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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-19-2021 - HEX Decision - Al-Mahdi1 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 BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY OF RENTON Phil Olbrechts, Hearing Examiner RE: Al-Mahdi Society of Washington Conditional Use Permit File No. LUA25-000270 FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND FINAL DECISION SUMMARY Hussein Al-Shamary requests approval of a conditional use permit to use four existing office suites as a religious institution at 200 SW 41st St. The application is approved subject to conditions. ORAL TESTIMONY Valerie Porter, Senior City Planner, summarized the staff report. No one else testified. EXHIBITS Exhibits 1- 8 of the exhibit list presented by Ms. Cisneros on behalf of the City at the November 4, 2025 hearing was admitted into the record during the hearing. FINDINGS OF FACT Procedural: 1.Applicant. Hussein Al-Shamary, 107 SW 110th St, Seattle, WA 98146 2.Hearing. A virtual hearing was held on November 4, 2025, at 11:00 am. Substantive: 3.Project Description. Hussein Al-Shamary requests approval of a conditional use permit to use four existing office suites as a religious institution at 200 SW 41st St. The suites are located in an existing two-story 13,385-square-foot office building on a lot approximately 35,000 square feet (0.80 acres). Primary vehicular access to the site will continue to be provided via a drive aisle off SW 41st St. The proposal will not include structural changes or modifications to the building exterior. 1 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 4. Surrounding Uses. Surrounding uses are composed of retail and office use. The location of the proposed use would not result in an overconcentration of the use as there are less than five (5) religious facilities within a one-mile radius of the site. 5. Adverse Impacts. There are no significant adverse impacts associated with the project. The proposal on its face has negligible impacts since it will occupy an existing building with no exterior modifications. Impacts are more specifically addressed as follows: A. Traffic. The proposal will not generate any significant adverse traffic impacts. The site is accessible via SW 41st St and has existing access infrastructure in place. The site drive aisle provides access to the lots directly east and north of the subject site. The drive aisle allows a vehicle the ability to access several adjacent parcels without the use of a public street, providing a seamless connection. No additional accessways are being proposed as part of the scope of work. The proposal passed the city’s Transportation Concurrency Test (Exhibit 10). The site has an existing surface parking lot with a pedestrian walkway between the building and parking stalls. City public works staff have determined that the existing parking lot provides safe movement for both vehicles and pedestrians. The Applicant submitted a traffic justification memo, Ex. 6, requesting no detailed traffic analysis because the site would only be used “on weekends, during evening hours (6 PM – 10 PM).”1 Staff found this sufficient to conclude that traffic impacts would be negligible and no further traffic study was necessary. B. Noise. The proposal will not generate any significant noise impacts. All activities will be conducted indoors. There is nothing about the proposed use that suggests any excessive noise activity. Ultimately any excess noise would be limited by the City’s noise regulations. C. Light/Glare. The proposal will not create any significant light and glare impacts. No changes to lighting or glare are proposed since no exterior modifications are proposed. D. Critical Areas. There will be no significant adverse impact to critical areas. The project site is located within a high seismic hazard area. However, a Geotechnical Report is not required since no exterior improvements to the existing building are proposed. The proposed project is limited to a change of use and interior tenant improvements. 1 Page 13 of the staff reports identifies that the facility will be used “evenings and weekends.” Under either staff or traffic memo proposed hours, it appears that the trip generation will be nominal given they are off-hours. 1 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 E. Trees. No trees will be removed by the proposal so the proposal complies with the City’s tree retention standards. F. Refuse and Recycling. As conditioned the proposal provides for adequate refuse and recycling areas. A waste enclosure housing two (2) waste containers is located at the rear of the building within the parking lot. The front gate of the waste enclosure appears to be damaged and not functioning as intended, resulting in insufficient screening of the waste containers. To ensure the site meets applicable refuse and recycling standards, as well as the screening requirement, a condition of approval requires that the Applicant repair or replace the fencing on the existing waste enclosure to ensure adequate screening of the weather-proofed containers. G. Landscaping. The proposal does not meet the cost threshold for triggering landscaping requirements. Landscaping is also not required because no exterior modifications are proposed. Google aerial maps show all undeveloped areas landscaped, albeit sparsely. As consistent with the City’s landscaping standards, the proposal is found to provide adequate landscaping. H. Parking. The proposal provides for adequate vehicular and bicycle parking. City staff have determined that the proposal provides for sufficient parking. A preliminary seating chart shows a total of 95 seats for Suites 201 and 202, which are designated for large gatherings (Exhibit 5). Based on this information, the site is required to provide approximately 37 parking stalls to accommodate the use. The site currently contains approximately 55 parking stalls. The proposed community- oriented, multi-purpose center would operate weekend-only programs (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The remaining suites would continue to be used as office space, operating between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with visitors using the surface parking lot. The Applicant is proposing to occupy the space between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., which is outside typical business hours and does not conflict with other businesses using the building. Due to the programming being scheduled primarily after normal business hours, the Applicant maintains that the entirety of the existing parking lot would be available for the Al-Mahdi Society of Washington attendees. Also, to ensure adequate parking, the Applicant will encourage attendees to carpool and utilize rideshare services. Currently, the site does not provide bicycle parking. No changes to the building or site are being proposed. A condition of approval requires that the Applicant provide a secure extended use bicycle parking area prior to building occupancy. 1 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 CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1.Authority. RMC 4-8-080(G) provides that hearing examiner conditional use permit review applications are Type III applications. As Type III applications, RMC 4-8-080(G) grants the Examiner with the authority to hold a hearing and issue a final decision, subject to closed record appeal to the City Council. 2.Zoning/Comprehensive Plan Designations. The property is zoned Commercial Arterial (CA) and Auto Mall - Area C. The Comprehensive Plan designation is Employment Area (EA). 3.Review Criteria. Hearing examiner conditional use permits are required for religious institutions in the CA zone per RMC 4-2-060G. Conditional use criteria are set by RMC 4-9-030. CONDITIONAL USE The Administrator or designee or the Hearing Examiner shall consider, as applicable, the following factors for all applications: RMC 4-9-030(C)(1): Consistency with Plans and Regulations: The proposed use shall be compatible with the general goals, objectives, policies and standards of the Comprehensive Plan, the zoning regulations and any other plans, programs, maps or ordinances of the City of Renton. 4.Criterion Met. The criterion is met. The proposal is consistent with the City’s development standards and comprehensive plan for the reasons identified in Findings 15 and 16 of the staff report. RMC 4-9-030(C)(2): Appropriate Location: The proposed location shall not result in the detrimental overconcentration of a particular use within the City or within the immediate area of the proposed use. The proposed location shall be suited for the proposed use. 5.Criterion Met. The criterion is met. As noted in Finding of Fact No. 4, there are no similar uses in the area that would result in overconcentration. The proposed location is suited for the proposed use since the use will be used only in the evening and weekend when demand on traffic and parking infrastructure by the surrounding office and retail uses is diminished. The lack of impacts as identified in Finding of Fact No. 5 also makes the use compatible with the surrounding uses. RMC 4-9-030(C)(3): Effect on Adjacent Properties: The proposed use at the proposed location shall not result in substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property. 1 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 6. Criterion Met. The criterion is met for the reasons identified in Finding of Fact No. 5. RMC 4-9-030(C)(4): Compatibility: The proposed use shall be compatible with the scale and character of the neighborhood. 7. Criterion Met. The criterion is met. No exterior alterations are proposed and no significant impacts anticipated as detailed in Finding of Fact No. 5 so no impacts on scale and character are anticipated. RMC 4-9-030(C)(5): Parking: Adequate parking is, or will be made, available. 8. Criterion Met. The criterion is met for the reasons identified in Finding of Fact No. 5.H. RMC 4-9-030(C)(6): Traffic: The use shall ensure safe movement for vehicles and pedestrians and shall mitigate potential effects on the surrounding area. 9. Criterion Met. The criterion is met for the reasons identified in Findings of Fact No. 5.A. RMC 4-9-030(C)(7): Noise, Light and Glare: Potential noise, light and glare impacts from the proposed use shall be evaluated and mitigated. 10. Criterion Met. The criterion is met. As determined in Findings of Fact No. 5.B and C, the proposal will not create any significant noise, light and glare impacts. RMC 4-9-030(C)(8): Landscaping: Landscaping shall be provided in all areas not occupied by buildings, paving, or critical areas. Additional landscaping may be required to buffer adjacent properties from potentially adverse effects of the proposed use. 11. Criterion Met. The criterion is met. City of Renton COR aerial maps show that all portions of the project site are either landscaped (albeit sparsely) or developed. Proposed exterior alterations will not change this condition. DECISION As conditioned below, the proposed Conditional User Permit conforms to all required criteria for approval for the reasons detailed in the Conclusions of Law above. The conditions necessary to assure compliance and required by this Decision are as follows: 1. The applicant shall comply with the mitigation measure issued as part of the Determination of Non-Significance Mitigated, dated October 15, 2025, which is: a. The applicant shall submit a building permit, prepared by a professional designer or architect, that shows the existing and proposed floorplan of the building and 1 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 ensures safe and practical access to equipment or appliances located on rooftops or elevated structures and addresses all changes in occupancy classification for review and approval by the Development Services Director. 2. The applicant shall repair or replace the fencing on the existing waste enclosure to ensure adequate screening of the weather-proofed containers. A detailed refuse and recycling screening area plan shall be reviewed and approved by the Current Planning Project Manager prior to building occupancy. 3. The Applicant shall provide a secure extended use bicycle parking area prior to building occupancy. The parking area shall be sufficient to accommodate the amount of bicycle parking required by City regulations for the proposed use. Dated this 19th day of November 2025. ______________________________ Phil Olbrechts, City of Renton Hearing Examiner Appeal Right and Valuation Notices RMC 4-8-080(G) classifies the application(s) subject to this decision as Type III 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 the decision. A request for reconsideration to the hearing examiner may also be filed within this 14-day appeal period. Affected property owners may request a change in valuation for property tax purposes notwithstanding any program of revaluation.