Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSR_HEX_Linn_Office_Conversion_From_SF_061010City of Renton PUBLIC Department of Planning / Building / Public Works HEARING PRELIMINARY REPORT TO THE HEARING EXAMINER A. SUMMARY AND PURPOSE OF REQUEST. Public Hearing Date: October 10, 2006 Project Name: Linn Office Conversion Landscape Variance Owner/Applicant Alden and Tisha Linn, 2907 Park Ave. N, Renton, WA 98056 File Number: LUA06-108, V-H Project Manager: Valerie Kinast Project Description: The applicants are requesting approval from the Hearing Examiner of a variance from the landscape requirements in the CA zone. The subject lot is 47 ft. wide and 103 ft, long and an existing house is located on the front half of the site. Because the applicants are proposing to convert the house to an office use and the lot is abutting a residentially zoned property, a 15 ft. lanscape strip is required along the south property line. The applicants are also required to provide four onsite parking stalls. Given the lot width and placement of the existing house, it is not possible for the applicants to provide required parking and also the 15 ft. of landscaping. For this reason the applicants are requesting that the requirement to provide a 15 ft. wide sight -obscuring landscape stirp along the south property line to be reduced to zero_ Project Location: 337 Park Ave. N; southwest of Park Ave. N and N 41h St. City of Renton P/B/PW Department Preliminary Report to the Hearing Examiner Linn Office Conversion Landscape Variance LUA06-108, SHPL-H PUBLIC HEARING DATE. October 10, 2006 Page 2 of 5 B, VARIANCE DECISION 1. The applicant has requested a variance from Renton Municipal Code 4-2-120A Development Standards of the CA zone — Minimum Landscape Width Required When a Commercial Lot is Abutting to Property Zoned Residential. 2. The purpose of the variance is to reduce the 15 ft. sight -obscuring landscape strip, which is required along the property line where the CA zone abuts a residentially zoned parcel, to be reduced to zero. The variance is necessary in order to approve a change of use of the residential building on the property to an office use. C. HEARING EXHIBITS: Exhibit 1: Project file (yellow file") containing the application, reports, staff comments, and other material pertinent to the review of the project. Exhibit 2: Site Plan (received August 10, 2006) Exhibit 3: Staff Recommended Site Plan (September 22, 2006) Exhibit 4: Zoning / Neighborhood Detail Map D. GENERAL INFORMATION: 1. Owner of Record: Alden and Tisha Linn, 2907 Park Ave. N, Renton, WA 98056 2. Zoning Designation: Commercial Arterial (CA) 3. Comprehensive Plan Commercial Corridor (CC) Land Use Designation: 4. Existing Site Use: No use for 10 months, previously residential 5. Neighborhood Characteristics: North: Restaurant; CA zoning East: Single family residential; CA zoning South: Single family residential; R-10 zoning West: Single family residential; R-8 zoning 6. Access: Pedestrian access from front. Auto access from alley at rear. 7. Site Area: 4,838 sq, ft. (0.11 acres) 8. Project Data Existing Building Area: 2,100 sq. ft, Net Building Area 1,220 sq. ft. New Building Area: None E. HISTORICAL/BACKGROUND: Action Land Use File No. Ordinance No. Date Comprehensive Plan NIA 5099 11/01/2004 Zoning N/A 5100 11 /01 /2005 Annexation N/A 156 5/18/1909 HEX Report 06-108.doc City of Renton PIBIPW Department Preliminary Report to the Hearing Examiner Linn Office Conversion Landscape Variance LUA06-108, SHPL-H PUBLIC HEARING DATE. October 10, 2006 Page 3 of 5 F. APPLICABLE SECTIONS OF THE RENTON MUNICIPAL CODE: 1. Chapter 2 Land Use Districts Section 4-2-020: Purpose and Intent of Zoning Districts Section 4-2-070: Zoning Use Table Section 4-2-120: Commercial Development Standards 2. Chapter 4 Property Development Standards Section 4-4-030: Development Guidelines and Regulations Section 4-4-080: Parking, Loading and Driveway Regulations Section 4-4-070: Landscaping Regulations 3. Chapter 9 Procedures and Review Criteria 4. Chapter 11 Definitions G. APPLICABLE SECTIONS OF T.HE COMPREHENSIVE- PLAN. 1. Land Use Element: Commercial Corridor objectives and policies 2. Community Design Element H. DEPARTMENT ANALYSIS: PROJECT DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND The applicants are requesting approval from the Hearing Examiner of a variance from the landscape regulations in the CA zone, RMC 4-2-120A. The site is located in the Commercial Arterial (CA) zone. The subject lot is 47 ft_ wide, 103 ft. long, and 4,838 sq. ft. in area. An existing house is located on the front half of the site. A concrete driveway runs from Park Ave. N along the south of the house to the gravel parking area in the rear. The driveway is approximately 10 ft. wide, and is located about 4 ft. from the house. Abutting the site to the south is a residentially zoned lot with a home located approximately 7 ft. from the side property line. The applicants have applied for a building permit to change the use of the house from residential to office. The house has been vacant for 10 months. When changing the use of a house to a commercial use, the site must be brought up to current standards with regard to landscaping and parking. The standards for development in the CA zone require that a 15 ft. lanscape strip be provided on commercial lots that abutt residentially zoned parcels. The parking regulations require onsite parking stalls for businesses, in this case four. Due to the lot size and configuration, the applicant is not able to provide the required parking and also the 15 ft. landscape strip. Because the house is 13 ft. 3 inches from the lot line, and the existing concrete driveway is only a few inches from the lot line, it is not possible to provide the landscaping in that area either. For these reasons, the applicants are requesting that the required 15 ft. sight obscuring landscaping along the south property line be reduced to zero_ 2. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW Minor actions, such as a change of use, are exempt from SEPA Environmental Review pursuant to WAC 197-11-800(1). 3. COMPLIANCE WITH ERC MITIGATION MEASURES NIA HEX Report 06-108_doc City of Renton P/8/PW Departmen Preliminary Report to the Hearing Examiner Linn Office Conversion Landscape Variance LUA06-108, 5HPL-H PUBLIC HEARING DATE., October 10, 2006 Page 4 of 5 4. STAFF REVIEW COMMENTS Representatives from various city departments have reviewed the application materials to identify and address site plan issues from the proposed development. These comments are contained in the official file, and the essence of the comments has been incorporated into the appropriate sections of this report and the Departmental Recommendation at the end of the report. 5. CONSISTENCY WITH VARIANCE DECISION CRITERIA The Reviewing Official shall have authority to grant a variance upon making a determination, in writing, that the conditions specified below have been found to exist (RMC 4-9-25013). (a) That the applicant suffers undue hardship and the variance is necessary because of special circumstances applicable to subject property, including size, shape, topography, location or surroundings of the subject property, and the strict application of the Zoning Code is found to deprive subject property owner of rights and privileges enjoyed by other property owners in the vicinity and under identical zone classification. Given that the lot is zoned for commercial use, it is unusually small. It is 47 ft. wide, 103 ft. long and 4,838 sq. ft. in area. This makes it impossible for the applicant to provide required parking and also the 15 ft. landscape strip as a buffer to the residential property to the south as dictated by the development regulations for the CA zone. The location of the existing house and driveway on the lot further constricts the area in which required parking and landscaping can be accommodated. Given the lot width of 47 ft., if 15 ft. of this were dedicated to a landscape strip along the southern property line, the rear half of the lot would no longer be able to accommodate the required four parking stalls. Also, it would no longer be possible to access the business from Park Ave. N, a principal arterial, and customers would have to access the site via the alley. Unless the amount of required landscaping is reduced, or the parking requirement is waived, the applicants will not be able to use the property for a commercial use, as the zoning intends, and as owners of other CA zoned property are able to. There are other parcels in the vicinity, which could be faced with this problem, but none have applied for a change of use in the past few years, so it is not possible to say if they would have been given the privilege of a variance. The applicants due suffer an undue hardship and the variance is necessary because of special circumstances. (b) That the granting of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity and zone in which the subject property is situated. Granting a variance to reduce the amount of sight -obscuring landscaping to zero could be materially detrimental to the neighboring residents to the south, although no comments were received from them. The intent of the 15 ft. landscape buffer is to shield the abutting residents from any impacts from the commercial use. An office has the potential to generate more activity than a single-family residence, with employees and customers entering and leaving the property. Staff recommends that the applicant be required to provide decorative fencing and climbing vegetation along the property line to reduce the impact of the office use on the neighboring residential house. Also, a 3 ft. wide strip of sight -obscuring landscaping is recommended along the south property line at the rear of the site, to buffer the parking lot from the neighbors. Staff further recommends that only traffic entering the site be allowed to use the existing driveway. Staff believes that granting of a variance with these conditions would provide a reduction of the impact and enough buffering so that an office use on this site would not be injurious to the residents to the south of the property. HEX Report 06-108.doc City of Renton PAIPW Department Preliminary Report to the Hearing Examiner Linn Office Conversion Landscape Variance LUA06-108, SHPL-H PUBLIC HEARING DATE, October 10, 2006 Page 5 of 5 (c) That approval shall not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitation upon uses of other properties in the vicinity and zone in which the subject property is situated. Approval of the variance would not constitute a grant of special privileges because no other applicant in the same situation in the vicinity has been required to meet the 15 ft. landscape buffer requirement. In fact, to staff's knowledge, this situation has not arisen yet in the area. If another change of use were proposed nearby, and the property owner were faced with the challenge of meeting conflicting development requirements on a small lot, zoned for commercial use and abutting a residentially zoned property, it is likely staff would recommend approval of a similar variance. (d) That the approval, as determined by the Hearing Examiner, is a minimum variance that will accomplish the desired purpose. The desired purpose is to change the use of a residential house to office. In order to do so, the applicants must meet development regulation requirements for parking and landscaping that, given the limited size of the lot and location of the existing structure, are in conflict. Staff believes that reducing or eliminating the on -site parking stalls has a greater potential for negative impacts in the vicinity than reducing the landscaping strip. But reducing the 15 ft. landscape strip to zero is not the least amount that would be necessary to meet the requirements as closely as possible and still be able to change the use of the house to an office. Staff sees a potential for accomplishing the intent of the landscape buffer requirement by providing a fence with climbing plants and a 3 ft. wide landscape strip along the back portion of the south property line, as recommended under point (b) of the variance criteria above. Also, restricting use of the driveway to cars entering the site would allow the City to limit the extent of the variance, while still allowing the applicants to accomplish their desired purpose. 1. RECOMMENDATION. Staff recommends approval of the Linn Office Conversion Landscape Variance, Project File No. LUA06- 108, V-H, subject to the following conditions, 1. The applicant shall provide a decorative wood fence along the south property line, which is 4 ft high in the 10 ft. front yard setback area and 6 ft. high the remainder of the lot line. At the top of the fence shall be a trellis, and climbing vegetation shall be planted at the base of the fence the full length of the lot. A plan illustrating the fence and plantings is subject to review and approval by the Development Services Project Manager. The fence and planting shall occur prior to occupancy. 2. A 3 ft. wide sight obscuring landscape strip shall be provided along the south property lire in the parking area on the rear of the lot. The landscaping may be planted in planters. A plan illustrating the landscaping is subject to review and approval by the Development Services Division project manager. The landscaping shall be installed prior to occupancy. 3. Use of the driveway along the side of the building shall be limited to vehicles entering the site. Appropriate signage shall be posted to this effect prior to occupancy. EXPIRATION PERIODS: Variance Approval (V): Two (2) years from the approval date, if construction has not commenced. HEX Report 06-1 a8.doc 19,40qb 'N lt\V -��Ve4 Lq q Ja- <r- 40 A �� (7-1h 14\ -bl Ju V 4-OL OL V Exhibit 2