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TO: City of Renton DATE: October 18, 2024
FROM: Allison Conley
Seattle - (206) 267-2425
PROJECT NO.: 2240590.30
PROJECT NAME: Renton School District Transportation
Parking Lot Expansion
SUBJECT: Variance Request
The Renton School District is submitting a variance application for proposed security fencing around a
new staff parking lot on their five-acre School District Administration and Transportation Facility, where
buses and other fleet vehicles are serviced, cleaned and stored. This letter will provide a description of
the project and the justification for the variance. Enclosed are the following variance application
submittal requirements:
• Site Photographs
• Site Plan illustrating fence locations
• Fence Type Illustration
Project Description: Renton School District Administration and Transportation Facility
Improvements
The Transportation Facility site is located between Park Avenue North and Garden Ave North and
between North 4th and North 5th Street. The facility is the full city block, while the proposed work is on
two newly acquired parcels located in the northwest corner of the site. The two subject parcels (Nos.
7224000675 & 7224000676), are a total of approximately 19,596 sf. They have been owned by the
Renton School District since 2017 when they were purchased to become an addition to the main
Transportation Facility. Currently they are both vacant. The parcels in the new proposals are a part of a
small section of Commercial Arterial (CA) zoning along Park Avenue North and within the Urban District
D Overlay zone; while the remainder of the site is zoned Light Industrial (IL). The Comprehensive Plan
land use designation is Commercial Mixed Use and Employment Area respectively.
The current proposal is for the construction of a new parking lot with new security fencing around the
perimeter of the site for a length of approximately 465 feet, parking lot lighting, a required public plaza,
landscaping and pedestrian improvements. The parking lot will be used for staff parking. Total
impervious lot coverage for this proposal is 15,714, which is an increase of 6,432 sf from the current
condition. Upon completion of the project a consistent 10 foot landscape strip will be provided along
Park Ave N, connecting with the improvements made by the School District in 2009.
Variance Request
RMC 4-4-040-E.2.a requires fences greater than 48” in height to be placed at least 15 feet from the
property line. The proposed fencing will be eight feet tall and constructed of galvanized steel and
coated with a corrosion protection product and black acrylic paint (see fence illustration). On the north
side of the site along North 5th Street, the fence will be 15’ from the property line, as required by RMC
4-4-040-E.2.a. On the west side of the site, along Park Avenue North, the fencing will be placed roughly
10.5’ from the street, in order to align with the existing sidewalk and landscaping strip on the west side
of the site, as well as maximize the number of additional parking spaces. This requires a distance
exception to RMC 4-4-040-E2a, which requires fences greater than 48” in height to be placed at least
15’ from the property line. The security fencing is necessary for the safety and securing of all District
Project Memo Page 2 of 3
Renton School District Transportation Parking Lot Expansion
2240590.30
October 18, 2024
assets at the Transportation Facility and to protect the district’s vehicles from vandalism, which has
been an ongoing problem.
Variance Findings
1. The applicant suffers practical difficulties and unnecessary hardship and the variance is necessary
because of the special circumstances applicable to subject property, including size, shape, topography,
and location or surroundings of the subject property, and the strict application of the Zoning Code is
found to deprive subject property owner of rights and privileges enjoyed by other property owners in the
vicinity and under identical zone classification;
The practical difficulties and unnecessary hardship are as follows:
• The size and dimensions of the parcel are limiting factors. In order to comply with the standard
parking stall length of 20’ (RMC 4-4-080-F.8.a), the 24’ aisle width minimums (RMC 4-4-080-
F.9.b), 60’ length for the fleet vehicles, plus the parking aisle width to accommodate the angled
fleet parking of 17’ (RMC 4-4-080F.9.c), the parking lot landscaping requirements (RMC 4-4-
070-F.6) and a walkway for access from parking to the Administration building, pushing the
fence back to 15’ as required by RMC 4-4-040-E.2.a would necessitate the loss of an entire row
of parking, therefore not meeting the needs of the School District for adequate staff parking.
2. The granting of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the
property or improvements in the vicinity and zone in which subject property is situated;
The granting of the variance will not be detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or
improvements in the vicinity and zone in which the subject parcels are located, and have some positive
effects on public welfare:
• Allowing for the security fences also triggers streetscape improvements featured in the Urban
Design D Overlay zone, not likely to occur in the near future without this development:
o Two existing curb cuts will be removed from Park Ave North, improving the pedestrian
conditions.
o 10.5’ landscaping strip (instead of 15’) will be added to screen surface parking from
pedestrian walkways on Park Ave North.
o Landscaping not only enhances the pedestrian environment along Park Ave North, but
creates continuity with the remainder of the block along the site between North 5th Street
and North 4th Street.
o The public plaza that is designated by the Urban Design District D Overlay to occur at
North 4th Street and Park Avenue N will be provided by this proposal.
• The School District is publicly funded and by protecting the district’s assets, that will ensure that
it can maintain the existing investments and the services it provides to the City’s students.
• There will be no detrimental impact to pedestrian use along the property frontage.
3. The approval shall not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitation upon uses
of other properties in the vicinity and zone in which the subject property is situated;
Project Memo Page 3 of 3
Renton School District Transportation Parking Lot Expansion
2240590.30
October 18, 2024
There are no other large parcels, or much new development at all in this small strip of Commercial
Arterial zoning, so it’s hard to say if this variance would be inconsistent. Most properties in this section
of Park Ave N are either built right up to the street without any landscaping, and/or have a parking lot
between the structure and the sidewalk, so this plan, even with the variance, is closer to the current
zone requirements of ten feet street frontage landscaping (RMC 4-4-070.F.1) than the existing
conditions.
The Transportation Facility is surrounded on all but the west side of the property by very large parcels
with industrial activity and large surface parking lots, where fencing is commonly seen. Currently, there
is six-foot-tall chain link fencing around the vacant office building just to the north (530 Park Ave N), that
is setback approximately 8’ from the sidewalk. About a ¼ mile north there is another business with 6’
chain link fencing adjacent to the sidewalk. Even on the remainder of the site, security fencing is
present along N Fifth St, that has an approximately five-foot setback/landscaping strip.
4. The approval is the minimum variance that will accomplish the desired purpose;
The fence setback variance on the west side of the site is the minimum variance that will accomplish
the desired purpose of increasing the security around the site for the protection of School District fleet
vehicles. The original proposal has already been revised where possible to correspond to Renton Code
requirements. On the north side of the site the fence has been setback the required 15 feet, with
additional landscaping added, and the site has been reorganized to only allow vehicle storage on the IL
zoned portion of the site.
However, on the west side of the site along Park Avenue North, as noted above, reducing the 10.5 foot
setback would necessitate a loss of an entire row of parking. The proposal has been drafted for the
landscaping to be consistent with what is already present on the site, not only does this allow for the
amount of parking that meets the needs of the District’s proposal, but it creates a cohesive pedestrian
environment and aesthetic appeal.
Thank you in advance for your time reviewing our materials. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to
reach out.
AC
c: lklein@ahbl.com