04/20/15 Joint with Planning Commission

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4. APPROVE MINUTES 4.01: Approve Meeting Minutes Dated March 30,2015 Motion by Board Member Lewis and seconded by Board Member Bentz to approve the regular meeting minutes dated March 30, 2015. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Stodola, Board Member Lewis, Bentz, Bernard, Covart, Hiattt, and Valentine. Voting No:None. Absent: None 5. POLICY BOARD BUSINESS 5.01: Review of Environmental Policy Board's Statement of Purpose City Planner Anderson stated the one reason for the meeting tonight is to provide the Planning Commission with an update on the EPB's recently adopted Statement of Purpose. He stated that the Board worked with the City Council on their new Statement of Purpose. This was done in response to the need to determine the Board's relevance and to determine how they could better serve the City Council and the community. He stated that the biggest change is the Board is now actively participating in the review of land use applications for all major plats, site plans, variances for various overlay districts and Comprehensive Plan amendments. Their role will be to look at the natural resource aspect of projects and to provide feedback on storm water management. The Board will also be be participating in the Comprehensive Plan update. The Board will take the lead on environmental protection and natural resources management chapter of the Comprehensive Plan update. Their previous roles with education, looking at ordinances within the zoning code and seeing where there might be room for improvement will carry forward. City Planner Anderson stated that the EPB has been instrumental in the environmental protection ordinances that the City currently has and that getting them involved in the overview process closes the loop. He stated that the City Council will be looking at how the two Boards interact and see how their involvement in the City's land use application review benefits the Planning Commission and their review. He noted that the EPB has changed their regular meeting to the third Monday of the month because the Board did not want to interfere with the land use application process. They wanted the opportunity to get involved in the overall review without disrupting the process. Chairperson Stodola stated that the Board felt like they were floundering and needed guidance and more to do and that is how they got to the Statement of Purpose. City Planner Anderson stated that this organizational change was approved by the City Council on a trial basis for a year. After a year, they will look at memorializing the new organizational structure with a code amendment. Community Development Direction Gladhill stated that this meeting is at the request of the Planning Commission to better understand what types of land use applications the EBP would look at and ways to collaborate on the Comprehensive Plan. Planning Chairperson Levine stated that having the EPB involved is important because the Planning Commission looks at a lot of stuff. They try to look at environmental issues, but are Environmental Policy Board/April 20, 2015 Page 2 of 11