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HE Decision -1- OFFICE OF THE HEARING EXAMINER CITY OF YELM REPORT AND DECISION CASE NO.: SUB-05-0601-YL THE HUTCH PRELIMINARY PLAT APPLICANT: Denny Balascio Yelm Property Development P.O. Box 2950 Yelm, WA 98597 AGENT: Skillings Connelly, Inc. P.O. Box 5080 Lacey, WA 98509 SUMMARY OF REQUEST: The applicant is requesting approval to allow subdivision of approximately 19.65 acres into 118 single family residential lots. The property is zoned Moderate Density Residential (R-6), which allows between 3 and 6 dwelling units per gross acre of land. SUMMARY OF DECISION: Request granted, subject to conditions. PUBLIC HEARING: After reviewing Planning and Community Development Staff Report and examining available information on file with the application, the Examiner conducted a public hearing on the request as follows: The hearing was opened on October 3, 2006, at 9:00 a.m. Parties wishing to testify were sworn in by the Examiner. The following exhibits were submitted and made a part of the record as follows: EXHIBIT "1" - Planning and Community Development Staff Report and Attachments EXHIBIT “2” - Photographs of play equipment -2- GRANT BECK appeared, presented the Community Development Department Staff Report, and testified that the site is located within the Medium Density Residential zone which allows densities of three to six dwelling units per acre. The project meets the density requirements. The overall parcel originally included the southern parcel when it was farmed. Zoning is LDR to the north and west and parcels to the north are in unincorporated Thurston County, but in Yelm’s Urban Growth Area. Proper notice was given and the City issued an MDNS and received no appeals. The City recently approved an LID for the Killion Road project and construction bidding will occur next month. The LID will construct all improvements which the MDNS required this applicant to do. Compliance with the MDNS will ensure concurrency for transportation. He then introduced Exhibit “2”, photographs of play equipment appropriate for the community park. The two northern open space parcels show no improvements. Concerning water, a well exists on the parcel to the south, and if not abandoned, the applicant will need to provide a well protection radius which would impact development of the plat. However, the well is proposed for abandonment. The Mountain View North subdivision has an approved latecomers agreement and Killion Estates will also have such an agreement approved. The applicant will comply with both latecomers agreement per City Council action. The project proposes alternate technology for water quality which DOE and the City engineer have approved. The applicant will provide underground stormwater facilities. The applicant must provide appropriate landscaping between the commercial use on the south and a Type 2 landscape buffer along other property lines. The mitigation addresses the location of the site in an aquifer recharge area, but no other critical areas exist on the site. Staff recommends approval subject to conditions. BOB CONNELLY, professional engineer, appeared on behalf of the request and testified that with the changes in the staff report as described by Mr. Beck they have reached agreement with the City. A concerned neighbor expressed concerns regarding a horse arena on the northwest side of the parcel. They will install fencing for their Type 2 landscaping buffer. He has concerns about the timing of the Yelm Avenue construction and requested the condition changed from completion to contracted for construction. They will not construct all homes in the plat at once and the first homes will not come on line until three to four months following final plat approval. He agreed with a note on the final plat to advise residents of the arena. MR. BECK reappeared and testified that he opposes the note on the final plat because all properties are in the Urban Growth Area and will develop with urban uses. The arena will become a nonconforming use upon annexation. We are essentially protecting a use that will go away. He is never opposed to working with applicants on a timing issue and would do so to address the Yelm Avenue construction in this instance. No one spoke further in this matter and so the Examiner took the request under advisement and the hearing was concluded. NOTE: A complete record of this hearing is available in the City of Yelm Community -3- Development Department FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND DECISION: FINDINGS: 1. The Hearing Examiner has admitted documentary evidence into the record, heard testimony, and taken this matter under advisement. 2. The City of Yelm SEPA Responsible Official issued a Mitigated Determination of Nonsignficance based on WAC 197-11-158 on July 21, 2006. No appeals were filed. 3. Notice of the date and time of the public hearing before the Hearing Examiner was posted on the project site and mailed to the owners of property within 300 feet of the project site on September 25, 2006, and published in the Nisqually Valley News in the legal notice section on September 22, 2006. 4. The applicant has a possessory ownership interest in a rectangular, 19.48 acre parcel of property extending between the west side of Killion Road and the east side of Mountain View Road, north of SR-510 within the City of Yelm. The applicant requests preliminary plat approval to allow subdivision of the site into 118 single family residential lots and three tracts. 5. The preliminary plat map shows access provided from both Mountain View Road and Killion Road and a looped road system providing access to all lots. Cul-de-sac roads extend to the north property line at the east and west portions of the site and can provide future access to abutting parcels if and when they develop. Tracts “A” and “B” located in the east and west portions of the plat along the north property line will provide areas for open space and an underground stormwater facility. The applicant will improve said parcels with outdoor recreational equipment. Tract “C”, a 30 foot wide rectangular parcel, extends between the southern internal plat road and the south property line of the parcel and will provide pedestrian access to the future commercial areas to the south. The preliminary plat map shows a minimum lot size of 4,050 square feet, an average lot size of 4,356 square feet, and a density of six dwelling units per acre. The three open space tracts will total 42,445 square feet or 5% of the gross area of the plat. 6. Abutting uses to the east, west, and north are generally low density residential, but the property to the south, while presently undeveloped, is located within the General Commercial (C1) zone classification and will likely support commercial uses in the future. The property to the east of the site across Killion Road has received approval for a single family residential plat similar to the proposed project and construction has begun. -4- 7. The site is located within the Moderate Density Residential (R6) zone classification of the Yelm Municipal Code (YMC). Section 17.15.020(A) YMC authorizes single family detached dwellings on individual lots as outright permitted uses in the R6 classification. Section 17.15.050 YMC sets forth the density and lot development guidelines and requires setbacks from arterials of 35 feet, collector streets of 25 feet, side yards of five feet, and rear yard of 25 feet. Said section limits the maximum building area coverage to 50% and the maximum development coverage to 75% of the gross lot area. Section 17.15.020(A) YMC provides a density range of between three and six dwelling units per gross acre. The preliminary plat proposes a density of six dwelling units per gross acre and the rectangular lot sizes and minimum 45 foot lot widths provide a building envelope which can support a reasonably sized single family structure which will meet required setbacks. The preliminary plat satisfies the bulk regulations of the R6 classification. 8. Section 16.16.270 YMC, a portion of the subdivision code, requires the dedication of a minimum of 5% of the gross land area of the plat as open space which the applicant must use for environmental interpretation, parks or athletic fields, off-road foot paths or bicycle trails, or any use which would further the purposes of parks. The applicant proposes a pedestrian pathway within Tract “C”, and a condition of approval requires the improvement of the two tracts along the north property line with playground equipment, picnic tables and/or athletic courts. The applicant has agreed that the playground equipment shown in Exhibit “2” is appropriate for the northern open space areas. The plat makes appropriate provision for open spaces, parks and recreation, and playgrounds. 9. According to the applicant’s Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) prepared by Skillings Connelly, the project will generate 1,130 average daily trips with 119 occurring during the p.m. peak period. The engineer anticipates that half of the plat generated traffic will use Killion Road and half will use Mountain View Road, and that all vehicles will travel south to SR-510. Mountain View Road, classified as a neighborhood collector street, currently accommodates 315 average daily trips (adt) and traffic from the proposed subdivision will increase said volume by 565 adt. Such will increase the traffic volume on Killion Road to 880 adt from its present 315 adt. The City classifies Mountain View Road as a neighborhood collector street which should accommodate between 500 to 6,000 adt. However, Mountain View Road does not meet the standards for a neighborhood collector, and due to the significant increases in traffic, the applicant will construct Mountain View Road to neighborhood collector standards (not including sidewalks or planter strips) from SR-510 to the north property line of the plat parcel. The applicant will also improve the east half of Mountain View Road across the plat frontage to City standards for a neighborhood collector, will realign the intersection of Mountain View Road and SR-510, and install a left turn lane. The City has recently formed a Local Improvement District (LID) to realign Killion Road, install a traffic signal at the intersection of SR-510, and reconstruct portions of SR-510. The eastern ten acres of the project is within the boundaries of the LID and the City will assess an aliquot portion of the project cost -5- upon completion. Such will satisfy the applicant’s frontage improvement requirements and will also mitigate traffic impacts to Killion Road and SR-510. The applicant will also pay the City traffic facility charges at the time of building permit issuance. The plat makes appropriate provision for streets, roads, alleys, and other public ways. 10. The City will provide both domestic water and fire flow to the site as the parcel is within the City's water service area. The applicant must pay appropriate connection fees and decommission any wells on the parcel. The parcel is also subject to a latecomers agreement for construction costs of the waterline in Mountain View Road which must be paid prior to final plat approval. Furthermore, the developers of the Cherry Meadows subdivision located north of the parcel on Killion Road have also extended a waterline along Killion Road and the applicant must satisfy a latecomers agreement for construction costs approved by the Yelm City Council. Compliance with the latecomers agreement, construction of the water infrastructure, and payment of the connection fees will ensure that the plat makes appropriate provision for potable water supplies. 11. The City will provide sanitary sewer service to each lot as the parcel is within the City's sewer service area. The applicant must also satisfy obligations under latecomers agreements for sewer lines in Mountain View Road and Killion Road. The plat makes appropriate provision for sanitary waste. 12. The applicant must construct the stormwater facilities to City standards which include the 1992 Department of Ecology stormwater manual. The applicant must also treat stormwater prior to discharge and has proposed to use the aqua-swirl concentrator from Aqua-Shield, Inc. Both the Department of Ecology and the City have approved said treatment device for pretreatment of stormwater prior to infiltrating the water into the ground. Use of the aqua-swirl concentrator and construction of the stormwater facilities to City standards will ensure that the plat makes appropriate provision for drainage ways. 13. A mitigating measure in the MDNS requires the applicant to enter into a mitigation agreement with Yelm Community Schools to mitigate the impact on the district of school aged children residing in the plat. Entry of the agreement ensures that the plat makes appropriate provision for schools and school grounds. 14. The applicant will install sidewalks on both sides of internal plat roads and along the east side of Mountain View Road across the plat frontage. The LID for Killion Road will include sidewalk installation along the plat frontage as well. The plat makes appropriate provisions for safe walking conditions. 15. The applicant will meet the on-site parking requirements set forth in Chapter 17.72 YMC and will also provide on-street parking on both sides of the local access streets. The applicant must also provide adequate streetlighting to provide safety for -6- pedestrians, vehicles, and homeowners. The project must meet the landscaping requirements set forth in Chapter 17.80 YMC, and the applicant proposes fencing around the perimeter to include the south property line adjacent to the future commercial area. 16. A horse arena abuts a portion of the north property line, but is located within the City’s Urban Growth Area. Upon annexation to the City, the arena will become a non-conforming use and the property likely developed in accordance with the future urban zoning. Therefore, a condition will not require a note on the final plat to advise future lot owners of the existence of the arena. 17. A mitigating measure in the MDNS requires completion of improvements to SR-510 prior to final plat approval. The applicant expressed concern regarding failure to complete construction in a timely manner, thereby delaying final plat approval. The Yelm Avenue improvements condition is a mitigating measure of the SEPA MDNS and therefore subject to adjustment by the environmental official and not the Examiner. However, the City will work with the applicant regarding timing issues. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The Hearing Examiner has jurisdiction to consider and decide the issues presented by this request. 2. The proposed preliminary plat is consistent with the R6 zone classification of the Yelm Municipal Code. 3. The proposed preliminary plat makes appropriate provision for the public health, safety, and general welfare for open spaces, drainage ways, streets, roads, alleys, other public ways, transit stops, potable water supplies, sanitary waste, parks and recreation, schools and school grounds, and safe walking conditions. The proposed preliminary plat will serve the public use and interest by providing an attractive location for a single family residential subdivision while making significant infrastructure improvements and providing a connection between Mountain View Road and Killion Road. Therefore, the proposed preliminary plat should be approved subject to the following conditions: 1. The conditions of the Mitigated Determination of Non-significance are hereby referenced and are considered conditions of this approval. 2. Each dwelling unit with the subdivision shall connect to the City water system. The connection fee and meter fee will be established at the time of building permit issuance. All conditions for cross connection control shall be met, as required in Section 246-290-490 WAC. -7- 3. Prior to final subdivision approval, the developer shall pay any latecomers assessments approved by the City Council before final subdivision approval, including the assessment for water system improvements in Mountain View Road. 4. Each dwelling within the subdivision shall connect to the City S.T.E.P. sewer system. The connection fee and inspection fee will be established at the time of building permit issuance. 5. Prior to final subdivision approval, the developer shall pay any latecomers assessments approved by the City Council before final subdivision approval, including the assessment for sewer system improvements in Mountain View Road. 6. Prior to construction, civil engineering plans shall be submitted to the Community Development Department for review and approval. Civil plans submission shall be consistent with the requirements of the Yelm Development Guidelines and shall include details on all required infrastructure. 7. The civil engineering plans shall include a fire hydrant plan consistent with the Yelm Development Regulations which includes the proposed location of all hydrants and service lines and fire flow calculations for all existing and proposed hydrants. The applicant shall be responsible for the fee for hydrant locks on all fire hydrants required and installed as part of development. The applicant shall coordinate with the Yelm Public Works Department to purchase required hydrant locks. 8. The civil engineering plans shall include a landscaping plan that is consistent with the conceptual landscaping plan but that identifies type I landscaping along the southern property boundary, type II landscape buffer along the northern property line and the frontages of Killion and Mountain View Roads, and landscaping appropriate to a neighborhood park in the two northern open space/stormwater tracts. The landscaping plans shall include plans for irrigation of all planting strips and required landscaping located in any open space tract and along Mountain View and Killion Roads. Irrigation plans shall include a separate water meter and approved backflow prevention devices. 9. The applicant shall provide a minimum of five (5) percent of the gross land area as qualified open space developed as parks. The final landscape plans shall include plans to create neighborhood parks within the two northern open space tracts which include a mix of elements typically found in an improved park area such as play equipment, athletic courts, and picnic facilities. 10. The civil engineering plans shall include plans for the collection, treatment, and infiltration of stormwater in accordance with the 1992 DOE Stormwater -8- Manual, as adopted by the City of Yelm. Best Management Practices (BMP’s) are required during construction. A 10-foot setback from all property lines and easements are required for stormwater facilities. The final stormwater plan shall include an operation and maintenance plan. The stormwater system shall be held in common by the Homeowners Association and the Homeowners Agreement shall include provisions for the assessment of fees against individual lots for the maintenance and repair of the stormwater facilities. All roof drain runoff shall be infiltrated on each lot utilizing individual drywells. 11. Street lighting is required. The Applicant shall contact Intolight to provide a lighting design plan for review and approval. 12. Pursuant to the requirements of Chapter 15.40 YMC, the following requirements must be met for concurrency purposes: The builder of any structure within the subdivision shall pay a fire protection impact fee pursuant to Section 15.40.020(B)(6) YMC. The impact fee for 2006 is $0.216 per square foot of new development, and is payable at building permit issuance (fee subject to change). 13. Prior to the approval of civil engineering plans, the applicant will provide the Community Development Department an addressing map for approval. 14. Prior to the submission of final plat application, a subdivision name must be reserved with the Thurston County Auditor’s Office. 15. The applicant shall provide a performance assurance device in order to provide for maintenance of the required landscaping until the tenant or homeowners’ association becomes responsible for landscaping maintenance. The performance assurance device shall be 150 percent of the anticipated cost to maintain the landscaping for three years. 16. The well located on the property south of the subject site, which is under the control of the applicant, shall be abandoned pursuant to requirements State and County Health regulations unless evidence is submitted prior to final subdivision approval that a well protection radius will not be required or will not impact lots within the proposed subdivision. DECISION: The request for preliminary plat approval of The Hutch is hereby granted subject to the conditions contained in the conclusions above. -9- ORDERED this 25th day of October, 2006. _____________________________________ STEPHEN K. CAUSSEAUX, JR. Hearing Examiner TRANSMITTED this 25th day of October, 2006, to the following: APPLICANT: Denny Balascio Yelm Property Development P.O. Box 2950 Yelm, WA 98597 AGENT: Skillings Connelly, Inc. P.O. Box 5080 Lacey, WA 98509 OTHERS: Marjorie Storem 1310 Yelm Avenue West Yelm, WA 98597 City of Yelm Tami Merriman 105 Yelm Avenue West P.O. Box 479 Yelm, Washington 98597 -10- CASE NO.: SUB-05-0601-YL, THE HUTCH PRELIMINARY PLAT NOTICE 1. RECONSIDERATION: Any interested party or agency of record, oral or written, that disagrees with the decision of the hearing examiner may make a written request for reconsideration by the hearing examiner. Said request shall set forth specific errors relating to: A. Erroneous procedures; B. Errors of law objected to at the public hearing by the person requesting reconsideration; C. Incomplete record; D. An error in interpreting the comprehensive plan or other relevant material; or E. Newly discovered material evidence which was not available at the time of the hearing. The term “new evidence” shall mean only evidence discovered after the hearing held by the hearing examiner and shall not include evidence which was available or which could reasonably have been available and simply not presented at the hearing for whatever reason. The request must be filed no later than 4:30 p.m. on November 6, 2006 (10 days from mailing) with the Community Development Department 105 Yelm Avenue West, Yelm, WA 98597. This request shall set forth the bases for reconsideration as limited by the above. The hearing examiner shall review said request in light of the record and take such further action as he deems proper. The hearing examiner may request further information -11- which shall be provided within 10 days of the request. 2. APPEAL OF EXAMINER'S DECISION: The final decision by the Examiner may be appealed to the city council, by any aggrieved person or agency of record, oral or written that disagrees with the decision of the hearing examiner, except threshold determinations (YMC 15.49.160) in accordance with Section 2.26.150 of the Yelm Municipal Code (YMC). NOTE: In an effort to avoid confusion at the time of filing a request for reconsideration, please attach this page to the request for reconsideration.