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2009 10 12 Exhibits from ApplicantMcClure, PLLC October l2, 2009 To: Mr. Ben Cushman& Ms. Doreen Milward Cushman Law Offices, PS 924 Capitol Way South Olympia, Washington 9801 RE: Smith Residence City of Yelm Requirements for Certificate of Occupancy Dear Ms. Nlilward and Mr. Cushman: ao sox a~ I a Lacey, W.4 99509-8718 Phone~360-791-447a Email' mtdurepllc@comcast.net This letter is in response to your request for comments on the City of Yelm's requirements for a certificate of occupancy for the Smith residence located on Lot 15, Palisades West Avenue, Yelm, Washington. You have asked me to address twa issues. First, the .fire flow requirement for the site. Second, the plat requirement fora `sewer roll seal'. The following are my comments. fire flow• 1t is my understanding the Yelm fire department in the persons of the Fire Marshall and the Fire Chief have worked out a plan that they feel will allow any fire at the house to be successfully fought. This plan includes using a two hydrants that are near the house. The combined fire flow from these hydrants, using a second line and a booster pump is 1,065 gallons per minute. The nearest hydrant would deliver 500 g.p.m. The second hydrant, located at the main road would deliver 565 g.p.m. using a booster pump and an extension line. In addition, the fire department is confident that they could run tanker trucks back and forth from the fire station which is located roughly 3 minutes away from the house. The following is from the current edition of the International Fire Code: C:llisers\VincetDocuments\a -- Consulting\a -- projeetsla -Legal Projects\Cushman -- Smith House in Yelm\Cushman -- Smith Residence, City of Yelm CO Issues, 2009-10-12.wpd Smith douse City of Yclm Certificate of Occupancy Issues October 12, 2009 102.8 Subjects not regulated by this code. Where no applicable standards or requirements are set forth in this code, or are contained within other laws, codes, regulations; ordinances or bylaws adopted by the jurisdiction, compliance with applicable standards of the National Fire Protection Association or other nationally recognized fire safety standards, as approved, shall be deemed as p~rtma tacte evtdence of compliance wtth the intent of this code ~~~~~~~~1~~~ ~~~~~a~o~itl~'tl~~~'il`~~'~~e trf~tet~~fo~i'~t2r~.~~p"ha~~~~ es~~~st~tc~„s~zit},~~i~ nr ~nsta~tat~gtts: t~t~~it,,, ~~~~ee a„"~i~~s~ti~d~~~~r;~ar'es~~an~~i~ See the highlighted part of the paragraph. It is my experience that the fire code official's (usually the fire marshal or the tiro chief) decision on topics regarding fire safety and code interpretation are controlling. In my experience, if the fire code official says that the house may be occupied and that a fire at the house could be successfully fought using existing fire mains and hydrants, that would be accepted. Sewer seal: It is my understanding that the city is concerned about maximum sewer line flows from this plat. I understand that there are-a total of 24 house sites platted. However, only the Smith residence has been developed. The purpose of the sewer sea] is to keep peak sewer flows from backing up in the manhole below the plat and flowing out the top of the manhole onto the street or out of the manhole into the soil. While I absolutely agree that one does not want the sewage contaminating the soil nor flowing out the top of the manhole, there is a significant difference between one house and 24 houses. One house will develop roughly 4.2% of the peak sewage flow as 24 houses combined. It is highly improbable that one house, could actually supply enough water to overwhelm the capacity of the first downstream manhole and sewer line system. If you have any questions or I may be of further help, please feel free to contact me by telephone at 360-791-4478 or a-mail at mcclureplte(a~comcast. Yours sincerely, ~~ r ~.~------ ~~ ~, Vince McClure, SE, PE, PhD McClure, PLLC -page 2 of 2 - C October L2, 2009 Andrew & Cynthia Smith Public Hearing before Yelm City Council, 10/13/09 7 pm Points to Make on Behalf of Applicant My clients, Andy & Cindy Smith, were issued a building permit by the City of Yelm on September 17, 2008 for the construction of their house on Lot 15 in the Plat of Palisades West. Their home was completed in April of 2009, but the Building Official has so far refused to issue an occupancy permit on the basis that it would not comply with the plat conditions added by the City Council to this final plat in December of 2007. Those two plat conditions required that a booster pump station be installed before any building permit could be issued (except for a model home), and also required the installation of a sewer roll seal before any occupancy could be granted. My clients' home was never portrayed as a model home, yet it was in fact granted a building permit The building permit application clearly identifies the Smiths as the owner and Triance Homes as the builder, and indeed all fees, including school mitigation fees were paid prior to the issuance of the building permit. Based on that fact alone, we believe the City has a responsibility to participate in the correction of this error. To put this situation right, we have proposed a minor plat amendment, wherein an exception to these two plat conditions be made for Lot 15 only. This would allow the Smiths to occupy the home they are financially committed to pay for, yet prevent any other houses in the plat. until the two upgrades are made by the developer of the plat or his successor. At this time, there is no indication when the developer might be able to obtain the necessary funding to make the improvements. However, the requested plat amendments can be made, now, without any compromise to the public health and safety, and without further liability to the City. The statutory requirement for plat amendments is set forth at RCW 58.17.215, which states: "The legislative body shall determine the public use and interest in the proposed alteration..." You as the City Council need to determine that the requested plat amendment serves the public interest. For the following reasons, we believe it does. Fire Flow Issues -The water booster pump is required for the plat so that full water pressure will be available up on the hill for all of the houses. While that is necessary at full build-out, it is not necessary for one house. Discussions. with the SE Thurston Fire & EMS -and the resulting Apri16, 20091etter from the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief confirm a plan whereby even a 100% involved fire can be successfully fought by using the hydrant at the site with a supply line laid to the other hydrant located at the main road, or an alternate plan using a relay of tender trucks. Because of the quick 3-minute response time, there is adequate time for the trucks to refill and return. Also because of the close proximity of the fire station, as explained by the Fire Chief it would be unlikely that a fire at the Smith residence would ever get beyond 25% involved. However, such an assessment is premised upon the occupied home, in which the residents would be there to hear the alarm from the smoke detector. This means that until occupancy is granted, the City is at greater exposure for liability in case of a fire at this structure. Moreover, a vacant home is at even greater risk of damage due to vandalism than an occupied home. Vandalism takes many forms, and arson is one of the more common results. While it might be assumed that an occupied house has less risk of a death from fire, in this situation, that assumption is not necessary true. The same arsonists who would find an unoccupied resident an attraction, could most certainly cause not only the loss of their own lives, but others as well. The City only exposes itself to further risks of liability until the house is occupied. The Fire District currently successfully serves homes in the vicinity, located not only within the Yelm City limits and UGA, but also abutting County lands, including the two homes on County land adjacent to the Smith house. There used to be two houses located on the land that is now platted as Palisades West and were served for years without a water booster pump. There is simply no physical reason what the water booster pump would need to be installed prior to granting occupancy to the Smith house on I,ot 15. We notice the staff report recommends denial of the plat amendment on the basis the amendment would "waive a clear requirement of the International Fire Code and Health Regulations..." But that is not true. The International Fire Code, at Section 102.8 gives full authority to the fire code official to determine compliance. This means that the Fire Chiefs' April 6, 20091etter to approve the occupancy prior to operation of the pump station supersedes whatever conflicting regulations there may be. We are providing a letter from Professional Engineer Vince McClure, SE, PE, PhD which addresses this point (he would have been here tonight, but had a schedule conflict). To note for the record, however, we did not actually find any conflicting regulations, since Yelm's Comprehensive Water Plan requires single-family homes to have 750 gpm water pressure, and the fire fighting plan devised by the Fire Department identifies that at least 1065 gpm can be obtained through the use of two relayed fire hydrants or tender trucks. Sewer Issues. It is our understanding that the purpose of the sewer roll seal is to prevent effluent overflow during times of peak usages. While this upgrade is necessary for the plat at full build out, it is not necessary for the addition of one single-family home. One house simply will not create apeak-use situation which would cause such an overflow. Until other lots in Palisades Wcst are built, the Smith's single-family residence will be no different than any other single-family residence in the City, and there is no regulation that we could find requiring every single-family home in Yclm to install a sewer roll seal. Liabilit Issues. While it is unfortunate that the economic downturn has prevented the developer of Palisades West from completing the water and sewer upgrades, there is no actual public safety or health reason to continue to deny my clients occupancy of this one single-family home. We understand that the City has expressed concern that it would be liable in the event of a fre. IIowever in this current state of limbo, the City is in fact presently more liable. Further, the Smiths have agreed to provide the City with a Release and agree to waive any claims due to fire that they could make against the City, but will only do so if they are issued their occupancy permit. Based on the facts of this matter, the City Council can and should find that the requested plat amendments serve the public use and interest, and approve the Smiths' application for the requested amendments to the Final Plat of Palisades West.