[Vision2020] P&Z meeting

[Bruce and Jean Livingston]

My understanding is that the Moscow Comprehensive Plan was amended last June to change the designation of this property from "low density residential" to "extensive commercial," by a 3-3 vote with Mayor Comstock breaking the tie.  I could be wrong though, as I am unclear on the difference between passage of the "proposed reasoned statement" as described above, and an immediately preceding 5-1 vote to approve a resolution amending the Comp Plan.  I thought maybe the minutes were wrong and the 5-1 vote was to cut off debate on whether to approve the Comp Plan resolution.  Perhaps City Staff or one of the Council members could explain what happened at the June 6, 2005 meeting. BDL

The minutes of City Council's June 6, 2005 meeting reflect the following:

3. Public Hearing Thompson Annexation & Comp Plan Amendment - Joel Plaskon

The Thompson family has requested annexation of 90 acres of their property on the southeast edge of the city. The property is bound by SR 8 to the north, S. Palouse River Dr. to the south, and S. Mountain View Road to the west. The application also requests amending the Comprehensive Plan Map for 78 acres of the subject property, including 3.8 acres on the west side of S. Mountain View within the city limits. The existing land use designation is Low Density Residential (LR) and the request is to change to Extensive Commercial (EC). The Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing and recommended approval of both requests.

ACTION: 1) Approve Annexation Ordinance under suspension of the rules requiring three complete and separate readings and that it be read by title only; or reject Ordinance; or take such other action deemed appropriate. 2) Approve Comp Plan amendment; or reject Comp Plan amendment; or take such other action deemed appropriate. 

Plaskon presented the issue as written above and explained the zoning of adjacent lands. There is a six month window where the P&Z Commission can forward a recommendation to Council. He said there is very little undeveloped land in the City to accommodate EC. He displayed pictures of the subject property and said staff recommendation is to approve the annexation and Comp Plan Map amendment.  The P&Z also recommended approval. Mack disclosed that she has a family member that owns property adjacent to this area but it will have no bearing on her decision. Plaskon said approval of ITD would be required if access from Hwy 8 was requested. 

Mayor Comstock explained how the public hearing would be conducted and opened it at 9:01 p.m.

Shelley Bennett, 2279 Moser Court, representing the Thompson family, said the comunity is always in a state of change. She said the Thompson family owns most of the property surrounding this proposal and the parcel from an annexation standpoint makes sense. The Comp Plan states that there is a need for Extensive Commercial and can be located near Hwy 8 and Hwy 95. This site's infrastructure allows for division from other areas and is bordered on three sides by arterials. Palouse River Drive currently acts as a bypass for the area. All City services are at the property or not far away. The City of Moscow has many concerns regarding water and a comparison of a five acre parcel in Residential Zoning has more water use versus a Commercial Zone. It has been years since Moscow added any commercial property.  Whitman County has been working to increase their tax base by encouraging development in the corridor so the City of Moscow needs to provide areas for existing and new businesses to thrive.

Ted Thompson, 1024 Pine Crest Road, said his family has been involved in farming in the area since the 1930s. The development that the family has worked on has been a result of the needs of the City of Moscow. It is close to other commercial venues and a good place for this type of development.

Evan Holmes, 125 N. Garfield St., said this type of development makes sense and is probably overdue. There won't be commercial development on both sides of Highway 8 and it doesn't contribute to the east-west traffic development. The cost of maintenance will be shared by the State. This will help Alturas as well which will help tax payers.

Sarah Rawl, 2448 Blaine Road in Moscow, said she is not against development. However, she is wondering about the EC designation and if it could be a lower designation because the bike path goes through the development and she worries about safety in the area. She thinks this type of development is more appropriate on the other side of town.

Kelly Moore, 1025 S. Logan, said there is already a big box store sitting there empty. Businesses change often in the Mall and the malls are not full. Businesses don't care if they leave a big empty box. He said the City shouldn't bring this type of thing as a single unit and one decision rather than separating the items. He would like to look at it in a more organized fashion, annexing the land and then looking at the designation.

Aaron Ament, 523 Veatch, agrees with the annexation but doesn't agree that the City needs space for commercial development. The rest of Alturas will be going in and Tidyman's is open and the old Sears building in the Mall has never been filled.

Evan Holmes, 125 N Garfield St., said we do need to sustain development through leakage from other places. Pullman has done a wonderful job in the last three years plugging that leakage, as they plug leakage, they hurt Moscow. The benefit we have received from previous leakage is disappearing. 

In rebuttal, Shelley Bennett, said the Eastside Marketplace did a survey and the leakage situation is correct. She said additionally, Palouse River Drive would have to be improved with this project. She said the retail of today are box stores that are much larger because the public wants discount retailing. The only designation that makes sense based on the land and district is the EC. There are 20,000 cars on the intersection per day. There are approximately 4000 cars per day coming in from rural areas. Moscow lacks density of a certain kind of retail to get other types of stores such as Old Navy and TJ Maxx. Dickinson asked about renting space that needs to be remodeled. Mayor Comstock said the focus needs to be on the annexation and Comp Plan not on development.

Pall asked about having EC behind Tidyman's rather than this area. Bennett said residential is more appropriate for that area.

The public hearing closed at 9:25 p.m.

Mack said the infrastructure is there and any development would include development of the arterials. Mack moved and Hamlett seconded approval of the annexation Ordinance under suspension of the rules requiring three complete and separate readings and that it be read by title only. Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Unanimous. Nays: None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried. Mayor Comstock read Ordinance 2005-17 by title only.

Pall said she has concerns about this because the area was zoned low density residential to prevent strip development on State Hwy 8. The development of the Latah Trail came about and there was a reason why the Extensive Commercial was not put in. She is not convinced that the plan should change. This is going to be a Commercial zone. She would like this to come back in about a year. She sees this in conjunction with the University's proposal. She would like to reopen the public hearing on this matter on the 5th of July and continue the conversation at that time. The motion died for lack of a second.

Mack said the issues are not the same as with the University. It fits every criteria and although we may not have seen EC in this area, it does make sense and it is one of the few relatively flat areas. It could be some other business besides retail that go in here. It is up to the Council to approve the development plan. Mack moved and Kimberling seconded to approve the Resolution 2005-04 amending the Comp Plan Map. As this property is developed, some feasibility studies will be done, this will not go flying up, it will take time. There was similar discussion about multi-family housing. 

Dickinson said the Comp Plan Map amendment changes from Low Density Residential to Extensive Commercial which seems like a large change. This is a large amount of land to convert to a completely different use and will be incompatible with the low density uses. There are arterials but one would require ITD approval for access. He said it is a mis-statement to say there will be easy access on all sides. He is concerned that it will be land for large stores to go in which is another issue.

Chaney said the wave of the future is larger stores. There is a need for inviting business to the community and it makes sense to invite it somewhere. We are in the process of rewriting the Comp Plan. She said on the citizen survey, 64% of the population thought growth was a problem and 41% said business and retail growth were too slow and others thought the City didn't plan well for growth. This zoning is for something major to go in this area. The land owner is currently using the land for farming. The Committees are beginning to address the issue of box store development standards. This is probably an appropriate use for this property but she won't support it at this time.

Pall said the Thompson family has been a good developer within the City of Moscow. The desire for further discussion about this is nil so she is recognizing the inevitability of it and would like to have discussions about development standards in the area.

Chaney said this is premature until the Comp Plan has been done and she is concerned about the EC amendment without big box development standards in place.

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: 5. Nays: Chaney. Abstentions: None. Motion carried.

Mack read her proposed Reasoned Statement and moved to adopt it. Hamlett seconded the motion.

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Mack, Kimberling, Hamlett. Nays: Pall, Chaney, Dickinson. Abstentions:

None. Mayor Comstock voted Aye to pass the motion.



----- Original Message ----- 

  From: Art Deco 
  To: Vision 2020 
  Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 11:30 AM
  Subject: Re: [Vision2020] P&Z meeting


  What does the Moscow Comprehensive Plan Map say about the parcel at issue?

  W.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bruce and Jean Livingston 
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 11:15 AM
  Subject: [Vision2020] P&Z meeting 


  So what happened after press deadline?  BDL

  From today's Lewiston Morning Tribune:

  Moscow rezone finds few friends


  By DAVID JOHNSON
  of the Tribune


  MOSCOW -- Nobody mentioned Wal-Mart. But a steady stream of people voiced their opposition Wednesday night to a proposed zone change that could open the door for the world's largest retailer to build a super center here. 

  One man warned that "the nose of the camel is in the tent" and urged members of the Moscow Planning and Zoning Commission to recommend denial of an application to rezone 77 acres on the southeast corner of town to motor business. 

  Four people spoke in favor of the rezone. 

  By press time, commissioners were still listening to opposition testimony at the public hearing and it remained unclear whether a decision would be reached. 

  "This is our home and we want to defend it," Chris Norton of Moscow said, testifying against the proposed zone change. 

  "This location for a motor business zone makes sense," said resident Shelley Bennett, a local Realtor. 

  The land is owned by the Gene Thompson family and is currently being farmed. It's located directly across from the Moscow City Cemetery adjacent to State Highway 8 and was annexed last June as an extensive commercial site. 

  Shortly after, Wal-Mart announced intentions to build a super center on the site. A conceptual plan filed with the city shows, in addition to the Wal-Mart Supercenter, the potential for two additional big box retailers and upward of a dozen smaller retail stores on the site. 

  Jim Demeerleer, whose Furniture West business lost it's retail site on the west side of town amid expansion of Tri-State, said he welcomed a new place for motor business. "Give businesses an opportunity to expand," he urged the commissioners. 

  But Bill Parks, a downtown businessman, said a large motor business complex on the east side of Moscow would all but kill the central business sector. He likened Moscow's downtown to a garden dependent on a steady flow of vehicle traffic that would be siphoned away by a large scale retail development. 

  More than 100 people crammed their way into the hearing, held in the Moscow City Council chamber. Many people sat on the floor, or stood in the hallway as testimony was heard. Chairman Jerry Schutz pounded his gavel a number of times to quiet the crowd or admonish them to not react to testimony. 

  Schutz also let it be known that the business at hand had everything to do with a proposed zone change, and nothing to do with the possible arrival of any big box retailers. The commission will forward its decision to the city council for final consideration. 

  John C. McCullough, a Seattle attorney representing Spokane-based CLC Associates, spoke on behalf of the Thompson family. He's the same attorney who -- through CLC -- represents Wal-Mart's attempts to build super centers in neighboring Pullman and in Spokane. 

  McCullough told the commissioners that the proposed zone change is in accordance with the city's comprehensive plan. "This is not an application for any particular development or use," said McCullough. "It's ideally located for a motor business zone." 

  Joel Plaskon, the city's community development director, recommended that the commissioners approve the motor business zone change, at least for part of the 77 acres. 

  Members of a group called No Super Wal-Mart have vowed to fight construction of a super center not just at the zoning level, but throughout any development proposal. Unlike neighboring Pullman, Moscow has a so-called big box store ordinance that would require conditional use permits for any new retail store over 45,000 square feet. 

  Wal-Mart Supercenters usually surpass 200,000 square feet. Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney has said the city council may also consider the question of placing a size cap on big box stores. All retail stores currently in town are under 100,000 square feet, according to officials. 





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