HomeMy WebLinkAbout2410-Memo of Modification.200625Date 06-08-2020
WCE W.O. No. 19-2410
City of Renton
Community & Public Works
1055 S. Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057
Renton, Washington
Attn: Nathan Janders, Civil Engineer II
Re: Malik Residence – 33rd and Lake Washington Blvd. Vicinity
Project Narrative:
The proposed project consists of constructing a 2,071sf. single-family residence off 33rd street
on parcel # 334210-0165. The Parcel is and existing parcel which previously held a single-
family residence, the lot is approximately 50’ wide by 100’ deep running north & south
totaling 5,049 sf. The proposed house will have garages access off of the existing alley to the
west. this will require a small 500sf improvement to the alley to allow for this access, as this
improvement will be for the alley it will be available to the westerly property owner.
Per the City code the owner is required to provide local street improvements to all three public
access routes or submit an exception request to the City of Renton per City Code Sections
RMC 4-6-060 and RMC 4-7-150
The site is adjacent to three routes of public access:
1. 33rd avenue.
2. Alley west of the parcel.
3. Alley south of the parcel.
Reasoning for Exemption:
As allowed in RMC 4-7-150 we are requesting an exemption from the requirement to construct
two (2) alleys that lie both south of and west of and adjacent to the subject property. As
allowed in the noted code, an exemption may be considered for the following factors, an
excerpt from City code follows on the last page of this letter.
Size: The development is not a short plat, rather it is the re-development of an existing lot that
was developed in the early 1900’s. The existing home was constructed in 1903. The lot is part
of Hillman Lake Washington Garden of Eden, Lot 7 Block 5. No other land disturbing
activities are proposed, other than reconstruction of the existing home.
Topography: As can be seen from the attached photos, the site rises 15 to 20 feet from N. 33rd
Street to an intersection with an east/west Alley with its terminus with this Alley. The property
adjacent to and directly west of the Alley has constructed an existing garage or other structure
that appears be on the Alley line, in order to construct the Alley, the building would have to be
removed and reconstructed at an appropriate distance from the alley to allow for alley wall
construction, the impact to the westerly property owner would be substantial. The Alley as it
rises the 15 to 20 feet then would intersect with the noted east/west Alley. This alley has not
been constructed adjacent to Lots 6 and 7 nor lots 12 and 13 of Block 5 of Hillman, throughout
construction operations after construction of the existing home in 1903. Additionally, when
the condominium / apartment projects were constructed on Lots 12 &13 and on Lots 10 and 11
of the Hillman project, they did not allow for the grade in the alley between N 32nd and N 33rd
streets which would make the intersection of the two Alleys un-constructible as is and would
require extensive construction withing the Alley between these two structures which may
render their access moot.
Environmental Impacts: We believe that construction of the Alley between N 33rd and N 32
streets would change the drainage patterns in this area and not be tenable as impact to Lake
Washington, in our opinion could not be mitigated within a reasonable cost, given the request
of the project, which is to reconstruct an existing home on and existing lot platted in either the
late 1800’s or early 1900’s.
Adjacent to the alley are (3) three existing 27-inch diameter fir trees. As the east/west Alley
would require construction of a wall and 6 feet of fill, it is unlikely that these mature fir trees
could survive and therefore need to be removed. In order to verify this, we checked with the
site Landscape Architect Susan Moss, ASLA who has indicated that this additional fill and
wall construction would be harmful to the trees and an arborist would need to be consulted to
see if the trees would be able to survive having 6’ of fill , wall and an impervious layer built
over half of the existing root structure. It is our opinion that the trees would fail and for public
safety reasons would need to be taken down, should the Alley be constructed.
Site Characteristics: As this is the reconstruction of an existing structure which was most
likely the first structure in the area as it was constructed in the early 1900’s, all other
development has followed, and all along following developments have not built what would
have been their complementary Alley’s to support the request for this Alley construction, we
believe it would be undue burden and significantly change the site characteristics for all
adjacent lots of Hillman on Lots 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 12 and 13.
It is our opinion that over time other development and construction has occurred which did not
contemplate the construction of the Alley between N 33rd and N 32nd Streets north of the
intersection with the east/west alley, which was not extended either. In order to construct this
portion of the Alley in our opinion would be detrimental to the adjacent lots in the area, result
in the reconstruction of the building to the east and result in either an Alley intersection that
could not be built or reconstruction of the Alley between the two apartment buildings that
would make their access moot.
We hope that you agree that construction of this portion of this alley is not practical.
Additionally, per the Planning Modification document from the City of Renton, we offer the
following, which in many regards either repeats or supplements the code justifications above.
Justification of the Modification requires per Submittal Requirement from Planning
1. 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;
WCE_ The request to omit the Alley Construction in this instance, as noted is
impractical as adjoining alley constructed elements were omitted at the time
because this lot, Lot 7, Block 5 of Hillman Lake Washington Garden of Eden No 1,
was an existing home. We believe that the earlier decisions to omit would
demonstrate that the City’s Comprehensive Plan remained intact by these
previous decisions.
2. Will meet the objectives and safety, function, appearance, environmental protection and
maintainability intended by the Code requirements, based upon sound engineering
judgment;
WCE_ We believe that more environmental and adjacent property harm would
occur if this modification is not approved due to the difficulty of remedying
previous land use decisions to omit Alley construction or Alley construction that
was not consistent with the overall topography between N 33rd and N 32nd Streets.
3. Will not be injurious to other property(ies) in the vicinity.
WCE_ Alley construction would be injurious to adjacent properties.
4. Conforms to the intent and purpose of the Code;
WCE_ We believe that allowing the change to not require the adjacent Alley
construction is consistent with the intent of the Renton Municipal Code 4-6-060
and 4-7-150.
5. Can be shown to be justified and required for the use and situation intended; and
WCE_ We feel that the above reasoning for the modification is justification for use
in this specific situation.
6. Will not create adverse impacts to other property(ies) in the vicinity.
WCE_ Construction of the home and omission of Alley construction would have
NO adverse impact to the other properties in the area as they would be able to
enjoy their properties as is.
Summary:
33rd street will be improved as required, and the existing alley right of way will remain as is.
Should the City of Renton approve our request, therefore, we ask that in this instance you
allow for home construction to start without the requirement to construct the alleys surrounding
Lot 7, Block 5 of Hillman.
Should you have any questions related to this request do not hesitate to call or email at either
ewhipple@whipplece.com or toddw@whipplece.com or 509-893-2617.
Sincerely,
Todd R. Whipple, PE
President
Enclosure’s as noted
Cc: Owner, File
RMC 4-7-150
An excerpt from RMC 4-7-150
5. Alley Access: Alley access is the preferred street pattern for all new residential development except in
the Residential Low Density land use designation (RC, R-1, and R-4 zones) and the R-6 zone. All new
residential development in an area that has existing alleys shall utilize alley access. New residential
development in areas without existing alleys shall utilize alley access for interior lots. If the developer or
property owner demonstrates that alley access is not practical, the use of alleys may not be required. The
City will consider the following factors in determining whether the use of alleys is not practical:
a. Size: The new development is a short plat.
b. Topography: The topography of the site proposed for development is not conducive for an alley
configuration.
c. Environmental Impacts: The use of alleys would have more of a negative impact on the
environment than a street pattern without alleys.
d. If site characteristics allow for the effective use of alleys.
“Alleys” shall mean singular or plural in this subsection. (Ord. 5515, 12-14-2009; Ord. 5676, 12-3-2012;
Ord. 5702, 12-9-2013; Ord. 5841, 6-12-2017)
SITE PHOTO’S
Looking north from 32nd Towards the proposed site along existing alley ROW
Looking South from 33rd at existing condo’s along existing alley ROW
Looking east from Lake Washington Boulevard at parcel #334210-0170. the parcel adjacent the
west alley.
Looking west form the south alley toward Lake Washington Bouvard.
Looking east form the south alley on the applicant lot.
SITE MAP