APP - Tahoma Terra Master Planned Community Amendment ApplicationPage 1 of 6
TAHOMA TERRA MASTER PLANNED
COMMUNITY AMENDMENT
APPLICANT / OWNER: Tahoma Terra Holdings, LLC
PO Box 73790
Puyallup, WA 98373
REPRESENTATIVE: Hatton Godat Pantier, Attn: Chris Carlson, AICP
3910 Martin Way E., Ste. B
Olympia, WA 98506
PROJECT NAME: Tahoma Terra Master Planned Community
SITE ADDRESSES: 9955 Tahoma Boulevard SE Yelm , WA 98597
14788 Berry Valley Road SE Yelm, WA 98597
ORIGINAL CASE NO: MPD-05-0067-YL – Tahoma Terra
REQUEST: Amend a portion of Phase 2 of the approved Tahoma Terra Master Planned
Community to allow for construction of a 102-unit apartment complex, a ~855 SF commercial
service building with drive-thru, a ~1,669 SF commercial office building, 12 building self-storage
facility with approximately 769 storage units of varying sizes and two restaurant/retail buildings
totaling ~7,030 SF.
PARCEL NUMBERS: 78640000012 & 78640000010
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Tracts 7 & 9 of City of Yelm Plat of Tahoma Terra Phase 1, Division 1,
according to plat recorded May 11, 2006 under recording No. 3830707, in Thurston County,
Washington.
ZONING: Master Planned Community (MPC).
The subject parcels are part of the approved Tahoma Terra Master Planned Community
(MPC). A recommendation of approval of the final MPC was issued by the City of Yelm
Hearing Examiner on August 2, 2005. On August 10, 2005 the Yelm City Council
approved the Tahoma Terra MPC at the conclusion of a public hearing held to consider
the matter.
GENERAL INFORMATION
SITE INFORMATION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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The portion of the Master Plan Community subject to the amendment request was previously
approved to contain:
Parcel No. 78640000012
• Construction of four 12,000 SF office/commercial buildings.
Parcel No. 78640000010
• Construction of Gas Station/Convenience Store with 8 fueling positions and a Car Wash.
The proposed amendment is being sought to change the approved land uses as follows:
Parcel No. 78640000012
• Construction of a 102-unit apartment complex
• Construction of a ~855 SF commercial service building with drive-thru
• Construction of a ~1,669 SF commercial office building
• Construction of a 12 building self-storage facility with approximately 769 storage units of
varying sizes.
Parcel No. 78640000010
• Construction of two restaurant/retail buildings totaling ~7,030 SF.
Chapter 18.34 of the Yelm Municipal Code outlines the intent, permitted use and standards
specific to the Master Planned Community District (MPC). Chapter 18.34 is concise, having the
following sections.
1. YMC Chapter 18.34.010 states the intent of the Master Planned Community District is to
provide for large scale projects that incorporate a full range of land uses, where
appropriate and consistent with the comprehensive plan.
Response: The proposed amendment incorporates a range of residential and
commercial uses at the northeast portion of the Tahoma Terra MPC.
The city staff report to the Hearing Examiner dated June 28, 2005 outlines consistency
of the original proposal with Comprehensive Plan in place at the time.
The amended proposal for the area in question is consistent with the original staff
analysis and the current 2017 Comprehensive Plan as follows:
ZONING/COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CONSISTENCY
MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITY AMENDMENT
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a. Commercial uses are being proposed in the portion of the MPC designated as
Neighborhood Commercial. The uses proposed as part of the amendment include
commercial services (office and self-storage), retail and restaurant. These use are
designed to serve the MPC residential elements and building sizes of the office, retail
and restaurant uses being proposed are consistent with limitations imposed under
the original MPC approval.
The self-storage component is complimentary land use that will provide residents in
the Tahoma Terra MPC a place to store personal items. The urban residential
density within the MPC limits the amount of personal storage on individual residential
lots and for multi-family residents. Self-storage in close proximity to dense urban
areas is a commercial service that is convenient and complimentary to the residential
components of the MPC.
b. Open space is being provided consistent with the original MPC approval. A critical
areas buffer associated with Thompson Creek is being preserved and active and
passive recreation amenities are proposed for the multi-family component of the
MPC amendment (sports court, play structure, and benches/picnic tables).
c. The multi-family housing element of the MPC amendment provides for a more
affordable housing choice.
d. All public infrastructure (water, sewer, roads) necessary to develop the site is
available.
e. A transportation technical memorandum has been prepared by Heath & Associates,
dated May 4, 2023. The technical memo compares the original mix of land uses with
the proposed mix of land uses.
The memo concludes that the new mix of land uses will generate 1,058 less average
weekday trip and 107 less PM peak hour trips compared to the original mix of land
uses.
2. YMC Chapter 18.34.020 states that conceptual and master plan approval identify
allowed uses.
Response: The MPC amendment requests that land uses for this phase of the MPC
allow for multi-family and self-storage.
These uses are consistent and complimentary to uses approved in the original MPC as
outlined in the response above.
3. YMC Chapter 18.34.030 lays out nine standards applicable to the MPC district as
follows:
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a. Minimum Site Area. A minimum of 200 acres in a single ownership must be
available for a master plan; smaller acreage under separate ownership may be
included in the proposal.
Response: The size of the original MPC has not changed. It is still ~220 acres. The
minimum site area criteria is met.
b. Assure compliance with the Washington State Growth Management Act, and the
goals and policies of the Yelm comprehensive plan.
Response: The proposed multi-family component adds residential density to the
original MPC approval. This is consistent with staff recommendations A.1 in the
June 28, 2005 staff report stating: “The average density of the proposal be not
less than 4 dwelling units per net developable acre within each master plan area,
consistent with Growth Management policies.”
The residential density for the multi-family component on parcel number
78640000012 will be 8 dwelling unit per acre. The calculation is as follows:
12.72 acre/102 units = 8 dwelling unit per acre.
See responses Comprehensive Plan goals and policies outlined in 1a-e above.
c. Create safe, efficient and economic use of land.
The land use mix and site layout requested in the MPC amendment have been
carefully and thoughtfully designed to be safe and efficient.
The economic viability of the multi-family and self-storage elements have been
confirmed after consultation with commercial real estate professionals. The
opinions of the real estate professionals for these elements are based on current
market conditions.
For the balance of the commercial/retail space shown on the site plan, the
applicant’s commercial real estate professional team questions its economic
viability. They have based their opinions on existing demographics, low traffic
counts and current market demand. Due to these factors, the real estate
professional team has indicated that brick and mortar commercial space for
office, retail, and food service do not currently have the exposure necessary to
support the needs of most retail and professional tenants. These conditions,
added to the current trend of online shopping, pose significant challenges to
potential tenants of the balance of commercial space presented on the site plan.
For these reasons, the applicant respectfully requests that conditions to construct
the commercial spaces before the multi-family and self-storage uses not be
included in staff’s recommendation to the Hearing Examiner. We believe market
conditions, demographics and traffic counts should be the primary factors
considered regarding when the commercial spaces are economically viable.
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d. Provide adequate public services such as transportation, water, sewage, storm
drainage, electricity, and open space.
Response: All use proposed will be connected to city water and sewer utilities.
Storm drainage will be collected, treated and infiltrated on site in accordance with
the City’s currently adopted storm drainage manual. Electricity, natural gas and
communications are available to the site. Finally, open space is being provided
with critical area buffers associated with Thompson Creek and active and
passive recreation amenities for the multi-family component of the project.
e. Provide efficient patterns of land uses that, where appropriate, decrease trip
length of automobile travel, increase access to public transit, bicycle routes, and
other alternative modes of travel.
The commercial uses proposed with the amendment provide needed services
close to residential density which decrease trip lengths for automobile travel and
make bicycling and walking a viable alternative to residents in the Tahoma Terra
MPC.
f. Minimize energy consumption and demand.
As mentioned in 3.e above, locating commercial services close to dense urban
residential areas decreases automobile trips length and provides greater
opportunity for bicycling and walking to the residents within the MPC.
g. Minimize adverse environmental impacts including degradation of wildlife habitat
and important natural features.
Response: The prescribed critical area buffer for Thompson Creek and
associated wetlands are being maintained.
h. Arrange land uses to complement and minimize impacts to existing
neighborhoods.
The proposed MPC amendment has arrange land uses to minimize impacts to
existing neighborhoods as follows:
i. The multi-family component has been sited adjacent to Tahoma Boulevard
providing separation from lower density residential uses in the vicinity of the
site.
ii. The self-storage component has been sited behind the multi-family
component which provides adequate screening of the use from Tahoma
Boulevard.
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ii. The Thompson Creek critical area corridor provides adequate distance and
screening from existing lower density residential uses to the west. In
addition, a 30’ landscape screening buffer is proposed along the north line
to mitigate impacts on the adjacent single-family use.
iii. The retail/restaurant uses proposed on parcel number 78640000010 are
separated from existing residential uses to north by city right-of-way.
j. Coordinate commercial and industrial locations and designs to minimize impacts
to the natural environment.
Response: Critical area buffers associated with the Thompson Creek corridor
will be maintained.
Based on review of the original MPC approval documents, including the City staff
report/recommendation dated June 28, 2005, the Hearing Examiners decision dated August 2,
2005 and the City Council decision recorded in meeting minutes dated August 10, 2005, the
proposed amendments to the original master plan are consistent with the recommendations,
finding and conclusions provided therein.
The proposed MPC amendments are also consistent with the current City of Yelm
Comprehensive Plan as outlined in the responses in the Zoning/Comprehensive Plan
Consistency section above.
Preliminary Site Plan, Technical Traffic Memorandum from Heath and Associates dated May 4,
2023, City of Yelm staff report dated June 28, 2005, Hearing Examiner decision dated August 2,
2005 and Yelm City Council meeting minutes dated August 10, 2005.
ATTACHMENTS
CONCLUSION