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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOR Exhibits-Appeal Hearing 10.24.23_18.Chronology and Linked FilesChronology and Linked Files (The Home Depot) City of Renton - Page 1 of 5 Project Document Library 1.Land Use Permit (LUA21 -000542) for Site Plan Review, Environmental (SEPA) Review, and a Street Modifica�on for the Home Depot project a.Land Use File b.ERC Staff Report c.ERC Decision d.Exhibit 16: Staff Report to the Hearing Examiner e.HEX Staff Report - Exhibits f.Hearing Examiner’s Decision g.Hearing Examiner’s Reconsidera�on 2.Land Use Permit Lot Line Adjustment (LUA22-000209) to create two outlots along the S Grady Way and Talbot Road S. a.Land Use File b.Administra�on Decision 3.Civil Construc�on Permit (C22003168) to construct on-site improvements, frontage improvements, and offsite mi�ga�on improvements required by City Code and the land use decisions. a.Permit File b.Approved Civil Construc�on Plans Frontage Improvement Requirements on Talbot and Grady 1.City Reviewed Applicant’s applica�on under LUA21 -000542 for Site Plan Review, Environmental (SEPA) Review, and a Street Modifica�on for the Home Depot Redevelopment Project at 901 S Grady Way. a.In accordance with RMC 4-6-060, the project required frontage improvements including right of way landscaping and street ligh�ng along S Grady Way and Talbot Road S. See the following for suppor�ng references: i.Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 16 (Staff Report to the Hearing Examiner) on Page 9 under Finding of Fact (FOF) #18 for discussions on required streets trees along S Grady Way and Talbot Road S, ii.Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 16 (Staff Report to the Hearing Examiner) on Page 44 under Finding of Fact (FOF) #21.k (Transporta�on) for discussion on required frontage improvements on S Grady Way and Talbot Road S, and iii.Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 14 (Advisory Notes) on Page 7 under the Transporta�on discussion for discussion of right of way improvements, undergrounding, and street ligh�ng requirements along the project street frontage. b.At the �me of the Home Depot ’s applica�on, King County Metro was working with City staff on a proposed King County Metro I-Line Project to add a northbound lane on Talbot Road S. To date, King County Metro has not submited an official civil construc�on permit applica�on for this project and has not paid an applica�on permit fee. The City has been tracking preliminary applica�on efforts made by King County Metro under Civil Construc�on Permit C21001128. Regardless of whether King County Metro has a project that may construct the frontage improvements along the same Talbot Road S frontage Chronology and Linked Files (The Home Depot) City of Renton - Page 2 of 5 improvements as Home Depot, it does not remove the requirement for the Home Depot ’s Redevelopment Project to construct these improvements. City staff has encouraged both Home Depot and King County Metro to work together to come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement to the construc�on of these frontage improvements as both would be required to construct them. c. The Applicant submited an applica�on for a street modifica�on to maintain the exis�ng roadway improvements within both S Grady Way and Talbot Road S (see Exhibit 22 of the Staff Report to the Hearing Examiner). i. Staff supported the request to maintain the exis�ng curb line on S Grady Way, and to reduce the required pavement width along Talbot Road S to accommodate the King County Metro I-Line Project and in turn the corresponding right of way dedica�on all while providing the Code required 8- foot-wide landscaping strip, 8-foot wide sidewalk, and two foot wide clear space between back of side of and right of way. See Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 16 (Staff Report to the Hearing Examiner) on Page 45 under FOF #22 and Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 14 (Advisory Notes) on Page 7 under the Transporta�on discussion. ii. Hearing Examiner’s Decision approved the street modifica�on with no addi�onal provisions. 2. The City has not received a street waiver request from the applicant for any of the required frontage improvements along S Grady Way and Talbot Road S reques�ng to not install the frontage improvements required by RMC 4-6-060. In addi�on, City Staff at no �me recommended that these improvements be waived and only supported a modified street sec�on as noted in the Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 16 (Staff Report to the Hearing Examiner) on Page 45 under FOF #22 and Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 14 (Advisory Notes) on Page 7 under the Transporta�on discussion. a. The Hearing Examiner’s Decision FOF 4.F on Page 5 states “The SEPA review did not impose any off-site traffic mi�ga�on or impose any fees. SEPA mi�ga�on was limited to requiring frontage improvements along Grady Way.” The first part of this statement is true based on the Final SEPA Determina�on, no addi�onal offsite improvements, or addi�onal fees outside of City Code were imposed. The second por�on of the statement erroneously refers to SEPA mi�ga�on limited to Grady Way where no such limita�on was made and only stated the facts of what is required and the fact that King County Metro has proposed a project to construct their I-Line. See Hearing Examiner’s Decision Exhibit 1 (Environmental Review Commitee (ERC) Report) on Page 6 under Sec�on D.4 Transporta�on referencing the frontage improvements required by Home Depot and includes a reference to the future King County Metro I-Line Project. Street Frontage Improvements are required by RMC 4-6-060 and the ERC SEPA Authority, in accordance with WAC 197 -11-030(1) and WAC 197-11-158, only supplements the exis�ng City’s authority and does not overwrite or reduce exis�ng agency authority as defined by the Renton Municipal Code as suggested by the Hearing Examiner’s Decision and referred in the applicant’s appeal, therefore the required modified street sec�on is required to be constructed per RMC 4-6-060 or as modified. Chronology and Linked Files (The Home Depot) City of Renton - Page 3 of 5 c. The civil construc�on permit was issued on October 16, 2022 with a condi�on shown on Sheet L1.7 (Page 42 of 56) of the Approved Civil Construc�on Plans sta�ng “Street trees and street ligh�ng required within ROW planning strip, along Talbot Rd S., unless waived”. An appeal was not received following the original Land Use approval which iden�fied the required frontage improvement, following the Civil Construc�on Permit Plan Approval October 14, 2022 with the condi�on of approval to install street trees and street ligh�ng on Talbot Road S, or following Civil Construc�on Permit Issues on October 16, 2022. d. City Staff repeatedly throughout the project reminded and informed the Applicant both verbally and in wri�ng of the requirement to install the frontage improvements along S Grady Way and Talbot Road S. No ac�on was taken by the Applicant to request a waiver for these required improvements. 3. In accordance with Condi�on 2 of Hearing Examiner’s Decision, a Lot Line Adjustment (LUA22- 000209) was submited by the applicant to address the building encroachments crea�ng two outlots. Outlot 1 is at the intersec�on of Talbot Road S and S Grady Way and Outlot 2 is south of Outlot 1 along Talbot Road S. Under the Principles of Acceptability for the Lot Line Adjustment defined under RMC 4-7-060.B.4 combined with the improvements required as part of the Home Depot Redevelopment project, street frontage improvements per RMC 4-6-060 are required to be completed prior to recording of the Lot Line Adjustment. a. City Staff found during the review of the Lot Line Adjustment that the required dedica�on along Talbot Road S did not provide the required 2 feet of clear zone between the proposed sidewalk and the right of way dedica�on. The City offered the following op�ons to the Applicant to address the reduc�on in the required right of way dedica�on while preserving the ability to construct the required improvements regardless of who installs them: i. Adjust the right of way dedica�on shown on the Lot Line Adjustment to provide the required 2 feet of dedica�on, or ii. Coordinate with King County Metro to establish a Temporary Construc�on Easement so that if they are ready to construct their required Talbot Road S improvements for the King County Metro I-Line Project prior to Home Depot or future Outlot 2 property owner then there will be sufficient space to do so. Home Depot informed the city that they would not be revising the Lot Line Adjustment and began coordina�ng with King County Metro to establish a temporary construc�on easement. The City will consider this item addressed and would not hold up the recording of the Lot Line Adjustment once the City received a signed Temporary Construc�on Easement between the two par�es. If the applicant at any �me chooses to revise the Lot Line adjustment to reflect the code required clear zone, the city would also accept this and would not hold up the recording of the Lot Line Adjustment. b. The Lot Line Adjustment Decision was approved on October 18, 2022 subject to the condi�on that frontage improvement be constructed in accordance with the Site Plan approval for Home Depot (LUA21-000452). 4. The Applicant requested Cer�ficate of Occupancy and to record the Lot Line Adjustment prior to comple�ng all required improvements including the frontage improvements outlined along Outlots 1 and 2 along S Grady Way and Talbot Road S. In accordance with RMC 4-9-060.C for Chronology and Linked Files (The Home Depot) City of Renton - Page 4 of 5 deferral procedures of on- and off-site improvements beyond temporary occupancy permit, the City no�fied the applicant that a deferral permit applica�on was required for the all improvements that have not been completed and approved by the City. These items included, but were not limited to, the frontage improvements for Outlots 1 and 2. a. The Applicant submited deferral permit applica�on, including but not limited to the frontage improvements along Outlots 1 and 2. Note: It has assumed that the applicant has no objec�ons to the validity of the improvements not specifically men�oned as part to of the appeal and does not appeal these items (i.e. plaza improvements, etc.). b. The City issued a Decision on April 7, 2023 approving the deferral request in accordance with RMC 4-9-060.C under two (2) separate deferral permits, one for Outlot 1 (DEF23001823) and one for Outlot 2 (DEF23001824) under the condi�on that deferred items shall be: a. Completed by no later than April 7, 2026, b. The associated Outlot frontage improvements are permited by another en�ty, or c. The associated Outlot was sold to another en�ty. These condi�ons gave Home Depot some flexibility and provided some surety to the city that the improvements required by the Home Depot Redevelopment project would be constructed. c. City issued the Temporary Cer�ficate of Occupancy on April 25, 2023, enabling Home Depot to meet its scheduled Grand Opening on May 3, 2023. 5. The Applicant has appealed the deferral permit decision sta�ng that the frontage improvements along Talbot Road S are not required, however, an appeal on the deferral permit is not the appropriate mechanism to dispute whether the improvement is required nor does it determine what the required improvements are, it only sets what improvements may be deferred, the surety amount required for associated deferred improvements, and sets the �ming of how long the improvements may be deferred. These are the items that can be appealed as part of this decision. Therefore, the City requests that the Hearing Examiner dismiss the appeal on the grounds that the deferral permit does not require the improvements. The applicant should submit a street waiver request that discusses how a waiver of these frontage improvements meet the waiver criteria under RMC 4-9-250.C.5. The City will review the street waiver request based on these criteria and issue a decision. At that �me, if the applicant disagrees with the City’s decision, then that decision can be appealed to the Hearing Examiner. Note: Under preliminary review of the street waiver criteria, it is unlikely that the requested street waiver would meet the waiver criteria and it would likely be denied. Undergrounding of U�li�es on S Grady Way 1. Condi�on 34 of the Hearing Examiner’s Decision states: “The undergrounding of power lines pursuant to RMC 4-6-090 has not yet been addressed in the staff recommended condi�ons of approval or the staff report. At hearing, the par�es have agreed to defer resolu�on of the issue pending further assessment of the applicability of RMC 4-6-090. Applicant’s legal counsel has also raised the issue of Dolan propor�onality, which staff may also have to further assess. At hearing the par�es also agreed to subject any Chronology and Linked Files (The Home Depot) City of Renton - Page 5 of 5 disagreement on the underground issue to hearing examiner appeal. As recommended by staff, if the par�es cannot mutually agree on whether power lines should be undergrounded, the Applicant shall put its posi�on in the form of a modifica�on request and the resul�ng staff decision shall be subject to hearing examiner appeal.” City and Applicant ’s opinions regarding this mater have remained the same since the hearing and the city has not received a modifica�on request from the Applicant to evaluate whether the city would support a modifica�on to leave the exis�ng overhead lines in S Grady Way. Therefore, the requirement to underground the u�li�es within S Grady Way are s�ll required. 2. In accordance with RMC 4-9-060 Deferral Permit, to receive a Cer�ficate of Occupancy all work associated with the site and building improvements must be complete. Therefore, the City required a deferral permit for the undergrounding of the u�li�es on S Grady Way. 3. The Applicant has appealed the decision of the deferral permit sta�ng the undergrounding is not required, however, an appeal on the deferral permit is not the appropriate mechanism to dispute whether the improvement is required or not as a deferral permit does not determine what the required improvements are, it only sets what improvements may be deferred, the surety amount required for associated deferred improvements, and sets the �ming of how long the improvements may be deferred. These are the items that can be appealed as part of this decision. Therefore, the City requests that the Hearing Examiner dismiss the appeal on the grounds that the deferral permit does not require the improvements. The applicant should in accordance with Condi�on 34 of the Hearing Examiner’s Decision, submit a modifica�on request if they believe that they should not be required to underground the u�li�es.