 VOLUME XXI, ISSUE 3 MARCH 2008
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Viva Las Vegas! Does any other American city have such an effervescent slogan? I’ve been to Vienna, but not to Vegas, though I have pondered a visit ever since reading "Learning from Las Vegas." The preliminary program for this year’s American Planning Association conference (April 27 to May 1) was a real eye-opener for me and I’m very enthusiastic about the visit. A number of chapter members will be participating on panels at the conference this year, including John Owen, Rocky Piro, and Norm Abbott. A new APA Washington tradition, begun at last year’s conference in Philadelphia, will continue in Vegas. If you are attending the conference this year, I hope you will join us at a chapter-sponsored social gathering at a local eatery/watering hole (I understand they have just a few of those in LV). Thanks to Paula Reeves and Nancy Eklund for putting this together – I’ll have more details in April’s newsletter. A more official feature at every American Planning Association conference is a Delegate Assembly to consider major policy issues. This year’s Delegate Assembly will include formal action on APA’s policy guide on climate change. If you are planning to attend this year’s conference and are interested in being a delegate, please let me know by emailing me at jwtovar@comcast.net by Friday, March 14, 2008. Speaking of conferences, it’s not too early to put October 13-15 on your calendar for our Chapter annual conference - "Plan It for our Planet: Stewardship in the 21st Century." Our venue is the historic Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane. In my view, that downtown, with adjacent Riverfront Park, constitutes the most beautiful, interesting and walkable conference venue in the state. In early February, Joe Scorcio, Linda Bentley and I flew to Spokane for a conference planning meeting with Inland Empire Section members Heather Trautman, Chaz Bates, Latisha Hill, and Gideon Schreiber. We were joined telephonically by Sponsorship Chairman Todd Hall. This year we will be holding our conference in partnership with our colleagues from the new Idaho Chapter of American Planning Association, so I have been coordinating with their President, Tricia Nilsson. If you would like to propose a session for the conference, please download the "Call for Sessions" posted on the homepage of the Chapter’s website at www.washington-apa.org. It will be hard to top last year’s conference in Tacoma, but I think that Spokane ’08 might just do it. Climate change and sustainability are common themes of both the national and state conferences this year, as well as the focus of the recent Governor’s Climate Advisory Team preliminary report. The Chapter’s legislative committee drafted a comment letter to the Governor on the CAT report and received a letter in response. Both letters are posted on the Legislative Committee webpage. Many thanks to Keith Maw for his thorough review of the CAT report and assistance in drafting the letter to the Governor. As reported elsewhere in this issue, the chapter has actively supported legislation this session to add Climate Change to the GMA goals and has worked actively with other stakeholder groups and legislators to refine these proposals. Chapter Vice-President Scott Greenberg and I have given testimony this session in support of this legislation and I have indicated our chapter’s willingness to assist in post-session efforts to help Washington communities address this major public policy issue. I continue to be impressed by the volunteerism exhibited by chapter members. In response to an email announcement I sent to chapter members, I heard from a number of willing to serve as the APA Washington nominee to the State Bio-Diversity Council. I have forwarded the name of Ikuno Masterson to the Governor’s office and am awaiting official word of her appointment. Thanks to all who expressed interest. Likewise, I want to thank Nancy Bird who emailed me out of the blue to ask how she could be of service to the chapter. I gave her a number of ideas and contacts to chapter committee chairs. If this inspires you to volunteer, please email me. As Northwest icon Billy Quan might say "Be Like Nancy! Volunteer!" (If you missed the Billy Quan reference, try visit this link to YouTube.) Last, I want to say congratulations to the chapter’s Planning Official Development Officer, Ted Gage, for his recent retirement from Washington’s Department of Community Trade and Economic Development where he was responsible for coordinating the Short Course on Local Planning for many years. I look forward to Ted’s continuing involvement in chapter activities in his new role as Planning Director for the Samish Tribe in Anacortes. Thanks, Ted, for all your great work on the Short Course. Check back next month for more news about your chapter. 
FOCUS ON: SPOKANE VALLEY
This March, Spokane Valley will celebrate its 5th anniversary of incorporation. In those five years, the city has accomplished amazing things like adoption of their first Comprehensive Plan, adoption of a Uniform Development Code, and an overhaul of their permit process. But the most exciting project the City is working on is the Sprague/Appleway Revitalization Plan. The ambitious Plan will reinvent 10 miles of strip commercial, parking lots, some empty buildings, car dealerships, a vacant shopping center, ugly pole signs, all bordered by two major arterials. The Plan addresses 1000 acres which the city hopes to restore to a beautiful and vital area with a healthy economy that can serve as the City’s central spine. The Plan establishes residential boulevards, neighborhood centers, mixed use areas and an area specifically planned for car dealerships. In the center of the area is a planned city center-core. The core envisions a new library and City Hall with a retail and mixed use component. A central promenade will preside over an outdoor gathering space. Form based zoning is also a component of the Plan and will produce the design elements desired by the city. The future of the area is promising. The Library District has secured property in the core subject to passage of a bond measure this spring. The City is negotiating for the City Hall property and is starting to see interest from outside developers about developing housing near the core and mixed use within the core. The Draft Plan was developed Freedman Tung & Bottomley with contributions by ECONorthwest, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, Inc; and Studio Cascade. A series of public workshops helped develop the conceptual plan. The City has completed a series of public open houses to introduce the Draft to the community and will have a public hearing on the Plan in March. One of the controversies surrounding the Plan is whether the City will be willing to revert some of the one-way arterials to two-way streets with amenities. For more information on the Sprague/Appleway Revitalization Plan, contact Kathy McClung, Community Development Director, City of Spokane Valley at kmcclung@spokanevalley.org or 509-688-0030.
FISCAL FORECAST RELEASED
Released February 15, the state fiscal forecast had a substantial impact on many of the bills in the 2008 Legislature. The forecast indicated a $423 million shortfall and increased caseloads. This imperils the Governor’s hope to end this legislative session with a $1 billion surplus. Consequently, bills with fiscal impacts will receive additional scrutiny, and many will not survive it. Those bills with fiscal impacts include several of the bills addressing climate change. ESSB 6580, local solutions to climate change, has a fiscal note of several hundred thousand dollars, and E2SHB 2844, the urban forestry bill, has a fiscal note of over $1 million for the next biennium. Both bills are still moving through the process, together with E2SHB 2815, a Governor request bill that requires the reporting of carbon emissions and setting emissions goals. All these bills have substantial support, but tough budget choices may have to be made. If these bills are not funded, then their chance of passage is grim. Many of the bills related to housing have failed to pass their house of origin. Of the 26 bills on our housing bill tracking list, only 4 have survived the process. Fiscal concerns played a role in stopping many of these bills. During this session, APA Washington has repeatedly been asked to participate in bill negotiations and has supplied amendments to several high profile bills. Our participation has been most evident in the climate change bills, but we have also been asked to work on density issues and concurrency issues. Since many of these bills will end up as studies during the interim, APA Washington can expect to be very busy.
PENINSULA SECTION The Peninsula Section of the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association held its first Quarterly Planner’s Forum in Port Angeles on January 18. The meeting was well attended with representatives from all of the member jurisdictions (Mason, Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap County and their respective cities). The agenda included a presentation by our good friend Brad Collins, FAICP on current planning issues under consideration by the State Legislature. Heather Ballash of the State Dept. of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) and Skip Swenson of the Cascade Land Conservancy provided a summary of current efforts to develop a regional transfer of development rights (TDR) program. The program will implement the Growth Management Act (GMA) by helping slow the conversion of rural, forested and agricultural lands to non-rural or resource based uses. This program is focused on the central Puget Sound region and if successful should be adaptable to other areas throughout Washington State. If you are interested in more information on this program visit the CTED website or please contact Heather Ballash at HeatherB@cted.wa.gov. Holly Gadbaw, member of the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, updated the group on recent decisions by the Western Board, with a focus on noncompliance orders related to inadequate capital facilities planning. This topic was of special interest to the contingent from Mason County due to decisions by the Western Hearings Board invalidating the County’s non-municipal urban growth area (UGA) designation for Belfair based on inadequate sewer planning. The Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board found Kitsap County’s decision to expand UGAs noncompliant because the Board determined the County had not done an adequate job in explaining how these newly expanded UGAs would be served by sewer. The underlying question that remains to be answered by the Boards is exactly how specific does capital facilities planning need to be in support of expanding existing UGAs. Stay tuned – more to come on this issue at future forums! The Section’s next meeting is scheduled for April 18, in Port Orchard at the new Kitsap County Administration Building. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit this new County facility attending this meeting will provide a great opportunity to see a state of the art government building. Of course, as with beauty, the utility of this building is in the eye of the beholder, but having the benefit of a behind the scenes tour of the facility, I can say that I was impressed. How many buildings do we have experience with today that have the heating and cooling system built into the floor and controllable at almost every work station. How about lights that turn off and on automatically, and for that matter dim, depending on how much natural light is entering the building? While this may be fairly typical for those residing on the east side of the pond, for us here on the Peninsula, this is pretty cool stuff!
CHAPTER AICP EXAM STUDY SESSION – MARCH 22, 2008
The annual Chapter AICP exam study session will be offered on March 22, 2008. If you have signed up to take the exam in May, or are thinking about taking the exam in the future, you may want to attend this important session. The training session is led by AICP planners who are experts in the various major topic area covered in the exam, and recent successful AICP exam candidates will share study priorities and strategies. The study session will be held from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the South Seattle Community College Campus in West Seattle. Snacks and lunch are included in the $20 registration fee. Online registration is open until Wednesday, March 19, 2008. The spring AICP Exam will be held with a testing window of May 5-19, 2008. If you are considering taking the exam in November 2008, please check the American Planning Association website for more information on application deadlines. Other AICP/Certification Maintenance questions? Contact me at nancye@ci.puyallup.wa.us or 253/841-5462.
2008 APA/PAW JOINT AWARDS PROGRAM
For the past 22 years, The Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) and the Planning Association of Washington (PAW) have jointly sponsored the annual planning awards program. The goal of this program is to bring public attention and recognition to public and private sector planning efforts throughout Washington State. The program also recognizes student planning projects in university planning programs. Award categories have included:
The 2008 Joint Award Program Announcement will arrive via e-mail and U.S. mail in late April/early May. Please note that this is a change from what was previously announced in earlier issues of this newsletter. The deadline for submittals will be in mid-summer. The Award winners will be announced at the 2008 Washington Chapter APA Conference in Spokane in October. For more information on the 2008 Award program, please contact Bob Sokol, AICP at bobhsokol@earthlink.net.
BECOMING MORE PROACTIVE
At the end of the 2007 legislative session the Legislative Committee of APA Washington held its annual post session debriefing. At this meeting the committee formed a Proactive Subcommittee. The subcommittee was given the charge to develop a process by which the chapter could propose legislation. The idea of proposing legislation fits with the APA Washington's mission statement to "build an effective constituency for planning," and the Strategic Plan action on "advocating for good planning." The purpose of having an adopted process is not necessarily to begin proposing legislation. Rather, it is to provide a structure to work within when the chapter considers proposing legislation. For the last few months the subcommittee held many conference call meetings, researched other state APA chapters’ legislative efforts, and "test ran" legislation from the last session through a draft process. Now, the subcommittee believes the draft Process for Proposing Legislation is ready for review by the chapter’s members. After your review, we'll be seeking Board action at the end of March. Like all good planning documents, where the value correlates with the number of words and pages, the process document is long and detailed. The process includes criteria, a timeline, and steps by which APA Washington will determine whether to propose legislation or not. The graphic on the left gives an overview of the timeline and steps section of the process. The criteria portion is in the form of questions, and falls into four categories: (1) content of the proposal, (2) feasibility of running and passing the bill, (3) timeliness for running and passing the bill, and (4) perception from running the bill. In using the criteria, it is the task of the chapter members involved, including the chapter lobbyist, to answer the questions and assess their importance relative to one another. This will be no easy task. A companion document to the process will be a Bill Proposal Form, which can be used by any APA Washington member, and others, to submit ideas for bills to the chapter. The form will ask for information about the person proposing the idea (this is voluntary), information about the idea, and ask the person submitting the idea to answer a number of the criteria questions. Now that the Subcommittee has created this draft process:
Also, please don't send any proposals for legislation at this time. The time for proposing ideas will be later in the spring/early summer. After we get comments, we'll work through them and move towards a March 28, 2008 action by the chapter board of directors. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call at (206) 464 7549.
UW STUDENTS LEARN CONSULTING SKILLS
This winter the City of Arlington contracted with a team of four University of Washington urban planning graduate students led by planning consultant, Jill Sterrett, FAICP, to perform a "gateway study" of the city. The urban design project aims to strengthen Arlington’s identity at key entry points to the city, support economic development, and better understand and define how people perceive the city. The project is a continuation of an initiative Sterrett began in the fall of 2006 to support student involvement in real-world planning projects. Students are hired to work as part of a small consulting team closely directed by Sterrett. Running multiple, smaller scale projects throughout the year, the program supplements studio work, providing an alternative way to gain experience. Clients like Arlington benefit by receiving a high-level of service directed by a professional. Previous projects have included development of design guidelines for historic buildings in downtown Arlington and a study of Shoreline’s town center. At a February 13 public workshop in Arlington, the team presented a range of contextual photos of the area, and thematic maps providing additional background. The goal of the meeting was to elicit feedback from participants intimately familiar with the character of the city. The workshop began with a short initial program where Nicole Sanders led off providing an overview of Arlington’s position in the region and existing signage at approaches to the city. She was followed by Mike Pickford who presented details on Arlington’s context of rich natural resources, and the location of scenic approaches to the city. Tyler Benson gave a rundown of transportation activities, traffic volumes, and bicycle access, in addition to a sample of Arlington scenes. Sander Lazar finished with a map showing existing activity centers, and a sample of gateway signage used in other places. Following the program, the team administered surveys, and encouraged feedback and additional comments and information. After reviewing the information gathered at the workshop and debriefing with city officials, recommendations will be developed to establish formal gateways surrounding Arlington to strengthen the city’s own sense of place, as well as its identity for visitors and newcomers. The team will also be investigating wayfinding signs and interpretive signs for the city. Sterrett hopes to continue these types of projects. She feels students benefit from the opportunity to work in a small group on real world projects and take on more leadership in an environment parallel to a private consulting experience. The work is supported by the University of Washington’s Northwest Center for Livable Communities. For more information, contact Sterrett at jill.sterrett@gmail.com.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE The first meeting of the new Washington APA Communications Committee was held on February 22. The committee will initially be working on the website and newsletter redesigns, as well as how we can improve communication within and outside of Washington APA. The committee members are: Andrew Estep, staff
For more information on the committee or to join, please contact Chapter Vice-President Scott Greenberg, AICP at (206) 248-5519 or scottg@burienwa.gov. LAST CALL FOR POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT-ELECT As mentioned in the February newsletter, the Chapter’s Nominating Committee is looking for potential candidates to run for the position of President-elect for the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association. The position is a four-year commitment to the Chapter beginning in July 2008 as the successful candidate will serve on the Board for four years - one as President-elect; two as Chapter President; and a fourth year as Immediate Past President. This is a great opportunity for those who want to get directly involved in chapter activities and play a significant role in the direction the Chapter heads over the next several years. The deadline for nominations (including a statement of interest and photograph) is March 7. If you are interested or know someone who would be a good candidate, please contact one of the Nominating Committee members listed below:
MARCH CHAPTER BOARD MEETING All Chapter members are welcome to attend the quarterly meeting of the APA Washington Board of Directors Friday, March 28, from 1:00-5:00 pm at SeaTac City Hall, 4800 S 188th Street. The agenda has not been set as of our publication date. For more information, please contact Chapter President Joe Tovar, FAICP at jwtovar@comcast.net.
PORTLAND-VANCOUVER DOCUMENTARY FILMING STARTS
"When they asked me for the interview, I thought it would be someone with a camera. So I was surprised when two vans and five people showed up and filled up my hallway with equipment. Three hours later they left. They are interested in the fact that this is one metropolitan area that is divided by two very different state planning systems. They felt that I was the one person whose planning experience spans the Columbia River." The Northern Lights project, named "Making Sense of Place," is a three-part series. The documentary will look at planning in the Phoenix, Cincinnati and Portland-Vancouver metropolitan areas. It is scheduled to be aired nationally in the spring of 2009. Carson said, "My sense is that they picked these three cities because they represent the least planned to the most planned metropolitan areas in America."
TWO INSTITUTES TO STOP DEADLY WILDFIRE SCHEDULED Two Washington state communities – Spokane and Seattle – have been selected by the International Code Council to host a Wildland Urban Interface Institute in 2008. Eleven one-day institutes are being sponsored across the country. Each focuses on community planning and partnership strategies that can help stop deadly wildfire from occurring when the flames escape initial suppression, which nationally averages three percent of the time with increasingly costly results. "The devastating wildfires we’ve experienced in the last 10 years can only be stopped by careful community planning," said International Code Council CEO Rick Weiland. "Having the best emergency response possible is essential, but it’s what communities and residents do before the fires arrive that does the most good." Held in Spokane on March 10, 2008 and Seattle on October 23, the WUI Institutes will feature experts from the International Code Council discussing defensible space around structures and collaborative fire planning, and demonstrating GIS systems and integrated web-based planning processes. The Institute is for community planners, fire and building officials, resource managers, elected officials, developers, insurance agents, homeowners, and other stakeholders in preventing catastrophic wildfire. "Community leaders know that good preparation is key to wildfire prevention and mitigation," said Code Council President Steve Shapiro, "but many are overwhelmed by growth and change, on top of mandates and requests for plans and standards that often don’t relate to each other. Through the WUI Institutes, we want to help untangle that." To learn more or to register for a WUI Institute, visit iccsafe.org/training/WUI/ or call 1-888-ICC-SAFE (422-7233), ext. 33817. The registration fee, which includes lunch, is $150 for Code Council members and $175 for non-members. The International Code Council, a membership association dedicated to building safety and fire prevention, develops the codes used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Most U.S. cities, counties and states choose the International Codes, building safety codes developed by the International Code Council.
REMINDER Last year the board approved a new chapter-only group membership opportunity. This membership is available to planning commissions, city councils and commissions, tribal councils, and board members of non-profit organizations and other professional associations. Up to 10 members may be included in a group membership. The group rate is $150 and is administered by the chapter office. To obtain a group membership form or learn more about the benefits of this membership, contact Anna Nelson, AICP, Membership Committee chair, at (206) 382-9540 or anelson@GordonDerr.com.
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Have a project you want to highlight for planners across the state? An issue you think more planners need information on? Planning Northwest is always looking to highlight projects and research of our members. If you are interested in having an article published feel free to contact the editor. The deadline for the newsletter is the fifteenth of every month, preceding the publication month. Please submit all newsletter articles to newsletter@washington-apa.org. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northern Lights Production out of Boston is currently filming a documentary on urban planning in America for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). They spent several days in the Portland metropolitan area and crossed the Columbia River to interview Rich Carson at his home in rural Hockinson, Washington. Rich was previously a planner and manager for the Oregon Economic Development Department, Metro (the Portland regional government) and more recently Clark County, Washington. Northern Lights decided he was the one person to discuss and contrast state-mandated planning in Oregon and Washington.
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