HomeMy WebLinkAboutI-Kuan Tao Final Decision Ltr Denis Law Mayorx
City Clerk-Jason A.Seth,CMC
February 1, 2019
Chaohua Chang
CHC Architects
13301 SE 79th PI. A205
Newcastle, WA 98059
Subject: Hearing Examiner's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Decision
RE: I-Kuan Tao Cultural Center Addition, Conditional Use Permit
LUA-18-000679
Dear Chaohua Chang:
Enclosed please find the Hearing Examiner's Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final
Decision dated January 29, 2019. Also, this document is immediately available on our
website:
• If you go to: Rentonwa.gov; "How do I"; Hearing Examiner (under Contact); "Land
Use Decisions". The Decisions are filed by year and then alphabetical order by
project name.
I can be reached at (425) 430-6510 or jseth@rentonwa.gov. Thank you.
Sincerely,
ason A. Seth, CMC
City Clerk
cc: Hearing Examiner
Angelea Weihs,Associate Planner
Jennifer Henning, Planning Director
Vanessa Dolbee,Current Planning Manager
Brianne Bannwarth, Development Engineering Manager
Craig Burnell,Building Official
Kyle Wunderlin,Planning Technician
Julia Medzegian,City Council Liaison
Parties of Record(1)
1055 South Grady Way,Renton,WA 98057 • (425)430-6510/Fax (425)430-6516 • rentonwa.gov
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8 BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY OF RENTON
9 )
10 RE: I-Kuan Tao Cultural Center Addition )
) FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF
11 Conditional Use Permit ) LAW AND FINAL DECISION
)
12 LUA18-000679, CU-H, MOD, MOD )
13 )
14 )
15 Summary
16
The Applicant is requesting a hearing examiner conditional use permit, parking modification (to reduce
17 required parking from 139 stalls to 44 stalls) and street modification (to retain existing street frontage
improvements) in order to operate a service and social service organization (I-Kuan-Tao Cultural
18 Center) within an existing single-family home located at 711 Monroe Ave NE. The applications are
19 approved subject to conditions.
20 Testimony
21 Angelea Weihs, City of Renton Associate Planner, summarized the staff report. Ms. Weihs clarified
22 that the staff report is in error in its references to street waivers and the Applicant is not requesting any
street waiver. In response to examiner questions, Vanessa Dolbee, Renton Planning Manager, noted
23 that the conditional use permit isn't personal to the Applicant, but the permit only authorizes the use
proposed, which includes the hours of operation.
24
25 Exhibits
26 Exhibits 1-12 identified at Page 2 of the January 15, 2019 staff report were admitted into the record
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1 during the hearing. The following exhibits were also admitted during the hearing:
2 Exhibit 13: City of Renton COR maps
3 Exhibit 14: Google Earth aerial photographs of site
Exhibit 15: Staff PowerPoint
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5 FINDINGS OF FACT
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Procedural:
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1. Applicant. I-Kuan Tao FYCD Cultural and Educational Association Washington; 711 Monroe
8 Ave NE, Renton, WA 98056.
9 2. Hearing. A hearing was held on the application at 10:00 am on January 15, 2019 in the
10 Renton Council Chambers.
1 I 3. Project Description. The Applicant is requesting a hearing examiner conditional use permit,
parking modification (to reduce required parking from 139 stalls to 44 stalls) and street modification
12 (to retain existing street frontage improvements) in order to operate a service and social service
13 organization (I-Kuan-Tao Cultural Center) within an existing single-family home located at 711
Monroe Ave NE. The subject property totals 13,552 square feet. The proposal includes the
14 reconfiguration of the first floor and the addition of a second story to an existing residence, resulting in
a total floor area of 3,486 square feet. A drive aisle and surface parking for 11 vehicles is proposed
15 within the front yard area of the proposed I-Kuan-Tao Cultural Center. A shared parking agreement
16 has been established between the I-Kuan-Tao Cultural Center and the Community of Christ Church to
the south of the project site for the use of 33 parking stalls. The Cultural Center would operate on
17 Saturdays for Chinese class and religious seminar. Chinese class would be held from 9:45 am to 12:00
pm and the religious seminar would be held from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. The Applicant anticipates 14
I students would attend the Chinese class and 12 people would attend the religious seminar. It is not
19 anticipated that more than 30 people would attend Chinese class or the religious seminar. Two to three
people would be stationed on-site from Sunday through Friday for administrative reasons. Access to
20 the site would be provided via a curb cut off of Monroe Ave NE.
21 4. Surrounding Uses. Surrounding uses on three of the four sides are single-family use. A
religious institution adjoins the project on its south side.
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23 5. Adverse Impacts. There are no significant adverse impacts associated with the proposal.
Pertinent impacts are more specifically addressed as follows:
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A. Compatibility/Noise/Light/Glare. The proposal is compatible with surrounding residential
25 and religious institution use. Exterior alterations will be consistent with the design for
26 a single-family home. The proposed structure includes two stories with a basement.
Although the proposal is exempt from residential design standards, the proposed
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1 structure complies, if not exceeds, all design requirements that would apply to
2 single-family residences, including window trim, belly band, glazing, garage, and
front porch design standards. The building will also be buffered from adjoining uses
3 by perimeter landscaping that surrounds the project site as outlined in Finding of
Fact No. 5(E) below and the project also exceeds setback and lot size requirements to
4 provide enhanced separation from surrounding uses. The moderate intensity of the
proposed use due to its limited hours of operation and low number of patrons
5 assures that the use will not be associated with any significant adverse noise.
6 Activities and assemblies would be held indoors. Exterior noise impacts would be
limited to vehicles arriving and departing the site. The Applicant has indicated that
7 new outdoor lighting will not be directed towards neighboring uses. Details of the
lighting plan were not provided with the project application, therefore, a condition
8 of approval requires that a lighting plan be provided with the building permit
9 application demonstrating compliance with RMC 4-4-075. With no significant light
or noise impacts along with fully compatible aesthetic design, the project is found to
10 be compatible with the adjoining single family and religious institution use.
11 B. Critical Areas and Natural Features. There are no critical areas on site.
12 C. Parking. The parking is found to be adequate and not injurious to surrounding properties
13 via approval of the parking modification requested by the Applicant. The parking
modification (Exhibit 8) seeks a reduction in parking from 139 stalls required by RMC 4-4-
14 080 to 11 on-site parking spaces and a shared parking agreement for use of 33 off site
parking stalls.
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16 The reduction in parking is amply justified by the low intensity use proposed by the
Applicant. The applicant states that both Chinese class and religious seminar activities will
17 occur on Saturdays. The proposed hours for the Chinese class would be from 9:45am to
noon, and the proposed hours for religious seminar would be from 1pm to 3pm. The
18 applicant states that is not anticipated that attendance would exceed 30 people; therefore,
19 11 on-site parking spaces and 33 off-site parking spaces would be more than enough to
satisfy the needs of the proposed use.
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Per RMC 4-4-080E.2, off-site parking is permitted provided the applicant can demonstrate
21 that sufficient parking is not available on the premises of the use and a parking agreement
22 ensuring that off-site parking is available for the duration of the use is approved by the
Community and Economic Development Administrator. Due to the limited size of the lot
23 (13,552 square feet), satisfying the requirement for 139 parking spaces is not feasible on-
site. The existing church to the south operates on Sundays. As a result, the church parking
24 spaces would be available for cultural center usage on Saturdays for Chinese classes and
religious seminars, and no conflicts of hours for the two businesses are anticipated.
25 Therefore, the shared parking agreement will not conflict with the minimum parking
26 requirements for the abutting site to the south. A condition of approval requires that the
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1 parking agreement (Exhibit 8) be maintained for the duration that the proposed use is
located on the site or until a new agreement is obtained and approved by the City.
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3 The proposed 11 parking spaces will not be injurious to other properties in the vicinity.
The proposal for 11 on-site parking spaces is significantly more compatible with the
4 surrounding residential neighborhood in comparison with the code requirement of 139
parking spaces. Further, for the reasons outlined above, the amount of proposed parking is
5 more than sufficient to accommodate any parking demand created by the proposal.
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D. Traffic. As determined by City planning staff, the project site design assures the safe
7 movement or vehicles and pedestrians and will not create any need for project specific off-
site transportation improvements.
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9 A traffic impact analysis is required when the estimated vehicular traffic generated from a
proposed development exceeds 20 vehicles per hour in either the AM (6:00 — 9:00) or PM
10 (3:00 — 6:00) peak periods. Neither the Chinese class activities nor religious seminars will
be active during the AM or PM peak periods, and weekday administrative activities are not
11 anticipated to exceed 20 vehicle trips per hour; therefore, a traffic impact analysis was not
required. Pedestrians can continue to take access via an existing sidewalk on Monroe Ave
12 NE. For these reasons, staff concluded that it is not anticipated that the proposed use will
13 have any negative impacts on vehicle or pedestrian movement or any negative effects on
the surrounding area.
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E. Landscaping. The Applicant proposes landscaping that will provide significant buffering to
15 adjoining uses and that, as conditioned, will also comply with the City's landscaping
16 standards. The Applicant submitted a Landscape Plan (Exhibit 4) with the project
application. The landscape plan included a 15-foot landscape strip along the site's Monroe
17 Ave NE street frontage. In addition to the proposed ROW street frontage landscaping, the
applicant is also proposing perimeter parking landscaping that also serves as a 10-foot wide
I8 fully sight-obscuring landscaped visual barrier, which is required along common property
19 lines for proposed nonresidential uses. The Applicant also proposes a 6-foot cedar fence
along the side and rear property lines (starting approximately 90 feet back from the front
20 property line) in order to further screen the proposed use. It is anticipated that the
proposed 10-foot vegetated buffer around the project perimeter would adequately screen
21 the proposed use from the surrounding single-family residential uses, provided conditions
22 of approval are met. Conditions of approval require some minor revisions to the
Applicant's landscaping plan to assure full compliance with the City's landscaping
23 standards.
24 Conclusions of Law
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1. Authority. Hearing examiner conditional use permits qualify as Type III review pursuant to
26 RMC 4-8-080(G). The modification requests are classified by RMC 4-8-080(G) as Type I review.
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1 RMC 4-8-080(C)(2) requires consolidated permits to each be processed under "the highest-number
procedure". The Type III conditional use review is the "highest-number procedure" and therefore
2 must be employed for all of the permit applications. As outlined in RMC 4-8-080(G), the Hearing
3 Examiner is authorized to hold hearings and issue final decisions on Type III applications subject to
closed record appeal to the Renton City Council.
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2. Zoning/Comprehensive Plan Designations. The subject property is within Residential Medium
5 Density Comprehensive Plan land use designation and the R8 zoning classification.
6 3. Review Criteria/Modification Approval. RMC 4-2-060 requires a hearing examiner
conditional use permit for service and social organizations in the R8 zone. Conditional use criteria are
7 governed by RMC 4-9-030(D). Applicable conditional use standards are quoted below in italics and
8 applied through corresponding conclusions of law. The requested street and parking modifications are
found to be consistent with all applicable criteria for the reasons identified in Findings 17 and 18 of the
9 staff report, adopted by this reference as if set forth in full.
10 Conditional Use
1 l The Administrator or designee or the Hearing Examiner shall consider, as applicable, the following
factors for all applications:
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13 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
14 zoning regulations and any other plans, programs, maps or ordinances of the City of Renton.
15 4. The proposal is consistent with all applicable comprehensive plan policies and development
standards as outlined in Findings of Fact No. 13-15 of the staff report, adopted by this reference as if
16 set forth in full.
17 RMC 4-9-030(C)(2): Appropriate Location: The proposed location shall not result in the
18 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.
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5. The proposed use is fully compatible with surrounding uses and will create no significant
20 adverse impacts for the reasons identified in Finding of Fact No. 5. There is no overconcentration of
21 church use in the area as the proposed use is the only Chinese cultural center within the City of
Renton.. Given these factors, the proposed location is suited for the proposed use.
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RMC 4-9-030(C)(3): Effect on Adjacent Properties: The proposed use at the proposed location
23 shall not result in substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property.
24 6. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5, there are no adverse impacts associated with the
25 proposal, so it will not result in substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property.
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1 RMC 4-9-030(C)(4): Compatibility: The proposed use shall be compatible with the scale and
character of the neighborhood.
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3 7. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(A), the proposed use is compatible with the scale and
character of the neighborhood.
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RMC 4-9-030(C)(5): Parking:Adequate parking is, or will be made, available.
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8. Parking is adequate as determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(C).
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7 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.
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9. The proposal provides for safe movement of pedestrians and vehicles and doesn't create
9 adverse traffic impacts as determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(D).
10 RMC 4-9-030(C)(7): Noise, Light and Glare: Potential noise, light and glare impacts from the
11 proposed use shall be evaluated and mitigated.
12 10. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(A), the proposal will not result in any adverse light,
noise or glare impacts.
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RMC 4-9-030(C)(8): Landscaping: Landscaping shall be provided in all areas not occupied by
14 buildings, paving, or critical areas. Additional landscaping may be required to buffer adjacent
properties from potentially adverse effects of the proposed use.
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16 11. The site is fully and adequately landscaped as shown in the landscape plan, Ex. 4, and
described in Finding of Fact No. 5(E).
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DECISION
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19 As described and limited by this decision, the conditional use permit application satisfies all applicable
conditional use criteria for the reasons identified in the findings and conclusions of this decision and for
20 that reason is approved subject to the following conditions:
21 1. The applicant shall submit a final detailed landscape plan at the time of Utility
Construction Permit application, for review and approval by the Current Planning Project
22 Manager. The final detail landscape plan shall include, but is not limited to, 10-foot on-site
23 street frontage landscaping along Monroe Ave NE (following the deduction of public
ROW), perimeter landscaping along the west side of the proposed parking lot, and shall
24 demonstrate compliance with minimum shrub planting rate and size for perimeter
landscaping. All landscaping shall be installed prior to issuance of a Certificate of
25 Occupancy for the proposed cultural center change of use and expansion.
26 2. The applicant shall either submit a revised landscape/tree retention plan that shows the
two on-site (6 caliper inch) maple trees and one off-site (13 caliper inch) deciduous tree as
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1 retained, with required tree protection fencing, or the applicant shall submit an arborist
report that demonstrates that retention of these trees is not feasible. The revised
2 landscape/tree retention plan or arborist report shall be submitted at the time of Utility
3 Construction Permit Review for review and approval by the Current Planning Project
Manager.
4 3. A lighting plan shall be provided with the building permit application demonstrating
compliance with RMC 4-4-075. The lighting plan shall be reviewed and approved by the
5 current planning project manager prior to building permit issuance.
6 4. The parking agreement (Exhibit 8) shall be maintained for the duration that the proposed
use is located on the site or until a new agreement is obtained and approved by the City.
7 5. The applicant shall pay a fee in lieu of street improvements prior to Utility Construction
Permit issuance.
8 6. The applicant shall submit a draft Deed of Dedication for review and approval by
9 Development Engineering, prior to Utility Construction Permit issuance.
7. The I-Kuan Tao Cultural Center shall limit the operation of Chinese classes, culture
10 studies, and religious seminars, to Saturdays only. Expansion of the centers operating
hours beyond Saturdays, other than for administrative activities only, would require a new
11 conditional use permit application.
12 DATED this 29`h day of January 2019.
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Phi A.Olbrechts
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City of Renton Hearing Examiner
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Appeal Right and Valuation Notices
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19 RMC 4-8-080(G) classifies the application(s) subject to this decision as Type III application(s)
20 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.
21 A request for reconsideration to the hearing examiner may also be filed within this 14-day appeal
period.
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Affected property owners may request a change in valuation for property tax purposes
23 notwithstanding any program of revaluation.
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