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HomeMy Public PortalAboutCouncil Minutes 2006 08/21MINUTES McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 Agenda Call to Order and Roll Call Public Hearing Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Robertson called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Council Member Don Bailey, Council Member Bonnie Bertram, Council Member Mike Kraemer, Mayor Bill Robertson, and Council Member Laura Scott answered roll call; Mayor Robertson declared a quorum was present. Staff members present were Lindley Kirkpatrick, City Manager; Roger Millar, Deputy City Manager; and Joanne York, City Clerk. Mayor Robertson led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. PUBLIC HEARING AB 06-158 Ordinance 826 — Interim Moratorium on building heights over thirtv-five feet for lakefront development in the Central Business District Roger Millar, Deputy City Manager, stated that this was a Public Hearing. He gave a presentation concerning lakefront development. Mr. Millar introduced AB 06-158 and gave a brief history of the purpose and intent of Ordinance 826. He read Ordinance 826 in its entirety. Mayor Robertson opened the Public Hearing at 6:45 p.m.. Mary Allen stated she was in favor of the moratorium in order to get more information to the public. McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 1 of 8 Linda DeEulis stated that raising the height over thirty-five feet presented a peril because the Central Business District was in the flight path area. Council Member Bailey said he believed that the flight path was farther to the west. Glenn Jacobsen stated he supported the moratorium. He presented the Council with a letter from Bob and Linda Giles, stating their support of the moratorium. Travis Lundquist stated he was against the moratorium. Peggy Brian stated she was in favor of the moratorium because it would allow people more opportunity to vent their feelings concerning the height limit. Judy Mathis stated she was in favor of the moratorium. Dave Mathis declined to comment when called upon. Randy Smith said he was opposed to the moratorium, stating it was time for the Council to make some tough decisions. Ed Elliot thanked the Council for the work they had done. He said he supported the moratorium, and that he would like to serve on the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee. Lydia Hakes stated her shop was across the street from the open space on Lake Street and explained that airplanes were continually going over her shop, which she believed presented a peril to the community. She said she was speaking for 140 residents and part-time residents who wanted to maintain the thirty-five foot height limit not only in the downtown area, but also in the entire town. She presented a list of names to the Council of people who were in favor of the moratorium. Liz Richmond spoke against the moratorium, stating that McCall needed the proposed downtown hotel. John Blaye declined to comment when called upon. David Eaton said he was against the moratorium. Marilyn Olson stated she was in favor of the moratorium along the lakefront and city wide. McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 2 of 8 Ray Dupree spoke against the moratorium. He encouraged the Council to stand by their original decision and to vote on what they believed was the best for McCall in the long run. Nikki Humphries said that she was in favor of the moratorium and that there was a safety issue involved. Joy Hamilton, 445 Smitty Avenue, stated she supported the moratorium and viewed it as the government responding to the concerns of their constituency. Cher Sandmire read a statement from Diane Mack stating her support of the moratorium along the lakefront. Ms. Sandmire said she was also in favor of the moratorium. Liz Warner said she was in favor of the moratorium. Kirk Eimers said he was in favor of rolling back the ordinance altogether, rather than enacting a moratorium. He explained that he believed it was worth taking the time to reconsider the height limit. Marilyn Arp stated she was in favor of the moratorium, explaining that one of the fears people have is that the character of McCall will not be maintained. She urged the Council to consider the six to zero vote of the Planning and Zoning Commission in favor of the moratorium. Jim Arp referred to the meeting at the golf course two years ago and said that the Council had not done what they promised to do. He stated he was in favor of the moratorium. Kathy Malone said she was in favor of the moratorium and that she would lose her business in the Yacht Club if the higher building height limit was approved. She asked Council to wait until the Comprehensive Plan Update was completed before making a decision on the height limit. She presented a list of sixty names to Council of people who also supported the moratorium. Lee Bennett stated he was in favor of the proposed moratorium. John Marshall explained he was a new resident in McCall and was considering the issue without the emotional involvement of long-time residents. He stated he was in favor of adding amenities to the downtown area and that he was against the moratorium. Teri Gilbert said she was against the moratorium. Bob Hunt stated he was against the moratorium, that the downtown area needed an anchor, more restaurants, and more amenities. He said the new hotel he McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 3 of 8 proposed would provide more jobs, on -going tax income for schools, more money for the fire department and for the hospital, and would also bring in more local option tax money. He said that raising the height limit would only benefit the economy of McCall. He urged the Council to not implement the moratorium. Marty Burke stated he was in favor of the moratorium. Susan Kellogg explained that even though she did not live in McCall, she wanted to go on record as being in favor of the moratorium. David Kellogg stated that he was in favor of the moratorium. He said he was concerned about the loss of the identity of the town. Gail Verschoor said she was in favor of the moratorium, and addressed issues that she believed needed further discussion, such as exhaust fumes from more traffic and obstructed views of the lake. Tuck Miller said he opposed the height limit, not only along the shore line, but also in the City of McCall. He said the group he was involved with, Save Our Skyline, consisted of about 400 people also opposed to the height limit. Sally Elliott stated she supported the moratorium on fifty foot buildings and supported the thirty-five foot height limit as it was, and urged Council to consider quality of life and quality of community while making their decision. Randi Albrechtsen stated she was in support of the moratorium and urged Council to listen to the voice of the citizens. She read a letter from Claire Remsberg stating her support of the moratorium and presented the letter to Council for record. Alana Shoemaker stated she was in favor of the moratorium and in favor of the thirty-five foot height limit in the entire City of McCall. Craig Eberle said he was in favor of the moratorium, stating that there was overwhelming support in maintaining the thirty-five foot limit. Diane Bubb stated she was in favor of the moratorium. Dave Carter said he was not in favor of the moratorium, explaining that Council had already spent an enormous amount of time of this issue. He stated that to go sideways or to go backwards would be extremely frustrating to staff. Kevin O'Leary thanked the Council for allowing the public to express their opinions. He discussed the problems of small businesses that have come and gone in McCall and the need in McCall to have a downtown anchor for economic stability. He stated he was against the moratorium, explaining that he wanted McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 4 of 8 Planning and Zoning and the City Council to have the opportunity to look at new projects. Craig Eberle submitted a letter from Ann Lloyd -Edward. Heidi Winchell stated she was in favor of the moratorium, stating that she believed the growth and change should be controlled. Dan Krahn stated he did not support the moratorium but did support strategic planning. Gina Bonaminio stated she was in favor of the moratorium and asked Council to make the decision to stop and look at where they are. Mr. Kirkpatrick told Council that several people left the meeting, but had signed the Public Hearing sheet, indicating they were in favor of the moratorium. Wayne Ruemmele said he was not in favor of the moratorium because it would close the door on the opportunity to look at interesting new projects. Darrell Cobb said he was against the moratorium because it would basically mean putting off a difficult decision. He urged the Council to go ahead and make the decision they believed would be right. Cindy Miller stated she was in favor of the moratorium, and asked Council to consider the assets of living in McCall when making their decision. Mr. Kirkpatrick read off several other names of people who had to leave the meeting. Mike Midberry asked Council to make the thirty-five foot limit permanent in McCall. Irwin Mulnick stated he was in favor of the moratorium and reminded Council that the community had been very clear at the meeting two years ago that the people voiced their disapproval of raising the height limit. Rick Certano stated he was opposed to the moratorium and said it would only put off making a difficult decision. He encouraged Council to see if they could bring both sides together to come up with a project that would be the best for the City of McCall. Steve Millemann stated that Council should be able to address each individual project to see if the merits of the project outweighed the benefits of maintaining the thirty-five foot height limit. He urged Council to trust themselves to make a decision. He questioned if there was any imminent peril in allowing Council to McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 5 of 8 consider the merit of any individual application. He stated he was opposed to the moratorium. Greg Lovell spoke in opposition of the moratorium. He stated that a process had been put in place whereby Council would have the opportunity to review projects that might benefit the community and also allow people to have input. Mayor Robertson closed the Public Hearing at 8:38 p.m. Council Member Bertram discussed several issues brought up during the Public Hearing. She stated that the public discussion two years ago did not go through the same process as had been used this past year, did not include the code revision, and did not address the same economic issues that were being dealt with now. She stated that a restaurant starting up today would have a very difficult time being successful in McCall. She explained that when the former Council originally addressed the height limit issue several years ago, they believed that adding fifteen feet to the height limit would allow businesses more opportunities and that it was a reasonable compromise. She stated that McCall was a community in transition and that the economic health in McCall was very poor. She stated she had a problem with the moratorium as it was worded in the ordinance and that she believed it would be a terrible mistake to go backwards. She said she did not want to stop the process and delay a decision another two years, and that the process Council had gone through to come to the fifty foot height limit had been gut -wrenching and extremely difficult but had resulted in decisions she believed in. Council Member Bailey addressed the issue of community character and showed an old picture of a hotel in McCall that had been four stories tall. He questioned whether that building showed the character of McCall. He also discussed Mr. Hunt's options for building on his property on Lake Street, explaining that loss of the view of the lake would be the same whether he constructed buildings at thirty-five feet or fifty feet. He reminded the public that public meetings had been held during the code revision process with plenty of public participation. He asked what the identity of the town was now, since McCall was no longer a mill town, and whether it would give the town identity to have more condominiums along the lake. As far as the peril of people leaving the community as mentioned by several speakers, he stated that there was no peril when new jobs would be provided that would allow people to stay and make a living. He said the character of McCall from fifty years ago was gone and what needed to be addressed now was what the character of McCall would be fifty years from now. He said we need to have viable development that we could be proud of and that would support the small businesses. He said we could direct growth and development and that was the purpose of the new Code. He said the Council needed the opportunity to review any project that met the requirements of the new Code and that he was adamantly opposed to the moratorium. McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 6 of 8 Council Member Kraemer stated he believed in the process that was set up to consider recommendations from committees and that Council was overlooking the process. He stated he was in favor of putting the moratorium in place and that he supported the decision from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Council Member Scott said she would like to have the option of considering projects on their individual merits and would like to keep that door open. She also stated she respected the decision made by the Planning and Zoning Commission and was torn between how to balance what was in the best interest of the people who live and work here with the opposition to raising the height limit. Mayor Robertson said that one of the reasons for the new Code was to encourage redevelopment and cleanup in the downtown area. He said that the new Code with increased building heights would guarantee views of the lake between buildings, but that staying at the thirty-five feet height limit would allow businesses to construct buildings without any open space between buildings. He stated that the focus should be on the entire downtown area and not just on Bob Hunt's project, and that projects under the new Code could be considered up to fifty feet. He said that Council did listen to their Planning and Zoning Commission, but that Planning and Zoning was not an elected body. He further explained that Council was an elected body and therefore was responsible for the final decisions. Council Member Bailey said that the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended to Council that they consider a moratorium. Mr. Millar explained that the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation was for Council to adopt the ordinance. Council Member Kraemer moved to suspend the rules, read by title only, one time only Ordinance No. 826. Council Member Scott seconded. In a roll call vote, Council Member Kraemer voted aye, Council Member Scott voted aye, Council Member Bertram voted nay, Mayor Robertson voted nay, and Council Member Bailey voted aye. The motion carried 3 to 2. City Manager Kirkpatrick read Ordinance No. 826 by title only. Council Member Kraemer moved to adopt Ordinance No. 826 to impose an interim moratorium. In a roll call vote, Council Member Kraemer voted aye, Council Member Scott voted aye, Council Member Bertram voted nay, Mayor Robertson voted nay, and Council Member Bailey voted nay. The motion failed by a vote of 3 to 2. McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 7 of 8 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m. 149-4- William A. Robertson, Mayor ATTEST: Li (n) Joa ne E. York, City (lerk McCall City Council Special Meeting August 21, 2006 8 of 8