Appeal
Staff Report
City of Yelm
Community Development Department
To: Stephen K. Causseaux, Jr., Hearing Examiner
From: Grant Beck, Director of Community Development
Date: July 17, 2006
Subject: Appeal of Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance SUB-05-0456-YL APP-05--YL
Appellant: RDS Design, LLC
Location: Between Longmire Street and Cullens Road
Proposal: Appeal Mitigation Measure 2(d) of the MDNS issued for the proposed Trump Plat subdivision.
I. INTRODUCTION
RDS Design, LLC appeals mitigation measures 2(d) of a Mitigated Determination of Non-significance for a proposed 18 lot subdivision. Specifically the requirement of improving Longmire
Street from Coates Road to SR 510 (Yelm Avenue West).
II. BACKGROUND
RDS applied for a residential subdivision on January 23, 2006. The City of Yelm reviewed the SEPA checklist and issued an MDNS on June 5, 2006. The MDNS included mitigating measures
to include 2(d) which states: “Longmire Street shall be improved to provide two 12 foot drive lanes from Coates Road to the SR 510 (Yelm Avenue) and overlaid with a 2 inch, Class B overlay
of asphalt.”
III. ISSUES
Section 15.40.020(5)(b) Yelm Municipal Code (YMC) states that concurrency is met when “The project makes such off-site facility improvements, not listed on the capital facilities plan,
as are necessary to meet city standards for the safe movement of traffic and pedestrians attributable to the project.”
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IV. ANALYSIS
The City is required to review traffic patterns for concurrency determinations for all proposed development. The City does not require a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) for projects that
create less than 20 new PM peak hour trips into the City’s traffic system. The City uses industry standard traffic generation numbers as listed in the Institute of Traffic Engineer
Trip Generation Manual (ITE). ITE #210 shows that a single family dwelling creates 1.01 new PM peak hour trips, and 10 daily trips per unit. This equates to 180 trips generating from
this site daily. It has been shown in numerous TIA’s that the trips are distributed to separate access points, when more than one is provided.
The appellant states:
1. The improvement of Longmire St. from the project to Coates Road should not be required because it would not be the normal flow of traffic from this site.
Longmire Street is a substandard street. This project will increase traffic on Longmire Street for those residents who will be traveling north and north east. Coates Road connects
to Crystal Springs Road, which is used heavily to access the north portion of the City, and to reach the east end of town, without having to access Yelm Avenue. Additionally, the City
will be connecting Stevens Street across the railroad, providing an east/west connection.
2. The improvement of Longmire St. from the project to SR 510 (Yelm Avenue West) should not be required because the projects interior connector road connects to Cullens Road, which will
be an improved road. There is only one (1) additional lot being created on Longmire St. The residents along Longmire St. can travel on the improved frontage road, through the project
and on to Cullens Road. It is our understanding that Cullens Road will be improved along the entire frontage of this site and out to SR 510 (Yelm Avenue West) by the Cherry Meadows
project.
The Cherry Meadows project is required to create two 12-foot drive lanes, from the south border of their project (which is located north of the Trump Plat on Cullens Road) to SR 510
(Yelm Avenue West) as a condition of their subdivision approval. The developer has approved construction plans, and is scheduled to complete this improvement in the very near future.
The MDNS for the Trump Plat has as SEPA condition 2(b), a requirement to improve Cullens road with two 12-foot drive lanes from the project to SR 510 (Yelm Avenue West) as well. If
the Cherry Meadows project fails to complete the improvements prior to final plat approval of the Trump Plat.
The proposed internal street within the Trump Plat is required as part of the subdivision process, which provides for access to the residential lots, meets the
requirements of the City’s connected streets policy, as well as mitigates the vacation of an unimproved right-of-way on the north edge of this project.
The City’s connected street policy provides for a division of traffic loads to adjacent streets. As stated above, past TIA’s show the fact that when a residential subdivision has more
than one access to adjacent streets, that traffic flow is divided between the two access points. Traffic within this residential subdivision will utilize both the Cullens Road and Longmire
St. intersections to reach their desired destinations and both streets need to be widened to safely accommodate the movement of traffic, as a concurrency issue.
VI. CONCLUSION
The mitigating conditions of the Mitigated Determination of Non-significance are appropriate and are based on identified potential significant adverse impacts attributable to the development,
and conditions based on City regulations, relating to concurrency.
LIST OF EXHIBITS
Appeal Notice and Letter
MDNS
Map