Full Text
Community Planning Department 210 West 6th Avenue I PO Box 6108 I Kennewick, WA 99336 Phone: (509) 585-4280 I Email: [EMAIL REDACTED] Staff Report 15-10 1 Comprehensive Plan Amendment 15-10 REQUEST: Change 18.17 acres from Commercial to High Density Residential APPLICANT: Circle One Properties, LLC OWNER: Circle One Properties, LLC Not to scale SITE INFORMATION • Size: 18.17 acres • Location: 5603 Ridgeline Dr. (SE corner of Ridgeline Dr. and Southridge Blvd.) • Topography: sloping • Existing Comprehensive Plan Designation: Commercial • Existing Zoning: Commercial, Community (CC) • Existing Land Use: Vacant land ---PAGE BREAK--- Staff Report 15-10 2 EXHIBITS • Exhibit A-1: Aerial Map • Exhibit A-2: Land Use Map • Exhibit A-3: Application • Exhibit A-4: Environmental Determination • Exhibit A-5: Public Comment o A-5a: Caristo (9/19, 9/21) and response o A-5b: Caristo (9/20) o A-5c: Maldonado (9/25) o A-5d: Brown (9/26) o A-5e: Caristo (9/27) o A-5f: Caristo (9/28) and response • Exhibit A-6: WSDOT comments APPLICATION PROCESS • Application Submitted April 30, 2015 • Application routed for comments June 18, 2015 • Determination of Non-Significance was issued on August 11, 2015 • Appeal Period for the DNS ended August 28, 2015 • A property posting sign notifying the public of a public hearing on this request was posted on the site on August 13, 2015 • Notice of Hearing published September 20, 2015. A corrected Notice of Hearing was published September 23, 2015. • Notice of Hearing mailed September 18, 2015. A corrected Notice of Hearing was mailed September 21, 2015. SURROUNDING COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, ZONING AND LAND USES North Comprehensive Plan – Commercial, Medium Density Residential Zoning – Commercial, Community (CC); Residential, Medium (RM) Existing Land Uses – Vacant land; single-family homes South Comprehensive Plan – Commercial, Industrial Zoning – Commercial, Community (CC); Industrial, Light (IL) Existing Land Uses – Vacant land East Comprehensive Plan – Commercial Zoning – Commercial, Community (CC) Existing Land Uses – Vacant land and office West Comprehensive Plan – Medium Density Residential Zoning – Residential, Medium (RM) Existing Land Uses – Single-family homes REGULATORY CONTROLS • City of Kennewick Comprehensive Plan • Kennewick Municipal Code Title 4 • Kennewick Municipal Code Title 18 ---PAGE BREAK--- Staff Report 15-10 3 DESCRIPTION OF REQUEST The applicant has requested to change 18.17 acres from Commercial High Density Residential. COMPLIANCE WITH TITLE 4 (ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES) KMC 4.12.110(7): Approval Criteria. The City may approve Comprehensive Plan Amendments and area-wide zone map amendments if it finds that the request meets one or more of the following: 1. The proposed amendment bears a substantial relationship to the public health, safety, welfare, and protection of the environment; The proposed amendment does not bear a substantial relationship to the public health, safety welfare or protection of the environment. 2. The proposed amendment is consistent with the requirements of Chapter 36.70A RCW and with the portion of the City’s adopted comprehensive plan not affected by the amendment; This amendment is consistent with the requirements of Chapter 36.70A RCW and with the portion of the City’s adopted comprehensive plan not affected by the amendment. 3. The proposed amendment corrects an obvious mapping error; or This request does not correct a mapping error. 4. The proposed amendment addresses an identified deficiency in the Comprehensive Plan. The proposed amendment does address an identified deficiency in the Comprehensive Plan. There is currently a deficit of 91 acres of High Density Residential land to meet the housing needs over the next 20 years. KMC 4.12.110(8): Additional Factors. The City must also consider the following factors prior to approving Comprehensive Plan Amendments: 1. The effect upon the physical environment; The effect on the physical environment will be no greater than if the site were to remain commercial and were developed. There will likely be a reduction in impervious surface which in turn means a reduction in stormwater runoff. 2. The effect on open space and natural features including, but not limited to topography, streams, rivers, and lakes; There will likely be some impact to the topography. Some grading will have to occur in order to develop the site, but applicant indicates that part of the reason for the request is that the topography does not lend itself to commercial development and is more suitable for residential development. This would lead one to believe that there would be considerable grading that would need to occur in order to develop the site with commercial buildings. It would also lead one to believe that less grading would have to be done to prepare the site for residential development. There are no other natural features that will be impacted as a result of the request. 3. The compatibility with and impact on adjacent land uses and surrounding neighborhoods; Typical planning practice encourages transitions from higher intensity uses to lesser intensity uses. This request would create that transition from the Commercial and ---PAGE BREAK--- Staff Report 15-10 4 Industrial lands to the south and east to the Medium Density Residential lands to the west. 4. The adequacy of, and impact on community facilities, including utilities, roads, public transportation, parks, recreation, and schools; There are adequate community facilities in the area to serve High Density Residential development on this site. There are two new schools being built within ½ mile of the site. Recent road and utility projects have also brought utilities to the site. There will be some impact to the road system and parks system. There would be minimal if any impact to the park system if the site remains commercial, but remaining commercial will not reduce the impact to the road system. When this site develops, traffic will increase on the roads in the area. One main area of concern is the Ridgeline Dr./US 395 intersection. Most of the traffic leaving this area is heading north. Due to restrictions at the Ridgeline Dr./US 395 intersection, all northbound traffic has to use Southridge Blvd. or Plaza Way in order to get to Hildbrand Blvd./US 395 intersection where they will be able to go northbound on US 395. This issue exists currently. Any development that occurs here will generate traffic and run into this issue. The Kennewick Public Works Department has been working with WSDOT to come up with a solution to this intersection that will grant safe access to northbound US 395 from Ridgeline Dr. During the development phase these impacts will be addressed and mitigation or impact fees will be assessed. Those fees will be used to construct road and park improvements to serve the area including intersection improvements at Ridgeline Dr. and US 395. 5. The quantity and location of land planned for the proposed land use type and density and the demand for such land There is a limited amount of High Density Residential land available for development at this time. There is some demand for High Density Residential land within the City which is evident in the amount of available land for development and the projected 20 year deficit. In addition, there is currently a 2% vacancy rate in the Kennewick and its neighboring cities, which is very low. The Copper Ridge apartments are located roughly 1/3 of a mile to the north. Construction was completed on this complex towards the end of 2012. As of September 29, 2015 there was only one available unit for rent. Most of the City’s High Density Residential land is developed with multi-family housing (apartments, condos, etc.), manufactured home parks and mini-storage facilities. The projected 20 year deficit is 91 acres of land. This request could help meet some of that need. 6. The current and projected project density in the area Within a ¼ mile this area has a developed density of 3.84 units per acre. The projected density in this area is at least 4 units per acre since that is minimum target density of the Medium Density Residential designation. The maximum density allowed by the Medium Density Residential designation is 13 units per acre. There is a parcel of land that is 3.37 acres in size that was set aside for multi-family development just opposite of this site. The parcel was created as a part of Ridgeline Estates and was set aside for multi-family development so that the project could meet the required minimum density threshold. ---PAGE BREAK--- Staff Report 15-10 5 That site must be developed with a minimum of 30 dwelling units, though more than 30 could be developed. If only 30 units are built, the area would have a density of 4.33 units per acre. If it were developed with the maximum of 44 units, the density would be 4.74 units per acre. Regardless of the proposed amendment, there is a possibility of 4 dwelling units per acre in this area. The density would increase even more if this proposal is approved and housing is built. If the site were to be developed with the maximum of 491 units, the density would be 12.14 units per acre. If it were developed with the minimum of 236 units, the developed density would be 7.31 units per acre. 7. The effect, if any upon other aspects of the Comprehensive Plan The proposed change will reduce the amount of Commercial land within the City, however there is already an adequate supply. The proposal will also modify the Southridge Subarea Plan which designated this area as a regional commercial center. PUBLIC COMMENT Staff has received comments about this request from the public. All of the comments received were in opposition to the request citing the lowering of property values, increase in crime, increase in traffic and incompatibility with the surrounding properties as the main reasons. AGENCY COMMENTS Staff has received comments from Washington State Department of Transportation explaining the turning movements at the intersection of US 395 and Ridgeline Dr. There is currently an interchange planned for this intersection but it is not funded. Until the intersection is constructed right-in/right-out turns will be permitted at Ridgeline Dr. Left turns from US 395 to Ridgeline Dr. will also be permitted, however left turns from Ridgeline to US 395 will not be permitted. ANALYSIS OF REQUEST This request would create a logical transition from Commercial land to the existing residential neighborhood. The Comprehensive Plan identifies a surplus of Commercial land and a deficit of High Density Residential land to meet the City’s projected 20 year needs. In addition, the Tri-Cities Apartment Rental Survey for Spring 2015 indicates a vacancy rate of In 2009 the Tri-Cities had a similar vacancy rate which dropped to 1.5% in Spring 2009 and 1% by the fall of that year. Then between 2011 and 2013 several apartment complexes were built throughout the Tri- Cities and vacancy rates increased to 6% in the spring of 2014. By Fall 2014 the vacancy rate had fallen to 5% and then to 2% in the Spring 2015. This trend has been recurring over the last 15 years as vacancy rates began decreasing prior to 2000 to 2002 when the rate began climbing again until 2006 then beginning to decrease again until 2010 when it began to climb again in Fall 2014. In each instance, as the vacancy rates dropped, more rental units were built which helped to decrease that rate. (http://www.everstarrealty.com/spring-rental-survey-2015/) This request would help increase the inventory of rental housing in the Tri-Cities helping to meet a regional need as well as a local need. This site is also constrained to some degree by its topography. Commercial development tends to require flat areas of land. This is due to the need to accommodate a building footprint that is often times larger than single-family residence or apartment building in size and dimensions. When the land is not flat or relatively flat, there is a considerable amount of grading that is required in order to prepare ---PAGE BREAK--- Staff Report 15-10 6 the site for a larger building footprint and for parking. Multi-family development is more adaptable to sloped sites and building pads are generally smaller allowing multiple “stepped” pad sites. WSDOT and neighbors have stated that increased traffic will be detrimental to the areas street system, however this would be the case if the land use designation was not changed. Currently there left turns from Ridgeline Dr. on to US 395 are not permitted. This leaves northbound traffic to travel down either Southridge Blvd. or Plaza Way. This would be the case regardless of the type of use that was built on the site. No matter what the land use designation is, any new development on this site will increase traffic and congestion. If the site develops, traffic impact fees and mitigation measures will be imposed on the developer at the development phase. FINDINGS 1. The applicant and owner is Circle One Properties, LLC (18706 Clodfelter Rd., Kennewick, WA 99338). 2. The request is to change the land use designation for the subject parcels from Commercial to High Density Residential. 3. The application was received on April 30, 2015 and was routed for review to various City Departments and other local, state and federal agencies for comment on June 18, 2015. 4. The site is currently served by City water and sewer in Ridgeline Dr. and Southridge Blvd. 5. Access to the site is currently provided from Ridgeline Dr., Southridge Blvd. and Plaza Way. 6. The proposed amendment is adjacent to Commercial, Medium Density Residential and Industrial designated lands. 7. A Determination of Non-Significance was issued on August 11, 2015 for this application. The appeal period for the determination ended on August 28, 2015. 8. A public hearing notification sign was posted on site August 13, 2015. 9. Notice of the public hearing for this application was published in the Tri-City Herald on September 20, 2015. A corrected notice was published on September 23, 2015. Notices were also mailed to property owners within 300 feet of the site on September 18, 2015 and corrected notices were mailed on September 21, 2015. 10. The proposed amendment does not bear a substantial relationship to the public health, safety welfare or protection of the environment. 11. This proposed amendment is consistent with the requirements of Chapter 36.70A RCW and with the portion of the City’s adopted comprehensive plan not affected by the amendment. 12. The proposed amendment does not correct an obvious mapping error. 13. This request will address an identified deficiency in the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan identifies a need for High Density Residential land over the next 20 years. ---PAGE BREAK--- Staff Report 15-10 7 Under current conditions there is a need to gain an additional 91 acres to meet the 20 year need. This change would help meet some of this need. CONCLUSIONS 1. Pursuant to Chapter 4.08 of the Kennewick Municipal Code, the lead agency has determined that the proposed amendment does not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. 2. The proposed amendment will change the land use designation for the subject parcels from Commercial to High Density Residential. 3. The proposed amendment is consistent with the City of Kennewick Comprehensive Plan and will have minimal impact on other aspects of the plan. 4. The proposed amendment will increase population densities in the area. The current density is 3.84 dwelling units per acre. At full build out the density could increase to 12.14 dwelling units per acre. 5. Future development of the site will impact the traffic and parks in the area, but those impacts will be addressed and mitigation or impact fees assessed during the development phase. Those fees will be used to construct road and park improvements to serve the area. Recommendation Staff has reviewed the application and recommends that the Planning Commission concur with the findings and conclusions contained in staff report 15-10 and recommend approval to City Council. Motion I move that the Planning Commission concur with the findings and conclusions in staff report 15-10 and recommend to City Council approval of the request. ---PAGE BREAK--- Comprehensive Plan Amendment 15-10 Commercial to High Density Residential 0 250 500 Feet Legend Street Name Rail Road Track Parcel Amendment Site Exhibit A-1 ---PAGE BREAK--- Subject Property Low Density Residential Medium Density Residential High Density Residential Open Space Commercial Industrial Public Facility Land Use Designations Comprehensive Plan Amendment 15-10 C to HDR 0 500 1000 Feet Exhibit A-2 ---PAGE BREAK--- Exhibit A-3 CPA 15-10 ---PAGE BREAK--- Southridge Comprehensive Plan Amendment 1/3 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Supplemental Information 1. State the requested amendment: The purpose of this request is to amend the City of Kennewick’s Comprehensive Plan Mapping to change 18.17 acres of mapped area from Commercial to High Density Residential. The property is identified as tax parcel 116893013055003. 2. What are the reasons for the requested amendment: The majority of the Southridge Development area is composed of commercial zoned property. Commercial zoned property generally requires access to high traffic volume roadways for development to be feasible. Additionally land slated for commercial and industrial development is generally flatter than residential zoned property in order to more easily allow for continuity between parking and buildings and pedestrian access and buildings. The roadways that front the subject parcel are classified as higher volume roadways in order to provide for future growth that is planned west of the site and the growth that will occur around the development. This growth will take years of planning and construction and there are additional locations to add commercial zoning to the west to support the future residents. Currently Ridgeline Drive, Southridge Boulevard, and Plaza Way are designed as higher volume roadways, but the current traffic volumes on these roadways in the immediate area surrounding the site are low which make commercial development unfeasible. The subject parcel sits at a relatively higher elevation than the roadways that border the parcel on the north, east, and west. Elevations in the north part of the property that border Ridgeline Drive are 8’-15’ higher than the roadway. On the west side along Southridge Boulevard the site sits from 4’ to 25’ higher than the elevation of the roadway. The portion of the eastern edge of the property that fronts Plaza Way is 5’ to 9’ higher than the road. The average grade across the entire site is approximately 9% with the majority of the site being greater than 15% grade. The steep grades on property and the elevation difference between the roadways that front the property and the site itself creates a hardship for the applicant to develop the site as a commercial use. In addition to the justification for the comprehensive plan amendment already provided based on the site constraints already mentioned, the proposed amendment to a high density residential use will create a logical transition between existing medium density residential land recently constructed to the west and the zoned commercial property to the north and east of the site. The addition of residential property in the area will help in creating a need to the many acres of vacant commercial property in the general area. Exhibit A-3 ---PAGE BREAK--- Southridge Comprehensive Plan Amendment 2/3 3. Which elements of the Comprehensive Plan will be affected and how. Include detailed information on the provision of utilities such as water, sewer, power, etc., and how such utilities correspond with the City's various utility plans. Detailed information must also be submitted regarding what effect the proposed change will have on such services as fire, police, parks, schools, etc: The elements within the Comprehensive plan that will be affected as a result of amending approximately 18.17 acres of use designation from commercial to high density residential include additional demand on roadways and utilities and an increased demand on services such as fire, police, parks and schools. The utilities necessary to support a high density residential zone versus commercial zone will create a higher demand on water, sewer and dry utilities such as power, phone, cable, and gas. The residential use will also create more Average Daily Trips on the immediate roadway network. The roadway system that borders the site and the existing utilities within the roadways are sufficient to serve the site if the use designation was changed from commercial to high density residential. If there are demand issues that occur when the site is developed, the applicant will be responsible for the necessary upgrades. 4. Indicate how the requested amendment will implement the Comprehensive Plan and be in the best interest of the Kennewick area, reference specific Comprehensive Plan policies that will be implemented: Two of the primary concepts that are incorporated into the City’s comprehensive plan include to encourage development in urban areas where adequate public facilities and services exist or can be provided in an efficient manner and to reduce conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development. These concepts are statutory requirements under the Growth Management Act (GMA) (RCW 36.70A.020 & This amendment will create a zoning designation that will encourage development in the urban area where adequate public facilities exist. Additionally, the amendment will reduce urban sprawl by providing high density residential zoned land in an area that has stagnated and remains undeveloped under its current commercial zoning. There is a need within the City for a reduction in commercial land and the need to add high density residential land. Based on the Comprehensive plan there is 1,634 acres of vacant and underdeveloped commercial land and there is a projected need of only 392 acres in the next 20 years. This results in a surplus of 894 acres of vacant and undeveloped land in the 20-year planning horizon. Table 8 on page 37 of the Comprehensive Plan shows that by 2029, 222 acres are needed for high density residential development. There are 131 undeveloped acres currently designated for high density residential development resulting in a deficiency of 91 acres of high density residential land in the City within the next 20 years. Based on the need for high density residential land and the surplus of commercially zoned land, the proposed amendment meets the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. Exhibit A-3 ---PAGE BREAK--- Southridge Comprehensive Plan Amendment 3/3 5. Include any other substantiated information in support of the requested amendment: The proposed amendment addresses the need for a reduction in commercial land and an increase in high density residential land as identified in the Comprehensive Plan. The Southridge Development has commercial land that has all the necessary infrastructure to support development; however these parcels have sat vacant for a number of years. The proposed high density residential development will help the surrounding commercial land by providing a demand for commercial services for the future residents. The change in planned land use will also create a fluid transition from the recently constructed medium density residential homes west of the site to the commercial zoning to the north and east. Exhibit A-3 ---PAGE BREAK--- Exhibit A-4 ---PAGE BREAK--- From: ellen caristo To: Anthony Muai Subject: RE: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Monday, September 21, 2015 6:51:32 PM Attachments: image003.png image004.png image005.png image008.png image009.jpg Mr. Muai, Thank you for getting back to me. I must tell you that I actually never got a notice, because your plat does not show my house and several others completed. The neighbors gave me a copy, but all that got one did get it on Saturday. I was the one with the voice. I would hope that it can be made clear that each and every home owner up here needs to get a notice. Since your plat does not show all of them maybe someone should come and see how many more are completed. As far as the sign, it is not where there is the most traffic. Not that many people use that because there is not access to 395 unless you are going to Yakima or Pendleton. The sign should have been put on Southridge. Also the way the sign is done it looks like an advertisement for some realtor, it is not posted like a proposal. He should have to re apply and re post so that the people who it will effect will have full notice. I don't believe the way it is now I honest. I don't believe a grocery store would be what goes in there if that land stays commercial. It was suppose to be offices and that type of thing. I do appreciate your explanations, but I am still upset that this can happen to all of us that bought property with good faith and we have been lied to, which in my book I a form of cheating. Apartments will lower our property values and it will bring crime to the area. That is what apartments do. No apartments stay nice, because once built all they want is to fill them, so it doe not matter who they rent too. Traffic will be a mess. I wonder how many of these builder know about all this because if they know and are not informing buyers that is also a lie. I am applaud at this kind of business. I will look forward to getting a new notice and to the meeting in Oct. Thank you Ellen Caristo From: [EMAIL REDACTED] To: [EMAIL REDACTED] Exhibit A-5a ---PAGE BREAK--- Subject: RE: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 00:54:59 +0000 Ms. Caristo, First I want to apologize for the error in the notice you received. There is an explanation for the error, but I will not get into that detail other than to say that the blame rests squarely on my shoulders. I also want to thank you for pointing out the error as it ended up on over 300 different notices. I have prepared a corrected notice and it was mailed out this morning. I have attached it to this email as well. Written comments may be submitted up until 4:30 p.m. on Friday October 2nd. All other comments must be submitted in person at the hearing. In regards to the sign location, the responsibility of posting the site rests on the applicant. They receive instructions on where and how to place the sign, which requires that they post on the most heavily traveled street. They then provide a notarized affidavit stating that they have posted the site per the requirements. The City does not have sufficient staff to post every site I the City that needs posted, thus the burden falls on the applicant seeking approval of a request. This is the first instance that I am aware of where someone has challenged the placement of a public notice sign. We will review our policies and address the matter from here. As far as other misinformation that you have been given, I can only offer an apology since I am not familiar with those instances. I will speak on the application and the process that we are currently undergoing. This proposal was not a City initiated proposal. The property owner submitted an application to change the designation from Commercial to High Density Residential. The application was presented to the City Council to decide whether or not to process it and the Council decided to process the application so that they could have more information to make an informed decision. So again, this is not a change that the City came up with, it was applied for by the owner of the property. Also, it is not approved. I do not know whether or not it will be approved, but the City Council will make that decision. As far as traffic is concerned, it will obviously increase regardless of what is built there, though it is likely that the traffic generated by a commercial project would exceed that of a multi-family project. At max build out of 486 units, the evening peak hour trip count is 302 trips. A supermarket or combination of several other commercial uses would easily meet that mark and likely exceed it. For example, Yoke’s on 27th & Olympia is a 57,502 square foot grocery store. The evening peak hour trip estimate is roughly 350 trips. These numbers are based on the International Transportation Engineer estimates that are used in Kennewick and across the country. So it is more likely that a larger increase in traffic will occur if the site is developed with commercial uses. As far as home value, what I have researched points both positive and negative effects on home value. Much of it has to do with the current market, location and type and quality of the development. I’ve been in run down apartments and I’ve been in apartments where the rent exceeded my mortgage payment. Unfortunately we do not have a development proposal, nor have Exhibit A-5a ---PAGE BREAK--- we had a pre-application or feasibility meeting with the property owner to know what exactly is being proposed. High Density Residential doesn’t necessarily mean apartments either. Condominiums and townhomes are also permitted development types. At this point the proposal is to change the land use designation and, if approved the zoning. I can’t speculate on what might be built in terms of quality or type because I don’t know whether the development will be low income apartments or high end condos or something in between. I can only evaluate the use type (multi- family, condo, townhome, etc.) for its compatibility with the surrounding land uses (which in this case are Medium Density Residential, Commercial and Industrial) and their potential uses. One of the characteristics of a proposal that we review is whether or not it creates a basic transition between zones. The transition is based on intensity of zones with Industrial being most intense followed by Commercial, High Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, Low Density Residential with Open Space being the least intense. I am assuming you live in Ridgeline Estates, which is designated Medium Density Residential and actually has a tract set aside for multi-family development. So some multi-family development has been anticipated in this area for a few years. Based on this, it is not surprising that someone else has applied to have their land re-designated to allow for multi-family development. I hope that these explanations are useful, though I am sure they will not remedy all of your disappointment and frustration. Again, I apologize for my error that has caused you frustration and grief. If you have other questions or wish to discuss this proposal or if I may be of service in any other way please do not hesitate to contact me. I am more than willing to be of assistance. Sincerely, Anthony Muai Anthony Muai, AICP City of Kennewick Community Planning Department/Planner O: [PHONE REDACTED] I F: [PHONE REDACTED] [EMAIL REDACTED] From: ellen caristo [mailto:[EMAIL REDACTED]] Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 6:56 PM To: Anthony Muai Subject: FW: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Exhibit A-5a ---PAGE BREAK--- From: [EMAIL REDACTED] To: [EMAIL REDACTED] Subject: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2015 19:52:29 -0600 Sir, I just received this notice of a hearing and today is September 19,2015. In this notice it states that we have to send any written comments by September 18, 2015. Interesting that we don't even get this notice, to inform us about anything until after the date stated in your notice. I personally am offended. This kind of action only leads me to believe that none of this is above board and honest. We have not seen anything posted on that property, about thee changes. How does the city get away with that? I see that we can still make comments and they will be presented at the meeting in Oct. Well my comment is that it is a ridiculous thing to do. In this area we have already been misinformed, (I prefer to call it lied to) about other areas of property around us.. We bought my home with the understanding that the property you are talking about, was commercial. We paid a good deal of money for our home, and do not want a bunch of apartments to go up around it. This will only lower the property value of all of our homes, it will bring riff raff, and there are already apartment down the way that aren't even full. Houses would be a better value, property wise for everyone concerned. With all the schools going up around here we don't need more traffic. With apartments you will triple or better the amount of traffic in this area. That is dangerous and I am sure when they planned on these schools they did not plan on apartment traffic. With 18 acres there will be thousands of apartment, not hundreds. That will bring too much traffic for sure. I am letting you know that this housing development is still not complete and so you will make it hard to sell any property if there are apartment there. I would like to know the reason that this is being proposed. The builders over here are selling with the idea of commercial going in there. So who and why would this change before these homes in this area and the schools are even built. We moved here from another state and so far with all these misunderstanding about property and being lied to, we are not impressed at all with your way of doing business. Do you live in this area, would you live in this area with apartments? I bet not. This is a terrible thing to do to people who have already bought nice expensive homes, and now we hear about apartments. No apartments can be nice, no matter what you say, apartments are apartments and they lower the property value around them. That is a fact. Exhibit A-5a ---PAGE BREAK--- I look forward to hearing from you and who and why this idea is even being considered. I know we are not the only ones upset about this new turn of events. My name is Ellen Caristo e mail [EMAIL REDACTED] I would appreciate hearing from you on this matter. Exhibit A-5a ---PAGE BREAK--- From: ellen caristo To: Anthony Muai Subject: proposal # CPA 15=10 Date: Sunday, September 20, 2015 10:51:51 AM Mr. Muai, I wrote to you yesterday after receiving notice in the mail, that was a day after the deadline. We did drive around today to see if we could find a sign about this. Well there is one, on ridgeline. So I apologize for saying there was not one. But I did stand by what I said that we have not seen it. I am quite sure most of the resident here have not seen it, the only time you would pass it is if you are going to Yakima or that direction. That was certainly cleverly placed, so we would not see it. Again this makes me question the integrity of this whole thing. You know that sign should have been put on the corner of Southridge and Ridgeline so that everyone it effects could see it. It needed to be displayed for everyone to see. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. I will state again this leave a bad taste in my mouth how you all do business around here. Something about all of this is not right. Ellen Caristo Exhibit A-5b ---PAGE BREAK--- Anthony this serves as notice of my opposition to the zone change on this piece of property 1. The property has commercial on three sides and a road on the west side that has medium density residential housing on the other side so there is no like zoning adjoining it 2. Traffic: the excess trips created by multi family add to the overload on S. Ridge Blvd. which is a school zone. The lack of a left turn on 395 will then push everything down Plazaway 3. Plazaway has been built entirely on other peoples money including lights roads Utilities etc. Applicant has not participated and refuses to participate in current extension of roadway utilities sidewalks etc. Applicant has also stated they do not wish to pay upon the sale of the land for any participation that that will be passed on to the builder 4. Applicant has not landscaped 36th Ave. E. of 395 which they were required to do in the common areas 5. Applicant has not constructed sidewalks which they were required to do along ZIntel Way plus applicant has been notified several times for not maintaining brush & weeds along 36th Ave. 6. Applicant has not built bike kiosk east of 395 which they were required to do I do not feel it is in the best interest of the city or other developers to have this zone change at this time Sent from my iPad F Dean Maldonado Miranda Management [PHONE REDACTED] Exhibit A-5c ---PAGE BREAK--- From: Robert Brown To: Anthony Muai Cc: Maria Guisasola; Subject: Project CPA 15-10 Date: Saturday, September 26, 2015 12:48:58 PM We purchased our home in the Ridgeline Estates at 5705 W 37th Place. It is situated adjacent to the parcel in question. We request the Commission deny the change of land use designation from Commercial to High Density Residential. We feel the change is not suited to that location, that it will likely contribute to significant congestion and put an additional strain on city infrastructure needed to support such high density development. We also feel it is not fair to the many homeowners in the area that purchased homes with the understanding this parcel would be used for commercial development. It was certainly a consideration when we made our decision to purchase our home. Sincerely, Robert Brown & Maria Guisasola Sent from my iPad Exhibit A-5d ---PAGE BREAK--- From: ellen caristo To: Anthony Muai Subject: RE: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Sunday, September 27, 2015 11:01:50 AM Attachments: image003.png image004.png image005.png image008.png image009.jpg Mr Maui, I have a comment about the way the sign abut this proposal was placed. I understand that the person who is requesting the change is to post the sign. Well they put it over the available property sign that has been there for quite sometime, so no one noticed it. Also that sign is along Ridgeline and since most traffic does not go that way, it was not noticed. I believe they should have to reapply and repost where it is seen by the people that it will effect. Along Southridge. The way it was posted is dishonest in my eyes, and they knew what they were doing. I believe that the city should come and see it, so you can tell me if this is acceptable. It certainly is not posted where the most traffic that it effects goes by. I understand that the council makes the decision, and I hope that they drive by this area and look at the are with safety of all concerned their focus. Apartments draw a different class of people because they will not have pride of owner ship and therefore things get very bad looking in a short amount of time. Also it will increase traffic in a bad way, all night long, early hours, weekends, etc. Whereas with commercial that may not be the fact. Traffic is already bad on Ridgeline with the High school, now you factor in a bunch more from apartment people you will have a huge mess. Because they are not the property owner they also don't care about the other neighbors and the people that like to walk their dogs, so again there will be problems. I am quite sure that even if a grocery store were to go there, it would be appreciated more than apartments by the home owners, but I doubt it would be a grocery store. More likely office or small restaurants. I know you don't make the decision but you need to know that this is definitely not a good idea and lowers our property values a bunch. I would like to know how long after the meeting before the council makes their decision. It makes a big difference for a lot of us as to whether we sell or stay. Thank you] Exhibit A-5e ---PAGE BREAK--- Ellen From: [EMAIL REDACTED] To: [EMAIL REDACTED] Subject: RE: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 00:54:59 +0000 Ms. Caristo, First I want to apologize for the error in the notice you received. There is an explanation for the error, but I will not get into that detail other than to say that the blame rests squarely on my shoulders. I also want to thank you for pointing out the error as it ended up on over 300 different notices. I have prepared a corrected notice and it was mailed out this morning. I have attached it to this email as well. Written comments may be submitted up until 4:30 p.m. on Friday October 2nd. All other comments must be submitted in person at the hearing. In regards to the sign location, the responsibility of posting the site rests on the applicant. They receive instructions on where and how to place the sign, which requires that they post on the most heavily traveled street. They then provide a notarized affidavit stating that they have posted the site per the requirements. The City does not have sufficient staff to post every site I the City that needs posted, thus the burden falls on the applicant seeking approval of a request. This is the first instance that I am aware of where someone has challenged the placement of a public notice sign. We will review our policies and address the matter from here. As far as other misinformation that you have been given, I can only offer an apology since I am not familiar with those instances. I will speak on the application and the process that we are currently undergoing. This proposal was not a City initiated proposal. The property owner submitted an application to change the designation from Commercial to High Density Residential. The application was presented to the City Council to decide whether or not to process it and the Council decided to process the application so that they could have more information to make an informed decision. So again, this is not a change that the City came up with, it was applied for by the owner of the property. Also, it is not approved. I do not know whether or not it will be approved, but the City Council will make that decision. As far as traffic is concerned, it will obviously increase regardless of what is built there, though it is likely that the traffic generated by a commercial project would exceed that of a multi-family Exhibit A-5e ---PAGE BREAK--- project. At max build out of 486 units, the evening peak hour trip count is 302 trips. A supermarket or combination of several other commercial uses would easily meet that mark and likely exceed it. For example, Yoke’s on 27th & Olympia is a 57,502 square foot grocery store. The evening peak hour trip estimate is roughly 350 trips. These numbers are based on the International Transportation Engineer estimates that are used in Kennewick and across the country. So it is more likely that a larger increase in traffic will occur if the site is developed with commercial uses. As far as home value, what I have researched points both positive and negative effects on home value. Much of it has to do with the current market, location and type and quality of the development. I’ve been in run down apartments and I’ve been in apartments where the rent exceeded my mortgage payment. Unfortunately we do not have a development proposal, nor have we had a pre-application or feasibility meeting with the property owner to know what exactly is being proposed. High Density Residential doesn’t necessarily mean apartments either. Condominiums and townhomes are also permitted development types. At this point the proposal is to change the land use designation and, if approved the zoning. I can’t speculate on what might be built in terms of quality or type because I don’t know whether the development will be low income apartments or high end condos or something in between. I can only evaluate the use type (multi- family, condo, townhome, etc.) for its compatibility with the surrounding land uses (which in this case are Medium Density Residential, Commercial and Industrial) and their potential uses. One of the characteristics of a proposal that we review is whether or not it creates a basic transition between zones. The transition is based on intensity of zones with Industrial being most intense followed by Commercial, High Density Residential, Medium Density Residential, Low Density Residential with Open Space being the least intense. I am assuming you live in Ridgeline Estates, which is designated Medium Density Residential and actually has a tract set aside for multi-family development. So some multi-family development has been anticipated in this area for a few years. Based on this, it is not surprising that someone else has applied to have their land re-designated to allow for multi-family development. I hope that these explanations are useful, though I am sure they will not remedy all of your disappointment and frustration. Again, I apologize for my error that has caused you frustration and grief. If you have other questions or wish to discuss this proposal or if I may be of service in any other way please do not hesitate to contact me. I am more than willing to be of assistance. Sincerely, Anthony Muai Anthony Muai, AICP City of Kennewick Exhibit A-5e ---PAGE BREAK--- Community Planning Department/Planner O: [PHONE REDACTED] I F: [PHONE REDACTED] [EMAIL REDACTED] From: ellen caristo [mailto:[EMAIL REDACTED]] Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 6:56 PM To: Anthony Muai Subject: FW: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. From: [EMAIL REDACTED] To: [EMAIL REDACTED] Subject: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2015 19:52:29 -0600 Sir, I just received this notice of a hearing and today is September 19,2015. In this notice it states that we have to send any written comments by September 18, 2015. Interesting that we don't even get this notice, to inform us about anything until after the date stated in your notice. I personally am offended. This kind of action only leads me to believe that none of this is above board and honest. We have not seen anything posted on that property, about thee changes. How does the city get away with that? I see that we can still make comments and they will be presented at the meeting in Oct. Well my comment is that it is a ridiculous thing to do. In this area we have already been misinformed, (I prefer to call it lied to) about other areas of property around us.. We bought my home with the understanding that the property you are talking about, was commercial. We paid a good deal of money for our home, and do not want a bunch of apartments to go up around it. This will only lower the property value of all of our homes, it will bring riff raff, and there are already apartment down the way that aren't even full. Houses would be a better value, property wise for everyone concerned. With all the schools going up around here we don't need more traffic. With apartments you will triple or better the amount of traffic in this area. That is dangerous and I am sure when they planned on these schools they did not plan on apartment traffic. With 18 acres there will be thousands of apartment, not hundreds. That will bring too much traffic for sure. I am letting you know that this housing development is still not complete and so you will Exhibit A-5e ---PAGE BREAK--- make it hard to sell any property if there are apartment there. I would like to know the reason that this is being proposed. The builders over here are selling with the idea of commercial going in there. So who and why would this change before these homes in this area and the schools are even built. We moved here from another state and so far with all these misunderstanding about property and being lied to, we are not impressed at all with your way of doing business. Do you live in this area, would you live in this area with apartments? I bet not. This is a terrible thing to do to people who have already bought nice expensive homes, and now we hear about apartments. No apartments can be nice, no matter what you say, apartments are apartments and they lower the property value around them. That is a fact. I look forward to hearing from you and who and why this idea is even being considered. I know we are not the only ones upset about this new turn of events. My name is Ellen Caristo e mail [EMAIL REDACTED] I would appreciate hearing from you on this matter. Exhibit A-5e ---PAGE BREAK--- From: Anthony Muai To: "ellen caristo" Subject: RE: Automatic reply: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 2:09:43 PM Attachments: image003.png image004.png image005.png image008.png image009.jpg Ellen, I’m sorry that I didn’t look into that earlier. I was kicking myself last night for not having done that first. I look forward to meeting you at the meeting and as always, if there’s any information that you need prior to the meeting, just let me know and I will get it for you if I have it. Anthony From: ellen caristo [mailto:[EMAIL REDACTED]] Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 1:56 PM To: Anthony Muai Subject: RE: Automatic reply: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Hello Anthony, I got your e mail and I thank you for explaining it to me. I am shocked that no everyone gets one, but I am glad to get an explanation. I do plan on coming to the meeting and I will try to get as many of the neighbors to do the same. I appreciate your patience with me. Ellen From: [EMAIL REDACTED] To: [EMAIL REDACTED] Subject: RE: Automatic reply: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:39:37 +0000 Hello Ellen, Exhibit A-5f ---PAGE BREAK--- I have been going through the mailing list and realized that the reason that not everyone has received a mailing (including you) is that notices are only mailed to property owners within 300 feet of the site, so not everyone in Ridgeline Estates would have received a notice and no one in Sage Crest would have received a mailing since they are beyond 300 feet of the site. For example, our billing records indicate that you live at 5745 W. 37th Pl. Your nearest property line is over 300 feet away from the site, therefore you were not listed on the mailing list and a notice was not sent to you (although I did attach one to an earlier email). In addition, we do not use our aerial maps to determine who to send notices to. We only fly aerials every 2-3 years. The last time was 2014 so very out of date. The mailing lists are provided by the applicants and are generated by a title company. As of today we are still moving forward with the hearing on October 5th. I know this is not what you want to hear but I am including your emails in the packet to the Planning Commission so that they can review them with the staff report. I encourage you to attend the meeting to voice your opinion and also to encourage your neighbors to do the same or send me an email to be delivered to the Commission. As always, if you have further questions, I would be happy to do my best to answer them. Sincerely, Anthony Anthony Muai, AICP City of Kennewick Community Planning Department/Planner O: [PHONE REDACTED] I F: [PHONE REDACTED] [EMAIL REDACTED] From: ellen caristo [mailto:[EMAIL REDACTED]] Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 4:21 PM To: Anthony Muai Subject: RE: Automatic reply: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Hi Mr Muai, I see that you were out of the office last week and that you your were going to look at e mails today. I am sure you got the one I sent yesterday and I want to add to that one now. Not everyone in fact not many people got the new notice, that is because your map is not up to date. There are many more homes in both Ridgeline and Sagebush area now. So as I Exhibit A-5f ---PAGE BREAK--- stated yesterday I think this thing needs to start from the beginning, and he needs to re- request change and then post it properly and then everyone involved needs to be notified. The meeting is next week so people here need to get notified and it is not fair that they don't have notice. I am sure you can talk to someone to see about postponing this for another time, since not everyone got notified and the sign was not posted in a proper area for people to see it. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks Ellen From: [EMAIL REDACTED] To: [EMAIL REDACTED] Subject: Automatic reply: proposal of land change on Ridgeline Dr. Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2015 18:01:49 +0000 I will be in meetings on the afternoon Thursday, August 24th and out of the office on Friday, August 25th. If you need immediate assistance please call [PHONE REDACTED] otherwise I will respond to your email on Monday, August 28th. Exhibit A-5f ---PAGE BREAK--- Washington State Department of Transportation Lynn Peterson Secretary of Transportation June 30, 2015 City of Kennewick Development Services P.O. Box 6108 Kennewick, WA 99336 Attention: Anthony Muai, Planner South Central Region 2809 Rudkin Road Union Gap, WA 98903-1648 [PHONE REDACTED] I FAX: 509-5n-1603 TTY: 1-[PHONE REDACTED] www.wsdot.wa.gov RECEIVED JUL 0 {(12015 COMMUNITY PLANNING Subject: Comp Plan Amendments 15-02, 15-04, 15-06, 15-07, 15-09, and 15-10 I-82Exit109 and SR 395/Ridgeline Drive/Hildebrand Boulevard vicinities We have reviewed the proposed comprehensive plan amendments and have the following comments. • The above mentioned rezones will increase the intensity of future development in already congested areas and we are concerned with the cumulative traffic impact future developments will have on the State system. Of most concern to us are the impacts to Interstate 82 Exit 109 (CPA 15-04, 15-06, 15-07, & 15-09) as well as the Ridgeline Drive (CPA 15-10) and Hildebrand Boulevard intersections (CPA 15-02) along US Highway 395. As new developments are proposed, we will review them for impacts to WSDOT facilities. At some point, development will cause part of our system to fall below the accepted Level of Service threshold and the City will be required to mitigate this through its own funding, developer mitigation, revised land use planning, or a combination thereof. • CPA 15-02: Development within the Southridge Sub-Area has required improvements to US 395, specifically the southbound right-turn lane at Hildebrand Boulevard. This turn lane was required to be constructed in 2007. Despite repeated WSDOT comments to the City, this requirement has yet to be fulfilled. WSDOT does not support this rezone and will not support any future proposals with increased impacts to the US 395/Hildebrand Boulevard intersection until the City completes the required improvement. Further, the City leg of Hildebrand Boulevard, to the west of US 395, remains incomplete. In previous comments regarding other developments in this area, we have recommended removing the temporary channelization devices if the City has no plans to complete the project. While this is still an option for the City, 2015 Comp Plan Amendments.docx Exhibit A-6 ---PAGE BREAK--- Anthony Muai - City of Kennewick - Comp Plan Amendments June 30, 2015 Page 2 comprehensive plan changes and development in this area has changed our position. We recommend the city complete the eastbound right-turn lane. • CPA 15-10: An interchange is planned for at Ridgeline Drive. Until funding is secured, the approved channelization at this intersection is right-in/right-out from Ridgeline Drive with left turn permitted only from US 395. Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on this proposal. If you have any questions regarding our comments, please contact Rick at (509) 577- 1633. Paul Gonseth, P.E. Planning Engineer PG: rh/jjp cc: SR 395, #3 Kara Shute, Area 3 Maintenance Superintendent Karena Houser, Economic and Land Use Manager 2015 Comp Plan Amendments.docx Exhibit A-6