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02/08/2016 - MinutesCity of Port Orchard Economic Development and Tourism Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, February 8, 2016 Committee Members Present: Council Members Bek Ashby, Fred Chang and Clancy Donlin. City Staff present: Development Director Nick Bond, City Clerk Brandy Rinearson, Associate Planner Keri Weaver. Guests: Fire Marshal Brad Wiggins. The meeting was called to order by Council Member Ashby at 10:05 a.m. Ashby requested to move discussion items 1 and 2 (Committee goals and February 20 Council Retreat) to the end of the agenda. Election of Chair. Council Member Chang nominated Ashby as 2016 committee chair. The nomination was seconded by Council Member Donlin, and approved. 2016 Meeting Dates and Time. The committee members voted to meet on the second Monday of each month at 9:00 am. Ashby said that the committee may only need to meet every other month depending on workload, and this will be reviewed again in a couple of months. Discussion: Public Event Ordinance. City Clerk Rinearson said that she is almost done with the public event ordinance and is about to send a draft for legal review. Rinearson introduced Fire Marshal Brad Wiggins. Right now there is only a permit for events that involve public property use. Wiggins confirmed that City code currently doesn’t allow the Fire Department to be involved in enforcement for events on private property. Cooking, tent structures and emergency egress are the main issues. Rinearson said that she would propose a special event permit that would apply for large events or events with cooking, tents, limited emergency access, etc to ensure public safety, even if there is no use of City facilities or City right of way. The committee recommended she could bring it to Council in March as part of the public event ordinance. Discussion: Hanging Banner Ordinance. Bond distributed draft language from the sign ordinance update. The draft sign ordinance is currently undergoing legal review by AWC. Bond asked if the banner would only be approved as part of a special event permit, or if it would be a right-of-way permit alone. If a ROW permit, the Council is more limited in what they can and can’t approve. This limitation follows the Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert. If the City only requires a ROW permit, advertising for commercial businesses would have to be allowed. Ashby asked for a list of historical banner users that the committee could review to ensure that a new permit process would not exclude any long-time users. Rinearson said that the Chamber of Commerce would be willing to take over the banner as long as Public Works can still hang it. Bond noted that the banner is a nonconforming sign because current sign code doesn’t allow it. He also noted that the Chamber can control signage content whereas the government can’t. Ashby said that any user who usually hangs a banner in March should be exempted from the new process due to the short time frame; users from April onward would need to comply. At the request of Ashby, Bond said he would ask the City attorney about an interim ordinance that would only allow “legacy signs” while the code and permit process are being updated. The committee's intent is to allow 'legacy signs' usage while the council considers all of the elements for banner display in the right of way. Discussion: SR-16 Signage Update and Cost Estimates. Bond presented two options for highway signage, westbound signage only and both westbound and eastbound signage. He confirmed that the City has adequate funds for one or both options. The highway signage is intended to tie in to the City’s wayfinding signage program. The committee agreed that westbound signage should be approved as the top priority, and complemented with wayfinding signs in the city. Eastbound signage can be approved if funds permit. Rinearson will add this to the next Council agenda as a discussion item. Discussion: Revisions to Sign Code. Bond said that AWC is covering the cost of developing revisions to the City’s sign code since it is a risk management issue. A draft should be available for discussion at the March or April meetings for the Land Use and/or Economic Development committees. Ashby asked if the City would be able to modify the model sign code. Bond said that this would be possible, but changes could have to be justified. Bond said that significant issues will probably include A-boards, placement of signs in right of way, and temporary signs and how many an individual or business can have in one location. Ashby said she would like to meet with the Chamber and the Port Orchard Bay Street Association and ask them about their signage needs to ensure that a new code will meet those needs. Ashby will invite them to the next committee meeting. Discussion: Comprehensive Plan Update. Bond stated that the Economic Development, Land Use and Housing elements have had Planning Commission hearings. The complete package will also have a City Council public hearing. Bond will take the comp plan update to the Land Use committee as well. The draft Transportation element was received on Friday, and the draft sewer plan was also received recently. The City is still waiting on the water plan. In February the draft Parks element went to Planning Commission, which recommended several changes. There will be a public hearing on the Parks element at the Planning Commission’s March meeting. Ashby asked to have the draft Parks element sent to the committee before the hearing. Bond noted that the Mayor has proposed to change the use of Paul Powers Park to a public works facility site. Associate Planner Weaver said that the Planning Commission’s recommended changes have been made, and she will make the change to Paul Powers Park as well and forward the updated version to the committee. Chang said that nearby residents should be informed of the proposed change to Paul Powers. Ashby agreed and said the notification area should extend to Fireweed and South Flower. Weaver will mail a flyer about the proposed change, along with the Notice of Hearing for the Parks element, to nearby property owners. Discussion: Committee Goals for 2016. Ashby said the committee should review the Economic Development element and see if any of its goals or policies should be adopted by the committee. Implementing the wayfinding signage, the public event application, the sign code revisions, sidewalk permits, subarea plans for centers, and the online toolkit are also priorities. Chang suggested consulting with the KEDA about what the City can do to make Port Orchard more attractive to businesses, and what type of housing developments are most beneficial to the local economy. Ashby will invite John Powers from KEDA to the next meeting. Bond noted that subarea planning for identified town centers will begin later this year, probably starting with Sedgwick Bethel. Discussion: Items for Feb. 20 Council Retreat. Donlin suggested discussing what types of businesses the City wants to attract, and how to make the city attractive to those businesses. Identify any infrastructure barriers, such as slow broadband speed, that would prevent businesses from locating here. The committee had additional discussion about commercial zoning and development, and requested regular updates from Community Development on building permits and land use applications. Ashby adjourned the meeting at 11:46 a.m. Next Meeting/Location: March 14, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers.