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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLove Fellowship Church, Conditional Use Permit1 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 CONDITIONAL USE - 1 CAO VARIANCE - 1 BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY OF RENTON RE: Love Fellowship Church Conditional Use Permit LUA18-000106, CH-H ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) FINAL DECISION Summary The applicant has applied for conditional use permit to operate a religious institution in a commercial building tenant space in an existing building located at 140 Rainier Avenue S. The application is approved subject to conditions. Testimony Alex Morganroth, Associate Planner, summarized the staff report. Exhibits The March 27, 2018 Staff Report Exhibits 1-4 identified at Page 2 of the staff report were admitted into the record during the hearing. The following exhibits were also admitted during the hearing: Exhibit 5: Staff PowerPoint Exhibit 6: City of Renton COR maps Exhibit 7: Google Earth 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 CONDITIONAL USE - 2 CAO VARIANCE - 2 FINDINGS OF FACT Procedural: 1. Applicant. Israel Sanoy, Love Fellowship Church, 140 Rainier Ave S, Unit 1, Renton, WA 98057 2. Hearing. A hearing was held on the applications on March 27, 2018 in the City of Renton Council Chambers. 3. Project Description. The applicant has applied for conditional use permit to operate a religious institution in a commercial building tenant space in an existing building located at 140 Rainier Avenue S. According to the applicant, the church serves approximately 50 people at a time and holds services primarily during evening hours and on weekends. The project site is 1.44 acres in area and is currently developed with an existing multi-tenant commercial building, a single-occupancy commercial building, and the associated surface parking. Access to the site would remain via one existing driveway off of Lake Ave S and another existing driveway off of Rainier Ave S. No trees or vegetation are proposed for removal. No exterior improvements are proposed. 4. Surrounding Uses. The surrounding area is zoned Commercial Arterial (CA). The property to the north is developed with a motel, the property to the east with a medical office, the south with an office building and the west with a medical office and auto repair shop. The project site is located along Rainier Ave S – an auto-oriented commercial corridor with a variety of moderate and high intensity uses. No other religious institutions are present in the immediate vicinity of the proposed use. Surrounding uses in the corridor have larger impacts than the proposed use with respect to noise, visual, and traffic generation. The location would not result in an overconcentration of religious institutions in the area. 5. Adverse Impacts. There are no significant adverse impacts associated with the proposal. On its face, the proposal is highly benign due to its location in a commercial area, the intensity of proposed use and the absence of any exterior improvements. Pertinent impacts are more specifically addressed as follows; A. Compatibility. The proposed use is compatible with the scale and character of the neighborhood. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 4, the surrounding area is developed with more intense commercial use. Especially with no exterior improvements proposed and the modest intensity of use involved in a church with a maximum of 50 person attendance, the use is compatible with surrounding development C. Light, glare, noise and privacy. As noted in the staff report, the proposal is not expected to generate any noise, light, or glare impacts outside of those typical in a commercial area. 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 CONDITIONAL USE - 3 CAO VARIANCE - 3 D. Critical Areas and Natural Features. The only critical area located at the project site is a high seismic area. Remodeling, replacing, or removing existing structures, facilities, and improvements are exempt activities in geologically hazardous area. E. Parking. The proposed use would share a parking lot with the existing home furnishings store on the site with frontage on Rainier Ave S, as well as the other commercial tenants in the subject strip-commercial building. A total of 57 shared parking spaces are located in the parking lot to the west of the proposed location. Per the parking regulations, both shopping centers and retail sales are required to have a minimum of 2.5 spaces per 1,000 sq. ft. Based on the square footages of the two uses that share the lot for parking (shopping center and home furnishings store), the minimum number of spaces required for the site is 33. An analysis of the parking based on the religious institution parking requirements also finds that adequate parking exists. According to the applicant, the proposed church has a total of 50 members. According to the parking standards in RMC 4-4-080, religious institutions are required to have a minimum and maximum of one parking space per five seats. The proposed use would therefore be required to have ten (10) parking spaces in order to satisfy the parking requirement. Therefore, even though changes of use located in a shopping center are exempt from the parking requirements per RMC 4-4-080, adequate parking is available on the site based on analyses related to both the shopping center and religious institution parking standards. F. Vehicular and Pedestrian Circulation. Staff have determined that the proposal provides for safe and efficient vehicular and pedestrian circulation and have not found any need for additional traffic mitigation. Given the moderate intensity of the project, the proposed off- peak hour use and the fact that circulation improvements have already been installed for the tenant space to be used by the applicant, this appears to be a sound conclusion. The site can be accessed via existing driveways off of both Lake Ave S and Rainier Ave S. The two vehicular access points are used to access a series of interior drives that serve the subject property as well as the four adjacent parcels. Pedestrians can take access via existing sidewalks on Lake Ave S and Rainier Ave S. Accessing from Lake Ave S would provide fewer opportunities for vehicular/pedestrian conflicts and the church should encourage visitors to utilize that access point if travelling by foot or bike. G. Landscaping. The proposed project is located within a shopping center. The change of a tenant space does not require the site be brought into compliance with current landscaping regulations. However, the east façade along Lake Ave S has minimal glazing and presents a mostly blank wall to the pedestrians and vehicular traffic on the street. In order to better screen the blank façade wall, as well as to advance Comprehensive Plan Goal L-FF, “to strengthen the visual identity of Renton and its Community Planning Areas 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 CONDITIONAL USE - 4 CAO VARIANCE - 4 neighborhoods through quality design and development”, the application is conditioned to install one new two inch (2”) caliper tree along the west façade of the site in a location approved by the Current Planning Project Manager. Conclusions of Law 1. Authority. RMC 4-2-060(G) provides that government facilities are authorized in the CA zone by hearing examiner conditional use permit. Hearing examiner conditional use permits qualify as Type III review pursuant to RMC 4-8-080(G). As outlined in RMC 4-8-080(G), the hearing examiner is authorized to hold hearings and issue final decisions on Type III applications subject to closed record appeal to the Renton City Council. 2. Zoning/Comprehensive Plan Designations. The subject property is within the Commercial Mixed Use Comprehensive Plan land use designation and the Commercial Arterial (CA) zoning classification. 3. Review Criteria/Street Modification. Conditional use criteria are governed by RMC 4-9- 030(D). Applicable standards are quoted below in italics and applied through corresponding conclusions of law. The proposal satisfies all quoted standards as conditioned for the reasons identified in the conclusions of law. 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. As conditioned, the proposal is consistent with all applicable comprehensive plan policies and development standards as outlined in Findings of Fact No. 13 and 14 of the staff report, adopted by this reference as if set forth in full. 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. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 4, the proposal will not result in an overconcentration of religious institutional use. Further, the location is well suited for the proposed use as surrounding uses are more intense but not incompatible with the proposed use as outlined in Finding of Fact No. 4 and 5(A). 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 CONDITIONAL USE - 5 CAO VARIANCE - 5 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. 6. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5, as conditioned, there are no adverse impacts associated with the proposal, so it will not result in substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property. RMC 4-9-030(C)(4): Compatibility: The proposed use shall be compatible with the scale and character of the neighborhood. 7. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5, the proposed use is compatible with the scale and character of the neighborhood. RMC 4-9-030(C)(5): Parking: Adequate parking is, or will be made, available. 8. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(E), the proposal includes parking that is consistent with applicable parking standards, which sets a legislative standard for adequate parking. 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. As outlined in Finding of Fact No. 5(F), the proposal provides for safe circulation and adequate traffic mitigation and facilities. 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. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(C), the proposal will not result in any adverse light, noise or 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. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(G), the proposal complies with the City’s landscaping standards and as determined by staff, no additional landscaping is necessary to mitigate impacts except for the addition of a tree along the east façade of the building. Given the modest intensity of the proposal and the absence of any exterior improvements, it is concluded that with the addition of the east façade tree no additional landscaping is necessary to mitigate impacts. Further, the aerial photograph of the project site on the first page of the staff report shows that all unimproved areas are landscaped as required by the criterion. 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 CONDITIONAL USE - 6 CAO VARIANCE - 6 DECISION As conditioned below, the conditional use permit application satisfies all applicable permitting criteria for the reasons identified in the findings and conclusions of this decision and is approved subject to the following conditions: 1. The applicant shall install one (1) two-inch (2”) caliper tree along the east façade of the building in a location approved by the Current Planning Project Manager. The tree shall be installed prior to June 1, 2018. DATED this 10th day of April 2018. City of Renton Hearing Examiner Appeal Right and Valuation Notices As consolidated, RMC 4-8-080(G) classifies the application(s) subject to this decision as Type III application(s) 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.