Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

the transition. Okay. All right. Good evening everybody. We'll call the regular Make sure start over again. Good evening everybody. We'll call the regular April meeting of the planning commission to order at 6:00 p.m. on April 14th, 2026. Our roll call, we have Commissioner Ward, Commissioner Bacon, uh Commissioner Bradley, and Commissioner Wilson. it has an excused absence tonight. And we have our council member um council member Stucky here this evening and and then

yeah they don't count for the the roll call. All right. So as we move into our meeting our first item on the agenda is the public comment. During this time, citizens may comment on subjects of interest not on the agenda or agenda items. To ensure comments are recorded properly, state your name clearly. Individual comments will be limited to 3 minutes to ensure maximum participation during the 15minute timeline allotted for this item. Public comments may also be submitted online at oak harbor.gov/public comment at least two business days in advance of an advisory board meeting. Do we have any online comments that were submitted? And we have no public here today to make a comment. So, we'll move on to item number three, which is our discussion, action, presentation, and reported items. And the first item um is by Mayor Ronnie Wright for roles and responsibilities of boards and commissions. Mayor.

Yeah. Yeah. Great. Thanks for having me here this evening. Um, so I think you guys are the last, or maybe not the last, been close to the last. Um, making my rounds is the new year. Um, we're already 4 months in. Wow, it's going fast. Um, where we're just kind of going over roles and responsibilities of the different boards and commissions as it relates to um, expectations um, and kind of going over all of the um, different types of like formation of what we are as a city. So strong mayor city um you can forward that Tim. Yeah thanks. Mayor council form of government where policy and administration are separated. Uh mayor elected at large to serve as the city's chief executive officer administrative authority including the power to veto um council legislative. So city council serves as a separate elected legislative body. All legislative and policym powers are vested in the city council. um ex uh exe official role council member assigned to advisory board or commission that would be Mr. Brian Stucky, council member Stucky who sits there. He provides communication between city council and the advisory board and the commission. He shares the insight to the advisory board as well as with all of you and then brings that perspective back to council um with what you guys discuss here. um specifically items that are are relating to development services or community development um roles around um annexations um the comp plan different things that are going on that um you guys play a heavy role in having input on or say in. Um, so you know, Brian would, um, Council Member Stucky would have a lot of, um, probably additional insight that we wouldn't necessarily know of because most people aren't watching the meetings. Um, so, um, he would bring that perspective as well as Stacy would bring that perspective to those meetings and then

share that. So, to make sure that your guys's voices were being heard, um, advisory boards and commissions, they advise the legislative bodies, city council on a wide range of policy issues. Some are designated by statute for a specific purpose such as planning, salary, and civil service commission. Others are authorized by statute. Um, local governing bodies can decide if they need to create boards or commissions. U membership may also be determined by statute and roles. Um, decision-making input by providing input, studying issues, plans, policies, making planning processes more inclusive, facilitating communication between elected officials and the community. So you guys represent the community and then you're bringing that forward here. So um a lot of times you know I even see some of you um participate in right blend conversations and you're bringing um your planning hats to those conversations and bringing thoughtful conversation and in and the perspective into those conversations and making those thoughtful in that way. So that's the purpose. um you should really look at yourselves as an extension of the administration of my administration um team. Um that's the way we view you. We appreciate your insight and your work and your dedication. We understand that you know this isn't a highly paid position that you guys are all serving in. Um so we appreciate the the time and the effort and the work that you guys are putting in. So um governance and the governing O Harbor Municipal Code. This is probably the one change that, you know, one of the things that I talked about with um Sabrina that kind of differs from other things bylaws reviewed annually and updated at council direction and policies. Um most things that govern all of the other boards and commissions is our Okar municipal municipal code. Um you guys are a little bit different in that you have the OAR municipal code as well as wax and RCWs that govern you. So um that's where you guys are a little bit unique and and

different from everyone else. um city staff is to provide you oversight and then you guys um are the liaison to receive and facilitate information, feedback, comments, requests and and funding. So you work collaboratively with the staff. The staff is doing the lion share of the work. um they should be bringing forward all of those ideas and then um you guys are bringing your perspective from the community point of view and then collaborating and then that's where we're um bringing forth those ideas to council and then those are the ideas in which we're ultimately taking action for. So um am I missing anything that you want to touch upon? just for reference for anybody if you're looking for where this information is coming from, it's from the MRSC, which is an available online resource for government entities.

Yeah. Um what she said, um public records, just be mindful that um public records, we have a public records officer here at the city. um the uh you can contact um that is also contacted for um public records requests and they include meeting minutes, videos, notes, emails, text messages, phone calls, etc. Um you are responsible to maintain and provide those things. Um even in your um meeting minutes here that you take um those could potentially be subject to part of a public records request. So just be mindful of that. Um, a lot of us utilize a journal book, um, where we just chronologically keep things. Um, I know, you know, I think I actually had a conversation with our public records officer the other day and she gave a lot of kudos to council member Saki. I think he's the one council member that actually screenshots things from his cell phone and then sends it to email, work email, and says he's going to move this to a a work email because it needs to be documented. And none of us like to have those things on our personal devices. So, we have to be really um diligent about making sure that those are memorialized on a city device. So, um you all went through the open public meetings act at one time or when you first started. Um I don't think is that an annual thing that they

every two years.

Every two years. So, every two years you're going to have to renew that. So, but um you all have to do that within I think 30 or 60 days of being selected for the commission. So, um, and then male, um, tracks that and knows that you guys have completed that and she maintains all of that. So, um, with that, that's just a quick overview of everything and then just opening it up for questions that you might have of us or this of anything that you might have. So, all right. I just want to say um one of the big changes that I think you've made since um you become mayor is by putting the on these different commissions putting a council member to sit in on our meetings. I think that has been a huge help. Um it gives us a perspective a little bit of what city council's thinking. Um and and of course then it by them sitting in our our commission meetings, it kind of helps them understand what we're discussing more than just looking at at our notes that we provide. So, thank you for for facilitating that.

And I appreciate that. And you know, you're lucky that um council member Stucky is one of the more involved um council members. He he um is at most of the events and he is very in tune to what's going on. So, you're you're fortunate in that way. We have we have some council members that have full-time jobs like council member Saki does, but they are more engrossed in those and they don't have as much time to devote to things. So, um, you're lucky in that he makes time and he is heavily involved and, um, so he puts a lot of work and effort into it and he he makes sure that he is a loud voice for you guys as well as the other things that he's working on on behalf of council. So, yeah, I appreciate that. So, council member,

maybe a little too loud at times, but that's okay. No. And one thing I always make sure to do is, you know, for a little while I was a little frustrated because often times having served on the planning commission myself at one time, a lot of times we'll go over something and the line is just simply and it was ran by the planning commission and there were no comments or anything like that. So I always try to advocate for the planning commission or whatever commission I'm on of getting some meat and potatoes to that. And I've talked to our planning director as well as you know when there's when there's good insightful feedback that that's brought to council, not just it was brought by the planning commission. and there are no objections cuz it's important that we bring your considerations as well cuz you're specialized in a certain area whereas council members are generalist looking at everything. So you guys dive into the nitty-gritty of this kind of stuff and it's it's great to be able to take that back. So appreciate what you guys do as well.

Yeah, I mean you guys it's a very unique and special service that you guys offer and we're lucky to have folks that are stepping forward into this role and and doing this and we're we're still looking for more help for you guys so that you have more bodies up there. So, um, but it's it's difficult to find people. Plus, not a lot of people want to come here and do this at this time of evening free of charge. So, um, so we're but we are working on it. We're actively looking for a couple more participants on on the commission. So, but we appreciate you and keep up the good work. So, thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, absolutely. And with I did have

All right. Uh, sorry I should have spoke up earlier. Uh, you know, we have a wealth of, uh, experience in the room from, you know, administrator Combmes and, uh, Mayor Wright and Council Member Stucky. Um, that I've seen probably a lot of, uh, people in this position. I was just wondering since everybody's here if anyone can comment on what what they've seen that works well like um council member Stucky just mentioned of potentially bringing you know you know actual comments up not just it was brought up to the board what they've seen work well as communication goes from this um up to the city council and what they've seen not work well if you know any insights you can provide to us to help work with you better is sort of what I'm getting at. I think one thing, not to speak on behalf of council member Saki, but I think one thing is having a clear idea of the recommendation or comments like he's talking about because sometimes what council will ask us is what did that commission or board say about this? And so it's helpful when we have an understanding of what your recommendation was as a committee towards an item so that we can share that. And then sometimes having the um additional information about what are some of the key points that we should be taking back to council uh so that we can share with them if there was a concern or an item that might have been brought up that we are looking into just so that it's clear for them. So that that's helpful to us.

Yeah. And I I would say that I think that you know well I don't think I'm I'm certain in this case that I mean there was a reason that I asked um Council Member Saki to be on this board. Um, I'm certain that if there were additional information that was needed to be included to bring that forward to council, he's going to make sure that he works with the director to button that up and then bring that forward so it's a complete package. One of the things that I'm trying to um get us out of the habit of doing is having five and 6 hour city council meetings. Um, and we're here until 11 or 12:00 at night. Um, and so we're bringing forth complete packages and of information to where it's already been vetted through either the commission process first and then the workshop and then at council it should just be a formality to be voting on it because we've already discussed it a few times. Um, and there shouldn't be any um, loose ends so to speak. There might be a few last minute questions that pop up, but for the most part, most of those things have already been vetted out. Um, and you know, that's the guy over there that's going to ask all the questions. So, yeah,

thank you for that. And I just want to say, uh, thank you, you know, for for being here tonight. Um, it's really great to to see, you know, city leadership here. Yeah.

Um, both yourself and administrator Combmes, it's really great to to have you here. Thanks. Yeah. I'd say too that this is this is this is my opinion. This is one of the most can be most difficult commissions to wrap your head around. I mean it it is when you're getting into the the nitty-gritty of the minutia of like codes and things like that. It can be more difficult than say something like the art commission or the parks commission. Not that there's anything wrong. So it's difficult to get people on here to stay interested to be honest. either you have a background in it or you you have an interest in it. Um, but having people that have some sort of knowledge or desire to do something like this and dive into the nitty-gritty, you ask one thing that could help. I I'm okay at taking notes and sometimes I'll look it back at meetings. But if you have some thoughts that maybe you think afterwards, sending in an email either to like Stacy or myself so it's like right there so I'm not botching the paraphrasing. If there's something you're passionate about would be helpful as well. And then we could either I don't know if we're able to include certain notes in a packet or or at least have it email so we can read it off. Um it does save a little bit besides just re-watching the meeting again. So that that would be helpful when you ask how can we help get that message to council and the decision makers. I'll definitely uh take advantage of that. I have no doubt that you will and you know what I'm okay with that because you know maybe I'll I'll push that maybe I'll steal some of those ideas. I mean, that's what we're here for is to share those ideas and you guys have some insightful ones. So, I appreciate that.

All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, no other discussion on roles and responsibilities of boards. We'll move on to our next item, which is the department report provided by our community development director, Stacy Pratcher. Stacy, stand. Thank you again, Mayor. Thank you. It's the uh presentation marked 2026 for Yep, that's it. Thank you.

Uh that's the PDF. There should be a presentation, a PowerPoint loaded in there.

Okay. Awesome. Thank you so much. All right. So, uh, thank you, uh, again, commission, council member. Thanks again to leadership being here this evening. Um, I did want to provide some updates to you because again, it's already almost the middle of April on the department's 2026 work program. Uh the department's 2026 work program similar to all the other departments work programs. Those are specific objectives that are assigned to the department by the city council and the council holds their annual workshop at the beginning of the year and that's when they help us develop our annual work programs. I'm providing this update to the planning commission uh for a couple of reasons. First, it's just to offer up some actionable uh actionable information on the city's land use and zoning initiatives. So in other words, where we are with comp plan and code updates, the things that directly affect the this body and then what's going to be happening next. And then I also want you to understand broadly the council's goals for us again. So rather uh like the mayor was saying, so you can use that information to help inform your own consideration when you're making advisory recommendations to city council. Wrong button. Right button. Okay, there you go. So, it's a little small, but it was also included um in advance of this meeting in your agenda packet on the second side. The department's work program this year, it's a balance of some public and internal facing tasks that we want to ac uh accomplish and that includes hiring some open positions, completing our periodic update of the comp plan. It also includes some capital project planning uh as well as permitting of those projects. Um I also want to do a plug at this time of the monthly reports that we provide to city council. All the departments do this. Now normally those reports are published in the first regular meeting agenda of the month of city council. So those reports provide

metrics on the department's daily service deliveries. So if these are sort of the year's big objectives and goals, big picture, the monthly reports that we're providing to council, if it's, you know, of interest for the commission, that's the daily service delivery information, number of permits, status of permits, revenue, um, amounts and projections, code enforcement cases, etc. So I would encourage you just to get again to get an idea of sort of where the department is at and how we're hitting some of those metrics. That's information that you can glean as well. All right, so quick presentation outline. Just want to give you an idea of where we are at our staffing levels, where we are with the comp plan, the projects that we're working on, some internal facing updates, and then we'll also do some development code updates as well. All right, so uh you've heard me uh talk about this before. I do have some good news. Uh with the help of Sabrina and our HR consultant, we are getting some forward momentum finally uh with hiring our code enforcement officer and our administrative assistant position. uh our permit coordinator position is going to be vacant uh for for quite a while at this at this time. So what that means is essentially the department is operating at a 50% reduction in in staff. So that means we are in triage mode as we have been for a while. So uh the interim HR consultant is helping us. We're prioritizing and redistributing tasks of our vacant roles. It is having an impact on timelines and workflow. So I want the commission to be uh aware of that. All right, for our comp plan, which is our which is also an item on our 2026 work plan um work plan update. So, you'll recall that at the last meeting of the planning commission that was held in February that there was a recommendation to forward to city council to ratify, i.e. approve the updates to the countywide planning policies. We're going to be forwarding that recommendation to city council for

the April 21st meeting. So, I would invite you if you would like to attend that. Uh, and again on April 28th, we will have our joint meeting with the city council and planning commission and that will be held with the city's consultant, Kimley Horn, and that will be to talk about the environmental impact statements. So, we'll get a refresh on the comp plan schedule. We're going to take a look at the growth alternatives that the consultant and staff have been looking at. And really the purpose of this meeting is to help ensure that the draft EIS when it's developed is going to reflect the land use zoning map and future code changes that the council and community want to see. I've put up that very broad very general timeline to take us through the end of the year for both the EIS DEIS and then eventually the issuance of the environmental impact statement and then also uh the finalization of the comp plan. Keep in mind it's not just goals and policies this year. We also need to have the planning commission plugged into working on development code updates. So, um it's going to be busy towards the end of the year. So, I'll talk a little bit more about those code updates near the end of the presentation. All right. We do also have a couple uh projects that the department is working on. Again, just to kind of let you know the kind of priorities that council has set for us this year. Uh when I came on as director, uh one of the things I I knew we would be working on was the waterfront uh the redevelopment of the waterfront downtown area. You recall in 2025 that the city adopted the vision to action plan and the vision to action plan for the waterfront downtown area has a chapter on implementation and implementation lists three broad tools that the city can use to envision redevelopment downtown. There's policy, there's programming, and there's capital improvements. So, uh, my department specializes in policy specifically, and so we are working with city leadership right now to look at some policy

options, uh, to realize and to work with council and get their guidance on, uh, what could be updates for the downtown area. Also want to let you know, of course, that uh, the windmill project that that is moving forward as well. The planning commission will recall in 2023 that the city council signed a professional services agreement with the Rotary and their subconsultant P&L to build this new parks capital facility within Wind Jammer Park. And so we are now uh working with the Rotary to uh work and make that a reality on the ground. So meetings are starting on that to kind of establish the establish the baseline if you will where it's going to go, what materials it's going to be made out, uh what it's going to be made out, what let me try that again. Oh my goodness. And what the design is going to look like. All right. Of course, there's always internal facing work to do. And so there there's a couple of initiatives I wanted to bring the uh commission's attention to. So one is the focus on our permitting software. A couple years ago, the city went from a paperbased program uh to a digital program. And we are working with our other department, specifically the finance department, on seeing if maybe switching to a different program that's already in use in the city may get us some further improvements uh specifically on the customer and public uh facing portion of that program. Uh so we are working uh with our folks and coordinating on that and that is called the Tyler ERP software. Um, I'm also really excited to share that we are taking a critical look at all of our standard operating procedures when it comes to permitting, organization, uh, right down to the letters that we issue in the department. And so there are free services offered by the state auditor and the state archivist to help us with exactly that um, with retention, organization, and also looking at uh, ways to clean up our processes. We have started those meetings with them and that has just been fantastic right from

the start. So, I'll be excited to share further updates on on that work. Of course, I mentioned the uh day uh those daily service deliveries and those monthly reports to city council. So, please take a look at those when you have a chance and you can see what we're sort of up to on the in the daily grind, so to speak. All right. So code development, there was a few um code updates that we identified through the 2026 work program and this will likely take us through I'd say the end of 2027 and of course some priorities may change or shift things may be added but what we're focused on for this year um of course uh I put it in the middle but probably the top one you can consider is titles 18 and 19. Those are our zoning and uh planning codes respectively and those are those missing middle housing updates. So those are the code updates that we need to do to actually implement the updates of the codes and policies to the comp plan. So we'll be starting work on those in the fall as the EIS growth alternative uh that council goes with starts to form up and we start to understand what uh future land use and zoning maps look like. We also need to do the critical areas updates. Uh the city's wetland chapter is pretty up to date, but ecology has issued updated guidance in the period in which you last updated that chapter and today's date. And so uh Dennis Leferv, who is our part-time senior planner, is working on that and we'll be presenting that. And then our building official is also working with our legal council to do updates to title 17, which is the building code, so that we are up to date with the international residential and building codes as well. So the reason we've identified these is uh the first obvious reason we want to be consistent with state law. So that's why they're on the docket for this year particularly with titles 18 and 19 and title 17 as well. Uh updates to all these codes are going to increase

housing variety the allowance for uh housing variety within the city. So, that's just a very brief update on the 2026 work program that we are working to fulfill for city council and for the community. At this time, I'd be happy to take any questions or things I can research or yeah, whatever you've got. I'll get my pen.

All right, council member. Uh, thank you. Uh, thank you for the presentation, Stacy. That was great. Um, my pleasure. Uh, I got a page of notes here. Um, uh, the first thing you mentioned the permit coordinator is going to stay vacant for quite a while and that's having impacts on timeline and workflow. Is it can we quantify that at all? Um, you know, is that how much is that delaying potentially permitting or impacting development?

Uh, we're working very hard to make sure it's not impacting our permit timelines. Uh we're doing that through through uh triage. So right now um that is triage between my position and the building officials position and then also my planner's position. We are divvying up uh the job duties accordingly payroll admin and etc going through me the building official taking over some of the onbudsman duties that the permit coordinator does and then general inquiries uh being sent over with the planner. So, I don't think we're seeing a lot of impacts as far as permit timelines or development being slowed down. I will say it is impacting um some of my own workflow timelines as well as some of the planners timelines.

Is that uh permit coordinator you said is going to be vacant for a while. Is that a is that a choice or is it because we don't have applicants that are applying for it or why is that going to remain vacant? So, she's currently on bereavement leave. Um, she's had a tragedy in her family. So, um, we're looking to potentially backfill or temporary fill the position with a temp position, our temp person as well. So, we're trying to see what's best to do in this situation. So, yeah. Okay. But that makes sense. I'm I'm sorry for her loss, but um, thank you very much for that clarification.

Thank you. Uh, that's that's great. um some things like that that I would if someone were watching this I' they probably want to hear we won't have our permits slowed down by this. So that's why I was hoping to bring that up. Um just as a general topic uh for some of the programs like for instance the windmill um what do you you know again we have the experts in the room. what kind of advice and oversight are we what would be good for us to play into those roles um for those programs? You know, for instance, would it be a good idea to to invite Rotary in here to present or you know, how can we get smart and help out with that process or do we not have a role in that?

Yeah, I appreciate that question. Uh the planning commission's role is to be a legislative advisory body to city council. Uh the windmill is a a project, a capital project. So its funding is through park CIP and then it will be through a series of permitting actions. So at this point there is not an advisory role for the planning commission to uh to play. It's a it's a permitting project, an administrative project. Uh but certainly the administration um the the code says it has such interesting language that all advisory bodies are creatures of the city council. And so, uh, I think the council can certainly decide if they would like for the city's consultant the Rotary to make a presentation, but, uh, according to the bylaws and, um, to the planning commission's prescribed rule, no, there is not an advisory role for the commission to play in the permitting of the windmill.

Great. And that, I think, leads into my followup there. Um, I can see how that particular project wouldn't have a lot of advisory, but potentially there's other I want to say uh, you know, crossover policy programs like for instance the missing middle housing. Um, you know, there's potential programs with like pre-approved plans can spur missing middle, that kind of stuff. Is that something that this body would, you know, get involved in or should think about? Mhm. Yeah, I think at a very appropriate time would be we can talk about that right now as it applies to when the uh code development is taking place. Uh pre-approved plans are definitely a tool in Commerce's housing toolbox whether we're talking about ADUs, for example, pre-approved uh pre-approved plans for ADUs, other types of homes. So, I think it's definitely within the uh planning commission's purview to be thinking about programmatic elements like that as we start to get into the code updates.

Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome.

I guess this is partly a question for administration as well, just because been on this one meeting and it's been a long time since I was on it before. I felt like in the past the idea has been much like council you bring items to this body and then you know we look them over and give our advice but is there a mechanism or is administration okay with if there is a commissioner too who feels passionate about discussing a certain item asking it to be placed on the agenda I mean you guys create the agenda but what's the mechanism for commissioners here to put something on the agenda that maybe they saw something in the Washington state code that passed this past year or something like that or Is that not something that we're looking that we'd like to invite?

I think with with all of the boards um advisory boards and commissions, one of the things we're just asking is is that you are aware that when you ask for those things that staff has the ability to say, you know what, we're happy to take some time look at that and potentially bring that back. But there does need to be some review by staff about where that connectivity is. And the other thing we're working on is, you know, which this board is really good at and staff is really good at is building that agenda version of the document so that you are seeing similarly what's going to be presented to council and agenda bill and allowing you know having a conversation about some of your recommendations or concerns in advance of that which then allows us to put that recommendation on there. Did I miss anything Stacy?

No, I think I I think that covers it very well. I think where Sabrina's going with that is it is the director's responsibility to evaluate when there's a request for a new work item to be evaluated on the agenda where that work item fits in with council's priorities and what we've been assigned and timelines we have. So that's just part of my responsibility and then to be able to convey that to the to the planning commission.

Let me rephrase it a different although I think we answer it. If I feel it's important for commissioners to feel empowered to bring topics up that they may want to discuss. I'm just making sure with administration that that's okay. Obviously takes staff time. Maybe it's something that hey that doesn't apply and it could be wrapped up an email, but I'm making sure we're okay with if there's someone here who wants to discuss a certain item on a future agenda that that's okay. Yes, we we get enough time.

We're okay with that. I just want to make sure there's an understanding of expectation levels that when we do that staff may say that may take a couple meetings and I'm saying this because we've had recent with some advisory bodies who have said well I thought we were going to talk about that right away right of way in the sense of the other priorities we have sure but that may mean you know 2 months 3 months 6 months just because of the timeline of other projects that are going on for example right now this department is really focused on the comp plan the EIS study and those elements so those are the key focus focuses that they're looking at. So, yes, we we do like to hear from the advisory boards. We like to hear some of your ideas and then staff likes to take those and just go through a process of vetting them out and bringing that back to you.

Any other comments? So, you mentioned that there would be a lot of um work on the comp plan and the and the um code updates towards the end of the year. Um and honestly, I'm mentally rolling up my sleeves already because I love that kind of stuff. Right. So, um you're on the right commission, right? Um so that that's why we recruited you.

Yes. Yes. Um that that complete nerding out aside, um will there be times for the planning commission to be meeting in more of a work session environment or are we only going to be going over those in our once a month planning me planning commission meetings? Mhm. Mhm. There are provisions in the code for the planning commission to hold more than one meeting um during the month, which certainly I can work with you if you would like to meet during uh more than once a month. Um maybe a little clarification on the phrase work session. How how do you envision that being different from a planning commission meeting? Well, considering we're not actually a decision-making body, it's a bit of a misnomer in the question, I admit. Um, but

not uh it it it feels like our regularly scheduled meetings are where we would get the presentation and make a final decision, our our official meeting as it were, right? Um and in an effort to not have um five and six hour meetings like the council has been right maybe um there would be another um special meeting where it's not as much about having this kind of setup but more about just really going over the information to get the more direct questions answered.

Sure. Sure. Well, in that case, what the code anticipates is we can certainly advertise and hold additional meetings for the planning commission. Certainly possible. We're happy to look at another setup in the room where you're not on the dis where uh we can do something a little more that maybe feels a little more casual. Um we would still go through um the meeting requirements, public comment. It'll be subject to OPMA, etc., etc. We can certainly call it more of a more of a workshop, but yeah, certainly the these meetings they don't always have to be about making decisions or be like planning commission, we need you to make a decision now. You know, nothing like that. So, yeah, happy to accommodate um a different setup if that's more comfortable for the planning commission for this body.

And I I wanted to interject also. I I'm aware that that's definitely going to be complicated for other commissioners work schedules and and I want to be completely sensitive to that. So I just want to put out there that I am very adaptable to what we can make happen certainly um to whatever the constraints are. All right. Thank you. Yeah. One of the things historically that we've done is we have had workshops um held earlier in the day that we weren't sitting up here. Okay. We kind of worked with the city council on things before and there's been opportunities for individual commissioners to

help out or be a part of different meetings where you can kind of hear the the nuts and bolts of it so much rather than just coming up here and hearing the presentation. You can you can certainly have opportunities to delve into that. And just just to interject there um to Stacy's point, we have other spaces we use where we can record the meeting. Um, we've set stuff up in here. You've seen different ways. The only thing I would ask is that we have a clear understanding as to which whether you want a workshop with council because that takes a little bit of scheduling. Um, or you're talking about doing a workshop just with the planning commission just so that staff is clear on what the request is. I was I was just saying, you know, since since I've been here, I've seen

different different mechanisms for us to be involved rather than just on our normal meeting. I wouldn't presume to insist or even demand that council meet with us. We are advising them. We are we we are here to help them. And so if they want to meet with us, that's that's their decision to make. Y

um on this topic, um it's occurred to me before that, um since I've been on here, there's been two cancelled meetings and one quorum missed. And when I was reading up on what I think and again I don't have it sitting in front of me the the the difference between a workshop and an official meeting is that uh public comment is and a quorum are available during a official meeting whereas a workshop you do not have to have quorum or public comment. So in those areas, it would have been nice to have had a workshop kind of setting to to do things and and then like the two cancelled meeting times. We we went we've been you know speaking to the very long meetings when we're we're given like review all of this.

Um it would have been great if we could have had workshop time to to work on many of those items as opposed to feast or famine, you know, cancelled meetings and then review these hundred policies and goals. So, I would totally back up the idea of of switching towards more of a workshop, especially if there's no decision-m um to get rid of any chance of a quorum being missed um and potentially open it up. However, we do need to make sure that we have opportunities obviously for for public, you know,

Right. Right. Right. Okay. Yeah, I'm happy to look into those those options to hold a workshop versus a meeting. I'm not sure if some of the Yeah, I'm not sure if some of the rules that surround that as far as OPMA, etc. I think council member Stucky knows where I'm going. So, this is the whole section in the rules and expectations about the bylaws and sometimes they come down from council. Sometimes this is where you guys are suggesting things to us and we are working through with council to make those updates. So, we do have a couple of commissions that have in their planning or their documentation that they'll have, you know, a workshop or um a formatted meeting a certain way. And so, those are some of the requirements that we can look at adding and work through. So, I totally agree with Stacy. And again, this is why we want to have these dialogues going forward because I think it's really important to talk about, you know, with the members of the what it is that you're looking to do and how we can work together better in the future. So these are really great ideas for us to look at as staff.

So but to have the information, do you think you need a workshop quarterly or like every other month or every month or how frequently do you think you need a workshop in addition to your meetings because they're going to need that information for the bylaw change. Uh I I would say just to to my suggestion like the the two canceled meetings and the the quorum shift I think it's basically continuing what we were doing in the gap gap areas that would have been a normally planned out on our schedule right so we have 12 meetings planned out throughout the year and so far three of those have been missed for one reason or another and those could have been used as workshop areas to to get that that was my suggestion but you know I'm not suggesting an extra meeting I'm saying that sometimes that could keep us moving when there were problems keeping us moving. That makes sense.

And and maybe Stacy, as we're working towards this, maybe it's also looking at um like you and I have been talking about this sort of strategic planning that we've been talking with mayor about, you know, this what are the action items that we're thinking about doing kind of how we do with council where we're planning a little bit ahead. Maybe it doesn't match up align perfectly, but these are the meetings that are coming up. So then you can also say, I'm just going to pick on EIS cuz it's easier. Yeah. Is a topic where I think we're going to want to do a workshop instead of a meeting just so that we can and when we say workshop, we're saying that from the perspective of a longer timeline that we're planning on having to review those documents. So, um I think that's that's definitely something that we can look at from both the document the bylaws that regulates the group and then also how we can plan for that.

Well, in the to Mr. Mayor's thing like, hey, how are you going to update the bylaws? We're going to have it quarterly, monthly, whatever. Um, could we could we put it in there put as as needed per workload? Because, you know, like uh the commissioner was saying, sometimes you'll get these packets that are like, you know, like they're they're they're really big and to get through it and to ask all the questions you need in a regular meeting, it would push the meeting out to where it's hours and hours. where if if we know that we have this big packet coming up, say, "Hey, maybe we can have a workshop so we can kind of discuss some of this so that we can refine our questions so that

we're not discovering this right during our normal meeting." It it sounds like you guys are looking for a flexibility in the language for the meeting time. Yes. Um and potentially the time limit around the meeting. Um, so what I will do is Stacy and I can work with um the attorneys and our staff that work on those revisions and just figure out a way to look at that language alternatively in a way that is more flexible for your needs. Flexibility. Great. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't Is a bylaw change required? I mean, I'm reading the bylaws right I'm reading the bylaws right now and it says advisory boards may meet informally in a work session or site visit to do planning, receive progress reports. I don't think a bylaw would a bylaw change actually be necessary

and council member I totally am just agreeing that I'm going to go back with staff and look at them. Um I I agree some of our bylaws are very specific. We meet like this with this plan and if this one is more flexible I think that's a great way to look at that but I want to make sure also that we make a notation that for future changes that this is something that this this commission is looking at is having um more flexibility in that work schedule.

And and I like the idea of workshop. Me personally, I kind of like when we're just sat like in the mayor's conference room cuz, you know, even though we're here and even though there's not a big audience, it it is a different environment. Yes, we have to be aware of OPMA. You know, it's not a bad idea if there's the webcam or something like that for for public involvement, but we do also have to be clear with what those workshops need to entail because we are taking up staff time, staff preparation. So, I love I like it. I like the more casual environment, the idea to just be able to talk as opposed to let's hit the button and be all formal, but we just have to be really clear when we're dealing with staff time of what it is that we want to discuss.

And and I appreciate that because that's something we talked with a recent commission about too where it was, well, we just want to be free flowing. And I said, yes, but I have to schedule time, space, and staffing. And so it does help. And there is a committee currently that still there's a couple that still meet in the conference room because of their setup, less community involvement. so they can sit and a lot of times too they're looking at documents. So I think that's definitely an option that we can look into and that's why we want to clarify all this so that we're setting up the right environment for what you're looking to do. So thank you. Any other any other comments to that? All right. Anything else for us?

No, I just want to say um thank you for being here this evening. Um, thank you for being frank with us about, you know, what you're looking for in the commission. This is so helpful to me, uh, being the new director here, making sure, uh, that we're edifying your time. Your time is precious. We appreciate you volunteering with us and being here on a Tuesday evening.

I just want to recognize also that um, we're at a unique time in uh, the decade. the planning planning commission does not always deal with the comprehensive plan and so that does make things a little bit more intense, a little bit more comprehensive as it were. So I I think that's worth recognizing also. Thank you. Much appreciated.

Uh just a comment on today's packet. I noticed that we weren't um approving the previous minutes, correct? Was I believe there I read something about a change to how minutes we're doing. Can you speak to that? Yeah, absolutely. Um because of the triage with the open positions right now, um we weren't able to get those minutes prepared for you in time for this agenda. So, it will get done, but it wasn't ready in time. So, it'll be a future approval item. Okay. Correct. Okay. with no more comments. Thank you very much for your your time, Stacy. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. Great to see you this evening.

All right. Our next item on our agenda is member comments. Um I know we've been talking a little bit. Does anybody have anything not related to that that they want to talk about? Nothing. All right. I just want to say um you know you can see our our commission here where there's three of us here, one absent and that's pretty much our whole commission. Um we have a few empty seats. If you know people or you know anybody in the community that would be interested, please let them be aware. I know we we post things especially for some of these positions. I saw a a city position on LinkedIn as I was pro bruising through it, but not not everybody sees that. that would be a good fit. You know, not everybody sits there and peruses LinkedIn or or listens to our our meetings. So, um if you know somebody in the community that would be interested or be a good fit, then certainly help them be aware.

And with that, oh, I was just going to say appreciate that plug. I think one of the first things I mentioned to Stacy is that this is something that we would like to build up. I I mean this is as I mentioned earlier this is kind of a historically difficult board to get people on because it could be overwhelming and keep people on because we have to have clear expectations of of what it is. So asking people who this may be of interest because you're right, seeing something online, it just gets but if you take the time to ask somebody, they're more likely to apply. But I know that's a passion of Stacy as well is making sure these seats are filled is you know I'm sure the mayor would love to have more appointments and have options to be able to add to here. And and as some of you know, that's how you ended up on this board because I was in a meeting with you or you mentioned something or you mentioned it to mayor and we said, "Hey, you know what?

If you love this stuff, we've got just the board for you." So, I I think it it is an important thing. It's sometimes when you're at those events and activities that you connect with people who have just as much a passion as you do about this. And a lot of times I've noticed people not saying a lot of times people use this as a stepping stone for counsel. I mean, I know at least myself, Council Member Marshall were on here, Councilwoman Beth Muns was on here beforehand. So, it it's definitely a good way to get your toe into city politics if that's something you're looking for in the future. So I I'll just I I have absolutely no desire for council

but uh but I will say that uh from a personal perspective it it has been good for me to be involved a little bit to you know relieve personal tensions. you know, when you see your, you know, the city you you live in and you participate in and you see, you know, the city leadership um act and are part of it, you it it it alleviates a lot of the the crazy ideas that are in your head if that helps, right? So, you know, please come on out. Um be a part of your city. Um you know, it it it will help you to understand what's possible. um as well as you know give yourself a chance to to get that input that everybody's dying to give out. So um since this member comments I I just wanted to input that um I've lived now in five different cities um in two states and two of those cities I did have interactions with the planning commission. Um I've never this is my first time sitting on the planning commission but in interacting with the planning commission in those two cities they were um very active. They were very full. They actually had to place strict limits on who could stay and how long and all that because uh you know especially the business owners were very keen to be able to influence the code and whatnot. Um and so they and they had to stipulate you know certain positions had to be for this expert in in this or something and so that you there was a lot of effort to maintain who could and who couldn't continue to be there. Um so my frame of reference for a planning commission meeting twice a week for two to three

hours and you know every session was both a meeting and a a workshop. And so it was much more heavy work. And the other one that I I'm thinking of what did actually have adjudicating authority. Um so that was very very different. But um it's it's different for me to see that and this is not the smallest city I've lived in. So for reference, but um I am also keen in getting more involvement from the community. Um, I think that people generally don't understand what goes in, what goes into making things like this happen. And, um, I would love to work with the city to help get that kind of information out there.

Thank you for that. I will share that with our communications officer, Maggie Aguilar. All right. Any other comments? None. Hearing none, our next schedule meeting date will be May 12th. 2026 at 6 p.m. Mate, what's that? Oh, the joint meeting on the 28th. What time was it? Yes. Yep. Yep. Uh, we will have a joint meeting between the plane and city council here in council chambers. April 28th.

Oh, I apologize that that wasn't on. Sorry, I was muted. April 28th at 1 p.m. joint meeting with the city council and we'll have Kimley Horn here to talk about the EIS and the growth alternatives that they've been working on with staff. All right. Thank you. And and that'll be a workshop meeting, correct? Not a Yeah. Yes. Thank you. That will be a city council workshop. And then our next scheduled planning commission meeting will be May 12th. All right. Do I have a motion for adjournment? A motion to uh adjourn the meeting. I will second.

Have a motion and a second. All in favor? I I. Meeting adjourned