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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLLOR_CommunicationPlan 1 Communication Plan for Legal Lot of Record Outreach — July 27, 2022 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 defines 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 20 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 2 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. 3 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 and/or newsletters, common spaces, focus groups, and other community 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 its global outreach approach to reach property owners within pre-1971 plats that do not have 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, postcard mailers, focus groups, surveys, and attendance of community events. 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 availability Online only Property owners within pre-1971 plats Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Pre-1971 focus groups Two meetings Online only Property owners within pre-1971 plats Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner County website updates Project duration Online only General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner ESRI StoryMap Project duration Online only General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Press Release Project launch, interim, and close Published information General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Mailer to pre-1971 plat/lot owners Once at project onset Mail service General public Jeannie McMacken, Central Services Focus groups Two meetings Hybrid meeting General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Survey Once, at project interim Online and paper distribution General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Community events Based on event calendars In-person meeting only General public Bryan Benjamin, Assistant Planner Project Timeline The bulk of outreach for this project will occur during an eight-week period between June 20 and August 12, 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 eight-week period to allow for adequate time to develop new regulations. The first three weeks of the outreach period—June 20 through July 8—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 4 and preparing distribution of materials. An initial outreach calendar is provided below, and will be updated and incorporated into this Communication Plan as events are scheduled. Week + Date Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Week 1: June 19 Week 2: June 26 Week 3: July 3 Week 4: July 10 BoCC Meeting HOA outreach Week 5: July 17 PC Meeting Week 6: July 24 Press Release JCFM PT Week 7: July 31 JCFM Chimacum Mailers Focus group Focus group Week 8: August 7 Focus group Focus group Event coordination & finalizing outreach materials Public engagement Additional Participation Opportunities The proposed regulations will be reviewed a number of times by the County prior to implementation of permanent changes. Draft regulations will be presented a number of times to the Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners. In addition to the public outreach cycle outline above, the public will have an opportunity to respond and provide comment to each iteration of draft regulations by attending those meetings. The following dates have been identified for review of draft regulations: • Planning Commission Meeting, August 17—Outreach findings and draft ordinance review. • Planning Commission Meeting, September 7—Draft regulation review and PC recommendation. • Consent Agenda: Board of County Commissioners, September 12—Provide draft ordinance to the Board in preparation for the September 19, 2022 Workshop. Not a meeting, deliverable only* • Workshop: Board of County Commissioners, September 19—Introduce draft ordinance and Planning Commission’s recommendation. • Regular Meeting: Board of County Commissioners, September 26—Communicate revisions made to the ordinance. • Regular Meeting: Board of County Commissioners, October 3—Review final ordinance and implementation. Communicating Results Preliminary results from public engagement will be communicated at the August 17, 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 5 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.