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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Minutes 2023-11-29MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION Hybrid Meeting – In Person and Virtual City Council Chambers: 321 E 5th Street, Port Angeles, Washington 98362 November 29, 2023, at 6:00 P.M. SPECIAL MEETING CALL TO ORDER Chair Stanley opened the meeting at 6:03 P.M. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Benjamin Stanley (Chair) Richie Ahuja Tammy Dziadek Marolee Smith James Taylor Colin Young Commissioners Absent: None City Staff Present: Ben Braudrick (Planning Supervisor) Shannen Cartmel (Deputy Director of Community Services) Zach Trevino (Associate Planner) Ethan Walker (Housing Administrator) Public Present: Dan Anderson, John Choy, Timothy Dalton, Dallas Kiedrowski, Matthew Moore, Steven Pelayo, John Ralston, Caitlin Sullivan, Shawn Washburn, Steve Workman, additional unidentified members of the public PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Stanley opened the meeting to general public comment. The following individuals provided comment: • Steve Workman lives near Golf Course Road and noted that Peninsula College Foundation and a private developer have worked together to provide housing for students near the campus. The apartments built incorporated effective stormwater infrastructure and were less expensive than other comparable developments. • Matthew Moore expressed support for the City pursuing a community land trust model. • Dallas Kiedrowski works as an appraiser and believes that the City should be utilizing incentives for home construction and creative financing for nonprofits and government organizations. He noted that Clallam County is not listed on the Housing and Urban Development website as a jurisdiction in Washington state that offers entitlement DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes November 29, 2023 Page 2 programs for home repair. He stated that mutual self-help grants would be ideal if led by a dedicated city staff member, but the awareness around these types of financial incentive programs is lacking. • John Choy is a new resident of Port Angeles from Nashville, Tennessee. He was a board member of the Nashville Civic Design Center, a nonprofit bridging the gap between government and design organizations. It helped communities and the general public through charettes and similar initiatives. “Think Outside the Box” was a program that educated people about alternative methods of construction. • Steven Pelayo advocated for proper leveraging of the existing housing stock. He stated that the City has 1,100 vacant homes according to the Housing Action Plan but the City is focusing on short-term rentals, while its priority should be leveraging the vacant housing stock it already has. Chair Stanley closed the meeting to general public comment. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Commissioner Smith moved to approve the minutes from the September 27, 2023 regular meeting of the Planning Commission with one correction of a typographical error to ensure that the minutes accurately reflect the fact that Commissioner Taylor stated that the housing shortage will not get fixed by squabbling over short-term rentals. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Taylor and passed unanimously (6-0) through a consent vote. DISCUSSION ITEM 1. Innovative Housing Solutions Chair Stanley introduced the discussion by stating that the Commission should h old concentrated discussions about one topic at a time. Each Commissioner will present the written comments that they provided in advance of the meeting and then the comments will be discussed based on topic. Each topic will be limited to approximately 10 -15 minutes each. He stated that the public would have an opportunity to comment after the Commission’s discussion. The Commissioners who provided written comments to staff in advance of the meeting each provided an overview of their comments. Each overview was followed by an opportunity for each of the other Commissioners to ask questions of the Commissioner or make comments in response to the ideas raised. Commissioners Dziadek, Smith, and Taylor each provided summaries of their comments. Lengthy discussion ensued after each overview. A range of housing topics were discussed, including development financing mechanisms, housing data collection, public-private partnerships, public investment in the development of attainable housing, incentives to encourage construction, disincentives to discourage vacant land, rezoning to facilitate infill development, and other subjects related to housing. Some specific properties in the City were discussed in relation to these ideas. Chair Stanley paused the Commission’s discussion of housing ideas to open the meeting to a second public comment period. DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes November 29, 2023 Page 3 The following individuals provided comment: • Steve Workman stated that funding is available in Port Angeles. As an example, he noted that the community recently funded a $55 million arts center and suggested reaching out to the people with money in the community to coordinate the financing of attainable housing. • Timothy Dalton is the Housing and Grant Resources Coordinator for Clallam County. He explained that the Housing Solutions Committee meeting series involves the County, City staff, and others in considering facilitating manufactured home parks and many other approaches to meeting housing needs. He noted that hundreds of housing units are in the development pipeline locally and that discussions of how to target the needs of lower-income individuals are ongoing. Raising income thresholds for housing programs to serve more people is a key strategy. He emphasized that local governments must work together and collaborate with entities such as the Port of Port Angeles and Coast Guard to facilitate projects. The 2025 Comprehensive Plan process will be an opportunity to for major stakeholders to collaborate on housing issues. • John Ralson explained he has been working with Timothy Dalton. He noted that the use of alternative building materials to make construction more affordable will not become normalized for 10-15 more years. He explained that the City’s 2023 zoning regulation amendments were a step in the right direction but that the proposed fee increases will take effect too soon in 2024 to allow developers to adapt. He emphasized that City of Port Angeles development patterns and land availability are not comparable to larger metropolitan areas. Local developers like him will only construct a few homes at a time and this should be accounted for. • John Choy expressed support for previous comments and stated that there are clever strategies for bringing corporate developers to the discussion table about infill development. He appreciates the comments that the Commission has made about incentives but asked whether the topics being discussed at this meeting are truly reflective of the needs and desires of the community. • Shawn Washburn agreed with Timothy Dalton’s invitation to attend the Housing Solutions Committee meeting series. The Port Angeles Association of Realtors has data and information that they can provide the City. He encouraged the City to contact him to discuss further. • Caitlin Sullivan stated that there are over 500 undeveloped properties in the City and a list is easy to generate. In order for a home to be financed by a median income family in Port Angeles, the purchase cost must be under $250,000. She claimed that accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are the most feasible solution to increasing affordable housing supply and encouraged the City to expand the catalog of offerings for permit -ready plans. She provided Seattle, Washington as an example of a City successfully facilitating housing production through ADU development. She also mentioned alternative building methods and encouraged the use of self-contained housing units to reduce utility connection costs. • Dallas Kiedrowski said that the City of Port Angeles is far ahe ad of other cities and praised the use of pre-approved building plans. He emphasized that financing is a DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67 Planning Commission Minutes November 29, 2023 Page 4 crucial factor in the feasibility of development and that tax exemption programs should be expanded. • Dan Anderson explained that he purchased a residence in the R7 zone and is using it as a short-term rental. He explained that he has paid taxes for operating the short-term rental unit and is not competing with hotels. He asked the Commission to revisit the matter of short-term rentals and promised that advocates of short-term rentals will be involved in the regulatory process. Chair Stanley closed the meeting to general public comment. Commissioner Young provided a summary of his written comments and the Commission continued their discussion of housing topics that had been underway prior to the second public comment period. Chair Stanley requested that housing innovation be placed on the agenda of the next Planning Commission meeting so the discussion could be continued. STAFF UPDATES City staff provided the following updates to the Commission: • Planner Braudrick explained that staff will follow up with Commissioners by email with a comprehensive response to the questions and concerns raised during the Commission’s discussion. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS • Commissioner Smith recently opened a dog kennel operation. • Commissioner Ahuja announced that the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, a global meeting about climate issues, is occurring now. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Taylor moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Smith and passed unanimously (6-0) through a consent vote. The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 PM. Zach Trevino, Secretary Benjamin Stanley, Chair MINUTES PREPARED BY: Zach Trevino, Secretary DocuSign Envelope ID: 36C4AD32-98B8-496F-9747-E4B91360FB67