Action Items:
1)
John
Winslow to maintain a file of
potential changes to the Manchester Plan for submission during the review
process in 2007.
2)
Sewers committee (Ron Rada) to
assemble “Frequently asked & Answered Questions” on the ULID process and
costs.
3)
The Public Facilities sub-committee is still seeking volunteers,
particularly those living close to the Haida property to join a group to discuss
potential changes to the property.
4)
JB
Bartel to finalize the letterhead.
5)
John
Winslow to e-mail Community
Development Director Cindy Baker to urge expedient action on Alaska Avenue
building height review matter.
6)
John
Winslow to include building height
interpretation as an issue for Manchester Plan review in 2006.
7)
Arlene
Rebelowski is authorized to reserve
the web address www.manchesterwa.org for
ten years and to pay for one year’s site maintenance (all not to exceed $150).
Minutes:
The meeting was called to order by First Vice Chairman, Ron Robinson at 6:30PM sharp, in the Manchester Library. Ron welcomed the 26 people in attendance and then to insure everyone maintained a clear understanding of our objectives, read the MCC Mission Statement and Purpose from our Bylaws. Next Secretary Winslow provided some paper copies of the Manchester Plan dated 3/18/02 to those who didn’t have them. The plan can also be viewed on the Kitsap County web-site.
Secretary Winslow then introduced our special speaker for the evening, Eric Baker of the Kitsap Department of Community Development. Bill’s remarks addressed the proposed 2006 review of the Manchester Plan and he specifically reviewed the View Protection portion of the plan.
Guest Speakers comments:
Eric first mentioned that there are six other sub-area plans that have been completed or are in progress within the County. As part of the normal procedures, each plan is subject to review each ~four years. Suquamish is currently under its first review. Manchester’s Plan was scheduled for review in 2006, but that may be postponed to 2007 due to the heavy workload created by all the other Plans that are currently under development. The County’s Comprehensive Plan is also subject to regular review every ten years, and that is due in 2008. The objective of these Plan reviews is to access successes and failures of the Goals and Policies contained in the Plans. Eric was asked what the MCC’s contribution could be toward the Plan review. His response was that we should suggest any changes to the Plan that we feel may be appropriate. The MCC Secretary will keep a file on any discussions pertinent to changes to the Plan that may come about during the normal course of business.
The next topic that Eric addressed was the View Protection elements of the Plan. This subject arose due to concerns expressed by several members relative to a new residential construction underway on Alaska Ave. The Manchester Plan contains a section on View Protection. One of the Policies of the Plan (VP-1) was to establish a View Protection Overlay Zone. This is included in the plan and the building site of concern is within this Zone. Within that Zone, maximum building height is limited to 28’ at the mid-point of the lot slope. Geographic features can lead to interpretation of the “mid-point”, and that is where this Policy becomes tricky. Exemptions are allowed if; 1) there is no view to protect, 2) if the landowner gets permission from all impacted property owners, or 3) if the property owner can demonstrate they won’t be blocking anyone’s view (this is frequently accomplished with helium balloons).
Questions were then taken from the floor:
Question: Why is the commercial building height allowed to go to 35’?
Answer: The intent was to allow commercial buildings to have up to three floors to achieve economic viability. This could allow an underground parking area, raised ceiling main floor with retail space, and an upper floor with residential space.
Question: How did the Plan arrive at the 28’ height in view protection areas?
Answer: The 28’ height would allow somewhat normal residential construction of a two story residence with a pitched roof and 8’-9’ ceilings. By comparison, Gig Harbor has a 21’ limit and that has created some problems.
Question: Is the 28’ standard a rule or an exception?
Answer: If the County anticipates that there will be view impact concerns by the neighbors, they encourage the property owner to contact all the impacted neighbors and alleviate their concerns ahead of time.
Question: If the property owner has multiple lots, one of which is un-buildable, and they are combined into one building lot, how is the height limit interpreted?
Answer: In this type of situation, Eric would likely visit the site. If part of the area is un-buildable, such as a wetland, then that parcel is not counted for the allowable building height. If buildable lots are combined for one project, both are taken into account for the allowable construction height. Eric also pointed out that decks can be a view blockage issue as well.
Business
meeting:
Review and approval of past meeting’s minutes: The minutes for the 11/23/04 meeting have been previously distributed by e-mail and were posted in the Library. The minutes were approved as written.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Reports:
Treasurer: Carol Kowalski had to leave early, in her absence, John Winslow reported that our current treasury balance is $372.08. We currently have approximately 20 paid members.
Sewers Sub-Committee: Ron Rada, chairman of the sub-committee, presented a map that illustrated the responses to the sewers survey. He reported that the next likely area for pursuit of a ULID would be along Colchester. The committee will be contacting the individuals along Colchester who responded favorably to the survey and help them get organized into appropriately sized groups to pursue the ULID process. These individual neighborhood groups will then primarily carry the burden of pursuing the formation of ULID’s. The committee will be available to support the efforts of the groups, but primary action will be up to the neighborhood groups.
The committee is currently preparing a list of “Frequently asked questions & Answers” to help overcome some common misconceptions and to get factual information into the hands of those faced with the prospects of joining a ULID. This will be available on our web-site and in printed form.
A member asked if a property owner had a good septic system, would they be forced to hook-up to the sewer. The answer is no, they wouldn’t be forced to hook-up, but they would have to either pay for the capital cost of the installing the main sewer line, or there would be a lien on the property that would need to be satisfied when the property was sold in the future. Another asked about the folks who have just installed a new septic system. Answer: Those folks are in an unfortunate situation, although, they would not be required to pay immediately as noted above.
Crime Prevention Sub-Committee: Bud Larsen, chairman of the sub-committee reported on recent speakers to his Thursday morning meetings (6:45AM at the Manchester Inn). Bud also mentioned some of the results from those meetings. In one instance, speeds along Colchester in the downtown area were monitored; 54% of the traffic was exceeding the 25MPH limit by over 10MPH. In another instance, a blind intersection was created by some vegetation and this was pointed out by the committee and the County corrected the problem within a week. If any of us know of a problem, we can contact the County Traffic department and they will take appropriate action. The group is arranging for a County Prosecutor to attend the Port meeting in February to discuss some Port signage issues that should lead to better enforcement of the Port regulations.
In the on-going push to add a Manchester area Sheriff’s way-station, Bud reported that the Sheriff’s 2005 budget has increased by approximately 19% and there may be some developments on the proposed station, although it may get its start at the Yukon Harbor fire station.
Finally, Wanda Larsen was recognized for her tireless efforts in producing minutes for the Crime Prevention committee’s weekly meetings.
Public Facilities Sub-Committee: Bob Lamb, chairman of the sub-committee on Public Facilities addressed his remarks to the Haida property which has been under discussion. The committee will be meeting this Thursday to organize a group composed of a significant portion of neighbors to the Haida property to assemble their concerns and proposals for potential changes to the site. Bob did note that during a recent heavy rainfall, he inspected the site and discovered a significant storm-water flow through the property that needs to be addressed in any potential changes to the property. Neighbors to the property have a vested interest in any changes, so the committee will continue to try to get such a group organized. All potential sub-committee members were encouraged to participate by adding their names to the sign-up sheet at the door. Our Secretary John Winslow can be reached at johnwinslo@aol.com, or via our Manchester Community Council, PO Box 173 in Manchester (98353-0173). A separate meeting of this group will be arranged and all of those interested in participating in the process will be invited.
Old Business:
Action items: JB Bartel and Mark Rebelowski displayed graphics of letterhead for the Committee. JB will be finalizing this activity.
John Winslow, speaking on behalf of the Treasurer, announced that January is our annual membership month and dues payment is required by the end of the month for continued voting privileges. Dues were collected at the end of the meeting and forwarded to the Treasurer.
New Business:
Richard Asche asked if he could address the issue of the new construction site on Alaska Ave. since he is one of the neighbors most affected by the potential view blockage. Mr. Asche mentioned that he had retained Mr. William Palmer to investigate the issues surrounding the potential view blockage. Mr. Palmer has suggested that the proposed construction may be as much as 9’-11’ higher than the current code will allow. Mr. Palmer’s report has been sent to Kitsap Community Development Director Cindy Baker for action. Mr. Asche stated further that the property owner made no effort to contact the potentially affected neighbors prior to commencement of construction. Mr. Asche reported that a compliance review process could proceed as follows: review by Director of Community Development, then to a hearing, next to the Commissioners, and ultimately this could lead to a lawsuit. Recognizing that the MCC has no direct role in this process, this was all informational only. A motion was made from the floor that the Council send an e-mail to Director Baker to encourage her to review this issue and take expedient action prior to any significant progress on the construction. The motion was carried unanimously by the 28 individuals in attendance. Secretary John Winslow was tasked with contacting Cindy Baker on this matter. John Winslow to also include building height interpretation as an issue for consideration in 2006 Manchester Plan review process.
The next topic of discussion was on the development of a new web-site specifically for the MCC. There has been a problem with the ease of updating the information on our portion of the MCA web-site. Mark Rebelowski proposed that we authorize funding, not to exceed $150 for the first year, to reserve the www.manchesterwa.org web-site address. This can be accomplished for $75 for a ten year period, and monthly fees will be $3-$15 depending on complexity. It was pointed out that we should encourage other Manchester organizations, such as the Port to join in on the site and help defray the cost. The motion to authorize the Rebelowskis (okay, Arlene is the web-wise one in the family!) to spend up to $150 for reservation of the web address for ten years and for one year’s operation was approved unanimously.
The last topic discussed was the monthly meeting date to be used throughout 2005. Under consideration was a change to the fourth Thursday of the month. After brief discussion, it was agreed to continue our meetings on the fourth Tuesday of the month, beginning at 6:30PM. Those dates have been tentatively reserved at the Library by Secretary John Winslow.
There being no other discussion from the floor, First Vice Chairman Robinson adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM.
Next Meeting:
Our next meeting will be Tuesday February 22nd at 6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester
Library.
Bob Ballard and
John Winslow will jointly develop an agenda for our next meeting
for distribution with the reminder, several days before the meeting.
At this point the tentative agenda includes a presentation by Dick Hayes,
Director of Kitsap Transit, on the Harper Foot Ferry project.
If you have any additional items for the agenda, contact John Winslow
prior to January 18th.
Respectfully submitted,
John Winslow, Secretary-Manchester Community Council