HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-09-2023 - HEX Decision - Kennydale Gateway - Appendix A
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Appendix A
February 7, 2023 Hearing Transcript
Kennydale Gateway -- LUA22-000011
Note: This is a computer-generated transcript provided for informational purposes only. The
reader should not take this document as 100% accurate or take offense at errors created by the
limitations of the programming in transcribing speech. A recording of the hearing is available
on the City’s website should anyone need an accurate rendition of the hearing testimony.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, let's get started. My name is Phil Olbrechts. I'm your hearing examiner for this evening for the city
of Renton, and we are considering some applications for the Kennydale Gateway Project, a 385-unit
apartment complex, and the applications involved and what we are reviewing tonight are applications
for master site plan, hearing examiner site plan, shoreline substantial development permit, and a street
modification.
The hearing format will be, we'll start off with a presentation from staff Clark Close, a senior planner
with the city of Renton, will give us an overview of the project. He's the one that put together the staff
report for the project. And once he's finished, we'll then move on to the applicant team. They'll have an
opportunity to speak in support of their application if they want. Then after that we'll get to the most
important part of today's hearing, and that is hearing from the citizens out there.
This is my first night hearing for the city of Renton since I've been there since 2011. So this is a little
different for us, but there were some members of the public who wanted to have the opportunity to do
it at night, because people of course have to work during the day and staff was happy to accommodate
that. So a little different for us, but I think we can all handle thinking after six o'clock, that can be done.
Now, by state law I'm only allowed to consider evidence that's put into the record today and that
evidence will consist of tonight's testimony. And I'll probably have an informal transcript prepared, so I
can be sure to address all of your concerns and information that's presented.
And also staff gives me, as I mentioned, Mr. Close had put together a staff report and along with that
staff report he had a set of exhibits. At this point, I just want to put those into the record. And Mrs.
[inaudible 00:01:48], if you could give us the complete exhibit list that includes the staff PowerPoint and
that kind of thing, and maybe put that at full size. So I can't quite read it at that... Is there some way you
can share that? Maybe that's just the way I have the screen set up, but all right.
Okay. So the exhibits, there's quite a bit of them. I mean, we have the environmental review committee
report. This was a report prepared by city staffers who consider the environmental impacts of the
project to determine if an environmental impact statement needs to be done or whether that can be
avoided by what they call mitigated determination of non-significance. And staff determined that MDNS
mitigated determination on significance could be issued instead along with some mitigation measures to
avoid probable significant adverse impacts.
We have a bunch of reports that company, this project, including a geotechnical report to make sure
that even in the case of an earthquake, these buildings will remain stable. We have a transportation
impact analysis, we have a lighting schematic, we have a view assessment, we have architectured
schematic design, and image packages. We have of course, site plan for the project, and we have all of
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your citizen comments as well. They're in there too. And I did read all those in advance of the hearing.
And Jenny, maybe if you can scroll down, we have a total of... Is it 44 documents and is that including
the site plan, or excuse me, the PowerPoint presentation?
Ms. Cisneros:
Yes, 44 documents and then we also have the exhibits for the stock report.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right. So actually it's says...
Ms. Cisneros:
It's lengthy.
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah, it is. So we get up to 62 documents. And that is... Mrs. [inaudible 00:03:33], I believe that's
available on the city's website, right? If anyone needs to see...
Ms. Cisneros:
Yes. There is a link that I have here if anybody would like to look at that.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. So if anyone needs to see any of those documents, go ahead and click on that link. At this
point, I just want to ask if anyone has any objections to entry in all these documents and Mrs. [inaudible
00:03:48], does that include the City of Renton core maps and Mr. Close's PowerPoint presentation? Is
that in the list?
Ms. Cisneros:
That does not. No, that's the next page.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, okay. So 67...
Ms. Cisneros:
There was also a couple public comments that came after we sent this staff report.
Phil Olbrechts:
Have those been...
Ms. Cisneros:
And we'd also like to enter into the record as well.
Phil Olbrechts:
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Okay. And did those new public comments, have they been submitted to me as well in advance of the
hearing?
Ms. Cisneros:
No, they have not.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Yeah, I don't think I've seen those yet. All right. And has the applicant received a copy?
Ms. Cisneros:
I believe so, yes.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
Yes, we have.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. All right, so at this point I just want to ask if anyone has any objections to exhibits 1 through
67. And really the only basis... This is not the time to contest or dispute the content of those exhibits. It's
really just if you don't find the exhibits to be relevant to this proceeding or maybe they're inauthentic,
like there's a fake deed in there or something else. And if you disagree with the contents of those, you
can just talk about that when it's your turn to speak. So based on that, on authenticity or relevance or
something of that similar nature, does anyone have any objections to entry those documents in the
record? If you do, just hit the raise hand button at the bottom of your screen or if you're able to do it,
unmute yourself and say, "I object."
So I'll just entertain any objections, not seeing any. So I will go ahead and enter exhibits 1 through 67.
And again, Mrs. [inaudible 00:05:17], could you real quick show the link to the documents in case there
are people out there that might want to download some of those documents as we're going through the
presentation? So there it is. It's httpscutt.ly/x3p099w. So that'll get you to all the documents that we're
going to be talking about during the hearing today, or at least the ones that have been submitted so far.
Now, all testimony too, will be taken under oath and let's get started with the presentations, then we'll
move on to Mr. Close. Mr. Close, are you there?
Clark Close:
I am.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Let me swear you in. Just raise your right hand. Do you swear affirm to tell the truth, nothing but
the truth in this proceeding?
Clark Close:
Yes.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. Go ahead.
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Clark Close:
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Examiner. Let me go ahead and share my screen here. Make sure everybody can
see this. Are you able to see the slides?
Phil Olbrechts:
Yes.
Clark Close:
Okay. Perfect.
Phil Olbrechts:
Although, I will say that they're not taking up the whole screen for some reason. They're just in the
mode where your notes are actually shown. And there's the next slide that's coming up, is also shown,
and then we've got a bit... I'm just saying that because I think for people that are trying to see this on
their small computer screens, it's hard to see. Okay, now it's a little bigger. All right, that's better. Okay,
go ahead.
Clark Close:
Okay, so the notes are not showing but just the first slide.
Phil Olbrechts:
Right. Yeah. Now, it's down to that.
Clark Close:
Perfect. All right. Well good evening. Clark Close, Principal Planner in the current planning division here
at the city of Renton. Thanks for entering those exhibits into the record. And this constitutes staff
PowerPoint presentation, which I believe was exhibit 63. And that will be made available on the city's
website after today's public hearing. But specifically this is to satisfy the public hearing component for
master site plan, site plan review to construct three four-story apartment buildings and provide up to
385 residential units with approximately 1,500 square feet of retail space in the Kennydale community
planning area.
So tonight's PowerPoint presentation is set to go as follows. First, we'll start off with project location and
we'll move over to project background, project proposal, some of the process to date, talk about rent
municipal code analysis, followed by availability of public service and finish off with staff's
recommendation.
So the 7.76 [inaudible 00:08:11] parcel is close to triangular in shape. It is located at 4350, Lake
Washington, Boulevard North. The site is located approximately 250 feet from the eastern shore of Lake
Washington and is just north of May Creek and the City of May Creek Trail Park. The west property line
is located along Lake Washington, Boulevard North and the east property line is shared with the I405
limited access right away, southbound on [inaudible 00:08:40]. Some other notable development in the
area, was shown there in the aerial map, which includes Barbee Mill. That project or development began
construction about 16 years ago.
And then we also have the future [inaudible 00:08:55] property, which is just located north of Barbee
Mill, shown there on the map. And both of those development projects on the west side of Lake
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Washington Boulevard or to the west of the subject property here. And the aerial image on the right
also provides a zoom in perspective of the project site in relationship to the rest of the city of Renton. So
you can see there that it's really on the far north end of the city limits.
The site is commonly referred to as the former Pan Abode site once home to Pan Abode Cedar Homes,
where solid timber homes and post beam homes were once manufactured. The site is mostly
impervious surfaces, initially developed with five light industrial buildings in several smaller structures.
Three of the industrial buildings have since been demolished and most recently a warehouse and a silo
shack were approved for demolition in 2018 and the proposed Kennydale Gateway redevelopment
activity would remove the remaining buildings and their foundations. The site is currently being used by
Flatiron Lane Joint Venture, often referred to it as FLJV, as a temporary filled office, lay down yard, and
staging area for the construction equipment and materials for the I405, written to Bellevue Widening
and Express Toll Lanes project, under the tier two temporary use permit. That tier two temporary use
permit is identified as a LUA19-000318. And that tier two temporary use permit is set to expire on April
24th, 2025. So it was issued for five years.
Again, the applicant's requesting master site plan review hearing, examiner site plan review, shoreline
substantial development permit, as you mentioned that project has gone through the [inaudible
00:10:58] environmental review process. Here tonight, we're also requesting a street modification again
to construct 385 residential units and approximately 1,500 square feet of retail space, in three different
phases. The project site is located in the Kennydale community planning area and [inaudible 00:11:20]
has a comprehensive land use designation and is zoned commercial office residential. So one of the few
properties that has both the same zoning and land use designation, COR and is also within the Urban
Design District C overlay. Shoreline high intensity, May Creek Reach B designation, flood hazard areas
and seismic hazard areas are some critical areas that have also been mapped on this site.
In addition to the residential units, in commercial space, the applicant is also proposing five wraparound
at grade courtyards in a combination of 195 surface parking spaces and 180 ground level structured
parking spaces within the building. The big use development would be divided as I mentioned into three
phases. And here you would also have three four-story apartment buildings. Buildings one, two, and
three highlighted there in the exhibit two, with an approximate height of 54 feet. Each phase would
include the construction of one of three proposed buildings. Phase one would include the construction
of building two at the southwest corner of the site. Phase two would include the construction of building
one at the northern portion of the site. And phase three would include the construction of building
three at the southeastern corner of the site. Access to the proposed development would be from Lake
Washington Boulevard North at North 43rd Street via a roundabout, a second emergency vehicle access
from Lake Washington Boulevard North is located at the southwest corner of the site or south of the
existing stormwater detention area, shown here on the site plan.
Here are four 3D renderings that provide a visual representation with the proposed buildings from I405
Lake Washington Boulevard North and from the interior of the site. The top right image is showing
building one, looking northeast from the roundabout, showing the retail at the corner and the
residential units above and behind. The top left image provides a neighborhood contact showing Valley,
or the VMAC rather. Off the distance there, you've got Barbee Mill again, May Creek Trail and I405. And
from these renderings, one is able to visualize some of the proposed frontage improvements, entry
features, building articulation, roof profiles, material and color changes, open space, upper floor
balconies, landscaping and connection to public areas. The project does have to navigate some moving
parts along the Project Frontages, for example, [inaudible 00:14:18] is currently constructing major
improvements to the I405 corridor, between Renton and Bellevue.
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The project is commonly known as the I405 Renton and Bellevue Widening and Express Toll Lane
Project. It is not scheduled to be completed or open to traffic until the end of next year. Just a brief
description of the [inaudible 00:14:39] I405 work, includes adding one new express toll lane in each
direction to I405 for about nine miles beginning near SR 167 and continuing approximately one mile
north of Interstate 90. Rebuilding the I405 Northeast 44th Street interchanges, which is what you're
looking at here on the slide. Would relocate Northeast 44th Street, Lake Washington Boulevard North
pass under I405. This is often referred to as the flip. As a result of the flip grading would need to take
place from North 43rd Street through North 44th Street, which would lower the grade of Lake
Washington Boulevard North along the property frontage and it is estimated that right in and around
Seahawks Way, so just to the north here, that the roadway would be lowered by approximately five to
eight feet compared to the current overpass configuration.
As an impacted property to the I405 widening project, a sidewalk and slope easement agreement would
occur on the Western portion of the property. This is necessary in order to construct and maintain the
sidewalk-related improvements for the purpose of pathway available for public use. So again, can just
kind of working within the confines of the I405 widening project and making sure that those frontage
improvements work in conjunction with this project.
So now, I'm going to briefly summarize some of the processes to date. Starting out with an online video
conference, which was our standard neighborhood meeting for larger projects, this was facilitated by
the applicant and was held on July 14th, 2021 via a Zoom meeting similar to what we're doing now. And
several members of the public were able to attend the meeting and provide comments in questions to
the applicant. The land use application then was accepted for a review on January 11th, 2022 and
determined complete on January 13th, 2022. That information can be found in the exhibits as well. And
the project was placed on hold for additional information on February 14th, 2022 and taken off hold on
May 10th, 2022. The project was then placed back on hold for secondary review on June 17th, 2022 and
that was traffic or transportation related where we reached out for secondary review on the applicant's
TIA. We brought in the transpo group and then the project was ultimately taken off hold for a second
time on August 31st, 2022. And then notice of today's public hearing was published on January 26th,
2023.
Throughout the past year or so, staff has received over 20 public comments, as it was mentioned early
on, and those were typically in the form of emails. And staff also did receive agency comments from the
Duwamish tribe and the Department of Ecology. Those comments again can be founded in exhibits 26,
29, 31, 56, 60, 62 and a couple more that were entered in a little bit later on. I think those were 67 and
68. Briefly, those comments received were regarding historical and cultural elements, transportation,
parking, neighborhood community impacts, bicycle and pedestrian safety and the time of the public
hearing. Pursuant to the City of Renton's environmental ordinance and state environmental policy, on
September 26th, 2022, the Environmental Review Committee issued a determination of non-significance
mitigated for the project of the DNSM indicated or included eight mitigation measures.
A 14-day appeal period commenced on September 26th, and ended on October 10th. A notice of appeal
of threshold determination was filed on October 10th, 2022 by the owner of the property.
Subsequently, on October 28th, the applicant made a request to initially process the notice of appeal as
a reconsideration request. Following the reconsideration request on November 7th, 2022, the [inaudible
00:19:31] review committee reissued a determination of non-significance mitigated for the project and
since then no other appeals or reconsiderations of the threshold determination have been filed. Staff
did complete... Apologize for all those dates, but yes, those are were important and they did take quite a
bit of time to get through. But ultimately staff did complete the hearing examiner staff report about a
week ago today, which leads us to today's or tonight's public hearing.
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For the next few slides, I wanted to briefly highlight some of the items that were reviewed in much
greater detail, obviously within the hearing examiner's staff report. For example, the staff report
identifies six goals and 12 policies of the comprehensive plan that the proposal is compliant with. For
example, goal LI is to utilize multiple strategies to accommodate residential growth, including infill
development on vacant and underutilized land, establishing neighborhoods and multifamily areas. As a
result, the proposal is consistent with relevant comprehensive land use policies. The proposal has
demonstrated compliance with all relevant zoning regulations in design exchangers if all conditions of
approval are complied with and all, reference how many conditions staff is recommending in the last
slide. But the project or proposal complies with master plan, site plan review and critical areas,
regulations of all conditions of approval are complied with.
The proposal is demonstrated compliance with the Shoreline Substantial development permit
regulations. Again, if all conditions of approval are complied with and the proposal complies with street
modifications, if all conditions of approval are complied with and there are safe walking routes to the
school bus stop assigned by the Renton School District. And that would be at the intersection of Lake
Washington Boulevard North and North 43rd Street for all the students. So in other words, at the
roundabout, these proposed to be constructed by the applicant, so not far to walk for the bus stop. And
there's quite a few, as you can see from the side plan, quite a few sidewalks that would connect the
units to that proposed bus stop.
Moving forward here, police and fire prevention staff have indicated there's sufficient resources to
furnish services to the proposed development. Fire protection would be provided by Regional Fire
Authority and it is anticipated that the Renton school district can accommodate any additional students
generated by the proposal at the following schools. And I've identified those and the school district has
identified those as Hazelwood Elementary School, Risdon Middle School, and Hazen High School. Water
and Sewer service would be provided by the city of Renton.
The applicant submitted a preliminary technical information report prepared by Core Design
Incorporated, indicating that no flow control facility would be required or is being proposed for the
project. The applicant is proposing to use two [inaudible 00:23:04] water quality filters to provide the
required enhanced basic water quality treatment. The project would be subject to comply with the
current version of the city of Renton Surface Water Design Manual in impact schools, parks, traffic and
fire Service would be mitigated for above and beyond the CPA mitigation measures and the conditions
of approval via the payment of impact fees. Therefore, staff is recommending approval of the Kennydale
Gateway Master Site plan application subject to 33 conditions of approval. And those conditions are
included in the hearing examiner staff report. And with that I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. Thanks Mr. Close. Yeah, I have a few. As you know, I think a lot of the public comments
were voice and concerns from the Barbee Mills Homeowners Association and increase in trespass on
their native growth protection area and also apparently a trail that accesses the like in their community
as well. And I really appreciate all the responses you gave to all the public comments and all jurisdictions
do that and I think that really makes my job easier as well as it's really great for the public too. And your
response for the NGPA issue was that I think that code enforcement essentially can issue tickets, that
kind of stuff. I mean do you know what the penalties are for trespassing on NGPAs and has the code
enforcement ever really issued tickets for that kind of trespass?
Clark Close:
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Good question. I am not familiar with any kind of tickets that would be associated with that. However,
we do have a fairly robust code enforcement program and certainly that's kind of the head of the lead
should we receive any kind of complaints associated with impacts to the native growth protection area,
which were ultimately created in compliance with our Shoreline Master program in order to provide
access to the water as well as protect the critical areas that existed at the time.
Phil Olbrechts:
Well, and also I was kind of wondering, it's been a while since we had the Quendall Terminal hearing. Is
there going to be lake access up there? I'm kind of wondering if that'll maybe sort of siphon off some of
the pressure to use the lake access in Barbee mills, 'cause I know there's going to be a boardwalk
involved there. I can't recall if there's going to be a boat ramp or anything for the public to use, but
would that maybe reduce some of the pressure from the Barbee Mills community?
Clark Close:
Yeah, I would agree with that. The Quendall Terminals project, obviously lots of remediation going on
there, but certainly the entire shoreline was protected and would provide significant amount of public
access and availability that could offset some of the impacts that we're seeing at Barbee Mills.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Yeah, that'd be good. And then another thing that kind of occurred in the public comments was
about people didn't believe the traffic counts were accurate because they were done in the winter
months and there's the impression that there's a lot more traffic in the summer apparently, I guess
because of the parks in the area and that kind of thing. I mean, do you have any response to that? Was
there an adjustment made for that or is it maybe that the traffic engineers don't believe there's more
traffic in the summer? What's the response to that concern?
Clark Close:
Yeah, I've got our development engineer, Nate Janders.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Clark Close:
And we also have Transpo group available to spearhead any kind of questions, transportation related.
Phil Olbrechts:
So let's bring up [inaudible 00:26:54]. Okay. Mr. Janders, let me swear you in. You swear affirm and tell
the truth nothing but the truth in this proceeding?
Nate Janders:
I do.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. Yeah, if you can answer that question, that'd be great.
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Nate Janders:
Yeah. So we reviewed the transportation, excuse me, we reviewed the transportation reports that were
provided. We concurred with the data that was in there. The data does go towards the horizon year, and
so we do take into account background growth rates and apply a factor to those. So any differences
taken between actual counts at the time and future counts are also accommodated in those background
growth rates that we use.
Phil Olbrechts:
Does it take into account seasonal differences though? Because it doesn't seem like this is a growth
issue, it seems like this is simply, like I said, I don't know if the perception is accurate or not, but there
seems to be a perception that seasonally there's a lot more traffic than the summer months. And again,
I'm just speculating. I think maybe because of the lake access and that kind of thing.
Nate Janders:
Certainly there could be an element to that as part of it. However, we don't believe that there was
anything wrong with the data of was presented.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And also, I was just looking at the aerial photographs. Is there a bicycle trail on the other side of
Lake Washington Boulevard from the project or I couldn't tell if that was some minor access line or if
that's an actual separate trail.
Nate Janders:
There is. That's the Eastlink Trail corridor along there that stretches from Gene Coulon Park area all the
way up through Bellevue.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, Okay.
Nate Janders:
Utilize both pedestrian and bicyclists.
Phil Olbrechts:
And I take it there's no need for this project to improve that at all or anything because that's on the
other side of the street, is that correct?
Nate Janders:
That's correct.
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah. Yeah. And is there any bicycle plan or anything? I mean just to confirm for the record, that would
require bike lanes on the other side of the Lake Washington Boulevard or any of the other front yard
streets?
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Nate Janders:
The entirety of Lake Washington Boulevard does require bike lanes along it. The applicants only
responsible for their half of the street. There will be through the roundabout though street crossings to
make for both pedestrians and cyclists to access that trail of desired.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, I see. So there's going to be a bike trail on the project side of Lake Washington Boulevard, but there
are going to be access points across, is that how it works?
Nate Janders:
Correct. There's a five-foot bike lane along Lake Washington and then the sidewalk along here is also a
12-foot excuse path.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right. And then I think there's another standard where I had to say that it complied with any
applicable street plans for the area. Were there any street plans that specifically applied to this area that
needs to be complied with?
Nate Janders:
That was part of the modification and the modification is compliant with our master plan for the Lake
Washington Boulevard.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, okay. Great. Okay. Thank you Mr. Janders. Appreciate your help on this one. Thanks.
Nate Janders:
You're welcome.
Phil Olbrechts:
All right, let's go back to Mr. Close. The cultural resources report was a great report by the way, that
really went into some detailed history of usage of the area and I think there was at least a moderate risk
of cultural resources there. And I know there's a pretty good plan about what to do if human remains
are found, but I couldn't quite tell what happens if they find artifacts though, their cultural resources
report really didn't mention that. I know there's going to be some archeological monitoring, but what if
they do discover artifacts that aren't human remains? Is there a regulation that requires that the project
stop at that point or what would happen?
Clark Close:
There is, yeah. So as part of the CP mitigation measure, in his response to the tribes department of
ecology, if the applicant does find cultural or human resources that they would have professional staff
onsite during excavation and the project would stop and follow the typical procedures for discovery.
Phil Olbrechts:
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And then I took a close look at the view analysis, the viewpoint analysis views of the shoreline, that kind
of thing. And I didn't really see any photographs on the north end. I mean, right now there's a row of
trees basically that separates the project site from I405 and cars going up and down 405 probably can't
see much anyway, but it didn't look like there were a lot of trees on the north end. And right now there
doesn't appear to be much development on the north end. And we're talking about putting one of the
buildings there. Wouldn't that block some of the shoreline views ultimately, or not?
Clark Close:
On the north end of the project or [inaudible 00:31:30]?
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah, north end of the project site. Yeah, there's going to be... One of the three buildings is going to be
built right there. And like I said, right now it looks like there's a clear shot to Lake Washington if you're
driving down 405 or to... It's hard to tell.
Clark Close:
Yeah. So we anticipate that the roadway i.e. Lake Washington Boulevard North would drop in elevation.
The limited access right away for WSDOT property does extend. So there's about a half acre on the
north side that does contain a few trees, but not a ton as well as an access point for the existing
development. But we do not anticipate that the project would have any negative impacts on Fuse to the
North.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Clark Close:
And then I believe Quendall Terminals was also planned in such a way that this project would have views
to the west kind of through some building corridors as well.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And just to confirm for the record, is there an [inaudible 00:32:30] recharge area in this part of the
city?
Clark Close:
Off the top of my head, I don't believe so. No.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And then also in reading the geotech report, the city's critical areas ordinance requires that you
prepare a geotech report so they can reach the conclusion that the... Let's see, that the development
can be safely accommodated on the site and that the development won't adversely affect any adjoining
properties by destabilizing the soils of that kind of thing. I didn't see that report made any of those
conclusions. I don't know, is there somebody maybe that can confirm that based on the geotech report
that staff has found that the proposal can be safely built on the site and not adversely affected joining
properties?
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Clark Close:
I can let Nate comment on that.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Clark Close:
If he wants to. And then also certainly the applicant.
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah, maybe the applicant can address that too. But Mr. Janders, did you review the geotech report?
Like I said, it just didn't really make the conclusions that are required in the critical areas report and it
would've been nice just to see that put in writing someplace.
Nate Janders:
We did take a look at that report. I would also defer to the applicant for stability of the structure.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Okay. We'll do that then. Yeah, if the applicant, of course you're listening to this line of
questioning, if you have somebody that can answer that question, that'd be good. Just so that I have
that in the record. Also, Mr. Close, in terms of offsite privacy impacts, I mean, will any of these buildings
have line of sight into the homes over at Barbee Mills? Is somebody on the fifth floor or fourth floor of
these apartment buildings going to be looking into the back windows of somebody's home on the
adjoining Barbee mills development?
Clark Close:
I want to say it's over a hundred feet from the closest building to the closest residential property on
west of Lake Washington Boulevard. We also have the trail, the King County property that includes the
trail that has significant width and vegetation within it. So the short answer would be, I am not
[inaudible 00:34:41] negative impacts.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right. And then you mentioned this is going to be built in phases and whenever I see a phase
project, I'm always concerned what if they stop building after the first phase? Will they be short on open
space, that kind of thing? I mean, has staff looked at it from that perspective to ensure that if they
stopped, they don't complete all the phases that wherever they stop they'll be adequate open space and
everything else?
Clark Close:
Yes. Staff is recommending is a condition of approval that we get a detailed phasing plan, which would
identify when the buildings would be constructed and so forth.
Phil Olbrechts:
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Okay. Let's see. And then, yeah, this is kind of a minor matter. One of the criteria, the storage areas are
properly screened and separated. How are the storage areas going to be incorporated into the project
here? Or are there storage areas even?
Clark Close:
There are storage, like bike storage for example, or trash enclosures. Those would be within the confines
of the building, so underneath the structure or within it.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Okay. Great. Perfect. Okay. I think, yeah, that's all I've got so far. Thanks for your clarification. Let's
move on to the applicant team right now. Who wants to speak on behalf of the applicant?
Alicia Stedman:
Hi, my name's Alicia Stedman and I'll be speaking on behalf of applicant.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Let me swear you in. Ms. Stedman. Do you swear affirm to tell the truth, nothing but the truth in
this proceeding?
Alicia Stedman:
I do.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And your last name is spelled S T E D M A N, is that correct?
Alicia Stedman:
That's correct, yes.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. Go ahead.
Alicia Stedman:
Hi, my name is Alicia Stedman and I'm development manager on the Kennydale Gateway Project for
Vulcan Real Estate. I've been working with Clark Close and the city of Renton on the design for this
master development plan since 2019, several years of work we put into this project. Our team is very
excited to get to this point. Today we have the full design team on the call to help answer any questions
that may come up from Vulcan. We have Brandon Morgan, Corinda Harris and Ian Warner. We have our
civil engineers with Core Design, Matt Steffenson and Lake Vinson. We have Laura Langley with Berger
Landscape Design. Our traffic consultant is Marni Hefron. And on the calls our [inaudible 00:36:58]
attorney Holly Golden with HCMP.
The full design of this project has been the hands of our architect, Gloria [inaudible 00:37:08] and John
[inaudible 00:37:09] with HLR Architects. We'll actually keep our presentation really brief as we've done
extensive work with the city to get to this point. And in regards to the staff report, we are agreeing to all
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the conditions of approval and have no objections to move this project forward. At this point, I'm going
to turn it over to Lori to give a little bit more detail and background on our project design.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
Hello, I'm Lori Obeyesbkere with HLR Architects.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Let me swear you in. You swear affirm to tell the truth, nothing but the truth in this proceeding?
Lori Obeyesbkere:
I swear.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And just to get your spelling right for the transcript, is that O B E Y E S...
Lori Obeyesbkere:
B K E R E [inaudible 00:37:56].
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. Perfect. All right, thank you. All right, go ahead.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
Thank you. Thank you, Alicia, for the introduction. As Alicia mentioned, the team agrees with the
characterization outlined in the staff report. I'd like to just briefly touch on some details of the project
related to design intent. I actually have a couple images. Would it be possible for me to share my
screen?
Phil Olbrechts:
Mrs. [inaudible 00:38:19], can you enable her to do that? Mrs. [inaudible 00:38:27], are you there? So
you can't... Oh, there you go.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
There we go.
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah, you're there. Okay, good.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
Great. So this is a vicinity map just to touch back on our location. As Clark had gone into detail about, we
are just north of the May Creek Trail at the intersection of Lake Washington Boulevard North and I405 to
the east of our site is the single family development. This location offers a dynamic link of everyday life
to nature and territorial abuse. The connectivity of this site is prevalent throughout our design. The
layout of the buildings is organized around interior courtyards and the landscaping reinforces that
proximity to the May Creek Trail. We use neutral materials to ground the project while pops of color
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evoke urban design. The scale of the project maintains the surrounding neighborhood aesthetic and
responds to the adjacent or development that is the long I405.
Moving to the next image using the proposed roundabout along Lake Washington Boulevard as an
identifiable entrance into the site, the main amenities in retail for the project are proposed here. A
pedestrian friendly entrance with open spaces and covered plaza activate the site while clearly
delineated pathways and recess covered entries help to define pedestrian areas and engaged tenants
throughout the project. Sufficient parking and services will be provided throughout the site, hidden by
the buildings and substantially landscaped. The proposed apartments are studio, one bedroom and two
bedroom configurations with an average size of 800 square feet. Prominent building features include
but are not limited to private residential balconies, delineated roof features and modulation and
interest along the facades and durable varied materials. With the incorporation of significant
landscaping, pedestrian friendly features, and a building design that responds to the surrounding area,
the project intends to create a positive community and an environment that activates the site and
connects to the people that live there. And that's the introduction to our design intent. Thank you.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, great. Thank you. All right, anything else from the applicants?
Alicia Stedman:
That's everything.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Do you have the geotech? Maybe you can answer my question about...
Lori Obeyesbkere:
I can respond to that.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, sure.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
Yeah. So as far as the building impact to the structural soils, everything about the building is proposed
above grade. So there will be minimal to no impact on the structural soils as well as with everything
being above grade, there will be minimal digging and refill along the soils.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Lori Obeyesbkere:
So we don't see a whole lot of impact there.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Perfect. All right. Thank you. All right. Well, I guess we are finally done with the opening
presentations and we can now move on to public comments. And at this point, I'm going to look at the
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attendee list. If any of you want to say something at this point, raise your virtual hand, click on the thing
at the bottom there. And I see we have Lawrence Reymann. Who wants to speak first? Mr. Raymond,
let's see. Can you say something so we know you're on? Are you there, Mr. Raymond?
Lawrence Reymann:
There we go. I was looking to unmute myself.
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah, that's the most challenging part. So let me swear you in. Just raise your right hand. Do you swear
affirm, tell the truth, nothing but the truth in this proceeding?
Lawrence Reymann:
Absolutely. Yes, sir.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And your last name is spelled R-E-Y-M-A-N, is that correct?
Lawrence Reymann:
Two Ns.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, all right. Sorry about that. Two N's at the end. Right.
Lawrence Reymann:
My father liked to say the second N is silent as the P in swimming.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's pretty silent. And Mr. Reymann, did you want to get a copy of the decision?
If you do, we'll need your email address or mailing address, whichever way you prefer to get that.
Lawrence Reymann:
I believe Jennifer has all that information.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right. Good. Great. And go ahead. [inaudible 00:42:44].
Lawrence Reymann:
Yes. No, I appreciate the opportunity to talk and I think this thing can enrich our neighborhood. I'm very
involved in the environmental movement and on the board with the Environmental Science Center. I
would love to see this development connect to the heritage that May Creek involves environmentally
and in particular, the salmon runs. I've been counting salmon in that creek for almost 30 years. The runs
are hanging on by a thread, but when you see the fish in that creek, you are a believer. So I would love
to connect this development to that natural area. I would love to see the First Nations who lived there
for centuries before we got here, recognized and their language, the name of the creek in [inaudible
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00:43:44] was a drying out place. It was a summer camp of the Duwamish people. And there's a great
history with an amazing woman pioneer, Clarissa Coleman, who homesteaded that area.
Her husband was murdered traveling across the lake to testifying a trial. They found him and a 14-year-
old boy in the south end of Mercer Island. And she never married again, made a living selling butter with
dairy cattle to the miners in New Castle, and quite an amazing woman, pioneer. So the history there is
rich, the environment is rich. And I think the more that this development recognizes that and respects
that, the greater the contribution it can make to the community, anything that they're interested in
doing with education, which is what the Environmental Science Center does. We're located in Liberty
Park and we do a Salmon Heroes program, and we would love to connect with the people who live there
and the people who are building it. I know that Vulcan has had some strong connections with the
environment, and I would love to build on that and make this place a home to the heritage that the
people here represent. So thank you for the opportunity to say that.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, thanks Mr. Reymann. And yeah, as I mentioned before, the cultural resources report that was
prepared for this, and that's at the length that Mrs. [inaudible 00:45:27] provided, provides a really
detailed, and frankly, I thought a very interesting history of the project site. I think that people
interested in the history of that area, that's a great resource to see exactly what's happened over the
last few hundred years actually at the project site. So, all right, let's move on to the next speaker. And
that's KD. Ms. D, your name just appears as D, do you want to say something so we know you're on
tape?
Kai Dalton:
Yes, I'm Kai Dalton.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, Kai Dalton. Okay. How do you spell your last name, Mr. Dalton?
Kai Dalton:
D A L T O N.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, let me swear you in. Do you swear affirm to tell the truth, nothing but the truth in this
proceeding?
Kai Dalton:
I do.
Phil Olbrechts:
And does Ms. [inaudible 00:46:06] already have your email address or...
Kai Dalton:
Clark should at least...
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Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, okay. All right, then you're said. Okay, go ahead.
Kai Dalton:
I am kai Dalton. I'm a board member at the New Castle Historical Society. I also happen to live upstream
on May Creek, Jeff, I think that was, touched a bit on the history here, but I have been actually the
person within the New Castle Historical Society researching May Creek. So I've done quite a bit of work
and upstream in May Valley as well. I'd like to start with the fact that this is, as previously mentioned, a
very, very, very rich area in history. It's very unique to me. And of course May Creek has a special place
in my heart because living here and interacting with the environment is something very special for me.
But there's a lot more to it than as is public knowledge or that gets sent into public comments and
reports and was published, which by the way, the CRA was very, very good read. I appreciate the work
that was done there.
So first of all, I'm going to go back to the very beginning here. The Lake Duwamish moved into the Lake
Washington area about 10 to 12,000 years ago. I don't know if any exact date is known for this particular
site as far... I've talked to the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation, and I did not hear
anything about that, but maybe someone out there knows. But the point is they move in, they settle all
over Lake Washington and for 10 to 12,000 years, they have zero contact with any other group other
than regional tribes. And of course, you have the Yakima coming over the past and trade and war and all
sorts of things going on. And then in 1855, the Treaty of Point Elliot assigned, and that takes away a
bunch of land and grants all these different tribes reservations in exchange.
The Duwamish tribe did not receive such a reservation, and today they are not federally recognized,
although there are descendants of the tribe in federally recognized tribes. Going a little bit past that,
once you have the 1850s passed by and you get into the 1860s, a lot of important things start happening
in the Seattle area. Coal is discovered in New Castle, which jump starts industry on the east side,
particularly near is [inaudible 00:48:33] New Castle kind of became tied in communities there. Renton,
of course, had coal discovered in the 1850s. You had early sellers like Tobin and Smith, and you had a lot
of interaction between people at that time. And it's important to note that a lot of the homesteading
that went on did not happen until the 1870s, because before it was kind of less legal and you couldn't
have large claims that came about 160 acre to 240.
But the first person to settle here, and as the current Creek's namesake, was Mr. May. Unfortunately, I
don't know about more about them other than that, but that's where the creek gets its name from. It's
originally known as May's Creek. And then people very quickly dropped the s. And then you have past
that, you have the Coleman family settling there in 1875. They inhabited the area until about the 1950s.
Then you have a lot of industry. That's where you get things like the [inaudible 00:49:29] Company up at
Quendall Terminals. And for my research more importantly, you also have an extremely important
history. Part of the history of Washington state, you have the logging industry. In 1905 ish, the Lake
Washington Mill company, which was previously existed all the way back in the 1880s, set up an
operation at the site. And while I have no official record, they likely had a sawmill operation, though a
shingle mill would've been serviced by the nearby belt line shingle company, which is at the President
condo site in north of the Seahawks Training Center.
And they really drove a lot of the industry here. You have the mill company came in first, they started
the first logging railroad, and by 1921, all of the timber in May Creek that had been purchased by them
and others had all been logged out. As such, there's no [inaudible 00:50:26] forest left within May Creek
or any of the surrounding Renton Highlands area. The attraction of the mill company also, again brought
along the [inaudible 00:50:36] company, which set up at Quendall Terminals. So there's a lot of tie-in
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here. And the Colemans who were homesteaders here, the very important people, they sold a lot of this
land off to them. Then in 1903 around there you have the Northern Pacific coming in with a belt line. So
there's really quite a bit of a very important industry, although it's no longer there or visible to the vast
majority of it is definitely a very important part of the region.
And also historically, the environment changes, right? And May Creek has probably seen one of the
greatest environmental changes that I am aware of, especially on the east side, which even with the lake
levels being lowered and all that sorts of stuff, quite an incredible feat of engineering probably back
then. But also something that's probably quite ecologically disastrous is that the creek was taken and
shifted all the way from its historic location to the current location that was done in about mid 1920s to
1930. Previously the creek ran closer to the exit center, exit center interchange, and then proceeded
towards the property boundary between Barbee Mills and Quendall Terminals. That is available
information with quite of other things. I think it's also available on the Quendall Terminals project
description. They have some maps and things like that showing the historic location. But where it runs
now is actually quite close to the logging railroad and the two bridges on Lake Washington Boulevard
and the present Eastlink Trails network, which used to be the North Pacific belt line.
Those bridges were originally there only because of elevation, and they had an underpass for the logging
road. Again, I have a documentation for all of this, so I can send it off to Renton or any parties who were
interested, if needed. And so you have all this stuff going on here. And that really leads me to my point
is that this is a area really, really, really rich with history. So there should definitely be some sort of
accommodation to that history. And part of that is I don't think the site should be developed or limited
development should be undertaken. Either that or a decision on a final decision should be delayed in
order to consider more information. There's a lot of value in environmental spaces, and maybe that's
not immediate economic impact in terms of cash and direct revenue to cities, but there is a lot of
cultural impact. Historical sites attract people to go see them. And especially with May Creek, like talking
about the salmon. If portions of the site were saved for wetland, because again, this area was
historically a wetland, and that's also visible on historic aerial imagery.
You can go back to the 1930s and the 1950s and you can see how inundated with water this is from the
surrounding areas. So historically, obviously things have changed in the presence with 405 being
construction and all things like that. But I believe the site has better use as a environmental and
historical and cultural resource.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, thanks Mr. Dalton, appreciate your testimony. All right. Next speaker is Leslie Smith, or not I
guess, or Yeah. Ms. Smith or Mr. Smith, are you there?
Leslie Smith:
I am, thank you.
Phil Olbrechts:
Oh, there you are. Okay. Let me swear you in. Ms. Smith, do you swear Affirm to tell the truth, nothing
but the truth in this proceeding?
Leslie Smith:
Yes, I do.
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Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. And does [inaudible 00:54:13] have already have your email address or do you want to give that
at this point?
Leslie Smith:
I believe they do.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Leslie Smith:
I have received information on this from [inaudible 00:54:21].
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right then. Go ahead.
Leslie Smith:
I appreciate the opportunity and I really appreciate you holding this in the evening for those of us who
have day jobs so that we can attend. The information's been very insightful and I look forward to going
through the exhibits and they may answer a few of the concerns that I have. It was mentioned that
there's going to be 385 residential units, 195 service parking spaces and 180 ground parking spaces,
which my mathematics say that's 375 parking spaces. So it seems like there'll be 10 residential units that
won't have parking, and then there's supposed to be commercial space. So I'm wondering where people
who come for the commercial space are going to use those. And then a lot of times these people who
live there, there's two people that live there that have two cars. So I guess I'm concerned about, what
types of mitigations are being considered for extra parking.
I'm sure it could be that not everyone's going to be there at the same time, but they're certainly
evenings and weekends, there's going to be people there. So where people going to park? Is it going to
overtake Lake Washington Boulevard? Which leads me to my next concern. I live not too far from North
30th and I've been in the neighborhood for over 20 years. And so I frequent Lake Washington Boulevard
[inaudible 00:55:48] biking or walking the dog. And so I see 385 residential units. There's more people
using the roadway. I know the roundabout is there, but I guess I'm concerned about other traffic
mitigations for pedestrian safety, speeding, speedings huge on Lake Washington Boulevard.
I know that there's some things being done at East South end near Coulon Park, but there's not a lot that
goes on the north end. And frequently people are going well over 25, they're passing people on the
double yellow lines or passing people on the shoulder. So have those concerns about the project and I
know it's been said that people feel that once the 405 project widening is done, that will help ease some
of the concerns. But my experience with that, driving north every day to [inaudible 00:56:43] is when
they put the hot lanes and it actually made traffic worse because people didn't want to pay for the hot
lanes. So I appreciate the opportunity to share those concerns.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Thank you, Ms. Smith. Mr. Janders, you want to answer those questions right now while they're
fresh in your mind about the parking sufficiency and speeding issues, that kind of thing?
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Nate Janders:
Absolutely. Thanks for the opportunity, Mr. Examiner. I would [inaudible 00:57:07] parking to Clark.
Clark can answer some parking...
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Nate Janders:
... questions for us, but I can certainly answer the traffic calming, speeding concerns Ms. Smith raised.
She mentioned there is traffic calming that is currently in design down along the south side of Lake
Washington Boulevard. This is something that traffic operations and city staff as a whole is aware of
through the area. And we believe that the current traffic calming measures are taking place as well as
the proposed roundabout will help facilitate that. And it'll be something that we will continue to
monitor. And I say facilitate roundabouts are a useful tool, not just for traffic control, but also as a traffic
calming mechanism as cars have to slow to navigate through them. So currently there's absolutely
nothing. But with the roundabout in the future, there will be some inherent traffic calming at the north
end as well as the planned project that traffic operations is currently undergoing along the south end.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Thanks, Mr. Janders and Mr. Close, what about that 10 stall deficiency that Ms. Smith brought up?
Clark Close:
Yeah. She brings up a good point. Here, the applicant is proposing up to 385 units currently as it's calced,
as she mentioned, we're at 375 parking stalls. If you do the math, based on current number of dwelling
units proposed in the commercial space and 1500 square feet of space, a minimum of 389 parking
spaces would be required at full buildout to meet a current code, phase one would require 105 stalls.
Phase two would require 132 stalls, including the minimum of maximum of four parking spaces that
would be required for the approximately 1500 square feet of retail use. And then phase three would
require 151 parking stalls. So staff did include as a recommended condition of approval number 11, that
the applicant provide/demonstrate compliance with the minimum standards, inaccessible parking
spaces requirement for the development.
Phil Olbrechts:
What's the total number again that's required for this project?
Clark Close:
Based on current numbers, it would be 389.
Phil Olbrechts:
389. Okay.
Clark Close:
That includes four parking spaces for the retail. And then one per unit for the residential.
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Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Great. All right. Thanks, Mr. Close. All right. Does anyone else want to say something at this point?
I don't see any new takers. Ms. Smith, was there something? Okay. No, I don't see anyone else. So let's...
Oh, there's one more, Mr. Donohue. Okay. Mr. Donohue, you want to chime in there? Are you there,
Mr. Donohue?
Mr. Donohue:
[inaudible 01:00:04] myself. I'm a Barbee Mill resident. [inaudible 01:00:06].
Phil Olbrechts:
Yeah, I need to swear you in. Do you swear affirm to tell the truth, nothing but the truth in this
proceeding?
Mr. Donohue:
Yes, I do.
Phil Olbrechts:
And your last name is spelled D O N O H U E, is that correct?
Mr. Donohue:
That is correct.
Phil Olbrechts:
All right. And does the city already have your email address?
Mr. Donohue:
I put it in the login, so I hope so.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Do you have it, Mrs. [inaudible 01:00:26]? He said he put it in the login.
Ms. Cisneros:
I don't know if I have the login.
Mr. Donohue:
It doesn't matter. I get it. I get it.
Ms. Cisneros:
But if you'd like to give it to me, I can write it down.
Mr. Donohue:
P as in Paul, T as in Thomas, R as in Robert, C as in Charles, K as in king, D as in Donohue, @comcast.net.
ptrckd@comcast.net.
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Phil Olbrechts:
Okay.
Ms. Cisneros:
Thank you.
Phil Olbrechts:
Thanks, Mr. Donahue. All right, go ahead.
Mr. Donohue:
So as I said, I'm a resident of Barbee Mill, past president of the Barbee Mill Homeowners Association for
six years. And I could argue about the parking requirements, but it's city code, so I can't argue about city
code. We don't have that kind of time. I couldn't see from all of the exhibits what is proposed along Lake
Washington Boulevard, along the fringe of this development for increased street lighting. I've lived here
for quite a while, and the street lighting on Lake Washington Boulevard, as a lighting professional
worked for city light for years in street lighting, sucks. What's proposed? I can't tell.
And my other concern is you're going to put a roundabout at our north entrance, and I am concerned
about mitigation, restoration of existing landscape. We're required to maintain that entrance and all of
that. We don't know what you're... It's hard to tell what you're proposing to put back in place after the
roundabout is constructed, et cetera. And also, what kind of mitigation are you doing at the current
gravel parking lot that abuts the rail trail on Lake Washington Boulevard with the shortage of parking at
the development, by my calculations, if you figure a car and a half or one and a half cars per living unit,
you're short about a hundred and seventy-five parking stalls.
What do you doing to mitigate that parking lot? It's going to be full of cars, overflow parking from this
unit. We'll probably get them in our neighborhood, but I'm more concerned about that parking lot right
now and it floods. Is there any impact or any proposal to help that area in your mitigation for building
this?
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay, Mr. Janders, you want to answer those again?
Nate Janders:
Certainly. Okay. Excuse me. So first, I'll address of street lighting. City code does require street lighting
improvements to be installed when there are more than four residential units. So this property or this
project certainly is going to trigger that requirement. And Mr. Donohue's, right. Right now, the proposal
doesn't show and depict the street lighting, but that's perfectly normal. We usually see that at this stage
and during our civil construction permit, we will go through street lighting. The applicant will have to
provide details for streetlight locations as well as photometric analysis in order to show that it is
compliant with our street lighting standards, which are defined in code. So we do expect that that will
be provided and ensure that it is done come permit issuance.
In terms of the street, restoration, city does have north standards for restoration of the public right of
way. If there's any restoration that is offsite on private property, then it would need to comply with any
easements or temporary construction easements that are put in place. And I think for obvious reasons,
we don't know what those are at this point in time, but if there is work that is required on private
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property, then we would ensure that easements are acquired prior to otherwise improvements would
need to comply or restoration would comply with city standard for within the right of way. And finally,
that gravel parking lot that's on the west side of Washington and budding the street there currently,
there are no planned improvements for that. That is the opposite side of the street as the development.
And the applicant is providing parking compliant with the code departments on site at this time.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Thanks, Mr. Janders.
Nate Janders:
Thank you.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. Anybody else out there have any questions or comments? All right. I think we're done with the
public comment portion. Now, we go back to Mr. Close. Any rebuttal from staff or any additional
information you want to put in the record?
Clark Close:
No, I just highlight what Nate just said there, that there's also a condition of approval for a final lighting
plan to be provided by the applicant, not only for those frontage improvements but also on site. And
one other thing I did want to mention there is the SEPA mitigation measure. Two of them that relate
back to some of the public's testimony about the history of the site. And you've also mentioned the
cultural resources' assessment that is... Or has been provided as an exhibit here, but any future
disturbances would be monitored or observed by professional archeologists and consultation with
concern tribes would occur prior to any surveying activities. So there are SEPA mitigation measures to
cover the cultural or historic resources associated with this. And then also SEPA mitigation number four
talks about a Trailhead sign and an interpretive sign. An interpretive sign would be very good avenue
here to capture the history, or the rich history rather, of the site and make folks aware of that. So
certainly some good resources are available to the applicants come up with.
Phil Olbrechts:
I'm still a little unclear about what happens when they find artifacts though because the SEPA mitigation
measure just says go with the recommendations of the cultural resources report, which as I mentioned,
goes into detail about what you do when you find human remains but doesn't... I don't think it's said
anything it laid out any plan for what you do when you find artifacts that aren't human remains. I mean,
do you have any idea of what happens in that case? Do they stop the project and do a really detailed site
investigation to see if there are additional artifacts? Or what happens at that point? Or I don't know if
the applicant has their cultural resources person here that can answer that, but it's just unclear to me
since the plan isn't laid out as far as I recall in the cultural resources report. I guess we're dependent
upon whatever regulations apply there and I don't know what those are at this point.
Clark Close:
Yeah. I'll let the applicant respond.
Phil Olbrechts:
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Okay. All right. Yeah. Yeah.
Clark Close:
Certainly have a professional archeologist onsite at the time and certainly they have rules and guidelines
to follow up with.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right. Okay, thanks Mr. Close. Appreciate your comments. All right. Let the applicant have final
word there. If you have anything you can add on the cultural resources issue, that'd be great, otherwise
I can just look up the regulations myself. But any clarification you have would be great.
Alicia Stedman:
Absolutely. So the firm that did the cultural and resources report is not on the call today. I apologize
about that. But we can get more detail from them on it. But most likely we'll be follow... If there is
artifact, more artifacts or anything that is not human remains, we would still follow state regulations for
whatever those procedures are moving forward at that point. The cultural resources report as stated a
couple times, digging even only just one foot down, we will have somebody on site so that'll be pretty
much for the whole site as we're doing any sort of groundwork.
Other than that, I think I would just like to close by thanking the community for their input on how we
can make this a great project for not only the Kennydale Neighborhood, Renton and [inaudible 01:09:11]
neighborhood as a whole. I'd like to extend a big thank you to the city of Renton for working on us with
this design over the last several years, it has been a great partnership and we are really excited to get to
this point and keep going and start the [inaudible 01:09:25] buildings.
Phil Olbrechts:
Okay. All right. Thanks for your comments. With that, I'll go ahead and close the hearing, and it is really
exciting to see what's happening in this part of the city. I mean, it's all the development up there,
Barbee Mills, Quendall Terminals. Now, this project are really well-connected and integrated into the
Shoreline resources there, the Trail Network and access to 405, the whole thing. It's just a really well
planned area and it's great to see it moving. I mean, we have to accommodate urban densities and I
mean that's your baseline. And this is doing about as well as, and anything could be, I think under the
circumstances, the comments about the historical significance of it, I mean, I think basically at this point
we've gone as far as we can legally in terms of what can be required of the site. I mean, under some
circumstances you can require a lot more site investigation where you're doing transects and Lidar, that
kind of stuff, a lot more borings.
But I don't see that there isn't any information in the record that says you need that level of detail. I
mean, in terms of just saying you can't develop there, the city couldn't legally do that if they wanted to
short of purchasing the property. So that's why I was really asking about what happens if you find
artifacts there. I know that the regulations are set up to address that. I just don't recall off the top of my
head what the exact procedures are, and I'll probably take a look before I write my decision on that. So
then in terms of the Barbee mills concerns, that's I guess one of the collateral damage, if you will, of
increased urban development and accommodating that. I mean, more people are going to be using the
trails. You can only require this project to essentially mitigate its proportionate share, which I think the
city has done in requiring improvements to the May Creek Trail on its southern border.
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That's about as far as you can legally go as well. I know that the Barbee mills people are concerned that
the city's going to go after them if there's more damage done to the NGPA. I mean, I'm the hearing
examiner that holds the appeals on any notices of violation that are issued, that kind of stuff. And I've
seen staff in a lot of hearings. I don't think that they would do something like that, but I mean, you never
know what's going to happen 10 years from now. But I would be very surprised if they actually went
after Barbee Mills because there was a lot more damage due to increased traffic.
I mean, the city may be asking for maybe some plants to be installed to provide greater separation or
some type of fence or something, but I don't think you're going to see any notices of violation, but you
never know. I can't accurately predict that. But beyond that, it's a great project. It looks really good, well
planned. I mean, I think you've all seen all the work that's done on this 67 exhibits. That's a lot of study
that's been done, and it holds up really well. So I'll be issuing that approval within the next couple
weeks. Those of you who have your email addresses on file with Mrs. [inaudible 01:12:15], you'll get a
copy of that email to you. So thanks all for participating tonight and we're adjourned.
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