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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEx17_Hearing Examiner’s Decision upon Reconsideration for TopgolfDenis Law Mayor 1 City Clerk-Jason A.Seth,CMC September 17, 2019 Navix Engineering Jenelle Taflin 11235 SE 6th ST Bellevue, WA 98004 Subject: Hearing Examiner's Decision upon Reconsideration RE:Topgolf Conditional Use &Site Plan (LUA-19-000094) Dear Ms. Taflin: Enclosed please find the Hearing Examiner's Decision upon Reconsideration dated September 16, 2019. Also,this document is immediately available on our website: If you go to: Rentonwa.gov; "How do I"; Hearing Examiner (under Contact); "Land Use Decisions". The Decisions are filed by year and then alphabetical order by project name. I can be reached at (425) 430-6510 orjseth@rentonwa.gov. Thank you. Sincerely, Jason A. Seth, CMC City Clerk cc: Hearing Examiner Clerk Close,Senior Planner Jennifer Henning, Planning Director Vanessa Dolbee, Current Planning Manager Brianne Bannwarth, Development Engineering Manager Craig Burnell, Building Official Jennifer Cisneros, Planning Technician Julia Medzegian,City Council Liaison Parties of Record (11) 1055 South Grady Way,Renton,WA 98057 • (425)430-6510/Fax (425)430-6516 • rentonwa.gov 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY OF RENTON 9 10 RE: Topgolf DECISION UPON 11 Master Plan, Site Plan, Conditional Use, ) RECONSIDERATION Variance, and Street Modification 12 13 LUA19-000094, SA-M, SA-H, CU-H, V-A, V-) 14 A, MOD 15 Discussion 16 By letter dated August. 30 2019 the Applicant has submitted a letter supported by City staff requesting reconsideration of Conclusion of Law No. 20 and Condition No. 25 of the Final Decision17oftheabove-captioned matter. The conclusion and condition addressed RMC 4-9-200(E)(3)(i), 18 which requires master/site plan applicants to include "a detailed sequencing plan with development phases and estimated time frames,for phasedprojects." As noted in COL No. 20, the Applicant had 19 not submitted a phasing plan, so Condition No. 25 was imposed to require "a detailed sequencing plan," using the language of RMC 4-9-200(E)(3)(i). The Applicant asserts that the City Council 20 recently enacted Ordinance No. 5926 "to allow the phasing flexibility that Condition #25 would 21 undo." In light of this interpretation of the ordinance, the Applicant requests that Condition No. 25 be stricken or in the alternative that the requirement for a "detailed phasing plan" be replaced by a 22 requirement for a general phasing plan. The Applicant also requests that a reference to the code enforcement remedy of permit revocation be stricken from COL No 20. 23 As to "flexible" phasing, Ordinance No. 5926 doesn't expressly exempt qualifying proposals from 24 the "detailed sequencing plan" requirement of RMC 4-9-200(E)(3)(i) and also doesn't expressly identify any intent to provide for flexible phasing. It does, however, only require that the space to be25usedforPhase2developmentonlyneedbeidentifiedwithinformationonhowthespacewouldbe 26 functionally integrated into overall mixed use development. The Applicant construes this flexibility in the designation of Phase 2 space as also applying to and overriding the "detailed sequencing" CONDITIONAL USE, VARIANCE and SITE PLAN- 1 1 requirements of RMC 4-9-200(E)(3)(i), further noting that RMC 4-9-200(E )(1) provides that the master plan review standards are only intended to provide general guidance. The Applicant's 2 interpretation of Ordinance No. 5926 is not very well supported by the plain text of the ordinance 3 itself, since the designation of Phase 2 space in the master plan is separate from the timing requirements for its development. However, given the staff's support for the Applicant's position 4 and its likely involved in the adoption of Ordinance No. 5926, it is reasonable to conclude that the Applicant's position reflects the legislative intent of the City Council. For this reason, Condition No. 5 25 will simply be replaced with a requirement to comply with RMC 4-9-200(E)(3)(i), giving staff the 6 flexibility to apply the standard as intended by the City Council in adopting Ordinance No. 5926. 7 As to references to permit revocation authority, that was just dicta included to provide assurance that the phasing condition was enforceable. Staff had raised concerns in a past application about the 8 enforceability of phasing plan requirements. The reference to permit revocation authority in COL No. 20 simply identified one of the remedies available in the City's code enforcement code, and did 9 not serve as any binding interpretation or have any effect on the availability of that remedy or any other. The Applicant requests that COL 20 be modified to specifically hold that permit revocation10doesnotapply. The authority to restrict future code enforcement actions in a land use decision is 11 highly dubious and will not be exercised here. The reference to code enforcement will simply be stricken from COL No. 20. 12 DECISION UPON RECONSIDERATION 13 COL No. 20 is stricken and replaced with "As conditioned." 14 Condition No. 25 is replaced with the following: 15 The Applicant shall submit a phasing plan to the extent required by RMC 4-9-200(E)(3)(i)16 for approval by the planning manager prior to construction permit issuance. 17 DATED this 16th day of September, 2019. 18 19 Phi A.Olbrechts 20 City of Renton Hearing Examiner21 22 Appeal Right and Valuation Notices 23 As consolidated, RMC 4-8-080(G) classifies the application(s) subject to this decision as Type III 24 applications subject to closed record appeal to the City of Renton City Council. Appeals of the hearing examiner's decision must be filed within fourteen (14) calendar days from the date of the25decision. A request for reconsideration to the hearing examiner may also be filed within this 14- 26 'i day appeal period. CONDITIONAL USE, VARIANCE and SITE PLAN - 2 1 Affected property owners may request a change in valuation for property tax purposes notwithstanding any program of revaluation. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE, VARIANCE and SITE PLAN - 3