[0:05] Well, welcome everyone to Planning Commission.

[0:09] Let's have our pledge and then we will go about our uh

[0:15] Yeah. Our next item. All right.

[0:19] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:24] republic for which it stands, one nation under God,

[0:29] » indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:33] » All right. Well, our first item of business before

[0:38] we do our roll call is to welcome our new

[0:43] member of our Planning Commission, Tony Matesi.

[0:47] Matesi, okay. So, uh we need to do a swearing in, is that

[0:51] right? >> Yes. Hi guys. Hopefully you can hear me

[0:55] okay. Hello Planning Commission. Um I'm here on behalf of the City

[0:59] Council and uh Mayor Hill to formally swear in Tony. So, I'm going to do this

[1:04] virtually. Um I was thinking I will pull up

[1:09] the oath. You all can hear me, right? Okay, great. Nothing like talking when

[1:14] you nobody can hear you. Okay. So, here's

[1:17] your oath of office, Tony. If you could raise your right hand and repeat after

[1:20] me and I'll try to go slowly here. So, I, state your name.

[1:24] » I, Tony Matesi, >> do solemnly swear or affirm

[1:32] » do solemnly swear or affirm >> that I will support the Constitution

[1:37] » that I will support the Constitution >> and laws of the United States

[1:40] » and laws of the United States >> and state of Washington

[1:44] » state of Washington >> and the ordinances of the City of Lake

[1:47] Stevens >> and the ordinances of the City of Lake

[1:49] Stevens >> and that I will faithfully and

[1:52] impartially >> and that I will faithfully and

[1:55] impartially >> perform and discharge the duties of

[1:58] planning commission member >> perform and discharge the duties of

[2:02] planning commission member >> according to the law

[2:05] » according to the law >> and to the best of my ability and

[2:08] understanding. >> to the best of my ability and

[2:10] understanding. >> Awesome. Congratulations, Tony. You are

[2:13] official.

[2:16] » Thank you. >> Welcome.

[2:20] » All right, we're shaking hands. All right.

[2:22] » [laughter] >> Have a great meeting, everyone.

[2:25] » Thank you.

[2:28] Great. Well,

[2:31] um I had the pleasure to be part of the uh

[2:36] the interviewing committee for uh Tony and

[2:39] the other candidates and um uh I'm I'm really looking forward to

[2:43] having Tony uh and and and your opinion uh

[2:47] and your uh and your input on what we'll be discussing.

[2:51] Would it be appropriate to introduce yourself to everyone?

[2:54] » Yeah. Uh Tony Motesy, I've been living in Lake

[2:58] Stevens for 6 years

[3:02] and uh was

[3:04] planning on it just being a starter area, but

[3:07] my wife and I have fallen in love and don't plan on leaving anytime soon or

[3:11] ever, possibly. And uh yeah, I've just really been wanting to

[3:15] get more and more in part of the community.

[3:17] And so, that was part of my goals for the past year and a half,

[3:21] joined Rotary and then that has led to applying for this position and joining

[3:26] the commission. >> Awesome. Well, great.

[3:30] Um thank you. We will uh go on with the roll call. So, Janice Huckford?

[3:35] » Here. >> Tony Motesy?

[3:37] » Here. >> Jennifer Davis?

[3:39] » Here. >> And uh

[3:42] my brain is >> Mike Dorr.

[3:45] » Mike Dorr. >> [laughter]

[3:48] » Uh and uh we have Amy Liledahlsky and

[3:53] Connor Davis uh are uh out today asked to be excused. Okay,

[3:58] if we can have motion to excuse them. >> So moved.

[4:02] » Second. >> I'll second.

[4:03] » Okay. And all in favor?

[4:05] » I. >> Any opposed?

[4:07] » That was Janice that seconded. Thank you. Sorry. Now that we have

[4:11] Jennifer back, I'm not the only female on the

[4:14] » [laughter] >> Yeah, I I think

[4:17] Connor is enjoying his summer too much. As a teacher, I follow him on Facebook

[4:23] and I see all the places that he's going.

[4:25] » [laughter] >> Great. So, we have

[4:29] any Is there anyone online? Okay.

[4:33] We have nobody in the room. So we have no guest business.

[4:38] We have let's let's have Has anyone Has everyone had a chance to review the

[4:44] minutes from our last meeting? And does anyone have any comments?

[4:49] And if not, we can take a motion to approve the

[4:54] minutes.

[4:57] » I move that we approve the minutes as written.

[5:01] » We have a second. >> I'll second.

[5:04] » Jennifer Davis second. >> Okay.

[5:06] Okay. So to approve minutes, all in favor?

[5:10] » I. >> I.

[5:11] » Any opposed? Great. So we have as our discussion item

[5:17] tonight our main discussion item tonight, we

[5:20] have the public engagement plan and that will be presented by

[5:26] staff. Mr.

[5:31] » Well, good evening Planning Commission. Christie Schmidt. This evening with

[5:34] great pleasure we have an intern with us for the summer of 2026, Alicia McPhee.

[5:40] She's been helping us get some projects that have been on the table kind of out

[5:44] the door that have been sitting back on our long-range program. And one of them

[5:48] is the draft public engagement guide. So, as part of her internship here at

[5:53] City of Lake Stevens, part of it is giving a presentation. And so, tonight

[5:57] you are her assignment in presenting the public engagement plan.

[6:02] So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Alicia to make the presentation on

[6:06] the work that she's done on this project.

[6:11] » Perfect. Well, yes, hello. I am the planning and community development

[6:16] intern this summer. And one of the main projects I've been working on so far has

[6:22] been updating and reformatting the public engagement guide draft. And so,

[6:28] today I'm going to be walking you through some of the key changes that

[6:33] we've made and gather feedback on this updated draft.

[6:41] And so, first with some background, the draft was created and presented to the

[6:48] Planning Commission in 2025. But then, the guide was placed on hold due to

[6:54] shifting priorities to long-range planning. And so, now since they have

[7:01] some more bandwidth from hiring an intern, we are able to revisit this

[7:06] project again. And I have been able to spend some time reformatting, editing,

[7:12] and expanding it to a complete draft version.

[7:18] And so, one of the main goals of the public engagement guide is to provide

[7:24] staff with a one-stop resource to use for public engagement. And this guide

[7:31] includes multiple different tools, methods, and guidance for all different

[7:36] levels of engagement. And the guide is designed to help staff communicate

[7:42] projects early on, gather input, and find solutions for engagement setbacks.

[7:49] And all of this supports the city's mission of providing a safe, desirable

[7:55] community with open communication and public service.

[8:01] And so, I'm going to be briefly going over some of the key updates with this

[8:06] table. All the ones are on the left are the completely new additions to the

[8:11] draft. And then, the ones on the right are things that I've updated, but were

[8:16] in the previous draft already. And so, starting with the new level of

[8:23] public participation section on page three. This provides context for the new

[8:30] flowchart and graphic that are on the following pages three and four. And all

[8:36] of those support the updated and revised public participation spectrum table,

[8:43] which is on page five. And then, there is the new section

[8:49] beneath the ground rules for collective creativity figure, which is on page 10.

[8:56] And that just provides context and guidance. And there's also some new

[9:02] resources, templates for engagement materials, and images throughout the

[9:08] document. As well as a fully updated engagement timeline sample in the

[9:15] appendix on page 22, and reformatting improvements across the

[9:20] entire document. And so, now I'll be going over some of

[9:26] the additions in a little more detail starting with the new level of public

[9:32] participation section. And this section introduces the idea of determining the

[9:39] appropriate level of public participation based on the intended role

[9:44] of the public. And it includes guiding questions to

[9:49] help staff evaluate their project and identify the right level to use.

[9:56] And it includes it introduces the public participation spectrum framework, which

[10:02] is what our document uses. And that framework has identified five levels of

[10:08] participation. And those include informing the public to understand

[10:13] issues, options, and solutions. Consulting the public by gathering

[10:18] feedback. Involving the public to ensure public concerns are considered

[10:23] throughout the process. Uh collaborating with the public by

[10:29] actively involving them in every step and decision. And empowering the public

[10:35] by placing the final decision with them. And at the bottom right of this slide is

[10:42] the new public participation relationship visual that illustrates how

[10:48] communication flows between the city and the public at each different level.

[10:56] And next is the new flowchart that goes along with the public participation

[11:02] spectrum framework. And this flowchart is used to determine the right level of

[11:08] public participation. And it is intended to be simple, clear,

[11:14] and a quick tool to help the staff identify which level of participation

[11:21] fits their specific project. And it walks the staff through

[11:26] a couple yes or no questions with each question building on top of the other

[11:32] and reflects the increasing public participation. And so by answering each

[11:37] question, the staff can identify where their project realistically fits.

[11:44] Next, we are looking at the updated and expanded public participation spectrum

[11:50] table. And this table now includes the goals, public promise, examples,

[11:57] strengths, and challenges. And if the staff doesn't want to use the

[12:03] flowchart from the previous slide, they can still identify which level to

[12:10] that would match their project by reading through the row of goals to

[12:16] determine which one is appropriate. But then, they can also use the examples,

[12:21] strengths, and challenges rows when planning engagement techniques. And the

[12:27] public participation spectrum framework is intended to help

[12:32] reduce overengagement and underengagement for these projects.

[12:39] And now looking at another addition is the section beneath the ground rules for

[12:46] collective creativity. This new portion adds context for the ground rules and

[12:52] includes practical tips that can improve collaboration when working in groups.

[12:58] And the original 2025 version only presented this visual. And so, by adding

[13:05] these these boxes, it provides more information on what each element means

[13:12] and makes this visual much more beneficial for the reader.

[13:18] And so, some of the next steps that we are hoping to

[13:24] work through is gathering feedback and edits tonight and then inputting those

[13:30] into the guide and finalizing it and then hopefully presenting this guide to

[13:36] the city council later this month or possibly in early September. I do

[13:42] believe it's going to be later this month.

[13:45] And for the feedback, we have some questions that we are wanting to ask

[13:51] you, which is is this document easy to use and understand? What are some

[13:58] additional ideas, resources, templates, concepts for public engagement or tools

[14:05] that could be beneficial and practical to implement? Are there parts of this

[14:11] plan that feel too detailed or not detailed enough?

[14:16] Are there any additional city stakeholders that can be added to the

[14:20] list in the appendix in section A4? And any other changes that you guys would

[14:28] think would be beneficial for the guide?

[14:34] And that is all. >> Excellent. Could you leave those

[14:39] questions up so that we can give you that feedback? So,

[14:44] who would like to go first and provide their feedback on on these questions?

[14:51] » I had a specific comment. It had to do with the response

[14:56] Well, first of all, globally, I loved it. It's great. It's something we've

[14:59] been talking about for feels like decades.

[15:02] And I really appreciated the sort of algorithmic worksheet for staff to use.

[15:08] I think that that's really transparent for the public to see how these

[15:12] decisions are made, that it's not by whim. It's there's an actual

[15:16] which I think is [clears throat] great. Um

[15:18] the this topic of response summaries I thought was so interesting because one

[15:22] of the hurdles I think that we see a lot on planning commission is people the

[15:26] public comes they give comment and then the we sort of evaluate we give our

[15:32] recommendation council makes their decision and then members of the public

[15:36] are like well it didn't go the way I thought it should go so what's even the

[15:39] point of me participating it's shouting into the void you know there's a lot of

[15:42] I think that can be a barrier to public participation so I was thinking about

[15:47] um that's wonderful I I like that as a

[15:49] concept to help address that idea of

[15:54] that the public has sometimes that their participation is pro forma and it's sort

[15:57] of to check a box and it's not really being evaluated so my my question is um

[16:04] is there a way to and I don't know I'm so backwards with AI but is there a

[16:10] way that AI could be leveraged to somehow

[16:12] summarize the deliberative processes that happen um

[16:18] cuz I know it'd be really staff heavy to have it have you have anyone actually

[16:22] summarizing all the processes but there'd be it'd be wonderful if some a

[16:26] member of the public who who participated in whether it be in a

[16:29] workshop or in public comment could say wait whatever happened with that and

[16:34] what what did council say about that and what did the planning commission end up

[16:37] doing with our our input um

[16:40] so that was kind of what I was thinking I think the response summaries are a

[16:43] great idea and I was just trying to think of a way that

[16:46] to capture sort of the why that that so that people feel like their

[16:51] participation was genuinely evaluated and plugged into the process that's

[16:57] that's my comment on that >> definitely

[16:59] » oh it's uh commissioner Jennifer Davis sorry speaking of AI we're supposed to

[17:02] say our names before we speak >> training up

[17:06] » yeah yeah >> that's a good call

[17:10] » I know that's definitely something that I hadn't considered but can look into

[17:15] somehow adding that process in. >> Direction. Yes.

[17:21] » Mhm. >> Um this is Commissioner Duer.

[17:26] I really appreciate you know where this is going and some of the changes that

[17:29] are here and I find the you know the graphics and workflow models to be very

[17:34] helpful. Um you know I think about how I might apply something like this where I

[17:37] work and I can see some things that I might borrow

[17:40] in here. So that's you know thank you very much for that. Uh especially

[17:45] especially some of the discussions about um

[17:48] kind of that civility and communications. Um all too often I've

[17:52] seen um things get hostile fast and usually that

[17:55] comes from a a position of just not being well informed on the way in so it

[17:59] manifests itself in the form of fear and anger.

[18:02] Um so hopefully that helps uh with that. I think um

[18:07] uh if I had kind of one ask it's actually two. One just that we go

[18:11] through and make sure that it everything in here is a may consider instead of

[18:15] will consider so that there's that scalable

[18:18] flexibility. Mhm. And that we don't back ourselves into a

[18:22] into a may will shall problem. You know. Um

[18:26] and um I think the other piece you know as I as I look at this is does does city

[18:31] of Lake Stevens have like a PIO office or is it

[18:35] sort of? Yeah so that so that there can be

[18:39] uh along with these with these outreach whether it's a planning thing public

[18:44] works thing. Just kind of that constant repetition

[18:48] whether that's a um a YouTube short or you know a TikTok for

[18:53] the kids or whatever it is. Um um what's going on not you know not just

[18:59] a traditional email blast or something like that but

[19:03] you know a a 30 second spot you know drone footage of Lake Stevens saying

[19:07] like hey are you interested in this area you know don't forget we're soliciting

[19:11] feedback about X, Y, or Z. >> Mhm. [clears throat]

[19:15] » I will add we did we have a split position.

[19:26] So, we do have a split position. That's our grant writer communications person.

[19:31] And so, we did run this document by our communications person and they were you

[19:35] know, generally supportive of it. Had a few tweaks and edits.

[19:39] But I I think your suggestion that we could go one step further and see how we

[19:43] include them such as news flashes on our website. We do use Well, in the past we

[19:50] had a tool to do our projects on our website. I think that

[19:54] tool is going to be changing. But I I hear your thoughts that we need to be

[20:01] looking at all of our opportunities and we do try to push out our projects

[20:06] through social media at least sort of an initial

[20:09] stabs. So, I think that that's probably a great addition that we're covering the

[20:14] our bases on where we're distributing information.

[20:17] » Yeah, and I think one of the reasons I bring up like a PIO

[20:20] or or graphics person or something like that is and again, a trap that I fall

[20:24] into is I can communicate technical items very well, but my graphical

[20:29] ability is zero and a lot of people respond well to that. So, having

[20:34] somebody who whose profession is that who can take the

[20:39] the technical and make it so that the whole community can understand it in in

[20:42] something simple, flashy, and you know, uh with a little bit of music behind it,

[20:47] you know, that that I think will go a long way.

[20:53] » What we do plan to do next and if you have further ideas after we answer these

[20:57] questions and if you go out to your businesses and if you have other ideas,

[21:01] our goal is to keep this a living document so it doesn't die and so we can

[21:05] update it with technology just like your AI suggestion and graphics. And then in

[21:10] addition after our meeting here, we plan to go send this out to our department

[21:16] heads and staff, get additional feedback based on your comments, and then present

[21:21] to city council on what how we intend to use this document. So we could use it in

[21:26] the comp plan update for 2026 as an example.

[21:31] That's it. I'll turn it back to Alicia. >> I do have some feedback. This is

[21:35] Commissioner Morton. Um so overall I think it's this is great. I I like that

[21:41] the majority of the document is the templates. I think that's the most

[21:46] valuable part of this. Um

[21:49] and I do but in the body I do have a couple

[21:53] things I'd would like to suggest. Um one one of the main

[21:59] things one of the main misconceptions that I think a lot of people have in the

[22:04] like is um

[22:07] the belief that the the city has dictatorial powers

[22:11] uh and that

[22:13] um when we present a plan or or proposal

[22:19] that it is or or that it's it's it's that's what we're

[22:25] dictating or actually maybe instead

[22:29] is people

[22:32] are afraid that a plan becomes something that's be required when it's when

[22:36] they're already grandfathered in. Or uh if there people complain that something

[22:43] is happening in the city and the city doesn't have power to stop it like

[22:47] they see apartments going up but they don't want to see apartments going up.

[22:50] Why doesn't the city stop that? Well we don't have the legal authority to sit

[22:54] to stop it, right? So I would

[22:57] I would say uh may in the section where you have tools

[23:02] and methods, I would say uh do dispel misconceptions.

[23:09] Um and in the page before, uh there's the

[23:12] this the civility, inquiry, and creativity. Uh I would add to the

[23:17] creativity section, uh look for win-win solutions.

[23:21] Uh that's from my seven habits uh

[23:25] experience. Um so that that would be my my suggestions

[23:31] for the body. Um also

[23:34] when it comes to the the the templates are are really useful, but in addition

[23:38] to the templates in here, it would be nice to have, and you probably already

[23:42] have this, a library of previous engagements. So like for

[23:47] example, uh when the the comp plan update, there's public engagement for

[23:51] that. Well, it would be nice to be able to

[23:54] say, "Okay, what's uh what did we do the last time we did public engagement for a

[23:59] comp plan update?" I just want to take that, tweak it,

[24:04] and then uh and then boom, [clears throat] it's easy done

[24:07] uh rather than I mean, the worksheet here is good, and

[24:11] we have and it should be uh followed, but uh for things that are similar to

[24:16] what's been done in the past, it's probably even easier to go and uh

[24:21] go pick out that that engagement plan that engagement uh

[24:25] library or that engagement process from the library and just modify it.

[24:30] Um I like that there's uh uh uh these the the formulas and the and

[24:37] the flowcharts. Uh engineers love this stuff. Uh so [laughter]

[24:43] um that helps a lot, I I think. It helps

[24:47] objectify things that are subjective. Um

[24:51] and uh let me see. I do questions. Easy to

[24:55] understand, yes.

[24:58] The the the the stakeholders, I think that that's

[25:02] very comprehensive and I think I don't have any suggestions for that.

[25:07] Um Uh

[25:08] yeah, that's feedback I have. >> Perfect, thank you. I only have one

[25:13] quick addition. I would add in stakeholders under housing partners and

[25:17] agencies, the Association of Washington Cities.

[25:21] In our dialogue, we often refer to what cities surrounding us are doing,

[25:26] uh what cities that are um uh perhaps

[25:31] hesitating on some of the legislation and the Association of Washington Cities

[25:35] has also also been um very helpful in finding that.

[25:39] Um to counter balance a couple of my colleagues, AI is not um a friend when

[25:48] it comes to being a business owner in Lake Stevens or anywhere uh right now

[25:53] because it is the black hole of time and um if when you want a moving piece

[26:01] of of work, if you get into an AI

[26:05] circle, um you can count the rest of your day gone. So, not a fan.

[26:11] Um that's why we have a panel because there's others that are um I think that

[26:15] it's putting people out of jobs and it's making my job so much harder. So, um

[26:20] those are just my two cents' worth. Otherwise, I think it's lovely. The idea

[26:23] that you're using current photos will go a long way. The fact that we've used the

[26:28] same static photos for presentation after presentation um is

[26:35] noted. So, I like that we have some current stuff going on.

[26:38] » Thank you.

[26:43] » Don't have too much feedback to provide. Uh

[26:46] This is Tony Motsi. Uh I do find the document easy to

[26:50] understand. Um I definitely liked all the different

[26:54] charts. Uh, big fan of that. Uh,

[26:57] and just the clarity. Uh.

[27:02] I did not have any uh stakeholders to add. I tried looking through it multiple

[27:07] times trying to find some and think you've covered everyone that I can think

[27:10] of.

[27:14] » Perfect. >> Good. So, uh any other feedback?

[27:19] No? Right. Well, thank you very much.

[27:21] » Thank you.

[27:24] » All right. So, on to the next item. Um.

[27:28] We have Let me scroll back up.

[27:33] Okay. Uh, we are ready for commissioner's report.

[27:38] That was our one discussion item. We do have the fine director's report which

[27:40] has some content which is in the packet, but we'll let's go over to

[27:44] commissioner's report first. Commissioner Huxford.

[27:47] » Nothing today. Thank you. >> All right. Commissioner McMillan. Let's

[27:50] see. This is just so you know, this is an opportunity to bring up things that

[27:54] are like not specifically on the agenda that are

[27:58] um uh germane to planning commission

[28:03] uh stuff, not like personal items. All right?

[28:06] » [laughter] >> Uh,

[28:08] but anything like uh that that has germane to planning

[28:11] commission stuff. You'll you'll you'll see examples, but do you have anything?

[28:14] » Nothing at this time. >> Okay.

[28:16] Jennifer Davis. >> Nothing for me.

[28:19] » Commissioner Dwight. >> I want to welcome our new commissioner.

[28:21] Um, I will say firsthand that there could be

[28:24] kind of a learning curve and if we ever start using like jargon or something,

[28:27] please please please like to slow us down.

[28:32] Uh, there's a lot of acronyms that get thrown around and it does take some time

[28:35] to learn it all. Um, um.

[28:38] We're here as a resource. We're all We're all in it together. We look

[28:40] forward to working with you. Thank you.

[28:44] » Um.

[28:49] What are was I'm saying it's the uh What was the name of the document that

[28:53] the big document we had it's like it's the uh

[28:56] the it's our

[29:00] our has the city plans for all the different It's our

[29:04] » Our strategic plan? >> Our strategic plan or it's

[29:06] » Our comprehensive plan? >> Uh

[29:09] It's one we did like about a year and a half ago.

[29:12] Uh where it has all of our plans and policies

[29:17] uh that um

[29:20] uh that document was is it was a really informative for me when we went

[29:26] through it and I I'd encourage you go through it.

[29:28] » It's the our comprehensive plan. >> Yeah, comprehensive. Yes. If you go

[29:31] through the comprehensive plan fun reading

[29:33] » But >> But it it is uh

[29:36] I'd encourage you to at least uh look at that document.

[29:39] » The comprehensive plan is kind of like uh

[29:42] everything that we do everything that we do kind of like condensed down into one

[29:46] document. Uh

[29:48] so I I encourage you to that we recently updated it and we're going to be

[29:51] continuing to update it on forever. >> [laughter]

[29:58] » Um So um my uh my feedback I've been

[30:02] thinking a lot about the the the um I know we're this is

[30:08] about the the tree height the the setbacks for the

[30:13] for the streams and and such. Uh I I've been thinking a lot about that

[30:18] and uh there's one item in there. I know I'm I

[30:22] made my I I made a statement at the time.

[30:27] Uh I'm about the um and it seems

[30:32] useless uh the the fences.

[30:36] Is [snorts] my my question is the the split

[30:40] rail fences is that a state law?

[30:45] Or is that something that we put in as a as kind of like a helper so that we can

[30:50] help remind the homeowner not to go beyond this or or what?

[30:56] » Um it is not specifically a law. It's best practice to provide a physical

[31:03] separation. And split rail fences have been widely

[31:07] adopted because they allow for animals to continue to migrate in and out of

[31:13] critical areas, but still create that physical

[31:17] barrier. >> Okay.

[31:22] » Christy Schmidt, planning manager. To add on to Director Wright's comment, we

[31:26] do have a codified fencing and signage that is required in the code. So, the

[31:32] type of split rail fence, that's actually outlined in our We have a

[31:36] detail in our ads. So, that's where it comes from.

[31:41] Other jurisdictions have different types of fencing, but the split rail is the

[31:45] most common one cuz it's most affordable and as Russ mentioned, it does allow

[31:51] animal migration and passage of animals. >> Yeah.

[31:56] But not people. >> Well,

[32:00] » Okay. Well, um I I Yeah, I

[32:04] Let's I don't know if this is a appropriate

[32:08] time to mention it, but I I would like to see if there's a way that we can

[32:13] discuss even the way to make that uh a a may

[32:19] or to make it optional rather than

[32:21] required. Cuz

[32:24] it's from what we discussed earlier, it's not enforced anyway and

[32:31] uh So, why even do it?

[32:35] So, um

[32:37] I don't know. It's It's I'm I'm far out in left field for this,

[32:42] but uh it's just my my my opinion. I thought I would.

[32:45] » So, Planner Levitan will be bringing back the critical areas ordinance to the

[32:50] Planning Commission. I believe it's early September

[32:53] uh to you, so that may be an item of discussion

[32:57] » Yeah. >> within that topic.

[32:58] » Yeah, I would like to discuss that later. Uh

[33:01] it's one of the appropriate times. So,

[33:04] um that is all my comments. So,

[33:09] uh let's go on to Planning Director's

[33:11] Report. >> Okay. Um you have the report um

[33:16] obviously in your packet, so I might just um highlight a couple of things and

[33:20] add on a couple of things. Um so, the the first big news that's not

[33:24] in here and it would really be part of our third quarter report is

[33:27] um two of our key staff people are leaving the agency, so our building

[33:32] official um is retiring. So, we're all very excited for her to take that next

[33:38] step in her life. And then our code enforcement officer has accepted a

[33:42] position in another jurisdiction. So, we'll be recruiting for those those two

[33:47] key positions, and I just bring that up cuz we try to do an introduction of who

[33:51] we are at the beginning of the document just so um you know us and some of the

[33:56] roles that we do. Um otherwise, if we go to basically some

[34:01] of the permit statistics, this has been a really, really busy year

[34:07] for us. We've had some really unex- well, some expected, some unexpected

[34:12] projects, a lot of school projects, and the sheer volume of school projects

[34:18] we're processing this year has taken We could have had another employee just

[34:23] dedicated or two just dedicated to to school projects.

[34:28] Um so, that's been a really big one. Um we've been working on a long-term

[34:34] migration of our paper records into digital format. And along with that,

[34:41] we've been going through quite intensive disposition effort that Don has been

[34:47] crucial in doing that. And so, we are going to be paper-free by the time we

[34:54] move to the new building except for archive materials that we have to

[34:58] maintain, but otherwise we're either scanning, tossing. So, that has been a

[35:05] Herculean feat like cleaning out the stalls, right?

[35:09] » [laughter] >> Um

[35:13] talked about our development review statistics. You have some photos in

[35:16] there of some of the new projects. And then just the statistics on our code

[35:22] enforcement. And hopefully you will all have seen our new gateway signs that we

[35:28] put up continuing to try to do our beautification. And then we were able to

[35:34] work with other teams to get the artwork up for the

[35:39] um America 250 celebration. So, hopefully everyone appreciated the new

[35:44] banners as well as the other versions of banners. And then our civic capital

[35:50] projects are going along very well. Um it's fun to watch the progress on the

[35:55] museum every day. Um and it's it's really cool. They're

[36:00] getting ready to start going up with their third story.

[36:03] And I can say that we have a great first floor tenant. And we're getting close to

[36:08] having a second floor tenant. And then we have a contract now to have a

[36:14] consultant or contractor start the city hall construction. And so, we're looking

[36:19] forward to that project starting and then

[36:22] be moving over there sometime um early 2027.

[36:26] So, that's just a a quick overview of our report. Otherwise, I don't have a

[36:32] lot of um new things to to add other than just the volume of work. It's been

[36:38] a a busy That's been a busy summer for us. So,

[36:42] » I'm sure. Right.

[36:44] Uh I do have one question uh on the the permit performance chart.

[36:50] Um the average is very close to the limit and I'm wondering do you have an

[36:55] idea Could you in general what was the range

[36:59] of those cuz uh it looks like probably a a good portion of these went

[37:04] beyond the statutory deadline. I'm guessing.

[37:08] » Um

[37:10] I This represents I It's not in

[37:16] Well, and maybe Christie, you're going to need to help me cuz you did a lot of

[37:19] the review of this. Um but I think the expanded report, I

[37:24] don't remember seeing projects that have gone

[37:28] beyond the statutory deadline or a handful. So, maybe you're

[37:31] » Very few. Excellent question. So, what we do to

[37:35] comply with 5290, when we have projects that go over two reviews, let's say

[37:40] four, we ask the applicant to provide a 5290

[37:45] waiver letter, which essentially waves us from the state statute. And the

[37:50] reason why we do this and it's recommended by the state is because we

[37:54] do allow concurrent submittal of permits. So, what that looks like,

[37:58] someone comes in for a subdivision, we'll allow them to submit a

[38:02] construction plan at the same time. So, that bolts all their permits up to four

[38:06] permits traveling at the same time. Not all the permits that come in early

[38:12] get issued with the first permit. So, as an example, the construction plan has to

[38:17] hang there and wait there. So, that is why you'll see some permits

[38:21] that go over, but we're still not penalized for it. We did have a couple

[38:26] that did went over because we were short-staffed. We've been short-staffed,

[38:30] so we did have some over the dates. We hope to improve our range next year.

[38:35] » Okay, good. Yeah. >> We do. It's a It's a in progress cuz now

[38:39] we have full staff, so we'd like to get back to where we were the year before.

[38:43] » We had a staff. Now we don't. >> Yes, well, okay.

[38:46] » [laughter] >> We're going to work on it. HR is helping

[38:49] us. >> I I only mention this cuz a friend of

[38:52] mine had

[38:54] had a long their permit process took longer than

[38:58] they were expecting. Just wanted to

[39:01] provide that feedback. >> Are you done? I don't want to interrupt.

[39:04] » No, no, go ahead. Yeah, I'm good. >> Um if I may parlay off of that question,

[39:07] if there is a um hang-up during that process specific to something, I'll say

[39:14] the energy code. Does the city

[39:17] um go out to

[39:21] um maybe an outside entity, an authority in

[39:25] that area, whatever it was something outside of the city, or is it up to the

[39:30] the petitioner, the the permit holder, to then prove to the city?

[39:36] » It is up to the applicant. We provide review comments for compliance. They

[39:40] have a check sheet for their energy credits, and they're required to provide

[39:44] a certain level depending on their project, and so it's up to them to

[39:48] provide and select what items they would like with the building permit as example

[39:53] single-family home, whether they choose energy efficient water heater, whether

[39:58] they have a solar panel, etc. There's multiple choices that they can pick, but

[40:02] it is the burden of the applicant to design it correctly to meet code.

[40:06] » Understood, and asking for a friend. Just saying that um if there is a a

[40:13] process that is going through that the applicant holder has now proven, does

[40:18] that clear the way to the person that comes behind that applicant holder to um

[40:24] does the city learn from every permit because every every project is

[40:28] different, right? And so does the city then say, "Hey listen, this was verified

[40:33] that this was outside of the norm and and was proven to not needed to be in

[40:38] that space?" >> Sure.

[40:40] » Will will they then convey that to the next person that comes into shorten that

[40:44] next person's delay? >> I would say yes, the answer is yes and

[40:47] I'll give the example of a our tank. It's a storage facility for storm water

[40:53] facility. At first they weren't permitted. We have allowed them. We have

[40:57] four or five in the city and now we do allow them with certain requirements. So

[41:01] you could take that same applicability to the building code also.

[41:05] » Okay. >> So yes.

[41:06] » But with the caveat they still have to prove the applicability to their

[41:11] project. And so it still has to come as part of the recommendation of their

[41:16] architect engineer specific to their site. Does the city need to vet

[41:22] the project as much if it's a new

[41:26] technology, a new technique? No, that's where we're learning but it's always up

[41:30] to the applicant still to prove that is an acceptable means and measures to

[41:35] complete their project and we verify that through our review process.

[41:40] » Okay, that might be one of the things that could be communicated a little bit

[41:43] better. Um

[41:46] to have something hung up when you know you're not the first has been a

[41:50] complaint that has come from my own household as well as people

[41:54] that I know that are in the same space. So um

[41:59] again uh I

[42:02] anything that that can be done to help communicate the process better

[42:08] um in a moving target in a moving industry would be

[42:13] very much appreciated. >> We do try to be very direct and upfront

[42:18] with our applicants and provide guidance. So, if there's some sort of

[42:22] issue, you can feel feel free to give me a call and we can talk about it.

[42:27] » Happy to do so. Thank you. Yeah. >> And with that, I think we are at the

[42:33] bottom of our agenda. Um

[42:36] do we want to adjourn?

[42:40] » I'd make a motion to adjourn. Yes. >> I'll second it.

[42:44] And all in favor?

[42:47] » I. >> Opposed.

[42:49] We are adjourned.

Planning Commission Meeting of August 5, 2025

Transcript