Planning Commission Minutes 2015 08 13

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes August 13, 2015 Page 12 of 22 impressed by the way LSAB led this project over the course of a number of years and was able to find a spot in the City that will work for this. It is an important thing to keep in mind. The City is going to be thoughtful about how it chooses places to take public land and not privatize it, but do something a little different with it than just leaving it open to all kinds of public use. I am impressed by the fact that this went through a number of different processes to help select this site. I am in support. O'Connell says based on the comments and feedback from people who have concerns on this, I would be in favor but I would like to consider some sort of condition about traffic and controlling. I think the painted crosswalks would be a really good thing at the very least. I would also like to hear other Commissioner comments about the possibility of a condition regarding trash or having a compost pile available so the concerns about litter can be allayed. Russell says I like the idea of community gardens. I travel all over the country. When I take the train into downtown Seattle from the airport, I pass multiple community gardens. It is a great means of food production but generally, I view it as a great expression of community value. I am supportive of it. I think if we create a central collection point for compost and trash, we are in fact creating the problem we are trying to avoid. I think the behavioral pressure within this community will address this problem, and if it doesn't, I have no doubt there will be people watching and will respond to it. I am conscious of the fact that even though it is meaningless land, we are converting public land to private use. We are essentially privatizing public realm, putting it in the hands of people who are producing food for their pleasure and their benefit. My only call to the community gardens and the community it forms there is to be good neighbors, reach out to those neighborhoods, to take care of that land, and be conscientious. I have never heard a story, in all of my time around planning events, of complaints coming out of community gardens. This group needs to work really hard to prove the community benefit beyond the personal pleasure that we all take in growing vegetables. We are imposing a traffic control condition on someone who can't really do it. But since this is the City, we can place that expectation. A crosswalk is the most feasible to execute. I don't know about a four-way stop. would be willing to include a condition that says no electronic devices and noise on the plot. Rice says whenever there is development, it is always one of my concerns that there be some ownership and accountability for whatever that development is. In the typical case where we have a private property owner who comes in and makes a proposal for development, we know who is accountable. When we come to something like this where we have a community use with many users, up to 45 different plots being used, it becomes a concern of mine that although we create development standards, those won't be met. Something like this can, no doubt, be beautiful but it can also become unruly if the community doesn't control itself. I am pleased with the idea that we have a garden association that ultimately becomes the accountable agency. I am comfortable with that. I think the development standards they have created are good. There have been a few suggestions tonight that we might add a few others. I am wondering about this business of adding trash receptacles if these are something we are trying to avoid. I think part of the unsightliness would be to have a bunch of trash cans lying around. I like the idea of "you take out what you bring in or whatever you create there". We wouldn't have to worry about accumulation. The other thing with trash barrels is that someone has to pick them up. I am sure there has not been any arrangement made for that. I would like to hear other PC thoughts on that, but I am concerned that trash barrels might create a problem we are trying to avoid. The second thought I have is that whenever we do something different and new like this, there will invariably be concerns about what is going to happen. As an attorney, we use the phrase "parade of horribles" and that is the way it becomes. I am used to it but am sensitive to it because this is a neighborhood where these folks live and they have a right to be concerned a potential "parade of horribles." On the other hand, because we are doing this as a SRU, my