HomeMy WebLinkAbout21706 - Modification Request.pdf
Western Washington Division Eastern Washington Division
165 NE Juniper St., Ste 201, Issaquah, WA 98027 108 East 2nd Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922
Phone: (425) 392-0250 Fax: (425) 391-3055 Phone: (509) 674-7433 Fax: (509) 674-7419
www.EncompassES.net
Date: June 2, 2023
To: City of Renton – Department of Community and Economic Development
From: Encompass Engineering & Surveying on behalf of Dan Finkbeiner
Re: Street Modification Criteria, Sierra Homes Short Plat, LUA22-00042
_____________________________________________________________________________________
In addition to the narrative submitted with the exemption request, responses to the following criteria are
provided below.
a. Substantially implements the policy direction of the policies and objectives of the
Comprehensive Plan Land Use Element and the Community Design Element and the
proposed modification is the minimum adjustment necessary to implement these policies and
objectives;
Per the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Designation Map, the project is within RLD- Residential Low
Density. This project will create single-family residential lots which are consistent with those
created in the vicinity from the Weston Heights and Weston Heights North plats. Furthermore,
the project falls in line with Renton’s Land use goal to “meet and exceed Renton’s targets for
housing” by adding two additional single-family residences.
Per the Community Planning Areas Map, the project is within the East Plateau planning area. This
project meets the community planning goal to “assure sensible growth and development,
consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.” This project will create single family lots consistent with
the surrounding community by redeveloping a large lot with only one residence which fulfills
Policy L-3 to “Encourage infill development of single-family units as a means to meet growth
targets and provide new housing”. Without this modification, the costs of undergrounding utilities
make the redevelopment of this lot infeasible, and the opportunity to add single family residences
to this location will be lost.
City of Renton – Department of Community and Economic Development
Sierra Homes Short Plat Street Modification Request
06/02/2023
Page | 2
b. Will meet the objectives and safety, function, appearance, environmental protection and
maintainability intended by the Code requirements, based upon sound engineering judgment
The existing power poles on Nile Ave NE are fully functional, easily accessible and provide no
safety hazard, or environmental danger to the public. These power poles run north-south on the
east side of Nile Ave for the entirety of the two-mile stretch between NE 4th St and SE May Valley
Rd. In addition to the utilities attached to the poles, there are light fixtures that provide additional
street lighting and safety for vehicles and pedestrians. The appearance and maintainability of the
poles along the project frontage will remain consistent with the rest of this two-mile run of power
poles owned and operated by PSE.
c. Will not create substantial adverse impacts to other property(ies) in the vicinity
Retaining the existing power poles on Nile Ave will create no adverse impacts to other properties
in the vicinity. The undergrounding of power will create temporary construction and traffic control
impacts which will affect surrounding properties in a much greater capacity than retaining the
existing system.
d. Conforms to the intent and purpose of the Code
The intent of code in 4-6-090 Utility Lines- Underground Installation is to lower maintenance cost
and frequency of power lines and improve street aesthetics. Due to the small size of the project
and minimal street frontage on Nile Ave, the section of power lines that would be undergrounded
would be minimal, and would have little effect on the overall aesthetic or maintenance in the
area. As mentioned above, the power lines on the east side of Nile Ave run the entirety of the
two-mile stretch between NE 4th St and SE May Valley Rd. In addition, the majority of the property
south of the project site has already been redeveloped, so the power poles running towards NE
4th St are unlikely to be undergrounded in the future. A few parcels north of the project site, the
jurisdiction changes to unincorporated King County and the parcels are zoned RA-5 which is
unlikely to be redeveloped due to minimum lot size restrictions. The requirement to underground
this small section of utilities would likely have no impact to the future maintenance or aesthetic
as it is unlikely to change the current pole configuration on this 2 mile section of Nile Ave.
e. Can be shown to be justified and required for the use and situation intended
The retention of above ground utilities for this project is justified by the extremely high
($500,000+) cost of undergrounding which would make the redevelopment of the site infeasible.
The frontage of the site along Nile Ave has already been improved to the current standards by the
Weston Heights North Plat done in 2017. The undergrounding of utilities would necessitate the
City of Renton – Department of Community and Economic Development
Sierra Homes Short Plat Street Modification Request
06/02/2023
Page | 3
removal and rebuilding of this already conforming frontage area, for minimal public benefit. In
addition, the majority of property south of the project site has already been redeveloped.
Sincerely,
Encompass Engineering and Surveying, Inc.
Ian Dahl, PE
Project Engineer