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HomeMy WebLinkAboutC_Memo_PreAppFllwUp_220114_v1 105 South Main Street, Suite 323 | Seattle, WA 98104 | 206.624.4222 p | HR@RolludaArchitects.com e | www.RolludaArchitects.com w MEMORANDUM DATE: January 14, 2022 TO: Clark Close, City of Renton FROM: Donn Stone, Rolluda Architects SUBJECT: Land Use Application Pre-Screening Requirements CC: Tien Pham, Kinyan Lui: KCSWD PROJECT NUMBER: PRE21-000317 PROJECT NAME: KCSWD INTERIM MAINTENANCE FACILITY AT FARWEST The purpose of this memo is to confirm with City of Renton (COR) Staff both the required and waived application materials for the King County Solid Waste Division (KCSWD or SWD) Interim Maintenance Facility project’s Land Use Submission which currently includes a Site Plan Review, Conditional Use Permit (CUP), and Environmental Review. Also, we’d like to review some of the code driven stipulations lying behind the CUP application requirements themselves, specifically the issues noted in Item 1. If they are unavoidable issues, then KCSWD would intend to at least try to mitigate them as much as possible to speed review. The original Submittal Requirements handout provided by COR following the Pre-App meeting has been edited. The enclosed version is based on positive answers to the questions below: 1. The Municipal Code requires a CUP process for a use that would be normally permitted in this zone if it was being requested by a private organization rather than an “other government maintenance facility”. KCSWD is not directly contesting the issue of the CUP requirement under a strict interpretation of the code, but they are trying to understand the generating force behind this special condition, in order to address the issue of an “other government maintenance facility” directly with possible mitigation and so avoid the lengthy CUP process in whole or in part. As a reminder, KCSWD has already leased the property and their intention is to use the existing, conforming Farwest facility for the temporary housing of their vehicle maintenance and stores operations for a period of less than 5 years. Because of operational issues, the move of the entire facility now at CHRLF will not be undertaken either completely or immediately. Over the 5-year period, the existing maintenance and stores functions will be distributed between the Farwest location and CHRLF, since vehicle maintenance and stores to some extent will continue to be on the “Hill” for convenience. KCSWD expects that the traffic study will soon indicate that with operational restrictions (all truck and trailer traffic to and from the Farwest facility will only use the SW 34th St entrance at the northeast corner of the property). The impact to traffic of KCSWD short term occupancy should be far less than Farwest’s use of (2) additional entry/exit points: one off of Lind Ave SW through a neighbor’s shared drive and the other a dedicated rail spur that after onsite switching still enters the Farwest building in a depressed bay for loading/unloading. Neither of these previous entry/exit locations will be utilized by KCSWD vehicles, trailers or stores destined for the facility. In the 9 months or so since the 5-year lease was signed to secure an appropriate opportunity in a tight real estate market, the intervening time has been taken up with programming and the January 14, 2022 Clark Close, City of Renton page 2 of 3 definition of specially designed temporary fixtures to support the limited level of maintenance and stores operations expected to be necessary for operations at the Farwest site. All of these “recoverable improvements”, including the additional (2) modulars that are intended to be temporarily installed on site, will be removed on KCSWD’s departure. Also, because of the ongoing project defining process, the length of KCSWD’s actual occupancy has been shortened and the need to begin their move has grown. At this time, the particulars of the permitting process COR has outlined are being more confidently addressed by the facility’s program now and are headed toward resolution and submittal. Accommodating the temporary nature of KCSWD’s tenancy on and in an existing compatible site and facility while addressing the exceptional “other governmental agency” issue that drives the CUP requirement for an otherwise acceptable change of use, could speed the permitting process without adversely affecting the verifications of the project’s adherence to Renton’s Land Use and Building Codes. Is there a process to follow to resolve the “other agency” issue and smooth or shorten the necessary route to permitting the few temporary improvements that KCSWD has in mind? 2. Because of scheduling commitments and delivery issues KCSWD is interested in moving the (2) additional modulars (noted above) ahead of the permitting approval and construction period proposed to begin in spring of ’22. The (2) modulars will be moved on (3) trailers since one of them is a double-wide. Since the large fabrication facility will be untenanted in the interim, KCSWD would like the option to store the trailered modulars onsite, either in the yard to the south of the maintenance building or inside the building itself. The modulars will remain in their trailered, shipping condition until such time as the permitting is completed and their foundations are constructed. From previous discussions KCSWD understands that this is a possibility under possible additional requirements by the building and fire departments. The maintenance facility interior improvements may get underway during the modulars occupation if permitting is rapid, but with 2+ acres of space inside (most of which will eventually be dedicated to vehicle access and maneuvering to and from workstations), there should not be a problem during the early days of tenant setup. In addition, KCSWD would like to have the option to occupy for the purpose of storing or staging some agreed upon amount of materials and non-functioning building system or maintenance components ahead of granting the building permit. As has been noted in discussions the change of use from a metal fabrication/storage facility to a vehicle maintenance/storage facility is not in dispute. KCSWD is asking permission to use the storage component of the facility’s 2+ acre interior at some percentage, perhaps, of the available square footage. The existing sprinkler system conforms to the current and projected storage/fabrication/vehicle maintenance uses and noting the Fire Reviewer’s concern, the maximum height of the modulars on trailers and/or stores will be kept under the 12’ maximum noted in their September 23, 2021, Memorandum. 3. There are currently (2) other Farwest structures (modulars) established onsite, fully operational, and only requiring KCSWD furniture to be occupiable. The southernmost has a supervisory office layout and the other, adjacent to the south wall of the existing large metal fabrication facility, has a restroom/break environment with (3) offices. KCSWD requests the option to tenant these modulars immediately, both for their readily available and functional expansion spaces and for the increased level of onsite security that would provide. The uses of the spaces would not change from their original Farwest occupation. Parking is immediately adjacent to the office building and across from the breakroom/office modular. January 14, 2022 Clark Close, City of Renton page 3 of 3 Would this be allowed and what would be the necessary procedure to receive a partial occupancy permit for these uses? 4. This question deals with the Current Use classification in your Memorandum of September 23. Please clarify or correct the description of the site as a “vacant office and warehouse known as the Farwest Steel Building”. This description establishes a baseline for the project which does not reflect the realities of the proposed change of use. The Farwest facility was more than a “warehouse”, though this was a part of its function. It was a heavy industry fabrication facility with (2) large scale CNC machines for forming hull plates for ship building. The warehouse use was for storage of raw and finished materials that required the operation of (6) large overhead cranes (still in place), as well as, heavy equipment-level forklifts to move or reposition the materials on the CNC machines, flatbed trailer trucks, and rail cars which accessed the interior of the facility directly. If this redescription does not revise the CUP requirement for change of use, it should at least flag for reviewers that the access, egress and presence of truck trailers and rail cars on the Farwest site were not an uncommon or unfamiliar experience for the neighbors who shared the road/rail with Farwest during its operational days which ended just as KCSWD began its lease. In comparison the truck/trailer activity of KCSWD vehicles, as the traffic study will show, will be much more controlled (restricted to one access/egress road connection) and of a lower noise and intrusive activity. This will be noted in the SEPA addendum as a further justification for non- significance. 5. Finally, with respect to the Project Value as identified in the Land Use Master Application. We anticipate the scope of our site improvements (composed of cmu foundations for (2) modulars, fencing/screening at recycling, and the addition of access stairs and ramps) will not exceed $100K and, therefore, a drainage review will not be required. As a KCSWD contracted study by HDR shows, the existing onsite system which outlets to the city storm system at Lynn Ave SW is well maintained and operational. The scope associated with the interior improvements in the warehouse space and the (2) additional modulars do not affect stormwater system. Consequently, KCSWD considers these project costs separate from the determination of the $100K threshold for a drainage review. Is this consistent with your analysis? Thanks for your attention to these questions. We are moving forward on the CUP submission’s particulars and following your response to the above and Traffic’s input we expect to have our completed application to you by the end of January. Donn Stone Attachments: PreApp Summary of September 23, 2021, Waivers Confirmation Checklist, HDR TM of January 11, 2021