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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHE Determination SP 2022-014 MR&H Tri-Cities Church CITY OF PASCO HEARING EXAMINER IN THE MATTER OF ) FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, DECISION AND CONDITIONS SP 2022-014 ) OF APPROVAL MR&H Tri-Cities Church ) THIS MATTER having come on for hearing in front of the City of Pasco Hearing Examiner on October 12, 2022, the Hearing Examiner having taken evidence hereby submits the following Findings of Fact,Conclusions of Law, and Decision and Conditions of Approval as follows: 1. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: 1.1 Lots 26, 27&W8.05' Lot 28, Block 12, Gerry's Addition to Pasco(Franklin County Tax Parcel 4 112052430). 1.2 General Location: 411 West Clark Street. 1.3 Property Size: Approximately 0.19 acres (8,120 square feet). 1.4 Request: Special Permit: MR&H Tri-Cities Church in the C-2 (Central Business) Zoning District. 2. ACCESS: The site has access from West Clark Street and the alley behind the building to the north. 3. UTILITIES: The site is served by both water and sewer services from the alley to the north. 4. LAND USE AND ZONING: The property is currently zoned C-2 (Central Business) and most currently housed Llamas Furniture and More. Surrounding properties are zoned C-2 (Central Business), and C-1 (Retail Business) and are developed with numerous service and retail business structures. 5. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The Comprehensive Plan indicates the site is intended for commercial uses. The plan does not specifically address churches,but various elements of the plan address locating businesses in appropriate locations for their anticipated uses. Land Use Policy LU-1-D states: "Land uses should be permitted subject to adopted standards designed to mitigate land use impacts on adjacent, less intensive uses,while preserving constitutionally protected forms of expression."Land Use Policies LU-6-A and LU-6-B direct the City to "Encourage commercial and higher-density residential uses along major corridors and leverage infrastructure availability"and"Promote efficient and functional neighborhood level and major commercial centers to meet community demand."Land Use Policy ED-3-D suggests the City"Require businesses and buildings in and adjacent to the Central Business District to conform to established development standards." SP 2022-14 MR&H Tri-Cities Church Page 1 of 6 6. ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The City of Pasco is the lead agency for this project.An environmental determination will be made after the public hearing for this project.A Determination of Non-Significance or Mitigated Determination of Non- Significance is likely for this application, under WAC 197-11-158. 7. PROPOSAL: The Applicant, Alex Mwaluma, on behalf of the MR&H Tri-Cities Church, wishes to operate a church facility to be located in an existing retail space at 411 West Clark Street. 8. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: The site is developed with a 7,140 square-foot retail space built in 1948. The site has direct access from West Clark Street. Churches generally locate in or near residential neighborhoods. While the site in question is in a commercial area, it is close to the residential areas north and west of downtown. 9. HISTORY: The site is part of the 1907 Gerry's Addition to Pasco. The site was originally zoned C-1 in 1938 (Ordinance 435). The site was incorporated into the Central Business district and zoned C-2 over 20 years ago. 10. The Comprehensive Plan (LU-4B) encourages the concentration of commercial activities which are functionally and economically beneficial to each other. The zoning regulations are used to implement the Comprehensive Plan. The proposed site is located in the Central Business District Zone(C-2). 11. The purpose of the C-2 zone is to, among other things, encourage the clustering of retail businesses and retail services,which functionally interact well together and will economically fare better as a result of close proximity to one another. 12. The Downtown Development Association's business plan/strategy encourages the location of additional retail and professional businesses within the Central Business District. 13. The proposed use is not supported by the Comprehensive Plan and its implementation tools. 14. Will the proposed use adversely affect the public infrastructure? 14.1 The proposed use is located in an area that is fully served by all City utilities. Public infrastructure was designed to serve the intensive demands of commercial activities. 15. Will the proposed use be constructed, maintained, and operated to be in harmony with the existing or intended character of the general vicinity? 15.1 The proposed use will be located in an existing building. No exterior changes will take place. The general character of the surrounding area is retail business and is not characterized by churches or other community service types of land uses. The general character of the area will be altered due to the non-retail nature of the church. 16. Will the location and height of proposed structures and the site design discourage the development of permitted uses on property in the general vicinity or impair the value thereof? 16.1 The proposal involves utilizing an existing building. The location and height of the building will not change. 17. Will the operations in connection with the proposal be more objectionable to nearby properties by reason of noise, fumes, vibrations, dust,traffic, or flashing lights than would be the operation of any permitted uses within the district? SP 2022-14 MR&H Tri-Cities Church Page 2 of 6 17.1 Without strict oversight, the operation of a church on this property could become a nuisance to adjoining retail businesses. In the past churches located in common wall buildings have created nuisances for adjoining businesses through the creation of excessive noise. The operation of retail and office businesses does not generate objectionable noises. 18. Will the proposed use endanger the public health or safety if located and developed where proposed, or in any way will become a nuisance to uses permitted in the district? 18.1 The site lacks adequate fire system/sprinklers for large gatherings; capacity may be limited and should be part of the special permit conditions. 19. Church facilities require Special Permit review under the provisions of Pasco Municipal Code (PMC) 25.200.020(4) Unclassified uses. Church facilities qualify as Community service facilities, level one,as defined in PMC 25.15.050. 20. The C-2 zoning district does not require provisions for off-street parking for permitted uses. This is partly because for most adjacent uses—small retail shops and restaurants—the ebb and flow of foot traffic is more gradual. Churches, by contrast, typically experience sudden influxes of patrons during meeting times, bringing to bear associated peaks in vehicular traffic. As such, it would be appropriate to require parking facilities to accommodate such traffic flows. PMC 25.185.170(2) requires one parking space for each four seats based upon maximum seating capacity or at least one space for every 10 lineal feet of bench seating for churches and similar community service uses. 21. The C-2 zoning district allows for common wall construction. The site shares a common wall with the adjacent buildings to the east and west. Previous church locational requests in common wall buildings have been conditioned to limited noise during normal business hours. 22. Public notice of this hearing was sent to property owners within 300 feet of the property and in the Tri-City Herald on September 26, 2022. 23. The site capacity may be limited due to lack of adequate fire system/sprinklers 24. An open record public hearing after due legal notice was held October 12, 2022, with the staff and the public appearing in person, and the Hearing Examiner appearing via Zoom videoconference. 25 Appearing and testifying for the Applicant was Alex Mwaluma. Mr. Mwaluma stated he was an agent of the Applicant and property owner and was authorized to appear and speak on their behalf. He stated he was in agreement with the representations set forth in the staff report and with the proposed Conditions of Approval. 26. No member of the public testified at the hearing. 27. The staff report, application materials, agency comments and the entire file of record were admitted into the record. 28. Any Conclusion of Law that is more correctly a Finding of Fact is hereby incorporated as such by this reference. II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Will the proposed use be in accordance with the goals, policies, objectives and text of the Comprehensive Plan? SP 2022-14 MR&H Tri-Cities Church Page 3 of 6 1.1 The Comprehensive Plan indicates the site is primarily intended for Commercial uses. The Plan does not specifically address church facilities,but elements of the Plan encourage the promotion of orderly development including the development of zoning standards for off-street parking and other development.Land Use Policy LU- 1-D states: "Land uses should be permitted subject to adopted standards designed to mitigate land use impacts on adjacent, less intensive uses,while preserving constitutionally protected forms of expression." 1.2 Land Use Policies LU-6-A and LU-6-B direct the City to"Encourage commercial and higher-density residential uses along major corridors and leverage infrastructure availability"and "Promote efficient and functional neighborhood-level and major commercial centers to meet community demand." 1.3 Land Use Policy ED-3-D suggests the City"Require businesses and buildings in and adjacent to the Central Business District to conform to established development standards." 2. Will the proposed use adversely affect public infrastructure? 2.1 The building is located in an area that is fully served by all City utilities. Public infrastructure was designed to serve the demands of commercial activities. The church facility use of the property might increase water usage slightly. 3. Will the proposed use be constructed,maintained and operated to be in harmony with existing or intended character of the general vicinity? 3.1 The Comprehensive Plan indicates the site is primarily intended for Commercial uses. The proposed use will be located in an existing building, originally built and operated as a theater.Any interior remodeling will be required to meet PMC building code standards. The facility would be required to operate in a professional manner compatible with surrounding retail uses. 4. Will the location and height of proposed structures and the site design discourage the development of permitted uses on property in the general vicinity or impair the value thereof? 4.1 The proposal involves utilizing an existing building. The location and height of the building will not change. The proposed use might not contribute to the symbiosis of retail clustering in the vicinity. 5. Will the operations in connection with the proposal be more objectionable to nearby properties by reason of noise, fumes, vibrations, dust,traffic, or flashing lights than would be the operation of any permitted uses within the district? 5.1 The proposed use may create influxes of traffic and noise which are atypical of permitted uses in this zoning district. The traffic ingress/egress patterns will likely differ from surrounding retail uses. 6. Will the proposed use endanger the public health or safety if located and developed where proposed, or in any way will become a nuisance to uses permitted in the district? 6.1 Church facility uses typically do not endangered public health. The proposed use does not involve the manufacture, production or sale of any product that could endanger the public or become a nuisance. However, the site lacks adequate fire system/sprinklers for large gatherings; capacity may be limited and should be part of the special permit conditions. SP 2022-14 MR&H Tri-Cities Church Page 4 of 6 7. As conditioned, this project is consistent with the Pasco Comprehensive Plan and Pasco Municipal Code. 8. Any Finding of Fact that is more correctly a Conclusion of Law is hereby incorporated as such by this reference. III. DECISION Based on the above Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the Hearing Examiner APPROVES Application SP 2022-14,subject to the following Conditions of Approval. IV. CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL All conditions imposed by this decision shall be binding on the applicant,which includes the owner or owners of the properties,heirs, assigns, and successors. 1. The Applicant shall comply with all regulations set forth in the Pasco Municipal Code. 2. The special permit shall apply to Parcel 112042138 3. Major traffic-generating programs, activities, and functions shall not be permitted between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm 4. Applicant shall maintain the storefront of the building in a professional manner, including signage,program advertising,and window treatments. No clutter shall be visible from the sidewalk. 5. Maximum building capacity shall be based on current International Fire Code(IFC)fire rating,as approved by the City of Pasco. Increased capacity shall require improvements meeting City-adopted IFC standards. 6. Off-street parking shall be provided per PMC 25.185.170(2), at one space for each four seats based upon maximum seating capacity or at least one space for every 10 lineal feet of bench seating. 7. The special permit shall be null and void if a City of Pasco, Occupancy Permit is not obtained within one year of Special Permit approval 8. This special permit shall be administratively reviewed in two years from the date of approval for issues associated with parking,noise, and compatibility with existing retail use. 9. Should the Applicant locate parking offsite,the Applicant shall receive written permission from the property owner and provide this written permission to the City SP 2022-14 MR&H Tri-Cities Church Page 5 of 6 CITY OF A Andr64. Kottkamp