Our Redeeme Lutheran Church
City of Yelm
Community Development Department
105 Yelm Avenue West
P.O. Box 479
Yelm, WA 98597
April 12, 2005
Nate Radichel
Property Committee Chairman
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
805 Yelm Avenue East
Yelm, WA 98597
Dear Nate:
This is in response to your letter received by the Community Development Department on April 5, 2005, request a legal lot determination in relation to the Church property at 805 Yelm
Avenue (tax parcel numbers 22730121101 and 22730121100).
After review of the information you submitted for consideration, including the controlling deed from 1985 and filed under Auditor’s File Number 8505070028, it is the City’s determination
that the Church property is in fact a single legal lot of record. Legally, this is the case as the 1985 deed describes the property as a single lot and the Zoning Code defines a legal
lot of record as:
“Parcel” means a lot or tract of land created in accordance with Chapter 58.17 RCW and YMC Title 16 and intended as a unit for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of transfer of
ownership. If the parcel was not created pursuant to Chapter 58.17 RCW and YMC Title 16, the external boundaries existing as of December 31, 1992, shall be used to establish what is
a parcel for the purposes of this code. For parcels which have not been conveyed since that date, the legal description used in the conveyance closest to that date shall control.
As you may be aware, a tax parcel number is assigned by the County Assessor’s Office for tax assessment purposes and does not necessarily indicate that a parcel is a legal lot of record.
I believe that the reason two tax parcel numbers were assigned by the Assessor’s Office in this instance is found in your description of the history of the property. In the 1970’s
it was fairly common practice to create a tax parcel through the ‘clearing of title’ for a portion of a property subject to a real estate contract. Unfortunately, this practice did
not create a legal lot pursuant to the State Subdivision Act.
If you have any questions regarding this determination, or would like to discuss the potential development of the Church property, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the Community
Development Department.
Sincerely,
Grant Beck, Director
Department of Community Development