Tacoma City Council
Study Session
Noon, Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Room 16
Tacoma Municipal Building North
728 St. Helens

Growth Management policies
The first part of the City Council’s study session will cover the work of the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Growth Management Policy Board and the upcoming update of Vision 2020 – the region’s blueprint for managing growth. The Growth Management Policy Board has been working on issues associated with the 21 regional growth centers and the manufacturing/industrial centers. The work started with a February workshop that convened representatives from the 21 regional growth centers with members of the Growth Management Policy Board and Transportation Policy Board to discuss existing characteristics and future plans for the centers.

Tacoma City Council
Regular Meeting
5 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Council Chambers
Tacoma Municipal Building
747 Market St.

Small biz/apprenticeship programs
The second part of the study session will focus on two programs: Historically Underutilized Business and the Local Employment Apprenticeship Program. In December, the City Council asked that city staff explore ways to more closely coordinate the programs with other economic development initiatives. At the study session, Deputy City Manager James Walton and staff will share the results of their research and draft recommendations.

Speed limit reductions
“Slow down, you move too fast” might become an unofficial slogan for four streets in Tacoma. The City Council will vote on a proposal to reduce speed limits from 35 mph to 30 mph on: North 26th Street from Pearl Street to Narrows Drive ; South 74th Street from Tacoma Mall Boulevard to South Tacoma Way; and Narrows Drive from Jackson Avenue to North 37th Street. The ordinance also requests a speed reduction from 30 mph to 25 mph on North 37th Street from Proctor to Orchard streets. The council took public comment on the measure April 22.

Industrial zoning regulations
Over the last three years Tacoma has worked on updating and streamlining its zoning code. The City Council will vote on proposed changes to industrial zoning. Some of the recommendations include clarifying the language for landscaping requirements, renaming the current “M-3” Heavy Industrial District to “PMI” (Port Maritime Industrial), combining industrial uses into two broad categories and defining outdoor storage and vehicle storage in industrial areas. The Planning Commission’s original update recommendations to the council would have allowed research and development facilities and daycare centers in the PMI area. But council members have proposed a change to prohibit those uses, which would take up valuable industrial areas. The City Council hosted a public hearing on the zoning code changes April 8 and took additional public comment at the April 22 meeting.

Tax breaks for housing projects
The City Council will decide whether to grant 10-year property tax exemptions to each of three separate housing development proposals. First, Sun Ranch Partners LLC plans to build up to 32 new units of market-rate apartments at 245 Tacoma Ave. S. Vision One LLC has proposed two separate apartment/condo projects for the 1500 block of Tacoma and Fawcett avenues south. The council will take public comment and vote on each proposal separately.

This is an incomplete agenda. The Index prints as much as space allows.