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HE Decision OFFICE OF THE HEARING EXAMINER CITY OF YELM REPORT AND DECISION CASE NO.: YCOM VIDEO PROJECT SPECIAL USE PERMIT CUP-04-0043-YL APPLICANT: YCOM Networks, Inc. P.O. Box 593 Yelm, WA 98597 SUMMARY OF REQUEST: The applicant is requesting a special use permit and site plan review approval to construct a 24’x 20’ equipment storage building, a 100-foot tall antenna, and a satellite earth station. The property is adjacent to the YCOM Networks building. 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 June 7, 2004, 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 TAMI MERRIMAN appeared, presented the Planning and Community Development Staff Report, and testified that the project is exempt from SEPA review. Chapter 17.66 of the code covers special uses. Staff evaluated the height of the antenna and the possible use of the 125 foot tall water tower across the street. However, the applicant could not use the tower due to reception interference caused by its metal surface. Conditions require a 15 foot wide landscape buffer around the site. The tower constitutes an accessory use to an existing business and will generate no new traffic, so the applicant will not pay the transportation facility charge. However, it will construct half street improvements on Washington Avenue across the project frontage. YCOM and the City share a parking lot and this project will not create the need for more parking spaces. It will also not require sewer or water connections. The applicant will install a planter strip and plant trees along the road. Staff finds that the project meets all requirements. KEN BECKMAN, operations manager, appeared and declared himself available for questions. MICHAEL BROWN appeared and testified that the tower will receive signals from Seattle and other areas which generates the need for the 100 foot height. They provided no type of TV service at present. MS. MERRIMAN reappeared and testified that half street improvements will include widening of drive lanes as the road does not meet standards. Since impervious surfaces will not reach 5,000 square feet, the applicant will not need to provide a full storm drainage plan. MR. BROWN then reappeared and testified that they will use a triangular pole which will diminish in diameter as it goes up. They will not need to install other facilities to provide the service as they will run it over existing telephone lines. They will not need to bury facilities throughout the town. No one spoke further in this matter and so the Examiner took the request under advisement and the hearing was concluded at 9:15 a.m. NOTE: A complete record of this hearing is available in the City of Yelm Community 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. This request is exempt from review under SEPA. 3. Notice of the public hearing was posted on site, and mailed to interested parties and property owners within 300 feet on May 21, 2004, and was published in the Nisqually Valley News on May 28, 2004. The applicant has a possessory ownership interest in a rectangular, 9,000 square foot parcel of property abutting the north side of Washington Street with an address of 200 Washington Street within the City of Yelm. The applicant requests a special use permit to allow improvement of the site with a 480 square foot equipment building, satellite earth station, generator, above ground propane tank, and a 100 foot tall receiving antenna which will allow the applicant to provide TV service. The site plan shows access from Washington Street via a driveway in the eastern portion of the site, and a gravel area is located adjacent to the southern portion of the building. The satellite base station and tower are located to the rear of the equipment building in the north-central portion of the site. A 15 foot wide landscape screening buffer extends along the eastern and northern property lines adjacent to the tower and satellite station. The applicant proposes an eight foot wide, triangular shaped tower which will narrow as it rises. The bracket design allows for less sight obstruction. Uses in the vicinity include City utility buildings and a 125 foot tall, steel water tower across Washington Street to the south. The applicant cannot locate the antenna on the water tower due to interference caused by the metal structure, and because the the antenna must be located directly adjacent to the equipment building. Parcels to the west and northwest are improved with commercial uses, and the parcel to the east is vacant. The site and all abutting properties are located in the Central Business District (CBD) zone classification of the Yelm Municipal Code (YMC). Section 17.24.010 YMC sets forth the intent of the CBD as providing an area of high intensity uses or mixture of uses for general commercial, retail, service, and multi- dwelling activities. Uses allowed outright include motels/hotels, government offices, on-site treatment and storage facilities for hazardous wastes, restaurants, bars, taverns, lounges, and transportation terminals. Section 17.66.020 YMC authorizes public utilities and appurtenances to include “radio, television, or telephone stations, exchanges, transmitting, receiving, or relay structures…” as special uses in the CBD zone classification. The proposed use is consistent with outright permitted uses in the CBD classification as set forth above. As previously found, the parcel abuts Washington Street, and even though the use will not generate additional traffic, the applicant will improve Washington Street to current standards across the plat frontage which will include curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes. However, the applicant will not make transportation facility improvement payments. The project does not require parking, but a parking lot across the street and used by the City and YCOM Networks can accommodate maintenance workers and/or employees. The project does not require either water or sanitary sewer service, and the limited amount of impervious surfaces will not generate the need for a full storm drainage plan. The City will review fire protection through civil plan and building permit review. City design guidelines prohibit chain link fencing in prominent locations visible from frontage streets. However, the development will create safety issues if not protected by security fencing. Utilities employ chain link fencing to prohibit access to sites and thereby protect the public. The applicant proposes to install chain link fencing around the structures needing protection. Said fence will measure more than 50 feet from Washington Street, and will be screened by a Type 1 landscape buffer around the perimeter. CONCLUSIONS: The Hearing Examiner has jurisdiction to consider and decide the issues presented by this request. The applicant has shown that the request for a special use permit makes appropriate provision for the public health, safety, and general welfare for drainage ways, streets, potable water supplies and sanitary waste; and is in conformance with the Yelm/Thurston County Joint Comprehensive Plan, all requirements of the City zoning code, and all requirements of the Development and Design Guidelines. The special use permit should be approved subject to the following conditions: The applicant shall make on-site and frontage improvements consistent with City standards. Improvements for Washington Ave. SE shall be reviewed by the City of Yelm Community Development Department to determine the standard for construction. The applicant shall design and construct all stormwater facilities in accordance with the DOE Manual, as adopted by the City of Yelm. Best Management Practices are required during and post construction. The applicant shall show demonstrate how stormwater treatment meets City Standards. The applicant shall provide for a 15’ dense “Type I” landscape buffer along the perimeter of the property. The applicant may install chain link fencing surrounding the equipment area. The fencing shall be screened by Type I landscaping. A final landscape and irrigation plan must be submitted with civil plan submission. The applicant shall provide for a Type III landscaping with required frontage improvements. The applicant shall submit a final landscape and irrigation plan, pursuant to Chapter 17.80, to the Community Development Department for review and approval. DECISION: The request for a special use permit to allow construction of a 100 foot tall, receiving antenna, 480 square foot equipment building, and satellite earth station at a site located at 200 Washington Street within the City of Yelm is hereby granted subject to the conditions contained in the conclusions above. ORDERED this 14th day of June, 2004. _____________________________________ STEPHEN K. CAUSSEAUX, JR. Hearing Examiner TRANSMITTED this 14th day of June, to the following: APPLICANT: YCOM Networks, Inc. P.O. Box 593 Yelm, WA 98597 City of Yelm Tami Merriman 105 Yelm Avenue West P.O. Box 479 Yelm, Washington 98597 CASE NO.: YCOM VIDEO PROJECT SPECIAL USE PERMIT CUP-04-0043-YL 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: Erroneous procedures; Errors of law objected to at the public hearing by the person requesting reconsideration; Incomplete record; An error in interpreting the comprehensive plan or other relevant material; or 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 June 28, 2004 (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 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.