The City Council opened the Tues., Mar. 2nd meeting with their discussion around approving or denying the rezone of the property owned by Habitat for Humanity from the current requirement of 10,800 sq. ft. to 7,500 sq. ft. With additional credits applied, the lots could be as small as 4,875 sq. ft.

Council member Mike Flowers was the first to speak. He began by saying that he wanted to keep the character of the town as Carnation grows. He mentioned that he “I do not want to become Duvall.” He went on to say that he does not feel that they have a good plan on how they are growing. He feels there is a lack of consistency with the size of homes and lot sizes that are in the same area.

Mr. Flowers brought some visual aids showing the area around the proposed rezone. It showed that the lots around the proposed rezone lot range from 18,000 to 26,000 sq. ft. with some in area up to 37,000 sq. ft. Thatis what was there when the homeowners in the area bought in the area. He feels that this dramatic disparity in lot sizes would significantly change the character of the area. He requested that the City does not move forward with the rezone.

Next Jim Berger spoke. He began by saying that he took a drive through the area. He said that he felt the overall impact to the area, especially since it is fenced on both the residential sides and is set aside from the surrounding neighborhood, is not very great. Sighting the spirit of the Growth Management Act and the Urban Growth Boundry, and the fact that a lot a couple of blocks down was split into two 6,000 sq. ft lots, he said he was inclined to vote for it.

Mayor Grumman stated she is inclined to support the rezone. She said her decision is influenced by the big picture of Carnation; their land use, their zoning and the towns’ character. She said that the historic character of the town is much smaller lots. She went on to say that she is also influenced by newer trends in sustainable building, development and urban design. There is an increased pressure to use less land. She ended by saying that she concerned about the issues raised by council member Flowers and the citizens that have spoke in opposition to the rezone. She hopes that she can work with the developers to make the impact as little as possible if development does proceed with the smaller lot sizes.

Council member Stuart Lisk was next up. He said that what it came down to for him was that he feels that as a city it is their responsibility to provide affordable housing. Based on this he said that he would vote to approve.

The vote was taken and was passed by a majority vote.

Interim City Manager, Ken Carter, spoke about a rule change the Army Corp of Engineers is proposing. Currently, 4” diameter trees that are on levies that the Corp has money vested in must be cut down. The Corp wants to change this regulation to 2” diameter trees. It also goes on to say that for each of these trees cut down, you must plant 4 more. If you do not have room to plant these 4 trees, you must go out and purchase property where you can plant these trees. The flood district has asked cities to write a letter to the Corp opposing this regulation. The council agreed to send a letter of opposition to the Army Corp of Engineers.

Interim City Manager Ken Carter said that he is working on a comprehensive amendment to the 2010 City Budget. Thatshould be done and available by the end of March. He also said that he would be meeting with a person from King County Parks and they will be working on a master plan for parks and trails. He told the Council that they will have a report and presentation by the two consultants who are doing the landfill reporting and monitoring at the next council meeting.

Collienne Becker of the Carnation Chamber of Commerce spoke about the signage in Carnation. She took a look around town and took pictures of signage. She found that there is no unison in respect to pointing the direction to businesses or points of interest. She indicated that the Carnation Chamber of Commerce would like to request that there be better and more consistent way finding signage in the city. Collienne also spoke about the sign ordinance. She indicated that the ordinance does not give an actual amount that businesses would contribute to way finding signage. Where the amount is to be indicated, the word “blank” is inserted. She also said that the term of the sign is also indicated by “blank.” She wanted to have that clarified. She also asked that the City let her know what businesses are eligible to have a way finding sign as that is not indicated in the ordinance. The Mayor wanted the Chamber to return to Council with a proposal detailing what the Chamber wanted in regards to signage.

The Council was up updated on the process of searching for a new Carnation City Manager position. They were told that there were currently about 40 applications in, which was a good number. The council agreed to extend the search a couple of weeks to close on March 21st to see if they could get some more qualified candidates to apply.

The Interim City Manager, Ken Carter, had staff look into the history of why a stop light at Entwistle and Tolt is needed. The staff looked at votes by the City Council and actions by the planning commission since 2005 relating to the issue of a signal. Per Ken, they all added up to the fact that this signal is justified and appropriate. The concern is that there is money available now through different agencies (PSRC, TIB and BIA), around $100,000, available now for this project that will disappear soon if not used. Ken said staff is looking for direction from the Council on this matter.

Mayor Grumman said that she personally is not fond of putting the light in. She said that when she was on the Planning Board they reviewed the Comprehensive Plan and they were not happy with the transportation part of it. She feels that in the past, the City Council has not been presented with information and contacts to evaluate the transportation plans properly. She feels that City Council needs to be more involved in the process.

Council member Fred Berswell said that the reason the Planning Board was not happy with the transportation plan in the Comprehensive Plan is that they had recommended a light at Commercial Street and Blanche initially, not at Entwistle. Fred said that he feels the left turn lane issue is a “Red Herring.” He feels that there will be no left hand turn lane as real estate would need to be purchased to ,if no parking was to be lost, widen the highway, and that won’t happen. Therefore, there would not be any parking lost for businesses as the highway would not be widened. He feels that Carnation should go ahead with the plan to put in the signal.

A concern brought up is that if a left hand turn lane is not put in, is that traffic may be backed up on Tolt Ave.