Title
Comprehensive Plan Implementation Status Report
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee
City Manager Recommendation:
Briefing only; no action requested
Report
Issue:
In 2014, while the City Council was holding hearings and deliberating regarding the Comprehensive Plan update that was ultimately approved by the Council in December, the City staff was working with the Planning Commission to identify and bring forward a variety of development code amendments to implement the updated Plan. This briefing will provide the Land Use and Environment Committee with a status report regarding that set of amendments and future Plan-implementing activities.
Staff Contact:
Todd Stamm, Principal Planner, Community Planning and Development Department, 360.753.8597
Presenter:
Todd Stamm, Principal Planner
Background and Analysis:
Development regulations are one of the primary means by which the City of Olympia ensures that both private and public activities are consistent with the Olympia Comprehensive Plan. The City’s development regulations are required by the State Growth Management Act (GMA) to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Revisions to the City’s development regulations deemed necessary to maintain consistency with the Comprehensive Plan are required by the GMA to be adopted no later than June 30, 2016.
Following the Planning Commission’s recommendation of the updated Comprehensive Plan, the Commission began reviewing potential amendments to development regulations that would implement the updated Plan. These regulations fall into three categories:
• A set of five amendments that staff recommend as necessary to maintain consistency with the updated Plan
• Another five amendments to be evaluated as soon as practical
• Other development regulation amendments to better implement the Comprehensive Plan
Included in the first two sets are changes in the City’s rezone criteria, refinement of codes related to multi-family housing and commercial development along public streets, and rezones of the Capitol Campus and LOTT wastewater treatment plan. Specific amendments in the third set of amendments are to be identified and prioritized in the “Action Plan,” which in combination with the Downtown Strategy and other public processes will establish the City’s Comprehensive Plan implementation strategy.
Some of the first two sets of proposals have already been reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved by the Council, while others are still in progress. The attached table summarizes the status of all amendments in the first sets. City staff will present more details at the Committee meeting.
The third set of potential code amendments is more extensive, and will be discussed during the public process of creating the Action Plan for implementing the Comprehensive Plan. Among these many items are:
• Evaluation of locally-significant wildlife habitat (directed by Land Use and Environment Committee to be included as part of critical areas code review)
• An update of scenic view regulations (to begin in 2015 as part of Downtown Strategy)
• A review of open space and tree canopy regulations
• Refinement of codes related to industry and home-based businesses
• Review of the City’s design requirements
• A review of ‘in-fill’ standards, such as provisions for group homes and accessory dwelling units, neighborhood centers, and ‘clustering’ of housing
On November 19, 2015, the Land Use and Environment Committee is scheduled to be briefed regarding the Community Planning and Development Department’s work program for 2016. Many of the items on this work program are items that the public indicated were high priorities when reviewing the draft Action Plan.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Individual code amendments have received a variety of public interest.
Options:
Not applicable; no action required.
Financial Impact:
Included in base budget.