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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-04-2021 - Citys Administrative Decision mailed to Mr. JurgensMay 4, 2021 Mr. Steve Jurgens 2301 Jones Avenue NE Renton, WA 98290 Via: sjurgens22@gmail.com SUBJECT: Request for Exemption from Frontage Improvements along Jones Avenue NE (Jurgens Single-Family Addition, LUA20-000006, 2301 Jones Avenue NE) Dear Mr. Jurgens: The City of Renton has reviewed your request for an exemption from the Renton Municipal Code (RMC) 4-6-060, Street Standards, which requires street improvements for the length of the property fronting City right-of-way (ROW) on Jones Avenue NE, a Residential Street. More specifically, the City Code requires that half street improvements be provided with a minimum pavement width of 26 feet, a 0.5 -foot curb, an 8-foot planting strip, a 5-foot sidewalk, street trees, and storm drainage improvements. The submitted proposed improvements to the property include a 3,406 square foot 2-story addition to an existing 1,824 square foot home. ANALYSIS: The City has considered the request for an exemption from the City’s Street Standards identified in RMC 4-6-060. The applicant is proposing the construction of a single-family home addition without having to provide street improvements. The Applicant has cited RMC 4-6-060(D)(3), which states that a project is exempt from the requirements of the section of RMC “if demonstrated as necessary to mitigate an extreme hardship not caused by the requestor.” The applicant contends that constructing the required frontage improvements would result in an extreme hardship due to the difference between the fee-in-lieu amount to be collected and the anticipated cost of the improvements as calculated by the applicant. The applicant incorrectly assumes that the fee-in-lieu amount defined in the City’s Fee Schedule is equal to the cost of constructing these improvements as calculated by the City. The applicant’s justification is a misinterpretation of both the intended purpose of offering the fee-in-lieu option (i.e. when is it permitted) and the method to which the set fee-in-lieu of amount was determined. The following briefly provides background of the fee-in-lieu of required street improvements: 1.Purpose (i.e. When is it Permitted): The purpose of the offering the fee-in-lieu of option, as defined by 4- 9-060(C)(9), is to avoid circumstances where: Mr. Steve Jurgens Page 2 of 3 May 4, 2021 a.Frontage improvements where there are no other improvements in the area or will not be needed in the next five (5) years; or b.Installation of the required improvement would require substantial off-site roadway modifications; or c.The Administrator determines that installation of the required improvement would result in a safety hazard; or d.Other unusual circumstances preclude the construction of the improvements as required. 2.How the Fee Was Determined: The City offers a reduced fee-in-lieu amount compared to the estimated cost of construction in order to incentivize applicants to pay the fee-in-lieu instead of constructing the required improvements and avoid undesirable circumstances like those mentioned above, when frontage improvements are developed in a piecemeal method. The fee-in-lieu option was never intended to provide a means for determining construction cost for the improvements and therefore does not reflect the real-world cost of constructing the required improvements. The purpose of RMC 4-6-060 is to provide a “safe and convenient access and travel for all users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and people of all ages and abilities…” which is in line with the City’s mission to provide a pedestrian-oriented and accessible community as defined under City of Renton Comprehensive Plan Element T-1. There is an existing 5-foot sidewalk along the east side of Jones Avenue NE as well as a planter strip and 5-foot sidewalk immediate north of the property. Extending the sidewalk along the property frontage will expand the walkable connections along Jones Avenue NE. In addition, the requirement to construct frontage improvements has been consistently applied by the City in accordance with City Code for similar single-family home additions, property dimensions, similar surrounding areas, and where the properties are directly adjacent or within a reasonable distance to existing sidewalks. While financial needs alone do not constitute a hardship, the City understands that constructing the required minimum street section would necessitate the need to extend an existing storm water culvert to the west impacting the adjacent stream and potentially requiring permits from State and Federal Agencies. To avoid this impact and additional permitting, the City is supportive of a modification to the City’s Street Standards to avoid the impact to the stream while keeping with the City’s mission for a pedestrian-oriented and accessible community. DECISION: The requested exemption from frontage improvements of RMC 4-6-060 by the applicant is denied, as the request does not comply with the exemption criteria of RMC 4-6-060(D)(3) as described above. However, the City is in support of a modification reducing the paved width to 22 feet (existing curb to proposed curb), 0.5-foot curb, and a 5-foot sidewalk along the property frontage crossing the existing storm drainage culvert to avoid impacts to the critical area, reducing any hardship not caused by the requestor. Please see the enclosed exhibit for an illustration of the City supported modified street section. This decision to deny the exemption is subject to a fourteen (14) day appeal period from the date of this letter per RMC 4-8-110. Any appeals of the administrative decision must be filed with the City Clerk, along with the required appeal fee, by 5:00 pm, May 18, 2021. Due to Governor Jay Inslee’s Proclamation 20-25 (“Stay Home, Stay Healthy”), the City Clerk’s Office is working remotely. For that reason, appeals must be submitted electronically to the City Clerk at cityclerk@rentonwa.gov. The appeal fee, normally due at the time an appeal is submitted, will be collected at a future date. Appeals to the Hearing Examiner are governed by RMC 4-8-110 and additional Mr. Steve Jurgens Page 3 of 3 May 4, 2021 information regarding the appeal process may be obtained from the City Clerk’s Office, cityclerk@rentonwa.gov. If the situation changes such that the City Clerk’s Office is open when you file your appeal, you have the option of filing the appeal in person. Sincerely, C.E. “Chip” Vincent CED Administrator Enclosures: RMC 4-6-060 Exemption Request from Applicant City Supported Modified Street Section cc: Vanessa Dolbee, Planning Director Brianne Bannwarth, Development Engineering Manager Matt Herrera, Interim Current Planning Manager Rob Shuey, Building Official Justin Johnson, Asst. Development Engineering Manager Melissa Kamphaus, Permit Center Manager Alex Morganroth, Senior Planner Scott Warlick, Engineering Specialist III April 01, 2021 Brianne Bannwarth City of Renton Community and Economic Development 1055 South Grady Way Renton, WA 98057 Ms. Brianne Bannwarth- As part of a Residential Building Permit Application at 2301 Jones Ave NE currently in Intake Review, I am requesting exemption to providing street frontage improvements per RMC 4-6-060. The installation of street frontage improvements is an extreme hardship not caused by the requestor: -The 2021 Fee-In-Lieu for Street Frontage Improvements in neighboring R-4 zoning along Jones Ave NE is $110/LF, a decrease from $113/LF in 2020. The anticipated cost burden for street frontage improvements at 2301 Jones Ave NE is $57,340. This amount equates to a cost burden of $536 per lineal foot for the 107 LF of frontage, a 387% increase over the 2021 Fee-In-Lieu amount. This $57,340 figure includes the required permit fees, civil and geotechnical engineering fees, actual cost of construction as solicited from local and reputable contractors and applicable bond fees. It is an extreme hardship not caused by the requestor to require street frontage improvements at 2301 Jones Ave NE when the actual cost burden to the requestor is 387% more, almost five times, the Fee-In-Lieu amount. Furthermore, the 2008 Comprehensive Walkway Study prepared for the City of Renton by Mirai Transportation Planning & Engineering estimated the cost per lineal foot for the type of improvements needed at 2301 Jones Ave NE at $589/LF which is in 2008 dollars and for an accurate comparison does not account for inflation and the increased cost of construction over the past 13 years. The Fee-In-Lieu cost per lineal foot is presumed to be the approximate cost of street frontage improvements and it is a disproportionate cost burden to require frontage improvements when the Fee-In-Lieu is not an accurate figure for the cost to provide such improvements. -The required length of street frontage improvements is defined in RMC 4-6-060.F.3 as the full distance of the subject property as it abuts the public street. 2301 Jones Ave NE has 107 LF of frontage along Jones Ave NE, which is 53% more frontage than the minimum lot 70-foot width allowed in the current R- 4 zoning along Jones Ave NE, which is more often than not the respective street frontage. Additionally, the zoning classification in this area was R-8 until approximately 2012, thus allowing narrower lot widths of 50-feet. However, neighboring properties who are similarly zoned such as 1925 Jones Ave NE, 2021 Jones Ave NE, 2414 Jones Ave NE, 2514 Jones Ave NE, 2524 Jones Ave NE, 2611 Jones Ave NE and 2619 Jones Ave NE all have a pipestem style access to the road frontage, resulting in a mere fraction of the 107 LF that the requestor’s property contains. Properties such as 2428 Jones Ave NE and 1913 Jones AVE NE contain easement access to the roadway, again greatly reducing their street frontage improvement burden as compared to the requestor’s. The purpose of the Street Standards code section is “…to establish design standards and develop requirements for street improvements to ensure reasonable and safe access to public and private properties.” Lineal feet of street frontage is not an appropriate metric to base the equally shared responsibility that properties owners have to foster a safe and convenient environment for travel of all users, as the cost burden to do so varies tremendously. A more appropriate method to equally share such responsibility would be a set amount for each Use Type, such as existing Impact, Development and Capacity fees for other publicly shared infrastructure and services that the City of Renton has. This disproportionate metric for determining frontage improvement responsibility creates an extreme hardship not caused by the requestor at 2301 Jones Ave NE. -Many of the neighboring similar R-4 zoned properties along the East frontage of Jones Ave NE between NE 26th Place and NE 20th Street had the benefit of a City Improvement Program project to install their respective frontage improvements through the “Walkway Improvements 2007 Project”, Public Works File Number 03377. Any development within these properties that is similar to the proposed by the requestor, would not generate the requirement to provide such improvements since they are already in place. Furthermore, the RMC does not require these properties to bear their share of responsibility to provide a safe and convenient environment for travel of all users through either the “Fee-In-Lieu” or similar during any comparable development. The City Improvement Program project created an extreme cost burden hardship to the requestor as compared to similar neighboring properties along Jones Ave NE who have no cost burden since improvements were provided through a City Improvement Program. -Due to the requestor’s property containing both critical areas and the associated buffers, substantial modifications to the standard improvements are required. The installation of the improvements will also require substantial environmental protection measures, in order to reduce the negative impact on the critical areas. The requirement to install street frontage improvement within critical areas and the associated buffers creates an extreme hardship not caused by the requestor. The installation of street frontage improvements is not necessary for current or anticipated development: -There will be a de minimis effect on public safety if the street frontage improvements are not installed at 2301 Jones Ave NE. On the west side of Jones Ave NE there is currently no abutting sidewalk to the south of the property, and no other sidewalk within 900’. To the north, there is 300’ of abutting sidewalk that then dead-ends with no other sidewalk for the remaining quarter-mile of Jones Ave NE. The east side of the street has a continuous half-mile long sidewalk in this vicinity. -The requestor’s property is not a “missing link”, and there is an extremely low likelihood that street frontage improvements will be needed in the area in the future as there has been no indication of a need in past or present City Transportation Improvement Programs. Furthermore, the 2008 Comprehensive Walkway Study prepared for the City of Renton by Mirai Transportation Planning & Engineering did not list the vicinity of Jones Ave NE that the requestor’s property is located upon as part of the Prioritized list of top 200 street segments with missing sidewalks. - While RMC 4-6-060.F.2 requires sidewalks on both sides of Residential Access streets such as Jones Ave NE, sidewalks are not necessarily desired on both sides of low volume residential streets that contain a variety of physical constraints, as stated in Renton’s 2008 Comprehensive Walkway Study. The west frontage of Jones Ave NE contains constraints such as the Kennydale Stream and wetland critical areas nearby and on the requestor’s property; and to the south, steep topography and steep existing driveways abut the roadway frontage north of the NE 20th Street intersection. These physical constraints are conclusive as to why the “Walkway Improvements 2007 Project”, Public Works File Number 03377 was limited to half street improvements on the east frontage of Jones Ave NE as it is not feasible to provide continuous sidewalks and frontage improvements on the west frontage of Jones Ave NE. The narrowed roadway to the code minimum 20-foot width, sidewalk bump out near the NE 20th Street intersection and lack of the standard 8-foot planting strip is proof of this. -The substantial anticipated cost burden of $57,340 to install the frontage improvements is excessively disproportionate to the probable use or need as there is no feasible ability to provide full frontage improvements along the west frontage of Jones Ave NE. -The proposed development contains no changes to the property frontage, resulting in no impacts to pedestrian safety. 22' 5' 6' = 6" curb, 5' Sidewalk, and 6" handrail on the backside of sidewalk. Handrail required in areas where the drop off from the sidewalk would be greater than 30". Asphalt transition back to street New sidewalk shall meet all ADA standards 8' Proposed Curb line8' Parking lane 10' Radius (typ) Concrete triangle wings 6'8 -16' wide planter strip existing stream end of existing culvert existing 5' sidewalk and 8' planter strip 5' Mailbox's to be relocated 5' sidewalk with 8' planter strip Jurgen's SF - City Supported Modified Street Section