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Home My WebLink About11082022 Planning & Zoning Minutes City of Seward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting November 8, 2022 Minutes Volume 7, Page 560 CALL TO ORDER The November 8, 2022 regular meeting of the Seward Planning & Zoning Commission was called to order at 7:04 p.m. by Vice Chair Vanessa Verhey. OPENING CEREMONY Vanessa Verhey led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: and Vanessa Verhey(presiding) Nathaniel Charbonneau Victoria Monaco Troy Stagg& Sean Ulman Comprising a quorum of the Commission; and Jason Bickling, Community Development Director Courtney Bringhurst, City Planner Selena Soto,Planning Technician Excused—Sullivan, Staggs,Hornseth Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING—None APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Charbonneau/Monaco) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: Approval of the October 11, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes. SPECIAL ORDERS,PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS Proclamations and Awards—None City Administration Report. Community Development Director Jason Bickling updated the commission on the charette that was held for the future Public Works building. He also mentioned the current progress being made on short term rental language, the legislative City of Sewarcl Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting November 8, 2022 Minutes Volume 7,Page 561 priorities guides, and the current GIS cemetery project. Other Reports and Announcements—None Presentations—None PUBLIC HEARINGS Resolutions Requiring Public Hearing Resolution 2022-025, A Resolution of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward,Alaska,Recommending City Council and Kenai Peninsula Borough Approval of the Preliminary Replat of Lot 4A-1 and Lot 4D, Block 7, Fourth of July Creek Subdivision Seward Marine Industrial Center (SMIC), Raibow Replat, Creating Four Lots; Lot 4D-1, Lot 4A-2, Lot 4A-3, and Lot 4A-4; Vacating the West 5' Utility Easement of Lot 4D, Block 7,Fourth of July Creek Subdivision SMIC,Raibow Replat,and East 5' Utility Easement of Lot 4A-1,Block 7,Fourth of July Creek Subdivision SMIC,Raibow Replat. Motion to Approve(Charbonneau/Ulman) Approve Resolution 2022-025 City Planner Courtney Bringhurst corrected from the packet that there were public comments received. Bringhurst recited the information in the agenda statement, reviewed the conditions being proposed,and recommended approval. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened Carol Griswold,inside the city,said that utility easements should be relocated if they were to be vacated especially in areas that were not yet served by utilities.All parcels created from the replat should have a five-foot utility easement added and those touching the roads should have at least a ten-foot easement. Griswold was also concerned about traffic patterns within this area and how they could be affected by moving vessels if the easements were not provided in the replat. She recommended changing proposed Lot 4A-4 into two parcels to be used for parking. She also recommended changing Sorrel Road to Healy Road to eliminate confusion for emergency services. Sam Lockwood,general manager of JAG, stated JAG employed 135 individuals this past year. By replatting these parcels, it would allow for a rail extension that would help keep the 135 employees and possibly would provide more work for additional employees. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed Charbonneau stated that he appreciated keeping the beach access from Sorrel Road. He agreed with Griswold on making Lot 4A-4 separate parcels for parking,but stated that this may be a future discussion. He commented on how the easements should be shifted over five feet if the lot lines were to be shifted over and did not understand why the replat did not relocate the utility easements. City of Seward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting November 8, 2022 Minutes Volume 7, Page 562 Monaco agreed with Charbonneau's statement on why the utility easements were not to be relocated. Bickling stated he discussed the replat with City staff. The conclusion about relocating the utility easements was to wait until possible funding as utilities in the Seward Marine Industrial Center(SMIC)area was on the legislative priorities guide.Once the funding was in place,then the City would plan out the placement of utility easements within SMIC. Parking near proposed Lot 4A-4 was on the priorities for the commission to discuss a better parking plan for the quarry and Fourth of July Beach access. Verhey voiced concerns on proposed Lot 4A-2 and the travel lift access being cut off. Charbonneau responded Morris Avenue could be used as access. Verhey stated she agreed with Griswold on renaming a portion of Sorrel Road. Charbonneau suggested discussing the renaming of Sorrel Road in the future. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2022-026, A Resolution of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward, Alaska, Recommending City Council Approval of the Land Use Amendment to Rezone Lot AT, Forest Acres Subdivision; Located at 2607 Dimond Blvd, from a Rural Residential (RR) Zoning District to Resource Management(RM) Zoning District. Motion to Approve(Charbonneau/Monaco) Approve Resolution 2022-026 Bringhurst recited the information in the agenda statement, reviewed the conditions being proposed,and recommended approval. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened Carol Griswold, inside the city, summarized the events since the postponement of Resolution 2021-015, which was a conditional use permit application by the same applicant to allow boat repair and a boat/RV storage business on the same lot. Resolution 2021-015 was postponed by the commission indefinitely, even though the structure had been built. Griswold stated that the commission was not provided with sufficient information to make an adequate decision on Resolution 2022-026, and mentioned how the applicant did not provide support for the rezone in the Comprehensive Plan, rather the rezone would be considered a spot zone. She mentioned that the lot showed a steep drop-off from adjacent homes to the south that are in a rural residential zone which could perhaps favor a rezone to resource management due to that drop-off. However, she stated that the commission needed to consider all of the facts of the application before making a decision. No one else appeared and the public hearing was closed City of Seward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting November 8, 2022 Minutes Volume 7,Page 563 Charbonneau stated that the proposed rezone does not support the Comprehensive Plan, and that the lot could have been used for potential homes. He agreed with Griswold that the area where the lot was located was steep and possibly not a good area for housing development.He stated that the area would be better for boat storage in case of possible flooding. Verhey stated that the zoning map showed the lots on the north side of the proposed rezone as resource management so the rezone would not necessarily be a spot zone. Motion Passed Unanimous Resolution 2022-027, A Resolution of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward, Alaska, Recommending City Council Amend Portions of Seward City Code, 15.25 Floodplain Management, Adopting Recommended Language and Regulations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Motion to Approve(Charbonneau/Monaco) Approve Resolution 2022-027 Bringhurst stated that the portion of code relating to floodplain development has not been updated since 2016. The Commission's joint work session held on October 17, 2022 with the Seward Bear Creek Flood Service Area reviewed the model ordinance sent by FEMA. After that work session,Bringhurst reached out to the City's FEMA representative to clarify a few points on the model ordinance. The FEMA representative has not responded yet so she recommended a postponement on Resolution 2022-027. Notice of the public hearing being posted and published as required by law was noted and the public hearing was opened No one appeared and the public hearing was closed Motion to Postpone(Charbonneau/Ulman) Postpone Resolution 2022-027 until FEMA representative responds to questions. Motion Passed Unanimous UNFINISHED BUSINESS —None NEW BUSINESS Resolutions Resolution 2022-028, A Resolution of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Seward, Alaska, Recommending Kenai Peninsula Borough Approval of the Preliminary Replat of Lots 5&6,Block 14,Original Townsite of Seward,Federal Addition,Vacating the Interior Lot Line and Creating One Lot to be known as,Lot 5A,Block 14,Original Townsite of Seward,Federal Addition, Saltwater Safari Replat. Motion to Approve(Charbonneau/Monaco) Approve Resolution 2022-028 City of Seward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting November 8,2022 Minutes Volume 7, Page 564 Bringhurst recited the information in the agenda statement, reviewed the conditions being proposed, and recommended approval. Motion Passed Unanimous Other New Business Items Set topic for November 15,2022 work session. Bickling stated that a lot of these topics have come up throughout the year and gave a quick review of each topic. The commission discussed the priorities and asked staff to pick a topic. Charbonneau mentioned he would like to see the Fourth of July Beach/Spring Creek campground parking addressed this winter. Discuss cancelling the December 20,2022 work session. Charbonneau mentioned he would be here all December.Monaco stated she would be here as well. Bickling stated he would reach out to the other commissioners to see their availability for the work session. Discuss adjusting January meeting dates. Bickling suggested moving the January meeting dates back a week since the January 3, 2023 meeting was so close to a holiday. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND REPORTS Reminder:November 15, 2022 regular Planning and Zoning Work Session at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall. Reminder: December 6, 2022 regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. CITIZEN COMMENTS Carol Griswold, inside city limits, stated that she was pleased with some of the commissioners' findings with Resolution 2022-025 where the rezone would be a better fit to resource management as the elevation of that lot was lower. However, she was unhappy with the preliminary replats as the replats should contain more information. She stated that the commissioners should request for utility easements to be placed on the preliminary replats in order to plan for the future. City of Seward,Alaska Planning&Zoning Commission Meeting November 8, 2022 Minutes Volume 7,Page 565 COMMISSION AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS AND RESPONSES TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Bringhurst thanked the commission for their time and efforts. Bickling also thanked the commission for their time, and also was looking forward to working through more Title 15 topics. Ulman thanked Vice Chair Verhey for running the meeting. Charbonneau thanked the administration for their packets, and thanked Griswold for all of her information and the time she has taken into presenting the information at the meetings. Verhey thanked administration. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Se ena Soto Vanessa erhey Plannicoawlgja n Vice Chair 44 ((�'•,,,• OF SE� ; 113044, • . 2 FO ew • SEAL • • SEAL a • : T. � +w Y�1, +P�� aaa.aaa• � OF A\-P.••