the books is a “dead-letter law” and is more important than new regulations at this point. Planner Braudrick noted that data is being collected now. Staff is going through a process to build a plan for public engagement in anticipation of receiving this data. The City is concurrently conducting an inventory and analysis in preparation for a public process that can be implemented at any point. Commissioner Dziadek noted that the City needs to work on enforcement of the current code before moving forward with engagement. Commissioner Taylor explained that the issue is the lack of housing. The City needs to start building housing and it is preferable for the City to form a committee that focuses on getting units built. A lack of hotel space is one problem. The housing shortage will not get fixed by squabbling over STRs. Commissioner Young explained that objectives need to be included in the purview addressing the lack of hotel space in the community. STRs are often owned by local residents, employing local housecleaners and other labor. STRs affect the entire community and the business side of things is an important aspect of this matter. Increasing hotel space should be another objective in the process to regulate STRs. Vice Chair Schwab noted that staff has merely devised an introduction to the issue of outreach and the Commission must focus on feedback. The public engagement plan must be data driven. He noted that the initial goals and objectives are aimed at figuring out how we should proceed, which addresses the concerns of other Commissioners. Budgeting and restrictions on Code Enforcement capacity has led to a lack of enforcement historically. Working with the public to develop a self-sustaining approach does not prescribe answers. He supports the idea of enforcing current codes while also asking the public how the City should proceed. The point of this effort is to reach people who have yet to voice their opinion. He concluded by noting that all of the Commissioner comments made at the meeting so far fit within the process outlined in the draft goals and objectives. After initial remarks by each Planning Commissioner, further discussion of the draft vision, goals, and objectives ensued. MOTION: Commissioner Ahuja moved to recommend that the City Council table the STR public engagement plan development process to give the City time to further analyze the matter until it is clear whether the current zoning-based STR policies need to be changed and to ask staff to prioritize platform based enforcement of the existing code DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 4 requirements. The Planning Commission discussed this motion, and it was noted that data collection must be accounted for before further steps are taken to conduct public engagement . This discussion resulted in an amended motion. AMENDED MOTION: Commissioner Ahuja moved to recommend that the City Council: 1. Table the short-term rental public engagement plan development process to give the City time to collect more data and further analyze the matter until it is clear whether the current zoning-based short-term rental policies need to be changed; and 2. Ask staff to prioritize platform-based enforcement of the existing Port Angeles Municipal Code requirements. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Smith and passed (4-2) through a roll call vote. Acting Chair Schwab and Commissioner Young voted no. 2. 2025 Periodic Update of the Comprehensive Plan Planner Braudrick introduced the item, explaining that staff is interested in soliciting input from the Planning Commission in anticipation of the public outreach effort associated with the periodic update of the Comprehensive Plan. The Planning Commission asked questions of staff and provided the following comments in response to the proposed engagement strategies: • Surveys in multiple formats need to be incorporated as part of the interactive website content because surveys can be difficult to receive by paper. • The difference between a storefront studio and a public workshop was clarified. • The subcommittee should be more explicitly mentioned in the engagement process. The subcommittee will be the ambassador during the process for the outreach, so the outreach plan should specify how specifically the subcommittee will be involved. The Planning Commission did not make a motion following its review of the anticipated engagement strategies. ACTION ITEM 1. Short-Term Rentals – Subcommittee Creation Vice Chair Schwab noted that this item should be tabled in light of the motion made earlier in the meeting. MOTION: Commissioner Taylor moved not to form a short-term rental subcommittee at this time and to table the item of forming a short-term rental subcommittee until the Planning Commission feels a subcommittee is necessary, at which time the item will be revisited. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Smith and passed unanimously (6-0) through a roll call vote. DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes September 27, 2023 Page 5 STAFF UPDATES City staff provided the following updates to the Commission: • Planner Braudrick announced that Callam County is developing a Strategic Marketing Plan for the entire North Olympic Peninsula. The planning process has included over 1,300 people providing feedback. The team has conducted outreach at various places. A high volume of feedback is being received about how the plan is being developed. The engagement process went well, and plan development continues. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS • Commissioner Taylor would like to see an interactive joint meeting between the Planning Commission and the Utility Advisory Committee. • Commissioner Taylor stated that there is a contradiction regarding who can serve on Planning Commission subcommittees, noting that Chair Stanley serves on the Climate Resiliency Subcommittee. ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Schwab adjourned the meeting at 7:58 P.M. Zach Trevino, Secretary Andrew Schwab, Acting Chair MINUTES PREPARED BY: Zach Trevino, Secretary DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67