HE Decision Design Review & Exception -- Doug's (PLN20180065 & 66).pdf1
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CITY OF EDMONDS
121 5t" Avenue North, Edmonds WA 98020
Phone: 425.771.0220 • Fax: 425.771.0221 • Web: www.edmondswa.gov
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT • PLANNING DIVISION
BEFORE THE HEARING EXAMINER FOR THE CITY
OF EDMONDS
Phil Olbrechts, Hearing Examiner
RE: Doug's Lynnwood Mazda
Design Review and Design
Review Exception
PLN20180065 (Design
Review) & PLN20180066
(Exception Request)
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS
OF LAW AND FINAL DECISION
INTRODUCTION
The Applicant has applied for design review and a design review exception to
pedestrian/walkable design standards for an addition to Doug's Lynnwood Mazda
located at 22130 Highway 99. The Applicant is proposing an addition to the existing
Mazda service building at 22133 Highway 99 together with an addition and remodel of
the existing Mazda showroom to convert it into a Hyundai sales and service building
at 22130 Highway 99. The requested exception is to ECDC 16.60.030(C)(1) and (2),
which only authorizes a maximum of 60 foot separation from 50% of a building's
fagade facing a street and its accompanying street frontage. The Applicant proposes to
use this space for auto sales, which necessitates more than 60 foot separation from
project buildings and street frontage. The design review and exception are approved
subject to conditions.
Design Review and Exception P. 1 Findings, Conclusions and Decision
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TESTIMONY
[This summary is only provided for the convenience of the reader, to provide an
understanding of the testimony presented at the hearing. The summary of testimony is
not to be construed as containing any findings of fact or conclusions of law, or as
indicating what information the examiner found pertinent or significant.]
Mike Clugston, City of Edmonds Senior Planner, summarized the staff report.
EXHIBITS
The Staff Report with attachments 1- I I was admitted as Ex. 1 at the February 28, 2019
hearing. A staff PowerPoint was admitted during the February 28, 2019 hearing as Ex.
2.
FINDINGS OF FACT
Procedural:
Applicant. Doug Ikegami, 22130 Highway 99, Edmonds, WA 98026.
2. Hearing. A hearing was conducted on the subject application on February
28, 2019 at 3:00 pm in the Council Chambers of the Edmonds Public Safety Complex.
Substantive:
3. Site and Proposal . The Applicant has applied for design review and a
design review exception to pedestrian/walkable design standards for an addition to
Doug's Lynnwood Mazda located at 22130 Highway 99. The Applicant is proposing
an addition to the existing Mazda service building at 22133 Highway 99 together with
an addition and remodel of the existing Mazda showroom to convert it into a Hyundai
sales and service building at 22130 Highway 99. The Hyundai building will be two
stories high and 13,895 sq. ft. in area and the Mazda service building will be 10,429 sq.
ft. in area. The pedestrian/walkable design standards at issue are ECDC
16.60.030(C)(1) and (2), which only authorize a maximum of 60 foot separation from
50% of a building's fagade facing a street and its accompanying street frontage. The
Applicant proposes to use this space for auto sales, which necessitates more than 60
foot separation from project buildings and street frontage.
In 2017, Doug's received approval to construct a new Mazda showroom on the same
site immediately south of the subject buildings. This was the first phase of their
intended updates to the site and can be seen on the site plan for the subject project on
Sheet ALO of Attachment 5 of the staff report. The design of the Mazda showroom
was approved by staff through PLN20170027 under the old General Commercial
Design Review and Exception p. 2 Findings, Conclusions and Decision
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zoning code (Ord. 3635) and the associated building permit (BLD20171119). The new
Mazda showroom is currently under construction.
All the buildings of the combined Mazda/Hyundai site along with proposed additions
will all be less than 75 feet in height. The project site will be primarily used for motor
vehicle sales. The Hyundai building features a highly transparent glass -enclosed
showroom within 120 feet of Pacific Highway 99. The showroom is open into the early
evening daily and on weekends. The location of pedestrian amenities and all other
pertinent design features are outlined in Attachments 4 and 5 to the staff report.
4. Characteristics of the Area. The properties to the north and south are zoned
General Commercial (CG) as are the parcels to the east of Highway 99. The parcels to
the west of the site across of 76th Avenue West are in Esperance (Snohomish County
jurisdiction). Those parcels are developed with low density, residential uses.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Procedural:
1. Authority of Hearing Examiner. ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3) provides that
exceptions to the pedestrian/walkable design requirements of ECDC 16.60.030(C)
shall be processed as Type IIIA applications. ECDC 20.01.003 provides that
administrative design review shall be processed as a Type I application. ECDC
20.01.002(B) authorizes consolidation of different types of permit applications and
provides that consolidated permit applications shall be processed under the highest
number procedure. Consequently, the consolidated design review applications must
be processed as Type IIIA applications. ECDC 20.01.003 provides that the hearing
examiner shall hold open record hearings and issue final decisions on Type IIIA
applications.
Substantive:
2. Zoning Designations. General Commercial (GC).
3. Permit Review Criteria. ECDC 16.60.030 requires staff level design
review for projects located in the GC zone with buildings less than 75 feet in height.
GC design review standards are governed by ECDC 2012.070(B)(2). The design
review exception requested by the Applicant is governed by the criteria of ECDC
16.60.030(C). Since the staff level review is usually administrative and there were no
contested issues of compliance, the conclusions and findings of the staff report on
design review compliance, excepting the request for exception, are adopted by this
decision as if set forth in full. The ECDC 16.60.030(C) design exception criteria are
quoted below in italics and applied through corresponding conclusions of law.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(a): Exceptions Process for Pedestrian or Walkable Design.
An exception to the exact requirements of subsection (C) (1) or (2) of this section may
Design Review and Exception p. 3 Findings, Conclusions and Decision
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be allowed by the hearing examiner under a Type IIIA decision process to provide for
design flexibility that still encourages pedestrian orientation and efficient land uses
when the following criteria are met:
a. The property is located within 300 feet of a highway interchange and has unique
pedestrian access constraints or is primarily used for motor vehicle sales,-
1 4. The criterion is met. The property and its buildings are primarily used for motor
vehicle sales.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(b): The development provides business and pedestrian areas
that are near the primary street frontage and likely to be active throughout the day and
evening;
5. The criterion is met. The Hyundai building features a highly transparent glass -
enclosed showroom within 120 feet of Pacific Highway 99. The showroom is open into
the early evening daily and on weekends. As shown in the project plants, Attachment 5
ofthe staff report, the associated pedestrian amenity space will be located at the Hyundai
building's southeast corner near the project's street frontage and will be accessible
during these operating hours as well.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(c): The development features a prominent building entry for
pedestrian use that is highly visible and connected by a well -lit walkway from the
primary street frontage;
6. The criterion is met. As shown in the Color Renderings, Attachment 4 to the staff
report, the Hyundai show room entry consists of a prominent bronze -clad metal panel
entry portal that contrasts with the adjacent storefront glass. It is the destination of a
pedestrian pathway from Highway 99 that crosses the parking lot alongside public
seating and planted amenity space. This entry and amenity space is set beneath a deep
overhanging roof that provides substantial down -lighting from the ceiling.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(d): At least 25 percent of the required amenity space shall be
located to connect the building to the street in a manner that encourages pedestrian use
and include seating, landscaping, and artwork;
7. The criterion is met. ECDC 16.60.030( C)(4)(a) requires that a minimum of 5% of
the building footprint areas must be provided as amenity space and include elements
like plazas, seating areas, paths, and the like. That would yield 695 sq. ft. for the 13,895
sq. ft. Hyundai building and 521 sq. ft. for the 10,429 sq. ft. Mazda service building for
a total of 1216 square feet of required amenity space. The 444 SF amenity space at the
southeast corner of the showroom includes outdoor benches for seating, an L-shaped
planter with a variety of planted vegetation, and textured paving. This space exceeds
25% of the required 1216 amenity space and serves to connect the building to SR 99 via
a designated foot path in a manner that encourages pedestrian use.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(e): Where a site has multiple buildings (excluding accessory
Design Review and Exception p. 4 Findings, Conclusions and Decision
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utility buildings), 50 percent or more of the required amenity space shall be located
between buildings to allow for shared use;
8. The criterion is met. The 3,344 SF amenity space at roughly midpoint on the north
side of the property exceeds the total amenity space requirement.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(f): No more than 50 percent of vehicle parking, other than that
associated with a permitted vehicle sales facility use, may be located within 20 feet of
the front property line;
9. The criterion is met. The parking stalls located within 20 feet of the front property
line between the two vehicular entries will all be used for vehicle sales.
ECDC 16.60.030(C)(3)(g): One or more buildings on the site must have at least two
stories of useable space.
10. The criterion is met. The Hyundai sales building has an open two story showroom
with sales office and customer support on the back of the first floor. Management and
administrative offices will be on the second floor.
DECISION
As conditioned, the design review and design review exception applications of the
above -captioned matter complies with all applicable review criteria for the reasons
outlined in the Conclusions of Law above. The applications are approved subject to
the following conditions:
1. The frontage improvements along 76th Avenue West must meet the minimum width
and design requirements for pedestrian areas in accordance with ECDC
16.60.020.C.
2. Additional visual interest must be added to the west wall of the Hyundai building to
achieve compliance with ECDC 16.60.030.D.2(e).
3. Paths within parking lots must be a minimum of 6' in width per ECDC
16.60.030.B.8(c).
Dated this 4th day of March 2019.
Phi A.Olbrechts
City of Edmonds Hearing Examiner
Design Review and Exception p. 5 Findings, Conclusions and Decision
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Appeal Right and Valuation Notices
This land use decision is final and subject to judicial appeal to superior court under the
Washington State Land Use Petition Act ("LUPA" ), Chapter 36.70C if the Revised
Code of Washington. Reconsideration may be requested within 10 calendar days of
issuance of this decision as required by ECDC 20.06.010.
Affected property owners may request a change in valuation for property tax purposes
notwithstanding any program of revaluation.
Design Review and Exception p. 6 Findings, Conclusions and Decision