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HomeMy WebLinkAbout071122as02 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST TO: Board of Commissioners Mark McCauley, County Administrator FROM: Brent A. Butler, AICP, Director of Community Development Josh D. Peters, AICP, Planning Manager Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner DATE: July 11, 2022 RE: Schedule and process for establishing Legal Lot of Record (LLOR) policy for pre-1971 plats affected by development moratorium STATEMENT OF ISSUE: At the June 15, 2022 Planning Commission meeting,the Department of Community Development (DCD)presented a schedule and process for public engagement on the Legal Lot of Record (LLOR) issue. The process is detailed in a Communication Plan that provides an overview of outreach objectives and actions that DCD and the Planning Commission will complete. Members of the Planning Commission identified that the Communication Plan contained two shortcomings. First, the plan allocates time in July for public engagement when members of this community are typically less available for public participation. Then, that the plan's four weeks of engagement opportunities may be insufficient to both educate the public about this complex issue and receive meaningful contribution toward regulatory solutions. In response these potential issues, the Planning Commission recommended that DCD consider extending the public outreach opportunities into the fall by extending the moratorium an additional six months. ANALYSIS: DCD has held 18 LLOR advisory meetings since December 2021. The purpose of these meetings was to generate guidance on public outreach approaches and deliverables through County and stakeholder input. The LLOR County Advisory Team (CAT) consists of representatives from DCD, Department of Environmental Public Health, the Assessor's Office, the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and Central Services. Stakeholder input was generated through DCD-led meetings with local Real Estate Brokers & Agents and through public comments at the regularly scheduled Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners meetings on this topic. The Planning Commission has reviewed DCD's work since implementation of the Moratorium, including an analysis of the approaches other counties have taken to legal lot determination processes and development of educational materials. TABLE 1: 2021 & 2022 LOT OF RECORD Outreach MONTH DATES HELD County Advisory Team Real Estate Brokers Planning Commission December 2021 Dec. 3, 10, 17 Dec. 1 January 2022 Jan. 7 and 14 Jan. 12 Jan. 5 February 2022 Feb. 4 Feb. 9 March 2022 No meetings held* April 2022 Apr. 11 Apr. 13 and 19 Apr. 20 May 2022 May 20, 27 June 2022 June 1, 15 The Planning Commission's recommendation to extend the outreach timeline past July comes from the Commission's collective experience in working with Jefferson County's citizenry in a variety of contexts. General consensus from the Planning Commissioners is to continue with the Communication Plan as scheduled but to offer another cycle of outreach opportunity in the fall to reach those in the community who will not be present or available during the summer months. Additionally, the Planning Commission conveyed that the complexity of this regulatory issue would benefit from a more robust approach that offers the public an extended opportunity to be fully educated on this issue and shape the regulations. Although there are potential benefits to extending the project timeline, as noted above, there are also potential downsides. One of those is that the Moratorium would be extended, which lengthens the period of time in which this matter remains unresolved and prevents certain landowners from developing their property. Another is the effect on other projects. If the schedule is kept, DCD can plan to initiate another long-range planning project in the fall, coincident with resolution of the LLOR project and associated Moratorium. If the LLOR timeline is extended, DCD would need to delay other projects accordingly. FISCAL IMPACT: The Planning Commission's recommendation is to extend the public outreach process by repeating the Communication Plan's outreach timeline twice—once in the summer and once in the fall—will double the Department's expense (staff time). Currently, the plan allocates the whole month of July to engage the public on this issue. This project requires extensive in- house resources across departments as evidenced by nine meetings bringing together multiple departments. However, DCD realizes that relying on outside consultants to carry out the LLOR project may be costlier than doing it with existing staff partly due to ongoing interdisciplinary staff input and the lack of familiarity consultants may have with the Jefferson County code and the county's recording, platting, and subdivision procedures. Additionally, retaining a consultant poses the risk of delay based on DCD's recent experiences with Requests for Proposals for FCAAP and MERU. RECOMMENDATION: DCD requests the Board of County Commissioners' input on the pre-1971 plat policy development schedule and process. Specifically, DCD seeks direction in response to the Planning Commission's recommendation to extend the moratorium. REVIEWED BY: 9 14 c �- 2► Mark McCau e , County Administrator Date DRAFT Communication Plan for Legal Lot of Record Outreach Background In Jefferson County, many small lots were created through plats that were recorded or otherwise acknowledged in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1971,the County adopted its first local subdivision regulation—Ordinance No. 2—which established health, safety, and welfare standards that all new land division proposals had to meet. Properties within plats established prior to 1971 continued to be developed over time by individual property owners. With the recent uptick in the real estate market,the Department of Community Development("DCD") received three applications to develop pre-1971 plats en masse and at urban-level densities. These applications would result in increased housing densities in the rural county, contrary to the areas designated under the Growth Management Act to receive urban levels of growth—including the City of Port Townsend,the Port Hadlock/Irondale Urban Growth Area, and the Port Ludlow and Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resorts. In response to these applications,the County implemented a twelve-month emergency moratorium in October 2021 affecting development and land use permit applications within pre-1971 plats. The moratorium was implemented to prevent further development of pre-1971 plats while DCD was tasked to develop permanent regulations that will replace the moratorium. Introduction This Communication Plan illustrates the goals, objectives,target audiences, and timing of the outreach for the Legal Lot of Record project. The plan consolidates guidance received from the County's public outreach development process,which consisted of 17 advisory meetings since December 2021. The purpose of these meetings was to generate guidance on best practices for public outreach based on County and public input. There were two County entities involved directly in the public outreach development process: the Planning Commission and the County Advisory Team, which consists of representatives from DCD, Department of Environmental Public Health,the Assessor's Office, and Central Services. Public input was generated through DCD-led meetings with local Real Estate Brokers&Agents, as well as public comment submitted during dedicated office hours held by DCD's Director, Brent Butler. Comments and suggestions from these meetings were incorporated directly into this plan. Communication Goals and Objectives DCD's public outreach development process emphasized three goals that all outreach should achieve: 1) outreach should be educational, 2)communication materials should be accessible, and 3)all communications should help generate meaningful contributions from the public regarding regulatory changes. DCD's approach to achieving each of these goals is listed below. Educational Outreach The County's emergency moratorium was implemented without prior community input, as the intent was to stop further development of pre-1971 plats immediately. Community members and stakeholders expressed that there is a gap in the public's knowledge and understanding of the moratorium, as well as the broader regulatory context of subdivisions. Further,these community members and stakeholder 1 groups requested clarification on the potential framework of regulations that will follow the moratorium. Based on these comments,the following objectives were established to ensure that outreach would: • explain what Subdivisions and Legal Lots of Record are. • identify State and local regulations affecting pre-1971 plats. • detail the potential impacts of continued development of pre-1971 plats. • explain why the Legal Lot of Record issue was appropriate for regulatory change. • illustrate the regulatory approach that other jurisdictions have taken. Accessibility Three primary features of accessibility were emphasized during public outreach development: adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, going to the community at pre-existing events, and offering as many opportunities for public input as possible. These goals encourage a robust approach to outreach involving DCD facilitation of both in-person and online approaches to events, focus groups,and workshops with the public. The following objectives were established to build accessibility into all facets of outreach for this project. • Events should offer hybrid and pandemic-safe options for participation. • The public should be able to submit feedback online. • All events, resources, and opportunities should be featured on the County website. • In person attendance should be integrated with existing community events. • A timeline of participation opportunities should be advertised well in advance. Meaningful Public Contribution The current moratorium will be replaced with permanent regulations that prevent growth from occurring where the Growth Management Act and the County's Comprehensive Plan do not anticipate or permit it. Feedback during the outreach development process emphasized the importance of allowing the community to help determine the outcomes and regulatory approach that will be implemented. The following objectives were identified to guide facilitation of meaningful public contributions. • Clearly identify where regulations must change in order to meet State and County policies. • Identify concerns held by the public about continued development within old plats. • Identify concerns held by the public about regulatory changes. • Include the public in review of regulatory language. Communication Methods The Planning Commission and public comments have emphasized that the impacts of regulatory change will directly affect property owners within pre-1971 plats. DCD recognizes that regulatory impacts within pre-1971 plats have a specific significance that should be met with targeted attention to these property owners. However, DCD's analysis demonstrates that regulatory changes to the Legal Lot of Record issue encompass myriad impacts—real estate values, growth patterns, public services,residential density, critical areas, pollution, and more—that should include feedback from all of the County's communities. As a result, DCD will carry out both a targeted outreach approach to reach property owners within pre- 1971 plats and a more global outreach approach addressing the general public. The targeted and global outreach efforts will use the same educational tools and information,but additional outreach events and opportunities will be held for pre-1971 property owners. 2 Outreach to property owners within pre-1971 plats will primarily rely on accessing organizations within plats subject to the moratorium, like homeowners associations(HOAs), community publications/newsletters, common spaces, focus groups, and other larger outreach events. Focus groups for pre-1971 plats will be organized by identifying property owners interested in participating in the group. Larger outreach events offer in person and online attendance options and will be coordinated with the help of the Planning Commission. However, not all of the 158 pre-1971 plats in the County are associated with an organization that DCD can partner with to facilitate outreach. In these cases, DCD will rely on the global outreach approach to reach property owners within pre-1971 plats that are without central organization. The County's approach to communication with the general public entails attendance of regularly held community events and providing information through channels accessed by the general public, including: County website advertisement, publication of an educational ESRI StoryMap,newspaper publications, DCD-and Planning Commission-hosted events, radio interviews,countywide mailers, focus groups, surveys, attendance of community events, and postings at bulletin boards or places of local importance. Details on the frequency, channel, audience, and management of each of the communications above is shown in the following table: Communication Frequency Channel Audience Owner Pre-1971 HOAs Based on HOA Hybrid meeting, Property owners TBD availability publications within pre-1971 plats Pre-1971 focus Two meetings Hybrid meeting Property owners Bryan Benjamin, groups within pre-1971 Assistant Planner plats Pre-1971 events One meeting per Hybrid meeting Property owners TBD planning area within pre-1971 plats County website Project duration Online only General public TBD advertisement ESRI StoryMap Project duration Online only General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Newspaper Project launch, Published General public TBD publications interim, and close information DCD and PC One meeting per Hybrid meeting General public TBD outreach events planning area Radio interviews Two interviews Radio and online General public TBD Countywide Once at project Mail service General public Jeannie mailers onset McMacken, Central Services Focus groups Two meetings Hybrid meeting General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Survey Once, at project Online and paper General public Bryan Benjamin, interim distribution Assistant Planner Community Based on event In-person meeting General public TBD events calendars only Bulletin board Based on In-person postings General public TBD postings permission, only project onset 3 Project Timeline The bulk of outreach for this project will occur during a six-week period between June 20 and August 1, 2022. While DCD will maintain some flexibility in scheduling outreach based on the availability of partner organizations, stakeholders,and community events,the bulk of outreach should occur during the six-week period to allow for adequate time to develop new regulations. The first two weeks of the outreach period—June 20 through July 1—will be dedicated to establishing the availability of community organizations to set the time, location, and channels of outreach during the month of July. In addition, DCD will be finalizing its education and outreach materials during this period and preparing distribution of materials starting the first week of July. An initial outreach calendar is provided below, and will be updated and incorporated into this Communication Plan as events are scheduled. Week+ Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Date Week 1: June 19 Week 2: June 26 Week 3: PC M ing Website July 3 iaulc Week 4: JCFM: PT July 10 -. Location Week 5: JCFM: PC Meeting PC/DCD July 17 Chimacum ��� � ` workshop Week 6: PC/DCD JCFM: PT July 24 workshop Location Week 7: JCFM: July 31 Chimacum Event coordination&finalizing outreach materials Public engagement Communicating Results Results from public engagement will be first communicated at the August 3, 2022 Planning Commission meeting, where results from public outreach will be presented in the form of quantitative and qualitative data. In addition, a report communicating outreach results will be written and added to the County's website after the close of the outreach period. Results will continue to be communicated through the regulation drafting process,which will involve additional Planning Commission meetings and Board of County Commissioner workshop events. Final regulations will be developed considering the results of this public outreach process, and public comments about these results can be submitted throughout the regulation development process. 4