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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-0929.JOINT.MIN JOINT STUDY SESSION ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL ASHLAND PLANNING COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 29, 1998 MINUTES Mayor Cathy Shaw opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Council members present were Don Laws, Steve Hauck, and Carole Wheeldon. Planning Commissioners present were Anna Howe, Marilyn Briggs, Steve Armitage, Russ Chapman, Mike Gardiner, Mike Morris, Chris Hearn and John Fields. Staff present were John McLaughlin, Planning Director and Sue Yates, Executive Secretary. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM PLAN Presentation McLaughlin presented the Transportation System Plan with a slide show, giving an overview of each chapter in the plan. Goal 12 of the statewide land use goals deals with transportation directing the city to plan for transportation needs to accommodate the city's growth in the future. The Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan which contains the city's vision, goals and policies were developed initially. It was helpful to first develop the clear vision and from that came the Transportation System Plan which will implement all the different modes of transportation to accommodate our vision. There are certain elements contained in the plan that are required. Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9 10, and 12 are specific to Ashland. Discussion McLaughlin said there are more projects identified in the plan than money available and it will be difficult to generate the amount of money necessary to fund all the projects. Over the next 20 years, $17 million has been projected. Prioritization of projects will become necessary. Additional revenues can be realized through Systems Development Charges. Presently, the city is collecting about $50,000 per year in transportation SDC's, so even if those fees are increased 300 percent, that would only be $150,000 in revenue. Some funds would be available from %21 (the new ISTEA legislation -- federal money routed through the state then doled out to local jurisdictions). Much of the T-21 money will go to transit, pedestrian and bikes. Briggs asked how the widening of Siskiyou Boulevard will happen. Laws said there is a tentative specific plan that shows what will happen on Siskiyou Boulevard that was put together several years ago which will be looked at again as the city comes closer to realization of that project. Paula Brown, Public Works Director, said it is one of the highest priorities on the state's list. Whether or not it meets the regional test could be a different stow. Mayor Shaw asked Brown if it is not true that some people in the region outside of Ashland and including the Council liaison have not been particularly supportive of money going to improve Siskiyou Boulevard. Brown said eight projects were reviewed and the questions posed to her were: Why is this regionally significant?. Brown said Highway 99 supports the college, downtown, our school system, the Shakespeare Festival, etc. Brown believes it is a regionally significant project. Laws stated he believes the widening of Siskiyou Boulevard is the single most critical project the city has to promote multi-modal transportation. He would like to get started immediately so those persons critical to this plan can create a definite plan before funding even becomes available. Shaw said because DeBoer does not feel this is a top priority and if we want to move the project along, the Council needs to reinforce to DeBoer what Ashland's message should be to the region and the state. McLaughlin knows from his discussion with those at the state level that they always like to hear from Ashland, and continuing to raise the issue at the state level from the Council would be helpful. McLaughlin reiterated that the plan is based not so much on decreasing congestion but improving existing streets; trying to making the existing network as efficient as possible. The goal is to improve services enough to get another 11 percent of the population to use alternate means of transportation. Briggs has read in the plan about street trees and sidewalks but no clause is included to forgive the terrain of the city. She recommended wording such as "except where the topography does not allow". Wheeldon asked what the requirement is by the state for the city to carry out the TSP. McLaughlin said certain things have to be adopted and fortunately through past efforts, the city has done most of it, such as reducing the parking requirements, setting maximum parking limits, location of bike parking, sidewalk requirements in new developments-things that will improve networks through the planning process. Things yet to be accomplished are access management, identifying improvements and adopting a fundable plan. McLaughlin told the Council and Commissioners to see him if there were any specifics in the plan they would like to discuss. CIVIC BUILDING DESIGN Introduction McLaughlin said that while a civic project was just recently approved that met the current standards, the Planning Commissioners thought there should be a different set of standards for civic buildings. The Commissioners have thought it important to consider, as a community, do we want to build places that mean something to the future, that will set a tone to encourage new development to meet a higher standard in our civic building? The Commissioners wanted an opportunity to talk to the Council about this. The other side of the argument has been that the city already has relatively high standards for commercial style development. Do we hold ourselves to a different standard than developers? A developer will build a very nice building knowing it will attract customers and they will recoup their investment. Government today, however, is under the gun to keep costs to a minimum so much of what is being seen are metal buildings using the cheapest construction going to the lowest bidder. Discussion Howe clarified it is not just government buildings but libraries, schools, etc. The Commission realized the impact that institutions have on the whole community. Briggs has continued frustration when the existing criteria is so narrow and a public building is proposed that is cheap and ugly. She can envision a three to five member board that would be involved early in the plan (such as the Historic Commission Review Board) to comment on the design of a public building. She pointed to some examples of buildings that have not gone well: the Teen Center which is put on axis with a weed bank and cedar solid fence; a committee might have caught this. The PINS building is ugly and a committee could have said if the building ever changed hands, what else could be done with the building. The Commission recently approved a warehouse workshop at the entrance of Oak Knoll Golf Course. It is a tin building with a porch and brick going up it. A committee could have recommended instead of tin siding, some other material and for no more cost. She believes there should have been an architectural review committee for the high school theater building. She does not see this review as a stumbling block for getting a project done in a timely manner. Shaw said it is not a bad idea to have some type of amhitectural guidelines for civic buildings. She found how little control we had over what was happening at the civic center here. Everyone was resistive as to what it looked like but it kept going through. Perhaps some guidelines would be a good idea. She would like public buildings that are well built that will live longer than this generation. Armitage said the reason the Planning Commission got into this problem is that in the end, the structure and materials of certain projects are in compliance with the ordinance. To have a committee JOINT STUDY SESSION ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL ASHLAND PLANNING COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 29, 1998 MINUTES recommending design changes would be nice but sometimes groups are constrained by their budgets. A committee can nudge and recommend. Would this not mean that a new chapter would have to be added to the ordinance to cover this? Then a committee would not be needed because an applicant would be held to the ordinance. A committee could help write the new ordinance. McLaughlin said the hardest thing in an ordinance is to force good development. Howe said she served as liaison to the local review board which did not constrain itself just to civic buildings. The net effect to the city is that architects, engineers, landscapers, who served on the board only meeting when something needed its review, was the city got services it could never have afforded to offer people who were trying to develop in the town. The committee did it as a gift to the community. It turned into a collegial activity that everyone felt good about. Briggs mentioned the articles included in the packet. Fields said he served on a committee that was part of the design process for the high school theater. He believes once an architect is selected, it is slightly predictable what kind of building will come out of it. There are those who really care about aesthetics but the architectural and design team drive the project. He would like to see a minimum of what is in the Detailed Site Review that would hold civic buildings to that standard. What values do we want to see in traditional architecture? Armitage said if there is a measurable standard, the Planning Commission could support a review committee. Shaw suggested forming an ad hoc committee. Suggestions of those that could serve are: Bill Bloodgood Tom Giordano Marilyn Briggs Cathy Shaw Jim Lewis An engineer Wheeldon believes it would be good to start with institutions who are likely to be building soon. This will be a good way to communicate some values. Laws said he thinks government and other entities should be notified this committee is going to be formed (city, county, college, forest service, Welcome Center, state). Briggs thought the committee should come up with a couple of ides before inviting any entities. Shaw thought some committee should meet and then check in with the Council before moving forward. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m. JOINT STUDY SESSION ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL ASHLAND PLANNING COMMISSION SEPTEMBER 29, 1998 MINUTES