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20080112 HE Decision 05142008OFFICE OF THE HEARING EXAMINER CITY OF YELM REPORT AND DECISION CASE NO.: CUP -08- 0105 -YL & SPR -08- 0112 -YL HISTORICAL MUSEUM APPLICANT: City of Yelm P.O. Box 579 Yelm, WA 98597 SUMMARY OF REQUEST: The applicant is requesting approval to allow conversion of an existing residence into a historical museum on approximately .57 acres. 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 April 28, 2008. 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 "I" - Planning and Community Development Staff Report and Attachments NISHA BOX appeared, presented the Planning and Community Development Staff Report, and testified that the site is located at the comer of McKenzie and 3rtl. The City has development plans for the area and will include road improvements adjacent to the site in future developments. The project provides three parking stalls and minimal landscaping and staff recommends approval. -1- MAYOR RON HARDING appeared and testified that when the City started constructing the new City Hall building it wanted to utilize the museum lot. It is a temporary location for the museum and has the full support of the Council. 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 Development Department FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND DECISION: FINDINGS: 1. The Hearing Examiner has admitted documentary evidence into the record, viewed the property, heard testimony, and taken this matter under advisement. 2. This request is exempt from SEPA review. 3. Notice of the date and time of hearing was published in The Nisqually Valley News in the legal notice section on April 18, 2008. 4. The applicant, City of Yelm, has a possessory ownership interest in a rectangular, flat parcel of property abutting the northwest corner of the intersection of SE McKenzie Avenue and 3rd Street SE within the City of Yelm. The applicant requests a conditional use permit to convert an existing residence on the site into an historical museum. 5. The parcel abuts 3rd Street for 120 feet and McKenzie Avenue for 200 feet. The existing home, a rectangular, 1,400 square foot, one and one -half storystructure us set back 16 feet from the McKenzie Avenue right -of -way and 28 feet from the 3r° Street right -of -way. The site plan shows three new parking stalls located on 3r° Street adjacent to the home. 6. The home was constructed in 1909 adjacent to Yelm Avenue at the location of the present bowling alley. Previous owners moved the house to its present site in the mid — 1940s. Several years ago the owners updated the utilities to include the electrical service. 7. All facilities and services are available to serve a museum to include sanitary sewers and public water. Frontage improvements on the roads will occur with a future larger project such as a local improvement district (LID). The museum will generate fewer p.m. peak trips than the present residential use and therefore will not owe an additional transportation facility charge. The museum will not create impacts on Yelm Community Schools, and the Fire Impact Fee Ordinance does not -2- apply to existing buildings 8. The site is located within the Low Density Residential zone classification (R4) of the Yelm Municipal Code (YMC). Section 17.12.020 YMC sets forth the permitted uses within the R4 classification and does not include "museum'. However, Section 17.12.020(B)(4) YMC authorizes special uses within the R4 classification as provided in Chapter 17.66 YMC, subject to site plan review. Section 17.66.020 YMC sets forth the special uses which include funeral parlors, mortuaries, crematoria, senior citizen centers, nursing homes, churches, and fraternal organizations. Such uses would include museums within their purview. Section 17.66.050 YMC sets forth the design standards for special uses and provides that the Site Plan Committee ensures compliance therewith. Section 17.66.100 YMC entitled "Action by Hearing Examiner' provides that the Examiner imposes all requirements for such use and other conditions and safeguards as are necessary to secure adequate protection for the locality, and also to establish a time limit within which the action must be begun and /or completed. Staff has recommended an appropriate condition requiring landscaping in accordance with the YMC. The house already exists on the site and its conversion to a museum does not require additional conditions as the applicant must comply with all site development and building permit requirements. The project therefore meets all criteria for special uses. 9. Chapter 17.84 YMC sets forth site plan review requirements. The project satisfies all policies of the City as expressed in its various adopted plans and ordinances. The project will meet all requirements regarding parking, stormwater runoff, and landscaping. Furthermore, the museum will fit well with the community as the parcel to the northwest also owned by the City of Yelm, is improved with the City's Public Safety Building in the Central Business District. The balance of abutting properties are within the R4 classification and currently used as residential homes. The museum will fit well with residential uses as it will generate less traffic than a single family residential home and will maintain its historic appearance as a single family dwelling constructed near the turn of the century. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The Hearing Examiner has jurisdiction to consider and decide the issues presented by this request. 2. The applicant has shown that the request for a special use permit and site plan review to allow conversion of an existing residence into an historical museum satisfies all criteria set forth in Chapter 17.66 and Chapter 17.84 YMC and therefore should be approved subject to the following condition: 1. Landscape which meets the landscape requirements listed above must be installed prior to occupancy. -3- DECISION: The request for a special use permit and site plan review to allow conversion of an existing single family dwelling into an historical museum at a site located at 207 — 3rd Street within the City of Yelm is hereby granted subject to the conditions contained in the conclusions above. ORDERED this 131h day of May, 2008. N K. CAUSSEAUX, JR. Hearing Examiner TRANSMITTED this 13'h day of May, 2008, to the following: APPLICANT: City of Yelm P.O. Box 579 Yelm, WA 98597 City of Yelm Tami Merriman 105 Yelm Avenue West P.O. Box 479 Yelm, Washington 98597 -4- CASE NO.: CUP -08- 0105 -YL & SPR -08- 0112 -YL NOTICE 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 orother 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 forwhatever reason. The request must be filed no later than 4:30 p.m. on May 23. 2008 (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. s- 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.