Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

The other by a phone. We do

by a phone. We do to get started. Yeah. So, we didn't need Stacy. No, we do. Do we never? Oh, he's not. Oh, right. Oh, use your hand like that.

Oh, it's right there. 6:00 and I call the January 6, 2026 regular meeting of the Franklin County Planning Commission meeting to order. We have one commissioner on the phone. Will the commissioner on the phone please confirm that you have received all documents and PowerPoint via email? I have. Thank you. Will planning staff please call role and announce whether or not we have a quorum. Mike Corales

here. Mike Vincent here. Remy Daru. Mark Dutder here. Manny Gutierrez. Stacy Knifton here. Chairman, we have a quorum. Thank you. I will now lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Pledge allegiance

to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I will entertain a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting and it will have an addition that we will have an election of officers and a staff report. I'll entertain a motion. Mr. Chairman, I move that we uh for the approval of the agenda for tonight's meeting. Second.

It's been moved by Commissioner Vincent and seconded by Commissioner Derutter. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. All oppose. Same. Oh, thank you. I willain entertain a motion to approve the minutes from the November 18th, 2025 meeting. I move to approve the minutes of the 2025 meeting. November 18th, 2025 meeting. Second. It has been moved by Commissioner Dutder and seconded by Commissioner Vincent. All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion passes. Will staff in attendance please introduce yourselves.

Wes McCart director. Jim Bellammore. Planner two. Sam Albby planner one.

Thank you. It is now time for the public hearing portion of our meeting. Good evening and welcome. Here are the ground rules for tonight's hearing. In-person public testimony will go first. Each person will be called upon to speak during their allotted in-person public testimony section. Please state your name for the record. Emiled comments received during the public hearing will be read into the record by staff after the in-person testimony section of the hearing. All comments shall be addressed to the planning commission and should be relevant to the application. Each speaker shall have five minutes to provide testimony and shall speak into the microphone. Please avoid repetitive comments. Please be respectful of each speaker and avoid personal attacks or disruptive behavior. Are there any questions regarding the public hearing ground rules? Turning for for a moment to our commission members. Let us keep in mind that we are prohibited by law from communicating with members of the public on the subject matter of these hearings except in these hearings. We also may not participate in a decision in which there is an appearance of conflict of interest to the average person. So let us take a minute to consider as to the matters which are before us for hearing today. Whether we had any exparte communications, whether we have any ownership interest in the properties, whether we have any business dealings with proponents or opponents of the matters, or whether we have business associates or immediate family who may be either benefited or harmed by a decision in these matters. Are there any commission members who have a declaration at this time regarding any of the items on the agenda? Let the record show there were no declarations. Is there anyone in the audience this evening who would object to any

commission member hearing any of the items on the agenda? Let the record show there were no objections. The order for the hearing shall be as follows. Planning staff shall provide a staff report. Commission may ask questions of staff. The applicant or applicant's representatives presentation. In-person public testimony. Email public testimony read into record by staff. Final staff comments, closed public testimony, and planning commission discussion of the proposed action. Are there any procedural questions be before we begin the public hearing? Item one is the public hearing for file CUP 2025-11 Blazard DAU. The request is to allow for the construction of a detached accessory dwelling unit to provide sufficient housing for the applicant to care for their aging parents. The DADU is approximately 1,200 square ft in living space. I declare the public hearing for CUP 2025-11 to be open at 606. May we have staff present the staff report, please? Good evening, commissioners. Uh, so CU 20 uh CUP 202511 uh currently addressed at uh 990 Elm Road, Pasco, Washington, 99301. Parcel number 123130128. Uh zone is uh agricultural production 20 acres AP20 with the comp plan designation of agricultural. Property size is approximately 5.42 acres. The property is located in the southwest quarter of section 13 township 11 north range 29 east uh Wame at Meridian,

Franklin County, Washington. The property is generally generally located north of Elm Road, east of Everett Road, south of Fur Road, and west of Glade North Road in unincorporated Franklin County. U the conditional use permit application is to allow for the construction of a detached accessory dwelling unit DADU to provide sufficient housing for the applicant to care for their aging parents. The DADU is approximately uh 1,200 square ft main floor space main living space rather this is the uh vicinity of the property is in innovative agricultural shore plat land. The applicant also provided a site plan which shows location of the following features. Location of the existing house already on the property. Location of existing garage and parking. Uh location of proposed DADU. Location of proposed new septic tank and drain field location. Location of water line. The distance of proposed DADU to property lines. And lot dimensions. And here is said site plan. Purpose of the detached accessory dwelling unit under uh Franken County Code 17.66.060 G is for the care of uh aged parents, aged relatives, disabled children or disabled relatives. Per the applicant's detailed narrative, this DADU will house their aged parents. This proposal is consistent with the overall intent of the AP20 zone and the requirements for detached accessory dwelling units. Per review of the surrounding properties, there exist detached accessory structures, including detached shops and/or garages in the immediate vicinity. The approval of the DADU on this site is consistent with the built environment of the surrounding properties in the neighborhood. The proposed use is in accordance with the goals and policies of the Franklin County Comprehensive Plan. Staff received no public comments during the notice period.

Here are the agency comments. Uh Franklin County uh public works commented uh they have concluded that the proposed use will not have a significant impact on the county road system. Uh they have the following general comments. An approach permit is required for access to Franklin County roads per the county road approach policy resolution number 2014123. Uh requirements include required permits, approach construction, minimum design standards, etc. per Franklin County design standards for the construction of roads and bridges. Resolution 20002270. Any utility extension crossing Franklin County roads will be uh addressed at the time of application. See accommodation of utilities on county road right ofway for more information. Resolution 20330. Franklin County JS 911 commented uh that the DADU will have an address of 988 Elm Road uh on the same parcel with the situs address of 990 Elm Road. The Franklin County Planning Economic Development Department uh has commented that staff has determined the following suggested findings and recommended conditions for the application request. Should the planning commission move forward a positive recommendation to the uh board of county commissioners for the construction of the DADU, Franklin County building permit and application shall be submitted through the uh Franklin County Planning Economic Development Department. The D-ADU shall comply with the standards of the current state in 2021 IBC. The DADU shall not be sold separately from the primary dwelling unit or other existing structures on the property. Application will need to follow the provisions of Franklin County Code Chapter 1766.060 accessory dwelling units- detached. A septic permit from the Benton Franklin Health District must be applied for and submitted with Franklin County building permit application. Any deviations from the submitted site plan or building plan

shall be submitted to the Franklin County Planning Economic Development Department for review. The suggested findings of fact, there are uh 14 of them and they are the same uh suggested uh uh findings of fact. Yep. uh as um you've seen with all the other DADUs uh that I've put before you, I can uh go through them if you would like. Um otherwise I can only point out the one uh kind of distinction about this group of findings of fact. Do that.

Okay. Uh thank you. Um the only thing uh a little bit different about this DADU is um the approval of the building permit is contingent on the approval of a septic permit uh at with the Ben Franklin Health District which uh they wanted to see if the CUP passed before they went through that application process with health district. So we're just waiting on that to move the rest of the project forward. That is yeah uh suggested condition of approval um uh 2F septic permit from the Benton Franklin Health District must be applied for and submitted with the Franklin County building permit application. I will still read the uh suggested findings of fact. The proposal is in accordance with the goals and policies of the county development regulations, zoning, and applicable Franklin uh county comprehensive plan. It's agricultural uh county zoning code designates the land as agricultural production 20 acres. Construction of a DAD requires conditional special use permit under FCC 17.66.060. The applicant has applied for a conditional special use permit to allow for the construction of a D-ADU. The proposal will not adversely affect public infrastructure. The proposal uh will be constructed, maintained and operated in harmony with the existing or intended character of the general vicinity. Location and height of the proposed structure and site design will not discourage development of permitted uses on property in the general vicinity or impair the value thereof. The operation in connection with the proposal will not be more objectionable to nearby properties by reason of noise, fumes, vibration, dust, traffic, or flashing lights than would be the operation of any permitted uses within

the district. The proposal will not endanger the public health, safety, or general welfare if located where proposed. And these are the suggested conditions of approval of which are all the same as you have seen before except the one I've gone over. I'll skip ahead to the suggested motion. Thank you. Does any commissioner have any questions of staff? Does the applicant or applicants representative wish to speak? Is there any email testimony?

No email testimonies. Chairman, does staff have any final comments? No. No. Chairman, I will entertain a motion to close the public comment portion. So moved. I move that we to Okay, then second. It has been moved by Commissioner Dutder and seconded by Commissioner Vincent. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. I. All oppose. Same sign.

Motion passes. Public testimony portion of public hearing CU 2025-11 is closed. Is there any discussion from the planning commission members? I will entertain a motion. I moved to forward CUP 2025-11 to the board of county commissioners with a positive recommendation based on the six suggested findings of fact and 14 conditions of approval.

I'll second. It has been moved by Commissioner Dutder and seconded by Commissioner Vincent to move forward CUP 2025-11 to the board of county commissioners with the positive recommendation based on the six suggested findings of fact and 14 conditions of approval. Is there any discussion? May we have a roll call vote, please? Mike Corales, yes. Mike Vincent, yes. Mark Dutder, yes. Stacy Knifton, yes. Chairman, the motion has passed.

Thank you. I will I will entertain a motion to close the public hearing on item one. So moved. Second. Has been moved by Commissioner Derooter and seconded by Commissioner Vincent. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion passes. Public hearing is closed. Okay. Voting on planning commission officers. Uh chairman. I will open nominations for chairman. And you're not going to hurt my feelings.

I I nominate Mike Corales for chairman. I second. Okay. Uh staff, can we have a roll call vote? Mike Carellis, yes. Mike Vincent, yes. Mark Dutder, yes. Stacy Neton, no. Chairman, um motion has passed. Thank you. I will now open the floor for nominations for vice chairman position. I nominate Mike Vincent. Second.

Staff, can we have a roll call vote? Mike Corales? Yes. Mike Vincent? Yes. Mark Dutder? Yes. Stacy Neton? Yeah.

Chairman. Um, we have a unanimous decision. Thank you. Now, we have an administrative

Yeah, I just have a very short report for the commissioners this this evening. Um, I do want to let you know that I was able to I got a permission and I was able to hire a long range planner. The long range planner started last week and uh we have we have an a grant application. We actually have a grant to add our climate element to our update and unfortunately with the workload and and not have enough staff, we were a little bit behind in getting started on that. And I'm here to report in one week, we are already well on our way of creating uh finishing our first task, which is outreach. And um we'll be forming a committee to help us with that climate element. It's a new thing that we're required to do. Uh tomorrow the commissioners will have in front of them invitations to the tribe to participate in that which is a requirement of the grant. And I anticipate we'll be moving at a lot quicker pace now that we've got a little more staff involved. Uh and just want to let you know that in all likelihood we'll probably be giving you a a more thorough update of where we are. Uh, I have a lot of elements that have been prevented pre presented to me to to make some final edits or or put things in there that that we want you guys to consider in the comprehensive plan. So, I I anticipate by next meeting we'll probably have a a short workshop where we can go over that and start giving you some stuff to look at and discuss.

What's his name? Anyway, we ever had a long-term planner? Um, this is uh Alex Hall, right? Did I get that right? Um, and uh he was doing transportation planning for the BF COG and was interested in brrawning his uh outlook. So,

will he help you guys on everyday stuff too? So, um, the idea now is that I have enough money in the the grant applications that I have to to hire this person. Uh, my long-term goal is to keep him um to to help us with the long-term stuff and the more complicated projects that we'll we'll get in. Uh, I will tell you right now our office has received probably about a half a dozen projects that are very much out of the ordinary of what we've been getting. We we've got some we've got a uh boat ramp and a dock going in uh for for uh what is that? Tidewater. Uh that's that they're working on that is a little more complicated because it's shoreline. Uh we've got the city is expanding their uh wastewater treatment plan out here in the Foster Wells area to add more irrigation piping for the next season because of the expansion in the ponds. Uh that's had some weird twists on it. Uh I've had we have a current uh building permit application that's requiring a lot of planning because it's in the flood plane. Uh that's another one that's thrown a twist on us. And there's just a couple of others. I mean, you had one last month that was the the fish hatchery. I mean, those are the types of things we're seeing right now that we don't normally see that type of activity. You we're seeing a lot of activity like, you know, the normal building homes and stuff. Um, and we are seeing we're real close to getting a lot of our um developments that were done, the bigger developments that were done. Uh, we're seeing those come to fruition. So, I

I've got a short um I got a small long plat going in front of the commissioners tomorrow and I anticipate later this month to probably have um Coler and um the other one uh river was that the plateau the plateau.

So, a couple of larger projects that you guys uh approved recommended approval on you know a while back that are going to come to fruition. um including the the Rich View water system is going to be uh mo moving right along that will help implement the fast track of the the Underwood development and we'll you know the the Cherrywood

development. So we're seeing a lot of movement on that side which will open the doors for more permitting on the building side. So yeah, the office has been very busy. Uh the other thing I did want to tell you is that the county has had this program smart gov for a number of years. Uh staff had not been trained on it. it had not been uh outfacing and I hope within the next couple of months to get that outf facing so that folks can put in both planning and building permits online. They can pay online. They can request their inspections online. It should help streamline our process because when I got here, our processes were fairly linear and I'd like them to be multiaceted where everybody's working on different parts at the same time so we can get them out the door quicker. So, I anticipate this being a huge move and uh the two planners are in the room here as well as my permit tech are my super users. Uh they're they're really good at at the computer program. I'm really proud of them. um they've stepped up and they're helping revamp some of our applications and and getting tasked to get this online and get going. Our our goal is to have it up and moving uh probably by about March 1st. Uh we may not make that target, but that's our goal at the moment. Uh but as soon as we can get it, you know, ready to go and open the door, we'll we'll do so. So, we've seen some very positive moves in the department lately.

So, that's it. U, we also have um I also just want to add we sent out the advertisement for uh to the graphic for the Eltopia vacancy for the planning commission. So, that's going to get posted on the graphic on uh Thursday. Uh guests that are here, don't feel like you need to stay till the end of this. You can leave when it Thank you very much. You can leave whenever you want. You can stay too, but thank you very much. Thank you. Um, that's your full report. That's all I have, sir. Very short. That's good.

Very well. Um, no audience. Okay. Meeting is adjourned at 6:25. Perfect.