Title
Comprehensive Plan Update Committee
Body
Director's Recommendation:
Determine action steps for encouraging and promoting effective community participation in the July Draft public hearings; determine a deliberation process for the Comprehensive Plan Update.
Staff Contact:
Stacey Ray, Associate Planner
Presenter(s):
Stacey Ray, Associate Planner, 360.753-8046
Background and Analysis:
On July 6, the City released the second draft of the Comprehensive Plan ("July Draft"). The July Draft is the draft on which the Planning Commission (Commission) will host a public participation process. Comments on the July Draft are for the Commission's consideration to assist in delivering a recommendation on the Comprehensive Plan Update to the City Council in January 2013.
July Draft Planning Commission Public Hearings
On July 6, staff also issued a Notice of Public Hearings (See Attachment 1) for the Commission's public hearings for the July Draft. At the June 20 CPU Sub-Committee meeting, Commissioners confirmed that they will host two evening hearings:
1) Monday, July 23, 2012
2) Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Both hearings will begin 6:30 p.m. in the Olympia City Council Chambers at City Hall. Both hearings will be preceded by an informational open house, with display materials and staff available to answer questions from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Anyone interested is invited to attend and share comments with Commissioners. Members of the public will have two options for providing comments during both hearings: Option A: One or two people jointly may provide public comment, with a maximum time limit of 10 minutes.
Option B: Panels of three or four people may provide public comment, with a maximum time limit of 15 minutes.
The time allotments are intended to allow Commissioners an opportunity to ask follow-up or clarifying questions.
Staff distributed the Hearing Notice to the Imagine Olympia Interested Parties List (Attachment 2), which includes anyone who has attended an Imagine Olympia meeting, workshop, or event, or who has expressed an interest in being kept informed on the Imagine Olympia update process. Staff also distributed the Notice to the Community Planning and Development project notification list, which includes partner agencies, adjacent jurisdictions, and state agencies.
Deliberation Process
As agreed to in the Comprehensive Plan Update Charter (Charter), the CPU Sub-Committee is to "provide leadership to OPC on the public process and deliberation process to be followed for the Comprehensive Plan Update." Determining a deliberation process in advance of the August 20 regular Commission meeting will provide a framework for making decisions when initial deliberations begin. Those decisions, once finalized, will then form the basis for developing the Commissions' recommendation on the Comprehensive Plan Update for City Council.
During the Planning Commission's deliberation phase on the Draft goals, policies, and regulations of the Shoreline Master Program (SMP), Commissioners developed and agreed to use a SMP Deliberation Procedure (Attachment 3). This process formed the basis for how Commissioners were to discuss topics and make decisions on the components of the SMP, and may be a good starting point for developing such a process for the Comprehensive Plan.
July Draft Planning Commission Public Hearings
This meeting is a second opportunity for Commissioners to discuss and determine how to prepare for the July Draft public hearings, including identifying those community groups or subsets of the community that the Commission wishes to encourage to participate in the hearings.
Examples of potential groups noted in earlier meetings include: business owners, developers, representatives of neighborhoods, members of City Advisory Committees and Commissions, former City of Olympia Mayors, and youth.
Deliberation Process
Staff will support the Sub-Committee in the development of a deliberation, or decision-making, process to assist the full Commission in their review of the Comprehensive Plan.
Some questions to consider when developing a process may include:
• What are the guiding principles of the deliberation process? o Is consensus needed or expected?
o Is efficiency important?
o Will the process work within the Council-approved timeline?
o What are the expectations for Commissioner participation?
• Will the "Initial Deliberation Phase" differ from the "Final Deliberation Phase?" If yes, how so?
• How and when will the public comment during the "Initial Deliberation Phase?" How will public comment relate to or impact the deliberation process?
• How many topics can reasonably be covered within one meeting? When does the process signal the completion of one topic, and a transition to the next?
• How will the process support the Leadership Team's roles as identified in the Charter?
o 2.4.2 Coordinate [Planning Commission] questions and requests to staff for additional information;
o 2.4.3 Coordinate with staff to align appropriate staff for the Commission's review.
The discussion on the deliberation process may be continued to the August 8 CPU Meeting if needed; however, it must be finalized on August 8 to be ready for distribution for the August 20 regular Commission meeting.
Action
Determine action steps for inviting, encouraging, or promoting effective community participation in the July Draft public hearings; develop a draft deliberation process (decision-making framework) for the Comprehensive Plan Update.