Vancouver Planning Commission

0:00 Thank you very much. The Planning Commission is resuming its meeting following our break. The next item on our agenda is the Community Forum. Do we have a chance to speak at the Community Forum today? Yes, we do. Okay. Just some brief remarks prior to that. The Community Forum is held at each meeting of the Planning Commission. During the Community Forum, the public is invited to provide input on matters related to the Planning Commission's authority.

1:00 And responsibility for land use and development matters. Each speaker will be given three minutes to address the Commission, which I will help you keep track of time. Remarks should be directed to the Planning Commission as a body, not to individual members or staff, and focus on subjects within the Commission's advisory purview. Community members who wish to submit lengthy or detailed testimony are encouraged to email their comments to planningcommission at cityofvancouver.us. Please note that the Community Forum is held at each meeting of the Planning Commission as part of a public hearing. In the case of public hearings, individuals indicating they wish to testify on the public hearing item will be called upon during that portion of the agenda. We appreciate, welcome, and consider community input regarding land use policy. Please call the first person. Kimberly Elbin. Kimberly, are you on the phone?

1:59 I'm on the line. Okay. Do we have anyone else signed up to speak? No, that would be it. Okay. There being no one present for the Community Forum, the Community Forum is now closed. And that takes us into a public hearing on the updated Evergreen Public Schools Capital Facilities Plan. Thank you. Some remarks before we open. Thank you. This is a public hearing. Thank you, Chair Adeguame. This is Rebecca Kennedy, Deputy Director of the Community Development Department. Quick introductory remarks here. As the Planning Commission, I believe, is aware, we adopt by reference typically into our comprehensive plan school districts capital facilities plan, those capital facilities plans from the basis and the sort of rationale for a collection of impact fees, school impact fees specifically.

2:59 This is a little different one in that the school updated their plan, but we, in the middle of the comprehensive plan process, did not bring it forward. And so we're doing that now a little bit late. We currently have a moratorium in place on collecting impact fees because their CFP calls for reducing impact fees to zero. All of that is to say that this is slightly untypical in that we're bringing this throughout of cycle. But it is legal to do under GMA because it's part of the plan. So we're doing that now a little bit late. We currently have a moratorium in place on collecting impact fees because their CFP calls for reducing impact fees to zero. All of that is to say that this is slightly untypical in that we're bringing this throughout of cycle. But it is legal to do under GMA because the council will adopt it as part of a budget process. So slightly out of the ordinary, but pretty much the same thing in terms of they've got an updated CFP. It forms the basis for impact fee collection. We need to adopt it by reference into our comp plan, and then the council will review it as part of the budget process. So with that, I'll turn it over to Brian Snodgrass, principal planner in the community development department. Thank you. Good evening. Brian Snodgrass here. I'm Brian Snodgrass. I'm a principal planner in the community development department.

3:57 In this short presentation, we'll review the capital facilities plan adopted actually by the Evergreen School District Board and the associated impact fee change recommendation. With that, I'll turn it back to you for your questions, deliberation, and recommendation to the council. Impact fees, as Rebecca mentioned, are authorized to fund new or expanded capital facilities to serve new growth for the next six years. They're not authorized to... Fund non-capital expenses or maintenance and operation of capital expenses. They're collected from residential projects based on the direction provided within Vancouver Code, and in terms of school impact fee, we have four districts. Actually, there's a small portion of the Battleground School District, which also serves the city of Vancouver. The primary two are the Vancouver and Evergreen Schools.

4:57 And the subject of tonight is the Evergreen District recommendations and capital facilities plan. That was adopted back in June 2025. It included a recommendation for zero impact fees, and the materials before you, which include that capital facilities plan, do include a cover letter from Leanne Bremmer, attorney representing the school districts, who I think laid out the case. It's also on the capital facilities plan on the page listed here. It also talks about... I'm not sure if you've read the issue, the staff report before you provided a link to a recent Columbian article about the process under which the school, the Evergreen District is now, which is Evergreen Public Schools is their formal title, is undergoing regarding school consolidation. In terms of how does this relate to other school districts, the other districts, their plans are in midstream.

5:56 They were essentially 2022 through '28 plans. The issue of declining enrollment isn't obviously limited to the Evergreen District. It reflects some demographic changes, which I think exist elsewhere. As a relatively new... As an area that covers a relatively new district and a newer housing stock that's been built up over the past 10 and 20 years, particularly with quite a bit of development in East Vancouver, that district likely has built quite a bit of capacity during that time. Recent capacity that then has not necessarily had to be replaced and is adequate. So I think some of the older, particularly I would say the Vancouver district with a more mature housing stock has been in the school's business for quite a bit longer. And so you're seeing school facilities having to be replaced over time and not just in response to growth. The... This whole issue was reviewed by the Commission. I'm sorry.

6:56 It was reviewed by the Commission briefly on July 14th. And just to get the... To summarize and provide a sample motion for you, it's to amend the comprehensive plan to adopt by reference the Evergreen Public Schools 2026 through 2032 Capital Facilities Plan and their recommendation for zero impact fees at this timeframe based on the recommendations and findings in the staff report for the September 8th, 2026 Planning Commission hearing. So with that, I will... I'll turn it back to you in terms of next steps. City Council action is spent... Is anticipated on November 16th, as Rebecca mentioned, as part of a... To accompany the biennial budget process. And I think as also talked about in our work sessions today, and as you know, there's... There are other moving parts surrounding impact fees. Proportional impact fees in particular is an item to be addressed in the near future. Those are not likely to change the... At all likely to change.

7:56 They're likely to change the Evergreen fees, a proportional fee when they're of zero, essentially, would stay at zero. So with that, I'll turn it back to the Commission. Thank you. This is Chair DeClemmy. Before we go to my fellow Commissioners for some questions, just a couple of remarks. The role of the Planning Commission is to review and analyze proposed ordinances, comprehensive plan amendments, zoning changes, and other land use-related issues. We follow a public process. Including holding hearings during which the public has an opportunity to provide additional perspectives and information. In legislative matters, the role of the Commission is advisory. City Council will hold separate hearings, consider our recommendations, and make a final determination. The Planning Commission will conduct a hearing tonight and take public testimony. Community members may register online or submit a speaker request form in person. The Chair will call upon you during the public testimony portion of the hearing. If you are in person when you are called, please come to the microphone.

8:56 If you have joined remotely, you will be promoted to a panelist, and when you are called, unmute your phone or microphone. For all those testifying, please state your name for the record. If you are providing the formal recommendation of a neighborhood association or other group, tell us when the association voted on the matter, as well as how many people were for and against. We ask you to keep your remarks brief and to the point and direct them to the Planning Commission as a body, not the audience or staff. Please do not repeat testimony that has already been provided in print or verbally. As a reminder to my colleagues, please indicate to the Chair when you want to be recognized. At the conclusion of public testimony, the Commission will deliberate and make a recommendation to counsel. Would anyone on the Planning Commission like to disclose any conflicts of interest? Please show respect for the people testifying tonight, whether you agree with their comments or not. Based on the presentation that we have had, I would like to say that we are very grateful

9:55 to the Commission for their support.

9:56 I would like to thank the Commissioners for their support.

Topic	Confidence	Timestamp	Keywords
building_development	direct	3:06	zoning, Capital Facilities, comprehensive plan, capital facilities	View
building_development	direct	8:21	zoning, Capital Facilities, comprehensive plan, capital facilities	View
cross_cutting	cross_cutting	1:33	public testimony, public hearing	View
cross_cutting	cross_cutting	8:49	public testimony, public hearing	View

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