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HomeMy WebLinkAboutD_Dunlap_Baptist_Church_070409April 9, 2007 OFFICE OF THE HEARING EXAMINER CITY OF RENTON REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION APPLICANT/CONTACT: OWNER: LOCATION: SUMMARY OF REQUEST: SUMMARY OF ACTION: DEVELOPMENT SERVICES REPORT: PUBLIC HEARING: Lisa Roberts Dunlap Baptist Church 4180 Lind Avenue SW Renton, W A 98057 Smith Real Estate Development lnc. C/o Shephard Commercial Real Estate LLC 12835 Bel-Red Road, Suite 140 Bellevue, W A 98005 Dunlap Baptist Church Conditional Use Permit LUA-07-017, CU-H 1000 SW 7th Street Conditional Use Permit approval for the Dunlap Baptist Church. The proposed church would utilize 4,700 square feet of the existing 16,474 square foot office building. Development Services Recommendation: Approve. The Development Services Report was received by the Examiner on March 13,2007. After reviewing the Development Services Report, examining available information on file with the application, field checking the propertY and surrounding area; the Examiner conducted a public hearing on the subject as follows: MINUTES Thefollowing minutes are a summary of the March 20, 2007 hearing. The legal record is recorded on CD. The hearing opened on Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at 9:05 a.m. in the Council Chambers on the seventh floor of the Renton City Hall. Parties wishing to testifY were affirmed by the Examiner. The following exhibits were entered into the record: Exhibit No.1: Yellow Project File containing the Exhibit No.2: Neighborhood Detail Map application, reports, staff comments, and other material pertinent to the review of the project. Exhibit No.3: Site Plan Exhibit No.4: Floor Plan Dunlap Baptist Church Conc.l •. _nal Use Pennit File No.: LUA-07-017, CU-H April 9, 2007 Page 2 Exhibit No.5: Photo Showing Front Building Elevation and Landsca in Exhibit No.6: Zoning Map The hearing opened with a presentation of the staff report by Elizabeth Higgins, Senior Planner, Development Services, City of Renton, 1055 S Grady Way, Renton, Washington 98055. The project today is the Dunlap Baptist Church Conditional Use Pennit. The property is located at SW 7'" Street and Powell Avenue SW in the Industrial Medium Zone. The project is surrounded by other industrial zoned properties and uses. The existing one story office building is approximately 16,470 square feet in area. The church would be located in the east end of this building. The center space is Decor One Carpet Showroom and Sales and the west end is the Lakeside Milan Recovery Center. There are 54 parking spaces for the entire site. The space for the church is 4,700 square feet in area, it would not require any exterior building modifications. The church presently has 25 members and hold two worship services on Wednesday from 10:00 am until 12:00 noon, and from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the evening and one service on Sunday from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. The church has been assigned 14 parking spaces by the building owner and they plan to use all 14 spaces. They are looking at a five-year lease. The report states that there would not be conflicts between all the uses for this building, however, there are some concerns, Ms. Higgins requested that the Examiner continue this matter until the planner in charge could be present, but that was not done. The parking seems to be the only issue of concern. Decor One Carpet is a showroom and outside sales center, they also supervise installation, they are open from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday and from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday, they are not open on Sunday. They have 12-13 office workers and sales people that are either there during the day or coming and going during the day. They also have 10 installers who are dispatched in the morning and come back in the afternoon and they drive vans. They have had a problem with parking and have had to have five to six spaces marked out in front of their showroom for their customers to have a place to park. The space on the east has been vacant for quite a while and has not been generating any use that would require parking. The space on the left, Lakeside Milan Recovery Center, holds counseling and group sessions at that location. One session has approximately 10-20 people attending from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm during the week and 10-15 people at a session from II :00 am to 12:30 pm. Those two overlap. There is an afternoon session of 10-15 people from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The evening sessions run from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm and two sessions from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. Those typically have 10-20 people in attendance. The people at both Milan and Decor One expressed that they did not have enough parking at the present time for their respective uses. The landlord is assigning 14 spaces to the church, but Ms. Higgins did not know the assignments for the other uses. It appears that the church sessions on Wednesday could have conflicts with parking spaces. Religious facilities are allowed in any zone of the City with a Conditional Use Pennit. There are no conflicts of use, other than perhaps parking, in this area based on both the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning. The existing building does meet the standards for setbacks, building height and other development standards applicable for the Industrial Zone. Dunlap Baptist Church Conditional Use Pennit File No.: LUA-07-017, CU-H April 9, 2007 Page 3 Fire prevention bureau has done an on-site inspection and made suggestions as to what needs to be done to meet code. The building and fire officials provided comments that the space would have to meet the requirement for assembly. It is not anticipated that the project would generate undue amounts of traffic for the streets in the area. The streets currently are underutilized by the other uses in the area. There are no other additional improvements that need to be made to the public utilities or the transportation system at the present time. Lisa Roberts, Dunlap Baptist Church, 118 Wells Avenue S, Renton 98057 stated that the Wednesday morning service is very small, it is held to accommodate some senior citizens who are uncomfortable driving at night. Generally there are 4-5 cars at the Wednesday morning service. There are access doors in the back and they plan to utilize the parking spaces in the back and use the back doors. The evening service is a small group as well. On Sunday, they currently have 9 cars that attend the service. The bus service is very good and several people do take public transit to get to the services. The Fire Department did come through and look at the exits and made recommendations with the property manager who will make sure that all the corrections are done prior to their moving into the space. There is a sprinkler system in place already, they just need to install some exit lights and make sure doors push open properly. Nick Fletcher, 60 I Union Street, Ste. 5300, Seattle 98101 stated that he is the real estate broker that is assisting Dunlap Baptist Church on this lease. With regards to the parking, the landlord understands the limitations of their projects and it is always in the landlord's best interest to keep the existing tenants happy. The church has executed a signed lease contingent upon this process. The landlord representative could not make it today, however he is in full support of allowing Dunlap Baptist Church to move into the building. They don't see an issue with the parking because of the hours of use by Dunlap. The Examiner called for further testimony regarding this project. There was no one else wishing to speak, and no further comments from staff. The hearing closed at 9:32 a.m. FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATION Having reviewed the record in this matter, the Examiner now makes and enters the following: FINDINGS: 1. The applicant, Lisa Roberts for Dunlap Baptist Church, filed a request for a Conditional Use Pennit. 2. The yellow file containing the staff report, the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) documentation and other pertinent materials was entered into the record as Exhibit #1. 3. The Environmental Review Committee (ERC), the City's responsible official determined that the proposal is exempt from environmental review. 4. The subject proposal was reviewed by all departments with an interest in the matter. 5. The subject site is located at 1000 SW 7th Street. The subject site is located on the north side ofSW 7th Street just east of Powell Avenue SW. Dunlap Baptist Church Convluvnal Use Pennit File No.: LUA-07-017, CU-H April 9, 2007 Page 4 6. The map element of the Comprehensive Plan designates the area in which the subject site is located as suitable for the development of employment generating uses, but does not mandate such development without consideration of other policies of the Plan. 7. The subject site is currently zoned 1M (Medium Industrial). 8. The subject site was annexed to the City through a series of annexations concluding with the adoption of Ordinance 4040 enacted in January 1987. 9. The subject site is approxinIately 66,211 square feet or 1.5 acres in size. The subject site is oddly shaped, although, generally rectangular. Its eastern property line is a curve defined by a railroad right- of-way. The parcel is approximately 180 feet wide along SW 7th and approximately 130 feet deep (powell frontage). 10. An existing office building is located on the subject site. The applicant proposes developing a church by converting office space to church purposes. The applicant would be leasing approximately 4,700 square feet of the 16,474 square feet building. The applicant would also be entitled to 14 parking spaces under their lease. II. The church facility would be located in the eastern end ofthe existing building. Modifications to the building would be to interior spaces mainly. There might be cosmetic changes to the exterior. 12. The church currently has 25 members. The proposed sanctuary will seat 70 parishioners. 13. The applicant has indicated that there would be two services on Wednesday between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm and again between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm. There would be one service on Sunday between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm. 14. Access to the site is provided by a main driveway along SW 7th and another driveway along Powell. 15. Churches require I parking space for each 5 seats. The 70-seat sanctuary requires 14 stalls. As noted, the lease provides the church with 14 stalls. Additional stalls will be available in the evenings and on Sundays. During the course of the hearing, staff noted that there might not be sufficient parking for the proposed use. It was noted that other users of the property reported insufficient parking for their clientele. 16. The existing building is already served by City utilities. Those facilities should be able to serve the converted space according to utility staff. CONCLUSIONS: I. The applicant, for a Conditional Use Permit, must demonstrate that the use is in the public interest, will not impair the health, safety or welfare of the general public and is in compliance with the criteria found in Section 4-31-36 (C) which provides in part that: a. The proposal generally conforms with the Comprehensive Plan; h. There is a general community need for the proposed use at the proposed location; Dunlap Baptist Church Conditional Use Pennit File No.: LUA-07-0l7, CU-H April 9, 2007 Page 5 c. There will be no undue impacts on adjacent property; d. The proposed use is compatible in scale with the adjacent residential uses, if any; e. Parking, unless otherwise permitted, will not occur in the required yards; f. Traffic and pedestrian circulation will be safe and adequate for the proposed project; g. Noise, light and glare will not cause an adverse affect on neighboring property; h. Landscaping shall be sufficient to buffer the use from rights-of-way and neighboring property where appropriate; and 1. Adequate public services are available to serve the proposal. The requested conditional use appears justified. 2. The comprehensive plan pennits churches in all areas of the City. The one issue not necessarily addressed is that the comprehensive plan encourages employment generating uses and the proposed use does not appear to generate very many employment opportunities. But tradeoffs between providing space for religious institutions permitted in this area versus creating jobs can be expected. The small area converted to a church will not substantially detract from the goals of providing employment in this area. 3. This office generally avoids making detenninations about community need when reviewing religious institutions. It is probably an inappropriate criteria given the variety of religious denominations that exist. While other criteria may be used to determine if the use is appropriate or intrusive, this one seems inappropriate for governmental review. 4. The conversion of a portion of the existing building to church uses should not have any impacts on adjacent property. The area is zoned for Industrial uses and most of the uses in the area are commercial or industrial. The evening hours and Sunday hours should not affect adjacent properties. 5. The existing building's exterior will be maintained and the one-story building is in scale with surrounding uses. There are no residential uses in the area. 6. Parking will occur in an existing lot. While there were concerns that the church might exacerbate parking problems on the site, the church has a lease that includes using 14 stalls and this alone meets the required complement of parking required of churches. The church can also use additional stalls in the evening or weekends since the site does have a regular parking lot. The staff report noted that the church actually requires fewer stalls than a comparable commercial use would require for the allotted square footage. Of course, unlike a freestanding church that has exclusive use of its own parking lot, in this case, that is not possible. The landlord and tenant will obviously monitor the situation since the landlord stands to lose other tenants if parking does become a problem. 7. Circulation on the site and to and from the site should not create any undue impacts. 8. The existing building has not created any impacts according to the staff analysis. There will be no exterior changes that will affect noise, glare or light. Dunlap Baptist Church Con _____ nal Use Permit File No.: LUA-07-017, CU-H April 9, 2007 Page 6 9. As noted, the exterior of the building and site will not be altered and staff did not believe additional landscaping was required. 10. The site has been adequately served by City utilities and should not have any problems in that regard. II. In conclusion, the conversion of a portion of an existing office/industrial building to church uses should be approved. This office will note that there have been a series of similar conversions and the City staff might want to investigate the long term implications of converting office buildings or even property in prime commercial locations to church uses to the exclusion of uses that might generate more employment opportunities. DECISION: The Conditional Use Permit is approved subject to the following conditions: ORDERED THIS 9th day of April 2007. -:w~~ FREDJ.KA~ HEARING EXAMINER TRANSMITTED THIS 9 th day of April 2007 to the parties of record: Lisa Roberts Nick Fletcher Elizabeth Higgins 1055 S Grady Way Renton, W A 98055 118 Wells Avenue S Renton, W A 98057 601 Union Street, Ste. 5300 Seattle, W A 9810 1 Lee Shephard Shephard Commercial Real Estate, LLC 12835 Bel-Red Road, Ste. 140 Bellevue, W A 98005 TRANSMITTED THIS 9 th day of April 2007 to the following: Mayor Kathy Keolker Jay Covington, Chief Administrative Officer Julia Medzegian, Council Liaison Gregg Zimmerman, PBPW Administrator Alex Pietsch, Economic Development Jennifer Henning, Development Services Stacy Tucker, Development Services King County Journal Larry Rude, Fire Larry Meckling, Building Official Planning Commission Transportation Division Utilities Division Neil Watts, Development Services Janet Conklin, Development Services Pursuant to Title IV, Chapter 8, Section 100Gofthe City's Code, request for reconsideration must be flied in writing on or before 5:00 p.m., Apri123, 2007. Any aggrieved person feeling that the decision of the Dunlap Baptist Church Conditional Use Permit File No.: LUA-07-017, CU-H April 9, 2007 Page 7 Examiner is ambiguous or based on erroneous procedure, errors of law or fact, error in judgment, or the discovery of new evidence which could not be reasonably available at the prior hearing may make a written request for a review by the Examiner within fourteen (14) days from the date of the Examiner's decision. This request shall set forth the specific ambiguities or errors discovered by such appellant, and the Examiner may, after review of the record, take further action as he deems proper. An appeal to the City Council is governed by Title N, Chapter 8, Section 110, which requires that such appeal be filed with the City Clerk, accompanying a filing fee of $75.00 and meeting other specified requirements. Copies of this ordinance are available for inspection or purchase in the Finance Department, first floor of City Hall. An appeal must be filed in writing on or before 5:00 p.m., April 23, 2007. H the Examiner's Recommendation or Decision contains the requirement for Restrictive Covenants, the executed Covenants will be required prior to approval by City Council or final processing ofthe file. You may contact this office for information on formatting covenants. The Appearance of Faimess Doctrine provides that no ex parte (private one-on-one) communications may occur concerning pending land use decisions. This means that parties to a land use decision may not communicate in private with any decision-maker concerning the proposal. Decision-makers in the land use process include both the Hearing Examiner and members of the City Council. All communications concerning the proposal must be made in public. This public communication permits all interested parties to koow the contents of the communication and would allow them to openly rebut the evidence. Any violation of this doctrine would result in the invalidation of the request by the Court. The Doctrine applies not only to the initial public hearing but to all Requests for Reconsideration as well as APII,alB to the City Council. flrojJwt Location: 1000 SW 7"' Street I co IH(P) oj Ii 1H(P) co 1M I-405 Gol co -{ I ~ I III /jL----r--j --L,-I-~ I I t ( i -trl- co co --._---- IU • U; T23N R4E E 112 ----_IlV_ 24 T23N R4E E 112 43U