MEMO TO: Members of the City Council
FROM: Mayor John Marchione
SUBJECT:
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Adoption of Redmond Zoning Code Amendment: Type III Appeals to the City Council
a. ORDINANCE NO. 2924: An Ordinance Amending the Redmond Zoning Code in Order to Make the Interim Amendments Adopted by Ordinance No. 2902 Permanent; Amending RZC 21.76.050, Permit Types and Procedures, and RZC 21.76.060, Process Steps and Decision Makers, to Remove the City Council as an Appellate Body on Type III Permit Approvals and Providing for Decisions of the Hearing Examiner on Such Permits to be Appealable to the King County Superior Court; Providing for Severability and Establishing an Effective Date
I. RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
Adopt the attached ordinance to amend the Redmond Zoning Code Section 21.76, Review Procedures, to remove the City Council as the appeal body for all Type III permits.
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II. DEPARTMENT CONTACTS
Erika Vandenbrande, Deputy City Administrator,
Interim Director, Planning and Community Development 425-556-2457
Steven Fischer, Manager, Development Review 425-556-2432
Gary Lee, Senior Planner 425-556-2418
Scott Reynolds, Planner 425-556-2409
III. DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND
Introduction
On June 20, 2017, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2889 which amended
Section 21.76 of the Redmond Zoning Code. This action removed the City Council as the appeal body for all Type I and Type II permits and reduced the review type for Conditional Use Permits from a Type IV to a Type III review. Shortly afterwards, the City Council raised the question of whether they should be the appeal body for Type III permits, as they would like to be able to advocate for their constituents without creating a conflict of interest and, thus; possibly endangering their ability to hear the appeal.
A Type III process is a quasi-judicial review. Decisions for Type III permits prior to the interim ordinance were made by the Hearing Examiner and appeals of these decisions were then made to the City Council (Administrative Appeal Body). Appeals of the City Council action were then appealable to King County Superior Court.
On December 16, 2017, the City Council adopted Interim Ordinance No. 2902, which removes the City Council as the Administrative Appeal Body for Type III permits. The interim ordinance establishes a 6-month effective period which will expire on June 16, 2018.
Examples of Type III permits, are enumerated in the Redmond Zoning Code in
Table 21.76.050B and include:
• Alteration of Geologic Hazard Areas
• Conditional Use Permit
• Historic Landmark Designation
• Master Planned Development (RZC 21.76.070P)
• Preliminary Plat
• Reasonable Use Exception (RZC 21.76.070U)
• Variance
• Willows Rose Hill Demonstration Project
The Shoreline Conditional Use Permit and the Shoreline Variance Permit, both Type III permits, would be an exception to this rule as they are were and proposed to only be appealable to the State Shorelines Hearing Board.
Finally, the historic properties Certificate of Appropriateness III would follow a new appeal process from the ones listed above. King County Landmarks and Heritage Commission appealed decision would go to the Redmond Hearing Examiner to maintain a local touch. Appeals of the Hearing Examiner would then go to King County Superior Court.
The proposed ordinance will remove City Council as the appeal body for Type III permits. Any appeal of a Type III permit would then be heard by King County Superior Court, except for Certificate of Appropriateness III permits, which will be heard by the Redmond Hearing Examiner, then Superior Court; and Shoreline Permits, which will be heard by the State Shorelines Hearing Board as noted above.
Planning Commission Discussion/Hearing
Planning Commission considered the proposed change by looking at the history, cost implication, pros and cons of making the change and if there is a necessity to change the Redmond Zoning Code. Two citizens, Mr. Eugene Zakhareyev and
Ms. Margaret Leiberton provided written and verbal testimony speaking against the proposed change. Their written comments have been provided within Attachment D.
The final Planning Commission Report is provided under Attachment B and the Issue Matrix table under Attachment C.
Planning Commission Recommendation
Commissioners recommended, by a vote of 5-1 to approve the proposed amendment to the Redmond Zoning Code regarding the removal of the City Council as the appeal body for Type III permits.
City Council
Staff provided an update to the Planning and Public Works Committee of the Whole on March 8, 2018. Members of the Council asked clarifying questions and requested the Planning Commission background (Attachment B) before the June 5 hearing.
IV. PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS HELD
|
Date |
Action/Committee Presentation |
|
June 20, 2017 |
City Council Meeting - Approved Ord. 2889 |
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November 14, 2017 |
Planning & Public Works Committee |
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December 6, 2017 |
City Council Meeting - Study Session |
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December 16, 2017 |
City Council Meeting - Hearing |
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April 28, 2018 |
Planning Commission - Report Approval |
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May 8, 2018 |
Committee of the Whole - Planning and PW |
|
June 5, 2018 |
City Council Meeting - Hearing / Regular Meeting |
V. IMPACT
A. Service/Delivery:
This proposed zoning code text amendments would not reduce service/delivery as the proposed amendments are less impactful to applicants of Type III as there are less potential required processes to reach a final land use decision.
B. Fiscal Note:
This proposed zoning code text amendment would not have a direct fiscal impact as no fee changes for appeals are not being requested.
VI. ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATION
The Planning Commission majority recommended adoption of the amendment. Alternatively, the City Council could modify the Commission’s recommendation or deny the amendment.
VII. TIME CONSTRAINTS
Ordinance No. 2902 will expire on June 16, 2018. If the Council chooses to approve the recommended amendments and adopt the ordinance, the effective date would be within the June 16 deadline. If the Council chooses not to adopt the ordinance at the June 5 meeting, the interim ordinance will expire and the code will revert to the City Council being the first appeal body for Type III permits.
VIII. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Ordinance
Exhibit 1: RZC 21.76 Amendment Language
Attachment B: Final Planning Commission Report
Attachment C: Final Planning Commission Issues Matrix
Attachment D: Written Public Testimony
Attachment E: Technical Committee Report
Attachment F: Planning Commission Minutes