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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6988ORDINANCE NO. 6988 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN, WASHINGTON, FOR A MAJOR AMENDMENT TO THE LAKELAND HILLS SOUTH PUD BOUNDARY TO EXTRACT FOURTEEN (14) PARCELS WHEREAS, Auburn School District No. 408 owns fifteen (15) contiguous vacant parcels (Pierce County Parcel Nos. 0520053001, 0520053006, 0520053013, 0520053014, 0520053015, 0520053016, 0520053034, 0520053035, 0520053036, 0520053040, 0520053041, 0520053046, 0520053055, 0520053060, and 0520054081); and WHEREAS, the area was created to provide enhanced flexibility and alternative residential development; however, the site is no longer intended for residential development but instead for a new middle school; and WHEREAS, one of the fifteen parcels (Pierce County Parcel No. 0520053013) is outside of the PUD and is zoned R-2 Residential Low; and WHEREAS, fourteen of the said parcels are to be extracted from the Lakeland Hills South PUD Boundary through a Major PUD Amendment; and WHEREAS, the Auburn School District's compilation of parcels is bisected by a pipeline/powerline right-of-way owned by Northwest Pipeline Corporation and a parcel containing a water tower owned by the City of Bonney Lake which are not part of the PUD; and WHEREAS, Camie Anderson, of Shockey Planning Group, Applicant's Representative, on behalf of Auburn School District No. 408 submitted a Major Amendment to the Lakeland Hills South PUD boundary in conjunction with a ---------------- Ordinance No. 6988 September 11, 2025 Page 1 of 4 Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map Amendment to be processed under a separate procedure, on June 3, 2025; and WHEREAS, a SEPA checklist was submitted with the Major Amendment under City File No. SEP25-0010 and a Determination of Non -significance in accordance with WAC 197-11-800(6)(c), and a Notice of Application and Notice of Public Hearing was issued on July 18, 2025 consistent with the noticing requirements of ACC 14.07.040; and WHEREAS, after proper notice published in the City's official newspaper at least ten (10) days prior to the date of Public Hearing, the City of Auburn Hearing Examiner conducted a Public Hearing, heard public testimony, and took evidence and exhibits into consideration; and WHEREAS, on August 28, 2025 the Hearing Examiner recommended approval of the Major Amendment to the PUD and made and entered Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law based thereon in support of that recommendation, as set forth in the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommendation of the Hearing Examiner attached hereto, marked as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by this reference; and WHEREAS, the City Council concurs with the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law of the Hearing Examiner; and NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN as follows: Section 1. Adoption of the Hearing Examiner's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. The City Council adopts the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law based thereon, made and entered by the Hearing Examiner in support of the recommendation to the City Council, as set forth in the "Findings of Fact, Conclusions of ---------------- Ordinance No. 6988 September 11, 2025 Page 2 of 4 Law and Recommendation for the Auburn School District No. 408, City File Number PLT25-0005, dated August 28, 2025, attached hereto, marked as Exhibit "A". Section 2. Approval. The City Council adopts and approves the request to remove Pierce County Parcel Nos. 0520053001, 0520053006, 0520053014, 0520053015, 0520053016, 0520053034, 0520053035, 0520053036, 0520053040, 0520053041, 0520053046, 0520053055, 0520053060, and 0520054081 from the Lakeland Hills South PUD boundary shown in Exhibit "B". Section 3. Constitutionality or Invalidity. If any section, subsection clause or phase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this Ordinance, as it is being hereby expressly declared that this Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase hereof would have been prepared, proposed, adopted and approved and ratified irrespective of the fact that any one or more section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase be declared invalid or unconstitutional. Section 4. Recordation. Upon the passage, approval and publication of this Ordinance as provided by law, the City Clerk of the City of Auburn shall cause this Ordinance to be recorded in the office of the King County Auditor's Division. Section 5. Implementation. The Mayor is hereby authorized to implement such administrative procedures as may be necessary to carry out the directions of this legislation. ---------------- Ordinance No. 6988 September 11, 2025 Page 3 of 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR TIC CITY OF AUBURN Phil Olbrechts, Hearing Examiner RE: Auburn School District Major PUD Amendment File No. PLT25-0005 FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY The Auburn School District requests approval of a major amendment to the Lakeland Hills South Planned Unit Development (PUD) to extract approximately 43.6 acres from the PUD to change their use from mixed residential use to P-1 for construction of a new middle school. It is recommended that the City Council approve the requested amendment. EXHIBITS Exhibits 1-7 identified at page 9 of the August 5, 2025 staff report were admitted into the record during the August 20, 2025 public hearing. The following exhibits were also admitted during the hearing: Exhibit 8: Staff PowerPoint presentation. Exhibit 9: June 3, 2025 Applicant compliance narrative. Exhibit 10: August 4, 2025 Staff and Applicant response to public comments. ORAL TESTIMONY Dinah Reed, Auburn City Planner, summarized the staff report. PUD AMENDMENT - 1 M 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Jeff Grose, Executive Director for Auburn School District Capital Projects, spoke in favor of the project. Mr. Grose noted that the proposed amendment will allow the construction of a new middle school instead of just replacing one as done for the REZ25-0002 rezone. Currently there are 1,000 middle school students in portable class rooms. The new school will accommodate 800 of those students. No one else testified at the hearing. FINDINGS OF FACT Procedural: 1. Applicant. Jeff Grose, Executive Director -Capital Projects Auburn School District, 915 Fourth ST NE, Auburn, WA 98002. 2. Hearing. The Hearing Examiner conducted a hearing on the application at 5:30 p.m. at Auburn City Hall in the Council Chambers on August 20, 2025. Substantive: 3, Site/Proposal Description. The Auburn School District requests approval of a major amendment to the Lakeland Hills South Planned Unit Development (PUD) to extract approximately 43.6 acres from the PUD to change their use from mixed residential use to P-1 zoned use for construction of a new middle school. The amendment area is located in the Lakeland Hills South Planned Unit Development (PUD) south of the intersection of Lake Tapps Parkway SE and Sumner Tapps Highway East. The Lakeland Hills South PUD was originally established in the 1990's. The area subject to the amendment was created to provide enhanced flexibility and alternative residential development standards for a mix of residential densities. The PUD amendment extracts 14 contiguous parcels owned by ASD within the PUD. The Auburn School District's compilation of parcels is partially bisected by Pierce County parcel 0520053025, which is a pipeline/powerline right-of-way owned by Northwest Pipeline Corporation, and parcel no. 0520053072, containing a water tower owned by the City of Bonney Lake. These two parcels are not a part of the application. 4. Surrounding^ Uses. Surrounding uses are composed of vacant and residentially developed property with environmentally sensitive areas to the west and Lake Tapps to the southeast. 5. Adverse Impacts. No adverse impacts are anticipated as a result of the amendment. Specific impacts are addressed as follows: A. Infrastructure/Public Services. The proposal will be served by adequate and appropriate infrastructure and public services. PUD AMENDMENT - 2 2 0 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Future development of the site will require a separate SEPA environmental review, civil permit, as well as building permit. Under these permit applications, the future middle school will provide code -compliant street frontage improvements, public facilities, and utility extensions. The Applicant notes that primary vehicular access will be from Sumner Tapps Highway East, aligned with the entrance to Four Lakes Apartment Homes, via a new single -land roundabout. In addition, a gated, access -controlled bus entrance and exit will be located on 16th Street East, forming the new fourth leg of the existing signalized intersection. Pedestrian and non -motorized access will be enhanced with a new 10-foot wide sidewalk and upgraded lighting along the site's entire street frontage. Open space proposed on -site includes permitter landscaping, a track and field facility, soccer/football/lacrosse fields, baseball and softball fields, and a protected, undisturbed wetland area (Wetland A along the western boundary). The City of Bonney Lake has commented that ASD is in the process of obtaining a certificate of water availability, instantaneous fire flow, and water modeling from the City of Bonney Lake. Ex. 10. Bonney Lake will advise ASD of water service connection requirements as part of this review process. Jorden Schenk, a representative of the Four Lakes Apartments, located to the north of the project, provided written comment. Mr. Schenk expressed concern about impaired access to the apartments during construction of the middle school. He was assured by ASD in Ex. 10 that access would be maintained. He was also assured that a City -approved traffic control pan would govern any access modifications during construction. Finally, ASD stated that the lighting of the sports fields would produce minimal light spill beyond ASD property lines at 0 to 0.1 footcandles. Light impacts will be addressed by the City during development permit review. B. Compatibility. The proposed amendment is compatible with surrounding uses. The area proposed to be removed from the Lakeland Hills South PUD is a relatively small area, approximately 44 acres compared to the 725 acres that will still comprise the boundaries of PUD. As noted in the ASD narrative, Ex. 9, the project area will retain its critical area tract that protects on -site wetlands. That tract serves as an aesthetic buffer to adjoining uses. As shown in the aerial photograph of the staff report, existing residential uses are separated from the project site by major roads or heavily forested areas. There is sufficient space to buffer residential development of adjoining residential development if that is found necessary. PUD AMENDMENT - 2 11 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Authority. Per ACC 14,03.030, a preliminary plat is a Type III Decision which are quasi-judicial final decisions made by the Hearing Examiner. 2. Zoning. The subject property is zoned Lakeland Hills South PUD. 3. Review Criteria/Deviations Approved. ACC 18.79.140 governs the review criteria for major PUD amendments. Applicable criteria are quoted below in italics and applied through corresponding conclusions of law. ACC 18.76.140: Applications for a major amendment to a PUD shall only be approved if sufficient findings of facts are drawn to support thefollowing: A. Adequate provisions are made for the public health, safety and general welfare andfor open spaces, drainage ways, streets, alleys, other public ways, water supplies, sanitary wastes, parks, playgrounds, or sites for schools. 4. The criterion is met for the reasons identified in Finding of Fact 5A. ACC 18.76.140B: The proposed major amendment to the PUD is in accordance with the goals, policies and objectives of the comprehensive plan. 5. The criterion is met. The staff report notes that ASD has requested a comprehensive plan amendment to change the comprehensive plan land use map designation of the project site from Residential 2 to Public/Quasi-Public. The Applicant will also be seeking a rezone of the project site from R-2 to P-1 Public Use. If approved, these comprehensive plan and zoning designations will provide consistency between the planned new middle school ad City goals and policies. Construction of the middle school as facilitated by the PUD amendment is also consistent with the goals and policies of the City's capital facilities element, which seeks to assure adequate and appropriate capital facilities such as schools. ACC 18.76.140C: The major amendment is consistent with the purpose of this chapter, ACC 18.76. 010, provides for the public benefits required of the development of PUDs and does not result in only increasing the number of units that would otherwise be attained through a development using the existing zoning and subdivisions standards. 6. The criterion appears to be met. Unfortunately the criterion is not the model of clarity. Fo that reason the staff and Applicant have not applied it in the way intended. The staff report and Applicant analysis focus upon the fact that the amendment doesn't add any dwelling units. That fact is not pertinent to the criterion. The criterion should be construed as prohibiting PUD amenities that were used to justify an increase in dwelling units beyond those authorized for a preliminary plat. PUD AMENDMENT - 4 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 The criterion requires that the amendment be consistent with the purpose of PUDs. In simplest terms, PUDs authorize increases in authorized densities and the waiver of other development standards in exchange for superior design features. ACC 18.76.010 reflects this trade off by providing that in exchange for the waiver and modification of development standards, "the city will require the PUD to result in a significantly higher quality development, generate more public benefit and be a more sensitive proposal than would have been the case with the use of standard zoning or subdivision procedures " (as quoted from the ACC 18.76.140C criterion above). Given the purpose of PUDs, it's clear that the criterion above seeks to prevent the removal of PUD amenities used to justify an increase in authorized dwelling units, i.e. resulting in a PUD that "is only increasing the number of units that would otherwise be attained through a development using the existing zoning and subdivisions standards. " A simple example illustrates this point. If the Lakeland Hills PUD were authorized to have an extra 20 dwelling units solely because it offered an extra 10 acres of open space, then an amendment that removed that 10 acres would result in a PUD that "is only increasing the number of units that would otherwise be attained through a development using the existing zoning and subdivisions standards. " The record doesn't provide much information on what, if any, PUD benefits may be lost by the amendment. As far as can be ascertained from the maps included in the staff report, there are no PUD amenities lost by the amendment. Staff should clarify this issue for the Council'. ACC 18.76.140D: The proposed major amendment to the PUD conforms to the general purposes of other applicable policies or plans which have been adopted by the city council. 7. The criterion is met. The reference to "other" policies or plans in the criterion above is construed as referencing plans other than the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is already addressed in prior amendment criteria quoted above. City staff have not identified any policies other than the comprehensive plan that address the proposed PUD amendment. The only other applicable plan that is likely implicated by the amendment is the ASD capital facilities plan. The ASD capital facilities plan appears to be adopted into Page CFE-1 of the City's comprehensive plan. The PUD amendment is presumably consistent with this plan. ACC 18.76.140E: The approval of the major amendment will have no more of an adverse impact upon the surrounding area than the approved Lakeland Hills South PUD as shown on the official Lakeland plan map. 8. The criterion is met. The proposal is likely to have nominal impact on surrounding uses. Generally new evidence cannot be considered after the close of a public hearing. However, the Council can take "judicial notice" of prior City Council and hearing examiner decisions, Staff should be able to identify whether any PUD amenities are lost by the proposed amendment by referencing the decision that approved the Lakeland Hills PUD. PUD AMENDMENT - 5 1 2 3 4 5' 61 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council approve the PLT25-0005 PUD amendment. Dated this 28"' day of August 2025. PUD AMENDMENT - 6 Phil Olbrechts, City of Auburn Hearing Examiner Ord. No. 6988 Exhibit B Map Amendment Open Space ❑ Subject Parcels 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 Miles Lj R 2 Residential Low ® Parcels to be extracted r 1 Printed On: 8/26/2025 Information shown is for general reference purposes Lakeland Hills South PUD _J Auburn City Limits only and does not necessarily represent exact geographic or cartographic data as mapped. The Map ID: 6347 City of Auburn makes no warranty as to its accuracy.