SPR Timing Process
Site Plan Review
City of Yelm
Community Development Department
General Timing and Process
Site Plan Review Applications
Determination of Completeness - Once an application is received, the Community Development Department has 28 days from time of application to determine whether the application is complete.
Additional information may be requested at this time, even if the application is complete. Once the application is deemed complete and all supplemental information is submitted, a
Notice of Application is issued.
Notice of Application - The City distributes a Notice of Application to adjacent property owners (those within 300 feet of the project site) and to State and Local agencies who have
requested notice in the past, including the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Washington Department of Ecology, and Thurston County. There is a 15 day comment period
in which no action is taken on the application, although written comments are accepted up to the date action is taken on the permit.
Environmental Threshold Determination - The City reviews the environmental checklist and any supplemental environmental information such as a traffic impact analysis or preliminary stormwater
plan and determines whether an environmental impact statement will be required. The City can require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) if there is a probable
adverse impact on the environment that hasn’t been fully disclosed in the environmental checklist or supplemental information. A Determination of Non-significance (DNS) is issued when
there is no probable impact on the environment and a Mitigated Determination of Non-significance (MDNS) is issued when probable significant impacts and mitigation measures are identified
in the environmental checklist and supplemental information.
If a DNS or Mitigated DNS is issued, the determination is advertised in the Nisqually Valley News and circulated to any affected State, Federal, or local agency. There is a 14 day comment
period after which, based on new information received during the comment period: a) the threshold determination becomes final; b) the City could issue a revised determination; or c)
the City could require an Environmental Impact Statement. Once a MDNS or DNS becomes final, there is a 7 day appeal period.
If an EIS is required, the public and affected agencies get a chance to comment on the scope of the EIS (what potential impacts should be further studied), and the draft EIS.
An appeal of an environmental threshold determination is heard at an open record hearing by the City’s Hearing Examiner, which would be advertised in the Nisqually Valley News and mailed
to everyone who had provided comments on the threshold determination at least 10 days prior to the hearing date.
Internal Project Review - Community Development staff (acting as the Site Plan Review Committee) performs internal project review after completion of all comment and appeal periods from
the notice of application and SEPA threshold determination. The review is to ensure that the proposal is consistent with all the requirements of the Zoning Code, Design Guidelines,
Development Guidelines, and any other applicable City regulations. The analysis of the project is published in a staff report which becomes the decision on the application.
Notice of Final Decision - The decision is issued to the applicant, agent, and any party that has requested a copy of the decision during the process.
Land Use Appeal - An appeal of the decision on the site plan review application may be filed within 14 days of the decision date, pursuant to Chapter 15.49 Yelm Municipal Code.
An appeal of the site plan review decision is heard by the City Hearing Examiner at an (open record) public hearing, which would be advertised in the Nisqually Valley News and mailed
to those who received copies of the decision at least 10 days prior to the hearing date.
If an appeal of the environmental threshold determination is filed, the Hearing Examiner will combine the environmental appeal hearing with a hearing on the merits of the application
and acts on the Site Plan Review application, instead of the Site Plan Review Committee. The staff analysis of the project becomes a recommendation to the Hearing Examiner rather than
the decision.
The Hearing Examiner’s decision on both an appeal of the environmental threshold determination or the site plan review application may be appealed to the City Council, which would hold
a closed record appeal hearing (a review of the record created by the Hearing Examiner with no public testimony or new evidence). The Council is limited to determining if the Examiner’s
decision was contrary to law or not supported by substantial evidence.