HomeMy WebLinkAbout77- Malan Comments Response to Pomona Woods CUP ApplicationMr. Hearing Examiner:
The CUP requirements are clear: The county may approve or approve with
modifications an application for a conditional use permit only if all of the
following criteria are satisfied:
The conditional use will not be materially detrimental to uses or property
in the vicinity of the subject parcel;
The conditional use complies with all other applicable criteria and
standards of this Code and any other applicable local, state or federal law; and
more specifically, conforms to the standards contained in 18.20 and 18.30 of this
Code;
The conditional use will not cause significant adverse impacts on the
human or natural environments that cannot be mitigated through conditions of
approval;
The County has conducted its review of the CUP application in a check-the
box manner and limited its review to the proposed development site. “The
submitted Stormwater Management Plan and Stormwater Site Plan (see “Exhibit
E”) proposes to meet requirements of the 2019 SWMMWW by implementing
dispersion MLA21-00066/ZON21-00040 Pomona Woods Page 17 of 31
stormwater systems and other best management practices.”
We respectfully submit that the County has failed to examine the material
and significant detrimental impacts of the Pomona Woods hotel-conference center
on properties in the vicinity of the proposed development. Specifically, the County
has failed to assess the impacts of the hotel-conference center on neighboring
properties between the hotel and Oak Bay. The criteria referenced above have not
and cannot be satisfied without a thorough evaluation of these material and
significant detrimental impacts on these neighboring properties.
The applicant is proposing 53,497 square feet or 1.23 acres of new
impervious surface and 85,064 square feet or 1.95 acres of land disturbing
activities. In addition to the new impervious surface and land disturbing activities,
timber clear cutting of many acres upland from and around the proposed
development will have significant cumulative effects on the stormwater from the
hotel development.
Exhibit 77
Exhibit 77 Page 1031
The resulting concentration of surface stormwater will pass over and through
the neighboring properties which lie between the hotel project and Oak Bay. This
increased stormwater runoff will cause incremental erosion of the properties
through which it will flow. The owners of these properties will bear the costs and
burden of increased stormwater runoff erosion management. The impacts of the
proposed hotel development will be imposed on the property owners downhill
from the development. Thus, the impacts and costs of increased stormwater will
be borne by the owners of the properties between the proposed development and
the waters of Oak Bay. Economists call these impacts and costs “cost
externalities.” These cost externalities shift the costs and burdens of the hotel
development from Pomona Woods to the neighboring property owners.
These downhill neighboring property owners are subject to all regulations
and limitations imposed by the Shoreline Management Act. This Act restricts
shoreline property owners in the management of bank erosion and imposes
obligations on them to protect against the net loss of shoreline ecological functions
and/or resources.
The County has failed to consider these material and significant detrimental
impacts on property in the vicinity of the proposed hotel and the significant
adverse impacts on the shoreline ecological functions and resources. The County’s
failure to properly evaluate and consider these detrimental and adverse impacts
violates the County’s duty under the Shoreline Management Act. While the
Shoreline Management Act regulatory provisions may not apply directly to the
proposed hotel development, the County is bound to consider the requirements of
the Shoreline Management Act in its planning responsibilities under the Jefferson
County Comprehensive Plan and its implementing development regulations,
including the Pomona Woods CUP application evaluation.
Section 18.25.030 (5) and (6) of the Shoreline Management Act provide the
following governing principles of the master program:
(5) The regulatory provisions of this program are limited to shorelines of the state,
whereas the planning functions of this program may extend beyond shoreline
jurisdiction.
(6) The policies and regulations of this program must be integrated and Growth
coordinated with the policies and rules of the Jefferson County Comprehensive
Plan (Comprehensive Plan) and its implementing development regulations
adopted under the Management Act (Chapter 36.70A RCW).
Exhibit 77 Page 1032
We respectfully submit that the County is bound to consider Shoreline
Management Act in connection with its development planning, including its
evaluation of the Pomona Woods CUP. This the County has failed to do.
We further respectfully submit that a fair and objective evaluation of the
Pomona Woods CUP application requires a finding that the stormwater impacts
alone will be materially detrimental to neighboring properties in the vicinity of the
subject parcel, does not comply with all other applicable criteria and standards of
the Code and the Shoreline Management Act and will in fact cause significant
adverse impacts on the human and natural environments that cannot be mitigated
through conditions of approval.
Exhibit 77 Page 1033