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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-22-2021 - Bread of Life - HEX Decision - conditional use1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 1 CAO VARIANCE - 1 BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY OF RENTON RE: Seattle Bread of Life Christian Church Conditional Use LUA21-000299, CU-H ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) FINAL DECISION Summary Bread of Life Christian Church in Seattle requests approval of a conditional use permit to operate a religious institution and parsonage office/preschool in an existing church building located at 3005 and 3009 Park Ave N. The application is approved with conditions. Testimony A computer-generated transcript has been prepared of the hearing to provide an overview of the hearing testimony. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only as Appendix A. Exhibits Exhibits 1-25, identified at page 2 of the staff report were admitted into the record during the hearing. The following exhibits were also admitted during the hearing: Exhibit 26: Staff Power Point Exhibit 27: COR Maps Exhibit 28: Google Earth 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 2 CAO VARIANCE - 2 Findings of Fact Procedural: 1. Applicant. Bread of Life Christian Church in Seattle, 1331 118th Ave SE, Bellevue, WA 98005. 2. Hearing. A virtual hearing was held on the Zoom application at 11:00 am September 20, 2021, Zoom ID No. 895 5690 3305. 3. Project Description. Bread of Life Christian Church in Seattle requests approval of a conditional use permit application to operate a religious institution and parsonage office/preschool for in an existing church building located at 3005 and 3009 Park Ave N. The subject properties have a combined land area of 15,600 square feet (0.36 acres) and contain a 3,256 square foot church building and a roughly 1,474 square foot parsonage with a full basement of approximately the same area. The main auditorium has seating for less than 100 attendees in the congregation. No vegetation or trees are proposed for removal as a part of the project. 4. Surrounding Uses. Surrounding land uses to the north, south and west are composed of is composed of single and multifamily dwellings. Located to the east across Park Ave N is the Cloud Break Café. 5. Adverse Impacts. There are no significant adverse impacts associated with the project. Pertinent impacts are more specifically addressed as follows: A. Aesthetic. The proposal will create no adverse aesthetic impacts. The proposal involves no new buildings or exterior alterations to existing buildings and all undeveloped areas are landscaped. No vegetation or trees are proposed for removal as a part of the project. B. Traffic. The proposal will not create any significant adverse traffic impacts. The proposal will not adversely impact movement for vehicles and pedestrians as no exterior site work is proposed and all existing driveways and sidewalks will remain in their current condition. The applicant submitted a Traffic and Parking Assessment (Exhibit 13) and using the methodology documented in the institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation manual, the church is estimated to generate 120 vehicle trips on Sundays with 53 trips occurring during the Sunday morning peak hour based on 99 seat capacity. On weekdays, the church is estimated to generate 44 vehicle trips per day with three (3) trips during the street peak hour (4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) and 16 vehicle trips during the church peak hour after 6:00 p.m. According to the testimony of staff, the PM peak hour generation rates were not significant enough to trigger level of service review under City standards. Additionally, the proposal passed the City’s Transportation Concurrency Test (Exhibit 24), which considers such factors as the citywide transportation plan and trip capacity within allowed growth levels. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 3 CAO VARIANCE - 3 C. Critical Areas. The proposal will not adversely affect critical areas. According to City of Renton (COR) Maps, the site contains regulated slopes and is in the Wellhead Protection Area Zone 2. The proposal will not affect either critical area since the proposal involves no exterior construction, no new fill and no introduction of hazardous materials to the project site. D. Noise, light and glare. The proposal will not create any significant noise, light and glare impacts. As recognized in the staff report, the Applicant has not proposed or shown the need for any additional lighting to begin the reuse of the existing property and former religious institution. Building mounted lighting is located along the front façades of both buildings. Mature landscaping, located between the building lights and public right-of-way, mitigates potential glare impacts to abutting properties. Noise impacts are not anticipated to be significant, limited to the sound associated with church members as they enter and exit church services and functions. E. Parking. As mitigated the proposal will not create any significant parking impacts. Parking regulations would require a minimum and maximum of 19.8 parking spaces for the available 99 seats in the main auditorium. Parking regulations require the parking spaces to be located within 750 feet of the proposed use for nonresidential uses. However, RMC 4-4- 080 E.2.f. creates an exception by authorizing the planning department to approve alternative parking arrangements as part of a transportation management plan. City staff have approved such a plan, which proposes two (2) areas for parking for church users (1) the Park-and-Ride gravel parking lot located on the southeast corner of Park Ave N and N 30th St (APN 3342103256), which is used as a public park-and-ride lot for King County Metro. Parking for the church would continue to use the Park-and-Ride lot via a six (6) month lease through the end of March 2022 and/or (2) shuttle service to a designated portion of the McKnight Middle School parking lot via a license agreement with Renton School District. Parking was raised as a concern by several neighbors in their written comments. They point out that the owner of the Park-and-Ride lot is in the process of acquiring a rezone for the lot for a different use. They also question whether persons will opt to park in the surrounding streets rather than wait for shuttles to drive them to the church from the McKnight parking lot. The Applicant’s parking assessment identifies that the peak parking demand would be 24 vehicles, but that’s just based upon 50 attendees of the church building, which has capacity for 100 attendees. The neighbors have a plausible concern that attendees will find it much easier to simply park in the neighborhood rather than park at McKnight 1.4 miles away and wait for a shuttle that can only transport 24 people at a time. Given the likelihood that the park and ride may be developed for another use, there is room for concern over the Applicant’s off-site parking solutions. For this reason, a condition of approval requires that the Applicant file with the City evidence of continuing off-site parking agreements upon expiration of the current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 4 CAO VARIANCE - 4 agreements. Further, the conditions require that the shuttle service be subject to monitoring to ensure that it adequately prevent on-street parking. As testified by staff, there is insufficient information to assess the parking impacts of the Applicant’s proposed preschool/daycare use. A condition of approval requires that the Applicant submit a parking demand analysis and parking plan for the preschool/daycare use prior to building occupancy. F. Overconcentration. The proposal will not create an overconcentration of church use in the vicinity of the project site. The proposal would be the only religious institution and preschool west of I-405 on N 30th St in Kennydale. The nearest known churches in the Kennydale neighborhood are the Church of the Beloved located at 1700 NE 28th St (approximately 0.4 miles southeast of the site, which is leasing space within the existing Kennydale Elementary School) and the Antioch Presbyterian Church (Korean Church) located at 4242 Jones Ave NE (approximately 1.4 miles northeast of the site within the CA zone and east of I-405). Conclusions of Law 1. Authority. RMC 4-8-080(G) provides that hearing examiner conditional use permit review and variances are Type III applications. As Type III applications, RMC 4-8-080(G) grants the Examiner with the authority to hold a hearing and issue a final decision, subject to closed record appeal to the City Council. 2. Zoning/Comprehensive Plan Designations. The property is zoned Residential-10 (R-10). The Comprehensive Plan designation is Residential High Density. 3. Review Criteria. Hearing examiner conditional use permits are required for religious uses in the R-10 zone per RMC 4-2-060G. Conditional use criteria are set by RMC 4-9-030. Conditional Use The Administrator or designee or the Hearing Examiner shall consider, as applicable, the following factors for all applications: 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 zoning regulations and any other plans, programs, maps or ordinances of the City of Renton. 4. The criterion is met. The proposal is consistent with the City’s development regulations and comprehensive plan for the reasons identified in Findings of Fact 16 and 17 of the staff report. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 5 CAO VARIANCE - 5 RMC 4-9-030(C)(2): Appropriate Location: The proposed location shall not result in the detrimental overconcentration of a particular use within the City or within the immediate area of t he proposed use. The proposed location shall be suited for the proposed use. 5. The criterion is met. The proposal does not result in an overconcentration of religious uses for the reasons identified in Finding of Fact No. 6. RMC 4-9-030(C)(3): Effect on Adjacent Properties: The proposed use at the proposed location shall not result in substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property. 6. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5, as conditioned and mitigated, there are no adverse impacts associated with the proposal, so it will not result in substantial or undue adverse effects on adjacent property. RMC 4-9-030(C)(4): Compatibility: The proposed use shall be compatible with the scale and character of the neighborhood. 7. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5, the proposal will not create any adverse aesthetic impacts or any other impacts that would create compatibility problems. RMC 4-9-030(C)(5): Parking: Adequate parking is, or will be made, available. 8. The criterion is met for the reasons identified in Finding of Fact No. 5E. 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. 9. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5B, the proposal provides for safe movement of vehicles and pedestrians since the proposal for an existing building and associated circulation system and staff has found no need for alteration of those existing improvements. Further, there are no significant off-site impacts since the proposal will only generate three peak hour trips. Under City regulations that number of peak hour trips is not considered significant enough to merit assessment of off-site impacts. Further, the proposed religious use simply replaces a prior religious use and it is very unlikely that the new use will create any more traffic than that generated by the prior use. RMC 4-9-030(C)(7): Noise, Light and Glare: Potential noise, light and glare impacts from the proposed use shall be evaluated and mitigated. 10. As determined in Finding of Fact No. 5(D), the proposal will not create any significant noise, light and glare impacts. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 6 CAO VARIANCE - 6 RMC 4-9-030(C)(8): Landscaping: Landscaping shall be provided in all areas not occupied by buildings, paving, or critical areas. Additional landscaping may be required to buffer adjacent properties from potentially adverse effects of the proposed use. 11. The criterion is met. As shown in the aerial photograph of the project, Ex. 4, the entirety of the property is either landscaped or is developed. DECISION All applicable permitting criteria are met as outlined in the Conclusions of Law above. As conditioned below, the conditional use permit application is approved subject to the following condition of approval: 1. The applicant shall provide a minimum area of one hundred (100) square feet for recycling and refuse collection and the area be fenced or screened with a minimum six- foot (6') wall, fence or landscaping. In addition, the refuse and recycling area shall be located outside the front yard. Refuse and recycling shall be reviewed and approved by the Current Planning Project Manager prior to building occupancy. 2. The applicant shall either update the parking lot lease agreement between Kennydale United Methodist Church and Seattle Bread of Life Christian Church to allow parking on the adjacent park-and-ride lot to begin around 6:00 p.m. or limit weekday evening church services start times on Wednesdays to begin after 7:00 p.m. when parking becomes available. The updated parking lot lease agreement or church hours of operation shall be reviewed and approved by the Current Planning Project Manager prior to building occupancy. 3. The applicant shall provide a parking demand analysis and parking plan for the accessory preschool use to ensure adequate parking and drop-off/pick-up are provided. The parking demand analysis and parking plan shall be submitted to, and approved by, the Current Planning Project Manager prior to building occupancy. 4. The applicant shall comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) by installing four (4) paved and signed ADA complaint parking stalls at the adjacent park- and-ride lot and provide an Accessible Route of Travel (ART) from the adjacent park- and-ride lot to an ADA compliant building entrance. The ART shall meet current City and ADA standards and will require, at a minimum, the reconstruction of three (3) curb return ramps at the intersection of Park Ave N and N 30th St. The siting, location and engineering design of the ADA compliant parking stalls and ART shall be provided to, and approved by, the Community Economic Development via a Right-of-Way Use Permit or similar permitting mechanism prior to building occupancy. 5. In the event the adjacent park-and-ride lot becomes unavailable, the applicant shall provide the City a revised Parking Agreement with the Renton School District that provides for the use of at least one (1) ADA van accessible parking stall at McKnight Middle School. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONDITIONAL USE - 7 CAO VARIANCE - 7 6. The applicant shall provide a secured extended use bicycle parking area for a minimum of two (2) off-street bicycle parking stalls to be reviewed and approved by the Current Planning Project Manager prior to building occupancy. 7. The applicant shall provide a copy of all future parking leases/agreements to the City of Renton within thirty (30) days of their effective date. If the Applicant becomes primarily dependent upon its proposed McKnight shuttle service to meet its parking requirements, the Applicant shall prepare and implement a two-year monitoring plan as approved by City staff to ensure that attendees of the project site don’t use on-street parking instead. Additional monitoring may be required after the two years have expired as reasonably found necessary by City staff. If adequate off-site parking options become unavailable for the religious institution to comply with minimum parking regulations, the 2021 Conditional Use Permit for Seattle Bread of Life Christian Church shall become null and void. DATED this 22nd day of September, 2021. City of Renton Hearing Examiner Appeal Right and Valuation Notices RMC 4-8-080(G) classifies the application(s) subject to this decision as Type III applications 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. A request for reconsideration to the hearing examiner may also be filed within this 14-day appeal period. Affected property owners may request a change in valuation for property tax purposes notwithstanding any program of revaluation.