HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-26-2022 - HEX Decision Denying Subdivision Extension -- Grant Avenue Recon1
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PLAT EXTENSION REQUEST - 1
BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY OF RENTON
RE: Grant Avenue Townhomes
Second Request for Extension of Plat
Expiration
LUA15- 000885 and LUA17-000335
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FINAL DECISION UPON
RECONSIDERATION
Applicant’s request for reconsideration of the November 29, 2022 Final Decision (“Final Decision”) of
the above-captioned matter is denied. The Grant Avenue Townhomes preliminary plat and planned
unit development shall still expire on January 30, 2023 as ruled in the Final Decision.
The Applicant filed a reconsideration request by email dated December 13, 2022. The Applicant
asserted that the Final Decision didn’t consider obstacles to completion posed by inclement weather
and holidays. The Examiner issued an email to all parties dated December 13, 2022 giving the City
until December 16, 2022 to respond and December 21, 2022 for the Applicant to reply. The City
responded by email on December 16, 2022 that it had no further comments. The Examiner inquired by
email dated December 19, 2022 whether the City believed that the time it took to resolve the
Applicant’s examiner extension request pushed the Applicant into more challenging weather
conditions. The City responded by email dated December 19, 2022 that anytime after October 1, 2022
posed the risk of construction delays due to inclement weather. By email dated December 19, 2022 the
examiner gave the Applicant until December 21, 2022 to reply. The Applicant provided no reply.
As noted in the Examiner’s December 19, 2022 inquiry email, the sole reason that Grant Homes
preliminary plat was extended an additional two months was to account for any delays the Applicant
experienced from the two months it took to process its hearing examiner preliminary plat extension
request1. Consequently, inclement weather would only be a valid reason for extending plat expiration
1 The premise that permit processing delay merited an extension to plat expiration was the liberal assumption that the
Applicant may have had to defer making construction decisions until a Final Decision was issued. For example, the
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PLAT EXTENSION REQUEST - 2
if the two months in processing the permit applications subjected the applicant to materially worse
weather than if it had received a final decision rejecting its extension request in early October (a couple
weeks after filing its September 26, 2022 request) as opposed to November 29, 2022. As pointed out
by the City in its December 19, 2022 inquiry response and corroborated in the regulations cited in the
Applicant’s reconsideration request, the wet season had commenced October 1, just a few days after the
Applicant filed its hearing examiner extension request. Consequently, if the time it took to process the
Applicant’s extension request pushed the Applicant’s construction schedule further into the wet season,
the Applicant had the burden of establishing that those delays made it encounter materially more wet
weather and holiday delays than if it had received an earlier decision in early October.
The Applicant generally referenced bad weather and holidays but provided no explanation as to how
these factors materially reduced the time available for construction because the Applicant may have had
to wait to receive a final decision before proceeding. RMC 4-7-080L3 requires the Applicant to
“show” unusual circumstances justifying an extension. This places the burden of proof on the
Applicant. Generally referencing bad weather and holidays without more does not establish any unique
circumstances, especially given that the showing must include that time loss due to weather/holidays
was materially more late in fall as opposed to earlier in October. For these reasons, the request for
reconsideration is denied.
DATED this 26th day of December, 2022.
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City of Renton Hearing Examiner
Appeal Right and Valuation Notices
The RMC does not identify whether a hearing examiner decision on plat expiration requests is
appealable to the City Council. In the absence of clear appeal rights, a common strategy is to appeal
both administratively (in this case the City Council) and judicially (under the Land Use Petition Act,
Chapter 36.70C RCW). City Council appeals must be filed within 14 days of the issuance of this
decision and judicial appeals must be filed within 21 days of the issuance of this decision.
Affected property owners may request a change in valuation for property tax purposes notwithstanding
any program of revaluation.
Applicant may have had to await a final extension decision before knowing whether it had to pay contractors a premium to
expedite construction work and/or to work around the holidays.