A second subdivision in Lake Forest Park is several steps closer to being approved by the planning commission but the overall process has not been a simple one.
The site of the new subdivision, Osgood II, is located on the only plat in the city at 19625 and 19633 55th Ave. N.E. and includes natural vegetation along sloping landscape, the subject of much debate.
Along with the 2005 adoption of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, the city council also passed a sensitive areas ordinance that regulates development on steep slopes, in seismic areas, in and around streams, wetlands, and wildlife habitats.
Homeowners who live near the plat, have brought various concerns to the planning commission through letters, personal meetings with city officials including Mayor Dave Hutchinson and at a Feb. 21 public hearing.
Those concerns included what were allegedly incorrect plat drawings, the number of trees being cut and the size of site buffers, negative impacts believed to be due to the construction of the only current subdivision, Trillium, and concern over whether or not the site itself proposed any steep slope landslide issues.
Steve Hanegan, a neighbor and an engineer, said that by the city’s municipal code, the Osgood II property would constitute as a steep slope hazard area.
“By state law, the city could not deviate from a 50-foot buffer around (Osgood) if the vertical rise was 2 more feet tall,” Hanegan said. Lake Forest Park code calls for the same buffer, but that can be reduced if the area is deemed stable, he said.
In the case of Osgood II, new homes must be at least a minimum of 40 feet from the toe of the slope, include a 25-foot buffer and a 15-foot building setback, city associate planner Shana Restall said.
“The planning director has the ability to reduce slope and stream buffers to a minimum size but restrictions are made clear in the (code),” Restall said.
A geotechnical report completed by Cornerstone Geotechnical Inc. and received by the planning commission in 2006 found the Osgood II plat to be “compatible for the planned use as a residential development” and soils “capable of supporting the planned structures and pavements.” The report recommended that any construction be done in dry, summer months, but found no reason to deny an exemption under the city’s municipal code.
The report does expire, Restall said, and a follow-up notice from the company stating that significant changes have not occurred on the plat would need to be presented to the planning department before a construction permit could be issued.
“It appears (Northlake Land Investors, LLC) will need another or at least an addendum to the current report for building permits,” Restall said.
The city is reviewing a request for reconsideration submitted by Northlake Land Investors, LLC for the Osgood II preliminary plat. According to city planning director, Steve Bennett, the company has met regulations required by the city.
“That’s all we can require them to do,” Bennett said. “It’s a tiring process to get to a point where we are protecting the environment and allowing people the use of their property.”
The applicant and the city are also working to ensure that a proposed road through the development’s cul-de-sac street is an allowable length.
Hanegan would like to see cottage housing on the lower half of the plat instead of the proposed 12 single-family lots.
“What’s reasonable is to put a cottage down low, provide affordable, environmentally sustainable housing and comply with the (state) Growth Management Act,” Hanegan said. “We have to expect a larger population and we have to build houses but we need $100,000 houses and not McMansions.”
Lake Forest Park is in the process of considering a temporary ordinance that would allow as many as two cottage housing developments in the city. Cottage housing is generally defined as a cluster development of at least six and no more than twelve detached single family dwelling units between 700 and 1,000 square feet.
“We haven’t learned a thing from what happened at Trillium,” Hanegan said. “I see the potential of being 75 years old and living in Lake Park because the forests are gone or maybe just Park because the lakes are gone, too.”
Restall said she has not heard if the hearing examiner will choose to have another public hearing.
“Of course, the public may come into the planning department at any time,” Restall said. “These records are all open to the public.”
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