Catholic Church/School update – hearing set for June 22nd/23rd

The pre-hearing conference took place on March 23rd and the Hearing Commisioner sent out a notice summarizing the issues discussed. In addition, this notice provided a timeline for the remainder of the process (the most important dates are the hearing: June 22nd and 23rd) [if you need a copy, let me know]
 
The pre-hearing conference was reasonably straight forward with the exception of a few issues around traffic. I felt the Hearing Commissioner did a good job of keeping the explanations simple and was generally helpful when we needed clarification. Most of the key issues we presented in the appeal are still on the table, with the exception of:

1. Septic design – this is a Health Department issue. We can still discuss the general impact of the septic field on the environment.
2. Lack of proper public community notification (basically dismissed as a non-issue)
3. Traffic concurrency certificate challenge (subject to a motion for dismissal)

The Hearing Commissioner also pretty clearly stated that the current condition of the property (degraded buffers, existing impervious surface, etc) would greatly benefit the developer since that state is "grandfathered in" and any improvements they make (e.g. restoring buffers) count very positively on their application. Basically, he gave support to statements in the CUP decision like the one I had quoted before: "As stated previously, the majority of on-site wetland and stream buffers are in a severely degraded state consisting primarily of lawn, landscaping, and impervious surface. Consequently, although significant buffer reductions are proposed, the reductions will have minimal impacts on the functions of the existing buffers."
 
We clearly have an uphill battle in front of us, but I think it is reasonably positive that most of the issues we raised are still part of the appeal.
 
Our next steps:
 
1. We will have to respond to the motion for dismissal of the concurrency (traffic) issue mentioned above. DDES is also sending us some clarifying questions about a statement in our appeal involving the TMDL (phosphorus) for Cottage Lake.
 
2. Negotiations – representatives for the parish (Fr. Scott Connolly and Shauna Smith) have been very willing to discuss the issues in the appeal and have suggested that we may be able to resolve some of them outside the appeal process. I think this could be very positive and that we may be able to get some important concessions on some of the environmental issues. If we make progress with the negotiations, I will schedule another community meeting to discuss the possible results.
 
3. Preparing for the hearing – research: We are still doing research (traffic, storm water detention, buffers, etc). If you are interested in helping out, please let me know.
 
4. Preparing for the hearing – finding experts: The Hearing Commissioner made it clear that we need expert witnesses to support our arguments. In addition, we are considering the need for a lawyer. If you know of environmental or traffic experts, please let me know (we have some good leads, but additional ideas are welcome).
 
Thanks again for your support and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Appeal filed – pre-hearing set for March 23rd

The pre-hearing for the appeal has been set for March 23rd. At this time we will find out which arguments in the appeal have merit and dates will be set for research submission and the hearing. If you would like a copy of the appeal, please email me.

We still need to do a lot more research and find “expert witnesses” for the hearing (topics include traffic, wetlands, septic, watershed impact, etc). If you are interested in helping out, please let me know.

We are also trying to decide if we should hire a lawyer to help with the appeal – this gets expensive, but would give us a better chance of “succeeding” (which I define as limiting the development and improving the environmental and traffic mitigations). Feel free to post your comments or feedback.

 

Update on the Catholic Church/School Development (Meeting summary)

We had a very productive and informative community meeting on Thursday, Feb 2nd. The meeting was attended by concerned members of the community (including several parish members) and representatives from the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish.

 

Most of the meeting was spent going over the details of the proposed development and the top concerns from my earlier message. There was also time given for people to express their own concerns and to hear from the parish. Traffic and the impact on the water quality of our local streams and lakes dominated the discussion. In addition to worries about the sheer volume of traffic, many community members expressed concerns about accidents given the recent problems on Woodinville-Duvall Rd (examples: Oct. 13th accident, Oct. 18th accident).

 

Overall, the dialog was positive, and everyone expressed interest in continuing discussions between the Parish and the community in the hope of addressing the issues as partners instead of adversaries. That said, community members also supported moving ahead with the appeal to “keep the door open” – this was partially due to the very short deadline as the appeal must be filed by Feb. 10th.

 

Action items:

1. Write to Sherie Sabour at DDES (sherie.sabour@metrokc.gov) with your concerns about the development before the Feb. 10th deadline (email or a letter). Make sure you ask to be a “party of record” so you receive further updates on the project. Feel free to use information on the website as part of your letter.
2. Talk to your neighbors – feel free to give them my contact information.
   
3. Send me any ideas you have for the appeal via email.
   
4. Volunteer to help with the appeal (researching, writing, etc)
   
5. Keep in touch – we will need community support at the appeals hearing

Thanks again to everyone that came to the meeting – I look forward to future discussions between the community and the church.

Community Meeting to discuss the Catholic Church/School development

I have received several emails from community members who are concerned about the size and impact of this proposed Catholic Church and School development on Woodinville-Duvall Rd (please see my previous post for detailed information).

I am currently trying to get support together to appeal the Conditional Use Permit and SEPA designation by the Feb. 10th deadline.

As part of this effort, I have organized a community meeting to discuss the development and the appeal process. Here is the information:

Public meeting to discuss the proposed Catholic Church/School on Woodinville-Duvall Rd
 
Time: 7pm to 9pm
 
Date: Thursday, Feb 2nd
 
Location:
Willow Room
Woodinville Community Center
17401 133 Avenue NE
Woodinville, WA. 98072
Facility Map: http://www.ci.woodinville.wa.us/recreation/WCCMap.asp
 
Agenda:
 
1. Quick presentation on the proposed project
2. Open discussion on possible appeal (please bring your questions and ideas)
3. Organizing volunteers (appeal process, letter writing, etc)
 
Please feel free to forward this information to others that may be interested. If possible, please send me a separate email (mailto:jonathanmorrison@hotmail.com) to let me know if you can attend.
 
 

Update on the Catholic Church and School development on NE Woodinville-Duvall Rd – permit approved

The proposed development of a Catholic Church and School on the Futurity Farms site (Woodinville Riding Club) has received a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and the SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) decision was “Mitigated Determination of Non-significance” (i.e. no full SEPA review required). This basically means the project will move ahead unless someone appeals the decision.

        

Any comments or appeal must be filed by Feb. 10th, and this is basically the last opportunity to oppose the project on environmental, traffic or other concerns (SEPA also covers traffic, lighting, etc).  

        

I have summarized the issues and concerns about this development in following post:

 

Background information on the property: 

      

The church and school development is proposed for the former Futurity Farms site (Woodinville Riding Club) which is still a riding and horse boarding stable (although it is now owned by the Catholic parish). This property (address: 17856 NE Woodinville-Duvall Rd) borders Daniel’s Creek which flows into Cottage Lake and an unnamed tributary also crosses the property. There have been many citations in the past for improper management of animal waste and a new complaint was filed in December after water quality tests showed extremely high fecal counts in the creek beside the property.

        

The proposed development:

 

 

• Church for 700 worshippers
• School  for 400 students, no showers, no food prep, only kitchen warmers
• 229 parking stalls, 18 of which are situated in a wetland buffer as well as islands
• Shannon-Wilson, Inc. reports that widening the road is likely to directly impact the wetlands that are adjacent to the road. An estimated 15,000 sqft. of wetlands or wetland buffer will be impacted.
• Septic system will be a subsurface drip irrigation system. Not approved by county, it is by state. They have gotten a county waiver for this system.
• 40% of land will be impervious (this is the maximum allowed)
• School sprinkler system oversized for future expansion (that is from their own report).
• Septic system oversized for future expansion.
• There is a rumor going around that the school, in order to meet septic guidelines, is stating that they will be serving only microwave foods thus saving on food preparations. Of course, this saves on the load of the septic system. We are worried that a full service cafeteria may be added at a later date

Development Status:

The Conditional Use Permit (CUP) was just approved on January, 17, 2006 and the SEPA decision was “Mitigated Determination of Non-significance” (i.e. no full SEPA review required). The deadline for comments or a formal appeal is February 10th, 2006.

Top concerns:

1. Parking, driveway and detention pond cut the stream buffer to a minimum of 80′ (from the required 150′) at one spot in the plan (having parking in the buffer area is particularly disturbing). Wetland buffers are also smaller than required (although they apparently allow this if the average buffer distance is ok). Justification is that the current buffers are smaller and in a “degraded state”:
   “As stated previously, the majority of on-site wetland and stream buffers are in a severely degraded state consisting primarily of lawn, landscaping, and impervious surface. Consequently, although significant buffer reductions are proposed, the reductions will have minimal impacts on the functions of the existing buffers.”
2. Loss of wetland and wetland buffer from the road expansion – this is supposed to be reviewed separately according to the documents, but I think it should be addressed as part of the site plan. Here’s the relevant info from the CUP: “Due to the nature of the project, off-site road improvement activities are required King County. As a consequence of these proposed improvements, approximately 1,203 sqft of wetland and 14,027 sqft of wetland buffer are proposed to be impacted. These proposed impacts shall he further evaluated under building permit, as modification to aspects of the offsite road improvements might occur.”
3. Increased traffic from the school – a couple of turn lanes will not make much difference when 400 children have to be driven to school everyday – Woodinville-Duvall Rd. (esp. headed into Woodinville in the morning) is already stop-and-go from just beyond the site. Long term plans for the road don’t currently call for anything more than a middle turn-lane which is already part of the proposal, so it will only get worse.
4. Impact of the septic system – will be reviewed as part of the building plans, but definitely still a big concern. One of the issues is that the plans state the school will not have a kitchen, but I’m worried they may add one later (food waste is very hard on septic systems).
5. Storm water management – 40% of the 10 acre site will be impervious materials so there will be a lot of run-off to deal with. They have proposed a large storm water retention system, but the impact on the creek is hard to estimate.

 

Other facts from the CUP:
         

A total of three class 3 wetlands and one class 2 wetland occur on the subject parcel. Per King County Code 21A.24, class 3 wetlands require a 25-foot buffer and class 2 wetlands require a 50-foot buffer, measured from the wetland edges. 

      

Two class 2s (salmonid) streams occur on the subject parcel and include Daniels Creek and one of its tributaries. Per KCC 21A.24.360 within the Bear Creek Basin, class 2s streams receive a 150-foot buffer, measured from the ordinary high water mark of the stream.

      

Expansion of proposed structural area (detention/retention pond in the south project area) will result in reducing the 150-foot stream buffer associated within Daniels Creek to no less then 80-feet in width at one point. The establishment of a new access road in the south-central portion of the project area and interior diving surface associated with new parking areas in the southeast project area will result in the reduction of a class 3 wetland buffer to no less than 20 feet in width. Furthermore, these impervious surface expansions will result at the reduction of the 150-foot buffer associated with the tributary to Daniels Creek to no less then 54 feet in width.   

      

In the northern portion of the project site, a proposed rockery will reduce a class 2 wetland buffer to no less then 40 feet in width.

      

King County Permit Information:
Conditional Use Permit (L04CU007) and Commercial Site Development Permit (B04DC004)

County Contact:
Sherie Sabour, PPM III

(206) 296-7112

Comment/appeal deadline: February 10. 2006

Appeal filing fee: $250 check or money order made out to the King County Office of Finance

Address for comment/appeal:

         

King County Land Use Services Division

900 Oakesdale Avenue SW

Renton. WA 98055-1219

ATTN: Current Planning Section

Sherie Sabour PPM III