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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m.
149-4- William A. Robertson, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Joa ne E. York, City (lerk
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