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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-14-2001HEARING EXAMINER MINUTES NOVEMBER 14, 2001 The meeting of the Auburn Hearing Examiner was held on November 14, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Auburn City Hall. Those in attendance were as follows: HEARING EXAMINER: Diane L. VanDerbeek STAFF: Lynn Rued and Patti Zook Ms. VanDerbeek called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. explaining the order of procedures and swore in staff and those in the audience intending on testifying. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. APPLICATION NO. REZ01-0002 Hearing Examiner opened the public hearing. Assistant Planning Director Rued presented the staff report. Auto Nation USA Corporation has requested to amend Ordinance No. 4962 to allow more land uses to be allowed in a Business Park zone on property located at the southwest corner of 15th Street SW and O Street SW. He gave a brief history of zoning change on the property. The property was not developed and has changed hands and there is now a new proposal. The current proposal would allow some of the previously approved uses (except the hotel and theater) as well as some additional uses. Two larger buildings are proposed and there is the potential of a retail pad. The applicant submitted two alternate site plans. He described Building A and Building B as depicted in site plan "SD1". The other site plan, "SDl-retail" illustrates a retail pad at the corner of 15th and O Street SW. This could be a retail use such as a gas station. Both buildings will share common loading areas. He referred to the elevation drawing and described. The City is trying to get a good transition from the SuperMall to this project. The applicant is revising the existing Building Park zone to allow additional uses and a different layout. The revision is consistent with the previous approval and Business Park criteria. He pointed out a change to item 10 on Attachment #1. Dry cleaning and laundry services are permitted in Building A and Building B with an asterisk notation. The uses are limited to serving on-site uses in Building A or wholesale accounts not open to public. Assistant Planning Director Rued affirmed that the uses must be consistent with the site plan given to staff. Assistant Planning Director Rued affirmed that allowing the flexibility and the wide range of uses that could be permitted might have an impact on traffic. He pointed out condition 3 which addresses traffic and parking concerns. The applicant will have to prove that they are providing parking that meets the Zoning Code requirements. Staff recommend approval with conditions. Hearing Examiner asked for clarification of condition 2A and B and what is meant by approximate. Assistant Planning Director Rued replied that there can be a couple buildings, but that the square footage cannot exceed what is stated. Hearing Examiner is unsure exactly what is being done at the site and is concerned about the possibility of the project not having enough parking with the size of the building, trucking activities and employees. Assistant Planning Director Rued remarked that every time the applicant brings in a new tenant, the applicant will have to prove they are providing sufficient parking on-site to meet Zoning Code requirements. If not, they cannot get permits for tenants. Hearing Examiner affirmed that if uses are more storage related, then the uses might not be parking intense, but other uses seem to need more parking. She is concerned that the project might be a Costco or Home Base in disguise. Assistant Planning Director Rued pointed out conditions that limit the amount of traffic generated on-site and the cap on parking. PAGE 1 HEARING EXAMINER MINUTES NOVEMBER 14, 2001 Bart Brynestad, 915 118th Avenue SE, #300, Bellevue, represents Opus, the contract purchaser. A Costco type use is not allowed per zoning. They propose a business park with a different twist which will be a transition from the mall. He considers their business to be 'service retail' because they cannot do pure retail. Their business park will have multiple users such as showroom and office and some warehouse space. He showed the site plans and explained that Building B is depicted as a 'service center building' for carpet, flooring, appliance, and furniture sales, for example, with a bit of office and showroom. The southern part of the site is for industrial uses such as office and warehouse distribution. The multiple buildings are for smaller uses. Hearing Examiner asked about uses on the south side. Mr. Brynestad said warehouse distribution uses and then referred to Emerald Corporate Park on C Street that has a variety of users. This is similar to what the south portion of site would be like. Don Torcaso, 2413 North 41st Street, Seattle, owns property in Algona and is concerned about drainage. He referred to page 2 of the staff report and wondered why only hotel and theater were removed from the list. He believes the other uses will generate traffic. City rebuttal: Assistant Planning Director Rued said that Attachment 1 states what uses are allowed in Building A which does not allow the commercial/retail. Commercial uses are allowed in Building B or on separate retail pad. There are a wide range of uses that could be allowed on the site. Some of the uses could be traffic generators, which is the reason for condition 3 which speaks to monitoring traffic generated and addressing any impacts from that traffic. While a number of uses are permitted, there are limits on the amount of traffic and parking and this will limit the size and intensity of the uses. There was no further testimony and the public hearing was closed. Hearing Examiner will issue the written decision by Friday, November 16, 2001. 2. APPLICATION NO. REZ01-0005 Hearing Examiner opened the public hearing. Assistant Planning Director Rued presented the staff report. Donald L. Blackwell has requested a rezone property located at 1502 A Street SE from the existing R-3, Duplex zoning to a proposed C-3, Heavy Commercial zoning. He spoke of the long range land use plans for the area. He described the adjacent land uses. The lot is a corner lot with narrow building pad. The applicant does not have a specific proposal for the site at this time. The site will need to meet City development standards at development time. Staff recommend approval with one condition which was reviewed. Donald Blackwell, the applicant, had no objection to the condition. There is an existing building on site which may be made confirming and into an office. Assistant Planning Director Rued said the landscaping is to buffer the new use from the single family use. There was no public testimony and public hearing was closed. Hearing Examiner will issue the written decision by Friday, November 16, 2001. ADJOURNMENT With no further items to come before the Hearing Examiner, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m. HE~,GND\MIN11-2001 PAGE 2