HomeMy WebLinkAbout120208 Planning Board Minutes MINUTES
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008
ITEM 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ATTENDANCE
President Pomnichowski called the regular meeting of the Planning Board to order at 7:33 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Avenue, Bozeman, Montana and directed
the secretary to take attendance.
Members Present: Staff Present:
Sean Becker Andrew Epple, Director of Planning
Cathy Costakis Chris Saunders, Assistant Director of Planning
Dawn Smith Tara Hastie, Recording Secretary
Donna Swarthout
Brian Caldwell
JP Pomnichowski
Chris Mehl
Bill Quinn
Erik Henyon
Members Absent: Guests Present:
Krystina Prinzing Ward
Kathie Callahan
Susan Kozub
Linda Locke
Robert Pertzborn
Lucy Pope
ITEM 2. PUBLIC COMMENT (0-15 MINUTES)
{Limited to any public matter within the jurisdiction of the Planning Board and not scheduled on this agenda. Three-minute time limit per speaker.}
Seeing there was no public comment forthcoming, President Pomnichowski closed the public comment portion of the meeting.
ITEM 3. MINUTES OF OCTOBER 21, 2008 (Cont. from 11/18/08.)
Seeing there were no changes or additions to the minutes, President Pomnichowski approved the minutes of October 21, 2008 as submitted.
ITEM 4. MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 5, 2008 (Cont. from 11/18/08.)
Seeing there were no changes or additions to the minutes, President Pomnichowski approved the minutes of November 5, 2008 as submitted.
ITEM 5. MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 18, 2008
Seeing there were no changes or additions to the minutes, President Pomnichowski approved the minutes of November 18, 2008 as submitted.
ITEM 6. BOZEMAN 2020 COMMUNITY PLAN UPDATE
1. Review and discussion of Chapter 16 - Implementation (Saunders)
Assistant Director Saunders stated that Staff’s desired outcome was approval of the last of the major pieces of the document so it could be compiled by the first of the year for public
review. He stated this chapter had initially been reviewed at the last meeting and the Housing sections had been included for Board review in this draft. He noted what had been included
in the materials and explained their purpose and added that some of the objectives would depend on funding. He stated Clarion Report had suggested the policies and actions needed to
be distinguished from one another and Staff had attempted to avoid repetition. He stated Staff had determined that the 2020 Plan need only be referenced once within the document. He
stated there would be a series of numbers that would show the relativity of the policy to other policies throughout the document. He stated Staff had included in the list public comment
to date to bring before the Board and noted thought had been given to including a matrix but uniform principles did not apply to every chapter.
Vice President Henyon asked for clarification on how a priority could be ongoing and immediate all at once. Assistant Director Saunders responded that certain instances would merit
review immediately, but would require ongoing implementation policies and procedures. Vice President Henyon stated he would like to see an ending date. Assistant Director Saunders responded
a definitive date could be included for some of the items.
Mr. Caldwell suggested a key for the definitions be included and added that he thought Vice President Henyon had a good point.
President Pomnichowski stated she saw the need to keep the information in one table while her bigger concern was with regard to the action types and the timeline as proposed did not
bother her. She noted the intergovernmental coordination would be difficult to achieve but she did not think she would draft the document any differently so that redundancy could be
avoided.
Vice President Henyon stated under Chapter 8 - Economic Development – the language should include an implementation policy to find ways to reduce the costs of locating new business in
city limits, and additionally industrial and business should be reference. He stated under Parks, Rec., Open Space, & Trails the Parks Maintenance District had been included and he
was concerned that it would be requiring another tax within the City. Assistant Director Saunders responded the Parks Maintenance District had been included in the PROST plan and would
enable the community to execute the plan in the future if desired. Vice President Henyon suggested a comprehensive snow removal plan be included and if one had not already been created
than one should be created.
Ms. Swarthout stated she had referred to previous discussions by the Board on the Housing Chapter in past minutes and had found that the chapter did not reflect the mobile housing comments
that the Board had previously made. She suggested a statement be included to maintain the existing stock of manufactured housing. Mr. Mehl agreed that it should be mentioned in implementation.
Assistant Director Saunders responded a similar statement had been included in the “displacement” section of the document and Staff had investigated on what the City could do directly
as a community to provide for affordable housing.
President Pomnichowski stated the discussion had been to not limit the language to mobile housing, but to make it more general to include manufactured housing on permanent foundations.
She stated the Board had intended mobile homes be included in every neighborhood. Assistant Director Saunders responded the UDO allowed for manufactured homes on residential lots within
the City.
Ms. Swarthout stated that under Arts & Culture the third item should be changed from “support and facilitate” to “support, facilitate, and expand community events such as these”.
Mr. Caldwell suggested that under item 10 in “Land Use” Staff underline Land Use Designation and include letter b) to allow investigation into revisions for PUD standards. He noted
it would be the closest thing the City could get to Form Based zoning. President Pomnichowski asked if the language that had been included for Form Based zoning was only pertinent to
Site Plans. Mr. Caldwell responded it was.
Vice President Henyon suggested the word “reduce” be included instead of “constrain” under Economic Development. Mr. Mehl suggested the use of the word “lower” instead. Assistant Director
Saunders responded programmatic processes were used for facility plans and the costs could be controlled, but the use of the word “constrain” would clearly indicate that the City did
not have the ability to control all the aspects addressed. Mr. Mehl suggested using the phrase “maximize effectiveness”. Vice President Henyon responded his concern was that streets
like Rouse Avenue were constructed and then immediately reconstructed, wasting money, and suggested “constrain” was not a strong enough word and he would prefer to see the word “reduced”.
Ms. Smith suggested the phrase “employ efficient financial management of public services”. Ms. Smith’s suggestion was accepted by the Board.
Ms. Costakis stated that on page 8-10, #3, the disposable hazardous waste was included and she had thought it was done twice a year instead of once. Assistant Director Saunders responded
it had been done so in past years and the Gallatin Solid Waste District had taken over that function. Ms. Costakis stated she did not think once a year would be enough and suggested
the disposal of hazardous wastes be done more often and include e-waste. President Pomnichowski suggested leaving the language and if something better happened that would be great.
Assistant Director Saunders responded e-waste could be included and suggested the language could be “at least once per year”.
Mr. Becker suggested “Watershed Protection Efforts” should contain working with other agencies including: Gallatin County and the U.S. Forest Service.
2. Review and discussion of Chapter 6 – Housing (Saunders)
3. Review and discussion of Appendix (Saunders)
Assistant Director Saunders stated the section intended to raise awareness of universal design and did not dictate a mandate; he noted the section worked with ADA issues. He stated
there had been modifications made based on public comment and “diversity and type” had been included to promote and not to mandate. He stated he had not completed objective 2.4, but
would explain the language. He added that the Land Use and Housing appendices had been addressed.
Mr. Mehl stated objective 2.1 on page 6.3 should end after “diverse neighborhoods” which he thought to be stronger language, and should not include “ethnic gatherings”. The Board concurred.
Mr. Mehl asked if Staff would streamline the document so that the Goals and Objectives had a general format throughout. Assistant Director Saunders responded they had been placed where
it seemed most logical for each chapter and were located consistently.
President Pomnichowski opened the public comment portion of the meeting.
Lucy Pope, Alliance for Building Communities, stated she was disappointed that none of their recommendations had been included in the draft of the document. She stated the preference
that primary discretion be included in section 8.2 of the chapter and that a first and last sentence be included to provide for low and very low income populations. She stated Bozeman
was losing affordable housing and it was disturbing that the low income population had risen to 40%; she stated she believed the community would need the City’s support to provide affordable
housing. She stated the Housing Goal and Objectives had been changed from “providing” to “encouraging” and noted other edits that have removed affordable housing needs from the document.
She suggested a Needs Assessment be conducted and that the implementation strategies seemed disconnected from the goals.
Linda Locke, 2405 West College Park, #13, stated she would like to see the Planning Board think of how difficult it was to learn to ride their first bicycle and added that they should
consider it a form of transportation. She stated mobile home parks were unique and were not main stream but were not totally out of the stream. She encouraged the Board to look at
the uniqueness of mobile home parks and include language to protect the ones that existed and provide for ones that would be developed in the future.
Krystina Ward, 815 N. 5th Ave., stated she and her husband were able to acquire rebates and finance their own mobile home and they were continuing to work toward owning their own land.
She stated her goal was to move into a log cabin out in the mountains, but they had adapted to City living due to their inability to purchase land outside the City. She stated she would
appreciate it if the City and County could continue to monitor mobile housing. She suggested the Board continue to help them and keep viable homes available.
Seeing no further public comment forthcoming, President Pomnichowski closed the public comment period.
President Pomnichowski stated the Board had suggested the inclusion of the affordable housing language. Assistant Director Saunders suggested the affordable housing ordinance addressed
those issues and the City Commission would decide if language should be included in the Growth Policy. President Pomnichowski asked Assistant Director Saunders to include the language
from the letter of public comment submitted by Ms. Pope. Assistant Director Saunders asked where the information should be located. President Pomnichowski suggested it should be included
at the beginning of the chapter.
Vice President Henyon stated he had issues with the Affordable Housing Ordinance since it had been adopted. He noted Prospera had indicated Bozeman’s cost of living was 13% above the
national average and he thought the UDO assisted in causing high costs due to Affordable Housing requirements. He suggested the emphasis be on economic development and focus on the
wage issues to provide livable wages. He stated he would like to see the abolishment of the Affordable Housing ordinance and noted it had not created a single unit since its inception.
He stated the cost on the system made affordable housing less obtainable for people and recommended removal of the Affordable Housing ordinance from the UDO.
Mr. Mehl stated he was on the Economic Development Plan Task Force and they had identified Affordable Housing as having a major effect on the economy of the City; he invited Vice President
Henyon to attend the next meeting of the task force. Vice President Henyon stated he agreed that Affordable Housing should be included, but not at such an increase in cost as the forced
Affordable Housing requirements had caused.
Mr. Caldwell asked if no Affordable Housing had been created how had it affected the economy and added that the regulation was intended to offset costs. He suggested more factors were
involved and stated he thought it was too early to call the ordinance a complete failure. Assistant Director Saunders added there would be a formal review of the program and ordinance
as it stands and it would be decided at that time if it would be maintained or abolished. Mr. Caldwell suggested the development standards for modular homes should be reviewed.
Ms. Swarthout stated she thought there were some things that were human rights and shelter was one of those things. She stated she felt the Board owed an apology to the advocates of
Affordable Housing for not including the requested language.
4. Review and discussion of Land Use Map & Chapter (Saunders)
Mr. Mehl stated he liked the document, but it was not proposed in a consistent order; he suggested moving things around to provide for easier understanding. He stated he liked the Land
Use Chapter and thought it was well done, but suggested the goals be placed in order in formatting.
President Pomnichowski stated she thought the side bar had been best used in the chapter but had noticed formatting errors; she suggested the narrative not be included in the side bar.
Mr. Caldwell stated he appreciated that the percentage numbers had been included with regard to land-use designations and floor area ratio, and seemed more encouraging to dense development
and utilization of land. He stated he was uncomfortable commenting on the map as it did not contain the land use and zoning designations and he was curious what each color would mean
as far as zoning districts. Assistant Director Saunders explained that there was not a proposal for creation of a 2nd or 3rd zoning district and the general land use descriptions were
still applicable.
Vice President Henyon suggested including colored categories next to the Land Use description within the chapter to provide clarification and correspond to the map. President Pomnichowski
suggested including map illustrations with references to the larger map for further clarification.
Ms. Costakis suggested four larger maps be included to make the document more legible. Assistant Director Saunders responded the final map would be full sized and legible.
Mr. Caldwell asked the best way to discuss the Growth Policy Map and how its organization had been orchestrated; he suggested these items be included as they had not been addressed as
of yet. Ms. Smith asked if Mr. Caldwell was suggesting the Board orchestrate outreach to the public for their involvement in the Growth Policy draft. Mr. Caldwell responded he was
not suggesting outreach, but wanted to know how to respond to members of the public. President Pomnichowski responded the document had been under review for the past year and a half
with some specific requests not being addressed to prevent “spot” Growth Policy designations; she noted a Growth Policy Amendment could be sought by any member of the public and, if
adopted, the amendment would appear on a future Growth Policy Map. Assistant Director Saunders responded that compelling reason for amendments to the Growth Policy could be presented
by an applicant and any public comment would be and had been forwarded to the pertinent review agencies.
Assistant Director Saunders noted that some of the changes that had been made were adjustments to the size of an area as it had been inaccurately depicted. He noted that Residential
Emphasis Mixed Use had been colored yellow and the Board had received public comment regarding that language. He stated the inclusion of all parks was being investigated as some were
specifically identified and some were not; he asked the Board how important the effort to include the parks would be. President Pomnichowski asked how large the map would be. Assistant
Director Saunders responded it would be 2’ X 2’ sq. President Pomnichowski stated she would like to see the parks included wherever possible given any size limitations.
Mr. Quinn asked how small the land could be before it would become ridiculous to attempt to include it on the map. Assistant Director Saunders responded it would be difficult to include
anything less than an acre and many features had not been included to keep the size of the map down.
Vice President Henyon suggested the inclusion of two symbols denoting the locations of existing fire stations and schools. Assistant Director Saunders responded the attempt could be
made to
include those symbols. President Pomnichowski added that including more information would increase the level of distinction, but would confuse the purpose of the map; she suggested
less clutter would be preferable.
Mr. Quinn stated he agreed with President Pomnichowski that more information would cause confusion and suggested overlaying details from future maps.
President Pomnichowski opened the public comment portion of the meeting.
Robert Pertzborn, 111 N. Tracy Ave., thanked the Board for adding parks to the map. He stated he had submitted a letter of public comment with concerns for residential development along
arterial streets. He stated he was here to call attention to a unique parcel and directed the Board to a rendering of that parcel. He noted the parcel was 6.6 acres in size and was
located along Huffine Lane and South Cottonwood Road in the Loyal Garden neighborhood. He stated he was requesting the amendment of the underlying land use designation on that parcel
from Community Commercial Mixed Use to Business Park Mixed Use to provide for commercial development in that location. Mr. Mehl asked if Community Commercial Mixed Use would suffice
as it had been depicted across Huffine Lane from the site. Mr. Pertzborn responded his preference would be to have Business Park Mixed Use as Community Commercial Mixed Use would have
too lenient of uses.
President Pomnichowski stated she was supportive of the change as R-O was not that different from B-P zoning. Mr. Quinn stated he agreed with President Pomnichowski and was supportive
of the request.
Mr. Mehl asked Mr. Pertzborn’s reason for wanting one zoning over another as they were similar zoning districts. Mr. Pertzborn explained that he would be supportive of either Community
Commercial or Business Park Mixed Use rather than what had been depicted in the draft Growth Policy. Mr. Mehl asked for justification of the requested change. Mr. Pertzborn responded
a poorly located residential development created poorly maintained subdivisions and people preferred to live in areas where services were available.
Mr. Caldwell stated he was supportive of the requested amendment to the proposed Land Use Map. Ms. Smith stated she was more supportive of the Community Commercial Mixed Use as it was
more flexible with regard to allowable uses. Ms. Costakis suggested the creation of a decent street by reconstructing Huffine Lane would help people to want to live in that location.
Ms. Swarthout stated she agreed with Ms. Smith that she would prefer to see Community Commercial Mixed Use in that location and asked Mr. Pertzborn if he could poll the neighborhood
to see what type of land use they would like in their neighborhood. Mr. Pertzborn responded the neighborhood did not currently have many tenants and whatever the Board decided was fine;
either Community Commercial Mixed Use or Business Park Mixed Use would suffice.
ITEM 7. NEW BUSINESS
Ms. Smith suggested the meeting start half an hour earlier in the winter months. Mr. Mehl
suggested 6:00 p.m. Ms. Swarthout suggested the Board discuss this issue, along other meeting concerns, at the first of the year. The Board concurred.
President Pomnichowski stated that Board memberships expired at the end of the year and suggested those Board members submit an application for reappointment.
Mr. Mehl suggested the Board discuss the 2020 Community Plan with the public and each member choose a local organization to forward the information at the next meeting.
ITEM 8. ADJOURNMENT
Seeing there was no further business before the Board, President Pomnichowski adjourned the meeting at 9:31 p.m.
__________________________________ __________________________________
JP Pomnichowski, President Chris Saunders, Assistant Director
Planning Board Planning & Community Development
City of Bozeman City of Bozeman