HomeMy WebLinkAboutERC_Report_RMC_Title_IV_Docket16ADEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY
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ERC Report RMC Title IV Docket16A
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW COMMITTEE REPORT
ERC MEETING DATE: June 7, 2021
Project Name: 2021 Docket #16, Group A
Project Number: LUA21-000172, ECF
Project Manager: Angie Mathias, Long Range Planning Manager
Owner: City of Renton, 1055 S Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057
Applicant: Chip Vincent, City of Renton, 1055 S Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057
Contact: Angie Mathias, 425-430-6576
Project Location: All docket items are citywide.
Project Summary: The applicant is requesting Environmental (SEPA) Review to review for the following
non-project items:
1. Appeal Notice: Staff recommend amending Code to clarify who can participate
in a public hearing associated with an Appeal Public Hearing. The current code
is misleading and has caused confusion because only people who are Parties
of Record can participate in an Appeal Public Hearing.
2. Impact Fee Credit: In 2019, the City adopted a tiered system for timeframes
for when credits for impact fees paid by previous users of a vacant building.
So, for a period of time the credit is 50%, before eventually become 0%. This
has been difficult to administer due to the need to track building vacancies
and length of time they have been vacant. Additionally, the intent was that
staff would notify property owners to incentivize them to lease up vacant
buildings. Staff recommend setting the limit to 3 years that a new use can
claim credit for the amount paid in fees by the previous use. Additionally, staff
recommend revising the time impact fees are assessed from at the time of a
complete application for a building permit to the time of issuance of the
building permit.
3. Setbacks in Commercial Zones: The purpose of the proposed code
amendments is to revise Development Standards for Commercial Zoning
Designations, to clarify the setback requirements for front yards and
secondary front yards within the Commercial Neighborhood (CN), Center
Village (CV), and Commercial Arterial (CA) zones. Specifically, staff proposes
to provide criteria by which the minimum front yard and secondary front yard
setback could be reduced to 0 feet through the site plan review process within
these zones.
4. Applicability of Urban Design Regulations: Staff propose to make the Urban
Design Regulations (RMC 4-3-100) applicable to the conversion of a non-
residential use to a residential use.
5. Fence Regulations: The proposed amendments seek to code to specify that
fences, hedges, and retaining walls are regulated by zone, rather than by use.
In addition, the proposed ordinance seeks to ensure fences, hedges, and
retaining walls within commercial and industrial zones are consistent with the
aesthetic objectives intended by the code section, specifically with regard to
fence height and material standards, as well as impacts on visibility of street
frontage landscaping in our commercial and industrial spaces.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 654ADD00-D3C1-4284-92B5-7DFD4A81633F
City of Renton Department of Community & Economic Development Environmental Review Committee Report
2021 DOCKET #16, GROUP A LUA21-000172, ECF
Report of Monday, June 7, 2021 Page 2 of 4
ERC Report RMC Title IV Docket16A
Exist. Bldg. Area SF: N/A Proposed New Bldg. Area (footprint):
Proposed New Bldg. Area (gross):
N/A
N/A
Site Area: N/A Total Building Area GSF: N/A
STAFF
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff Recommends that the Environmental Review Committee issue a
Determination of Non-Significance (DNS).
PART ONE: PROJECT DESCRIPTION / BACKGROUND
Appeal Notice - Renton Municipal Code requires that an open record administrative appeal hearing be noticed with
a newspaper publication. Open record administrative appeal hearings, by matter of procedure, do not permit public
comment or provide an opportunity for the public to engage in the process. At this point in the land use permit
review process, the City has issued a decision on an application. This decision has been provided to all parties of
record and the applicant, and these parties have had the opportunity to review, consider, and/or appeal the
decision. Any new persons that may see the newspaper publication would only be permitted to watch the appeal
hearing and would not have the ability to influence the outcome of the process as typically allotted in standard
public hearings. For this reason, the newspaper publication of an open record administrative appeal may provide
the general public with an incorrect expectation that they will have an opportunity to engage in a land use
application decision; therefore, staff is recommending that the newspaper publication notice requirement for open
record appeals be eliminated.
Impact Fee Credit - The impact fee code section allows a credit to new users of vacant buildings that have previously
paid impact fees. However, prior to 2019 there was no limit on the amount of time that credit could be awarded.
Council wanted to incentivize property owners to lease up their vacant building relatively quickly. So, the City
adopted a tiered approach to the credit. There are three tiers:
• Less than 2½ years, full credit
• 2½ years - 5 years, 50% credit
• Greater than 5 years, no credit
Implementation and tracking this type of tiered approach has proven difficult. There is not a dedicated staff person
available to track the length of time a building remains vacant. The intent was that staff would track the vacant
businesses and mail letters to property owners informing them that they are losing some of the value of what might
have been paid by a previous tenant. It was not identified if the responsible department would be Business
Licensing, Economic Development, Code Compliance, or some other City department. Staff recommend the time
limit be revised to a straight 3 years.
Setbacks in Commercial Zones - Currently, the minimum front yard and secondary front yard setbacks within the
CN, CV, and CA zones are 15 feet. The code states that both the front and secondary front yard setbacks may be
reduced to 0 feet through the site plan review process, provided blank walls are not located within the reduced
setback. However, many challenges persist with the existence and application of this setback reduction. The setback
reduction is often in conflict with the decision criteria of Site Plan Review. The current decision criteria, include:
• seeking to restrict the overall scale of structures in relation to abutting structures,
• evaluation of the perceived scale of proposed structures in relation to pedestrians and vehicles, and
• ensuring landscaping is utilized to provide transitions between development and surrounding properties, to
reduce noise and glare, maintain privacy, and generally enhance the appearance of the project.
Compliance with these decision criteria is often achieved by utilizing the minimum 15-foot setback to help reduce to
perceived scale of proposed structures as seen from the public right-of-way (ROW), as well incorporating quality
landscaping between the proposed structure and the ROW to further reduce the perceived scale and provide visual
DocuSign Envelope ID: 654ADD00-D3C1-4284-92B5-7DFD4A81633F
City of Renton Department of Community & Economic Development Environmental Review Committee Report
2021 DOCKET #16, GROUP A LUA21-000172, ECF
Report of Monday, June 7, 2021 Page 3 of 4
ERC Report RMC Title IV Docket16A
interest to the development. Allowing a reduction to this minimum setback, causes the landscaping which serves to
improve character to our commercial streets and neighborhoods to be either severely reduced in quality, or
eliminated altogether. Since reduction of the front yard or secondary front yard setback is not a desirable outcome
for nearly all sites, the existence of this code provision provides the applicant a false expectation, which can impact
or complicate the land use entitlement process. Staff recommends omitting the footnote from the Development
Standards table and establishing criteria by which the setback may be reduced.
Applicability of Urban Design Regulations – Urban Design Regulations are intended to help implement the Land Use
Element of the Comprehensive Plan in the areas of: site design and building location; parking and vehicular access;
pedestrian environment; recreation areas and common open space; building architectural design; signage; and
lighting. These regulations are applied to all commercial zones as well as the Residential Multifamily (RMF) for new
construction, as well as the conversion of a residential use to a non-residential use. The regulations apply to such
conversions because apartment buildings and office buildings have very different aesthetics, characteristics, and
functionality and therefore different standards of RMC 4-3-100 are applied. The same rationale for applying Urban
Design Regulations to the conversion of a residential use to a non-residential use remains true for the opposite
conversion and therefore staff believe this change is prudent and warranted.
Fence Regulations - RMC 4-4-040, Fences, Hedges, And Retaining Walls, currently appears to attempt to regulate
fencing standards based on property use rather than property zone; however, staff has observed several conflicts in
the current code that suggest inconsistency with the way the code is applied. Some subsections utilize the term “zone”
or “district” and other subsections utilize the term “use”. This implies that the terms “use” and “zone” are used
interchangeably in this code section, which creates inconsistency within the section and with our definitions for these
terms in Chapter 11 of Title IV. Staff determined that regulating based on zone, rather than use, is the most intuitive
application for these regulations.
In addition, staff also seeks to revise code to ensure fences, hedges, and retaining walls within commercial and
industrial zones are consistent with the aesthetic objectives intended by the code section by encouraging the feeling
of spaciousness along our public streets, and encouraging quality design and materials. Current code allows a
maximum of eight feet (8') anywhere on the lot, provided the fence, retaining wall or hedge does not stand in or in
front of any required landscaping or pose a traffic vision hazard. The fence is also allowed to be sight obscuring.
Therefore, staff proposes reducing maximum height of fences to 4 feet within the front yard and secondary front yard
setback for fences within commercial zones, unless otherwise approved through the Special Fence Permit process or
through Site Plan Review.
Our current code does not specify or restrict the permitted fencing materials within our commercial or industrial
zones, which means that uncoated chain link or other less aesthetic fencing materials would be permitted within our
commercial zones without the requirement of a Special Fence Permit. Staff proposes prohibiting new chain-link
fencing in the Center Downtown (CD) Zone and requiring that chain-link fencing within all other commercial zones be
vinyl coated. Vinyl coated chain-link fencing is widely used in residential, commercial, and industrial areas and is
available in several colors, including black, green, white, and brown. In addition to being more aesthetically pleasing,
vinyl coated chain-link fencing provides better corrosion resistance than zinc-coating, and therefore has increased
durability.
The Fences, Hedges, And Retaining Walls regulations do not currently address when a site is non-conforming with
respect to landscaping regulations. For example, if an existing, legal, nonconforming site did not have the now required
10-feet of on-site street frontage landscaping, an 8-foot fence could be constructed right on the property line. This
could effectively create a blank-wall immediately along the sidewalk if there is one or the roadway if there is no
sidewalk present. In order to prevent blank walls along our public streets, the proposed amendments include a
recommendation to require compliance with street frontage landscaping when installation of fencing within the front
DocuSign Envelope ID: 654ADD00-D3C1-4284-92B5-7DFD4A81633F
City of Renton Department of Community & Economic Development Environmental Review Committee Report
2021 DOCKET #16, GROUP A LUA21-000172, ECF
Report of Monday, June 7, 2021 Page 4 of 4
ERC Report RMC Title IV Docket16A
yard or secondary front yard setbacks of commercial or industrial properties that are nonconforming with respect to
street frontage landscaping regulations is proposed.
Finally, staff also proposes to clarify when and how electric fences and barbed wire fences are permitted. Currently,
code implies that electric and barbed wire fences are outright permitted in residential, commercial and industrial uses
subject to specific standards. This code section (section E.) does not refer to the requirement for a special fence permit
for these fencing types. However, Special Administrative Fence Permits section, specifically states that a special fence
permit is required for the installation of barbed wire and electric fences. This proposed amendments seek to resolve
this conflict to ensure it is clearly understood that a special fence permit is required for barbed wire or electrified
fences in residential and commercial zones, but not in industrial zones.
PART TWO: ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In compliance with RCW 43.21C.240, the following environmental (SEPA) review addresses only those project
impacts that are not adequately addressed under existing development standards and environmental regulations.
A. Environmental Threshold Recommendation
Based on analysis of probable impacts from the proposal, staff recommends that the Responsible Officials:
Issue a DNS with a 14-day Appeal Period.
B. Mitigation Measures
1. None
C. Exhibits
None
D. Environmental Impacts
There are no environmental impacts that are anticipated to occur in conjunction with the proposal.
E. Comments of Reviewing Departments
The proposal has been circulated to City Department and Division Reviewers. Where applicable, their
comments have been incorporated into the text of this report and/or “Advisory Notes to Applicant.”
✓ Copies of all Review Comments are contained in the Official File and may be attached to this report.
The Environmental Determination decision will become final if the decision is not appealed within the 14-day
appeal period (RCW 43.21.C.075(3); WAC 197-11-680).
Environmental Determination Appeal Process: Appeals of the environmental determination must be filed in
writing on or before 5:00 p.m. on June 23, 2021. Due to Governor Jay Inslee’s Proclamation 20-25 (“Stay Home,
Stay Healthy”), the City Clerk’s Office is working remotely. For that reason, appeals must be submitted
electronically to the City Clerk at cityclerk@rentonwa.gov. The appeal fee, normally due at the time an appeal is
submitted, will be collected at a future date. Appeals to the Hearing Examiner are governed by RMC 4-8-110 and
additional information regarding the appeal process may be obtained from the City Clerk’s Office,
cityclerk@rentonwa.gov. If the situation changes such that the City Clerk’s Office is open when you file your
appeal, you have the option of filing the appeal in person.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 654ADD00-D3C1-4284-92B5-7DFD4A81633F