Hayden City Council 3/22 notes
HCC re-affirms Kerr zone map amendment denial; tattoo shop appeal denied
Summary
City Council lasted nearly four hours and included two long items - the public hearing for Kerr Zone Map Amendment request, and an appeal from Voltage Tattoos business owner Miranda Wise who asked for her tattoo business to be allowed in Hayden’s Central Business District.
Hayden City Council denied the re-zone of a property at Ramsey/Dakota with each present City Council member and the mayor speaking against it.
The Voltage Tattoo appeal was denied.
Read on for more detail.
Roll Call, Arbor Day & Consent Calendar
Council Members Ed DePriest, Roger Saterfiel, and Sandy White were present at this meeting. Roetter was absent.
Mayor Scott Forssell proclaimed May 18, 2023, as Arbor Day in the City of Hayden.
The consent calendar was approved 3-0. It contained many items: A through P.
Mayor condemns threat made to City Council Member
Statement from Mayor Scott Forssell regarding a threat made to a City Council member:
“Ladies and gentlemen, as a council, we welcome and expect respectful disagreement. When a citizen becomes involved in our local government, he or she does so because they feel passionate about various issues.
“Passionate ideas are welcome; threats, however, are not. As a city, we will deal with threats quickly and decisively.
“We will treat those who threaten anonymously with the contempt they deserve. To the coward who threatened our city council member and their home and family, you are not as anonymous as you might like to think you are.
“We will work with our law enforcement officials to identify you, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Our city has less than zero tolerance towards anyone who would threaten a council member or any member of our city staff, for that matter. Such threats endanger not only our City Council but the very principles of democracy that we all hold dear.
“Ladies and gentlemen here tonight, and those watching on the internet, your voice is welcome in our city government. However, we will not tolerate those whose idea of affecting change is to threaten or intimidate City officials.”
Kerr Zone Map Amendment denial re-affirmed by Council
After a fresh public hearing for the Kerr zone map amendment (ZMA) request, City Council re-affirmed their previous decision to deny the zone map amendment request.
The request, made on behalf of the Kerr family who owns the property, was to rezone approximately 6 acres of a parcel at the northeast corner of Ramsey/Dakota from Residential-Suburban to Mixed Residential in order to allow the development of single-family and twin-home residences.
Multiple citizens spoke out against the ZMA—most notably two members of the Fitzgerald family (Vern and his son Tristan). The Fitzgeralds have been residents of Hayden for multiple generations.
Multiple residents indicated they would not be opposed to development of the parcel in the existing zoning even if upgraded from Residential-Suburban to single-family residential.
Unfinished Business
Flame & Cork ordinance - approved 3-0
Zone Text Amendment ordinance (to add back the “neighborhood context” standard of approval): approved 3-0
Ramsey Road extension design: professional services agreement with David Evans and Associates - approved 3-0
Hayden/Ramsey Roundabout
An engineering services agreement with Welch Comer for the Hayden/Ramsey roundabout design phase was approved 2-1 with White dissenting. White raised concerns about the potential for a conflict of interest.
Welch Comer employee Melissa Cleveland has served as the Executive Director for the Hayden Urban Renewal Association since January 2023 (approved at the December 2022 meeting). The potential conflict of interest concern raised by White relates to Welch Comer providing services for HURA and the City of Hayden. City Council and HURA board member Matt Roetter has raised a similar concern in previous HURA board meetings.
During the last six months, HURA has been discussing potential expansion of the Hayden Urban Renewal District to include areas of W. Hayden Ave. The roundabout in question is in that area.
Voltage Tattoos appeal denied
Miranda Wise, the owner of Voltage Tattoos, gave a thorough explanation of the business, the circumstances concerning the review process, and how things got to the present state. City Council discussed and asked her several questions before deliberating and coming to a decision.
In the end, City Council chose to deny the Voltage Tattoos appeal without a stay. Because of this, Voltage Tattoos is out of compliance with City code due to their operation of an disallowed business type (“tattoo parlor”) for the Central Business District.
The vote to deny was 2-1 with Saterfiel and White overruling DePriest. DePriest and the Mayor had indicated support for allowing a stay so the business could appeal to change the zone text to allow tattoo parlors in the Central Business District (CBD).
City code allows tattoo parlors in commercial zoning, but an area of Government Way known as the CBD specifically prohibits businesses like tattoo parlors, laundromats, and massage parlors.
A large group of supporters came to the meeting to support Miranda Wise and Voltage Tattoos.
Administrator Report
City Administrator Brett Boyer gave a brief report. Multiple city council workshops are in the process of being scheduled including one for a park discussion and another with HURA for potential expansion of the Hayden Urban Renewal District.
City Council has control over urban renewal district expansion — HURA wants to expand the current district by 10% which would add about 72 acres.
A draft of the Citizen Survey has been put together and will be reviewed by City Council in the near future.
Wrap-up
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