CUP-2017-0001 Decision_Signed CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY HEARING EXAMINER
Conditional Use Permit for Expansion of a Day Care )
Center, in the Single-Family Residential (R-3) Zoning )
District; ) FINDINGS OF FACT,
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW,
Applicant:Episcopal Church of the Resurrection ) AND DECISION
File No: CUP-2017-0001 )
)
I. SUMMARY OF DECISION:
Hearing Matter: Application for a conditional use permit to expand a day care center in the R-3 zone.
Summary of Decision: Approve application, subject to conditions.
II. FINDINGS OF FACT:
1. On August 8, 2013, the Hearing Examiner approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for a day care
center for 13 or more children, in the Single-Family Residential (R-3) zoning district ("R-3 zone");
authorizing the basement of a church building addressed at 15319 E. 8th Avenue, in Spokane Valley,
Washington,to be used for a day care center accommodating up to 49 children, on approximately 4.9
acres of land ("site"). The applicant was Dawn Cofone, the day care operator. Hearing Examiner
Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision in File No. CUP-2013-0001.
2. On June 23,2017, an application was submitted to the Building and Planning Division of the Spokane
Valley Community and Public Works Department ("Department"), by the Episcopal Church of the
Resurrection, to expand the day care center from a maximum of 49 children to a maximum of 94
children; in the R-3 zone.
3. The site is located north of and adjacent to Eighth Avenue ("8th Avenue"), approximately 300 feet
west of its intersection with Sullivan Road; in Spokane Valley, Washington.
4. The site is currently referenced as County Assessor's tax parcel no. 45231.2250.
5. The applicant, and site owner, is the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection; which has a mailing
address of P.O. Box 14771, Spokane Valley, WA 99214.
6. On June 23, 2017, the Department issued a Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) for the
application. The DNS was not appealed.
7. On September 7, 2017, the Hearing Examiner conducted a public hearing on the application. The
notice requirements for the public hearing, set forth in the Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC),
were met. The Hearing Examiner conducted a site visit shortly before the hearing commenced.
8. The Hearing Examiner heard the application pursuant to Chapters 17.80, 18.20 and 19.150 of the
SVMC; and the Hearing Examiner Scheduling Rules and Rules of Conduct, codified in Appendix B
of the SVMC.
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 1
9. The following persons testified at the public hearing:
Karen Kendall David Newton
City Community Development Department 4305 N. Best Road
11707 E. Sprague Avenue, Suite 106 Spokane Valley WA 99216
Spokane Valley, WA 99206
10. At the end of the hearing, the Hearing Examiner advised that he would approve the application, as
conditioned; subject to the entry of a written decision.
11. On October 16, 2017, Karen Kendall, the planner for the Department, advised the Hearing Examiner
by email that she had received a verbal request from the applicant requesting that landscaping for the
outdoor play area for the day care center that the Department had requested be installed on the outside
of the fence requested by the Department to be installed for the play area be placed on the inside of
the fence,because the applicant had already installed the fence along the east property line adjacent to
the play area, leaving no room for the landscaping. The Hearing Examiner responded via email that
this request by the applicant was acceptable.
12. The Hearing Examiner takes notice of the Spokane Valley Comprehensive Plan, the SVMC, other
applicable development regulations, and prior land use decisions for the site and neighboring land.
13. The Staff Report prepared by the Department for the application, including attached documents listed
as Exhibits 1-9, was placed in the application file before the hearing. Exhibit 10, a hard copy of the
PowerPoint presentation of the Staff Report and Recommendations to the Hearing Examiner, was
submitted at the hearing.
14. The record includes the documents in File No. CUP-2017-0001 at the time of the hearing,Exhibit 10,
the electronic recording of the hearing by Hearing Examiner staff, the sign-in sheet for the hearing,
the emails exchanged between Karen Kendall and the Examiner on October 16, 2017, and the items
taken notice of by the Hearing Examiner.
15. The site is approximately five (5) acres in size. The north one-half(1/2) of the site is vacant,used for
a community garden, and vegetated with grasses and scattered shrubs. The site plan of record and
basement floor plan submitted by the applicant on June 23, 2017, in sheets 1.2 and 8.1, illustrate the
existing improvements located in the south one-half(1/2) of the site.
16. The applicant submitted a narrative on June 23,2017 describing the proposed expansion,and the need
for the expansion. The narrative advised that Neshia and Grant Smith own the Adventure Land
Learning Center day care being operated in the church basement, the Smiths have found a need to
expand the day care because of increasing demand in the City for reputable facilities like theirs, the
day care center is not operated on weekends or holidays, traffic to the site to drop off children occurs
between 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., traffic to pickup children occurs between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., a
pre-school or day care has been operated in the basement of the church for over 20 years without a
complaint from neighboring residents, and the day care has a great rapport with the neighborhood.
17. The site plan illustrates a church building located in the northeast part of the south portion of the site,
and an adjoining addition to the south; a rectory located in the southwest corner of the site, with
residential landscaping; a large paved parking lot accommodating up to 101 vehicles, lying west and
north of the church building; a driveway extending into the parking area, from the midpoint of the site
along 8th Avenue; an 85-foot by 70-foot outdoor play area for children, surrounded by chain-link
fencing, located northeast of the church building;mature evergreen and deciduous trees, located along
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 2
the east edge of the site, east and southeast of the church building and addition; and mature Type III
landscaping located along the frontage of the site with 8th Avenue, east of the driveway entrance. Site
plan, ground photo of site in Staff Report.
18. The floor plan show the existing day care center located in a 4,500-square foot portion of the church
basement; and the new area of expansion of the day care center located in a separate, approximately
3,500-square feet part of the basement. Additional employees will be needed to accommodate the
expansion of the day care.
19. The church basement was altered in 2014 by the previous day care operator to meet building and fire
code requirements, pursuant to a building permit. The permit was conditioned to require a separate
permit to address the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for an expanded number of children
associated with the modified basement area, prior to allowing the expanded day care use.
20. The CUP approved by the Hearing Examiner in 2013 did not include conditions that would mitigate
noise, light or traffic impacts. No exterior improvements were required by the Department, nor
voluntarily made by the applicant, after the CUP was approved.
21. The proposed expansion of the day care substantially changes the day care center CUP approved by
the Hearing Examiner in 2013; because the 2013 approval limited the center to a maximum of 49
children,the proposed expansion would nearly double the maximum number of children in the center,
and the expansion will generate increased traffic and noise impacts that should be evaluated through
a public hearing process. The Department properly required the applicant to apply for a CUP for the
expansion of the day care center.
22. The site and neighboring land are designated in the Single-Family Residential (SFR) category of the
Comprehensive Plan, and zoned R-3; except for the land located along Sullivan Road northeast of the
site, which is designated in the Corridor Mixed Use category of the Comprehensive Plan, and zoned
Corridor Mixed Use (CMU).
23. The Staff Report,on pages 2-3, accurately describes the zoning and existing uses on neighboring land.
The land lying directly east and northeast of the site,west of Sullivan Road,consists of a platted duplex
development. A 4-foot high chain link fence is located along the west property line of the duplex lot
lying east of the playground for the day care center on the site.
24. Central Valley High School lies further to the east; east of and adjacent to Sullivan Road, and north
and south of Eighth Avenue extended east. Aerial maps, County Assessor maps, and parcel
information in file; Hearing Examiner site visit; and testimony of Karen Kendall.
25. The City Arterial Road Plan, depicted on page 5-78 of the Comprehensive Plan, designates Sullivan
Road as a Principal Arterial, and Eighth Avenue as a Minor Arterial. Progress Road, located one (1)
block west of the site, is a Local Access street.
26. On July 13, 2017, the applicant submitted a revised trip generation and distribution letter (TGDL)
prepared by Ann Winkler of Sunburst Engineering, PS, a professional engineer; based on driveway
counts in the field of traffic generate by the project. After taking driveway counts in the field of the
traffic generated by the existing day care, Winkler found in the TGDL that traffic generated by the
project would be distributed 45% between the site and the intersection of Eighth and Sullivan to the
east, and 55%between the site and the intersection of Eighth and Progress Road to the west.
27. Based on traffic sources in addition to the ITE Trip Generation Manual, Winkler determined in the
TGDL that the expansion would generate 35 PM peak hour trips, including 19 trips to and from the
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 3
west and 16 trips to and from the east; and generate 34 AM peak hour trips, including 18 trips to and
from the west, and 16 trips to and from the east.
28. Section 3.2 of the 2009 City Street Standards requires that the latest edition of the ITE Trip Generation
Manual, an authoritative publication relied on nationally by traffic engineers, be used in preparing a
TGDL.
29. On July 27, 2017, Ray Wright, City Senior Traffic Engineer, submitted a report that critiqued the
TGDL prepared for the project. Wright found that trip generation for the proposed day care center
expansion should rely on the ITE Trip Generation Manual,which Winkler in the TGDL had challenged
use of for trip generation of a day care, because use of the manual is required by the City in the
preparation of a TGDL for land development.
30. Ray Wright found in his report that the project would generate 22 new PM peak hour trips at the
intersection of Eighth Avenue and Sullivan, and 18 new PM peak hour trips at the intersection of
Eighth Avenue and Progress Road; for a total of 40 new PM peak hour trips. Wright scoped the
intersection of Eighth and Sullivan as the critical intersection for determining whether a traffic impact
analysis (TIA) was required for the proposed expansion, and whether the expansion would meet City
transportation concurrency requirements.
31. Considering that the proposed day care expansion would not generate the threshold of 20 new PM
peak hour trips that triggers the need to prepare a TIA under the 2009 Street Standards, Wright found
that a TIA did not need to be prepared for the expansion, and issued a certificate of transportation
concurrency for the CUP application for 40 new PM peak hour trips.
32. No public comments were submitted regarding the CUP application,before or at the public hearing.
33. The Staff Report provides an accurate and thorough analysis of the approval criteria for the CUP and
applicable policies of the Comprehensive Plan; which the Hearing Examiner incorporates and adopts
by reference herein as findings of fact.
34. The conditions of approval recommended by the Department limit the day care center to a maximum
of 94 children; limit operation of the day care center to the areas identified on the site plan and floor
plan,unless other approvals are received from the City; restricts outdoor play times to no earlier than
7:00 a.m., pursuant to City noise standards; require the installation of a 6-foot high vinyl fence for
sound abatement along the east property line abutting the outdoor play area, and the installation of
landscaping between the property line and the fence, for a minimum distance of 85 feet; maintenance
of existing and new landscaping in healthy condition; and dedication of right of way along Eighth
Avenue, and of a border easement along Sixth Avenue.
35. The Spokane County Environmental Services Department advised that additional sewer facilities may
need to be connected for the expanded day care center, and a sewer plan and sewer connection permit
may be required.
36. The Spokane Regional Health District, Spokane County Fire District 1 ("Spokane Valley Fire
Department"), and Vera Water and Power had no new comments on the application and DNS issued
for the application. The fire district advised that specific requirements would be conditioned on the
commercial building permits required for the expansion.
37. The application, as conditioned, meets the transportation, public sewer and public water concurrency
requirements set forth in SVMC Chapter 22.20.
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 4
38. Since the basement has already been modified for the CUP expansion, the only building permit
required for the new day care space is one that addresses the new occupancy classification and
occupancy load associated with the new day care area.Email dated May 9,2017 from Jenny Nickerson
to Karen Kendall.
39. Dave Newton,the junior warden for the Episcopal Church, advised that the applicant had no objection
to the conditions of approval recommended by the Department,but advised that the fence installed for
the playground area would need to be placed inside the 4-foot high cyclone fence located along the
east edge of the adjacent duplex property.
40. The conditions of approval submitted by the Department should be modified to allow the landscaping
required for the outdoor play area to be installed on the inside of the fence required to be installed for
the outdoor play area.
41. Adequate conditions and restrictions on the conditional use have been placed to ensure that it will be
compatible with other permitted uses in the vicinity; and will not be materially detrimental to the
public health, safety or general welfare.
42. Certain minor additions should be made to the conditions of approval for compliance purposes, as set
forth in the conditions set forth below.
43. The application,as conditioned,reasonably mitigates any adverse impacts on adjacent properties from
the use, extension, construction or alteration allowed with respect to the conditional use.
44. The application, as conditioned, is generally consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, and will be
compatible with other permitted uses in the vicinity.
45. The application, as conditioned, complies with the criteria specified in SVMC 19.150.010 for
approving a conditional use permit for a day care center in the R-3 zone, the development standards
specified for the R-3 zone in the SVMC,the provisions of SVMC Title 21 (Environmental Controls),
other applicable provisions of the SVMC, and other applicable development regulations.
Based on the above findings of fact, the Hearing Examiner enters the following:
III. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW:
1. Any finding of fact above that is a conclusion of law is hereby deemed such.
2. Minor revisions should be made to the conditions of approval; to assure proper formatting,clarity, and
consistency with the findings of fact above.
3. The approval of the conditional use permit, as conditioned below, is appropriate under Chapter 19.150
of the Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC) and SVMC Chapter 18.20 (Hearing Examiner).
4. Any conclusion of law above that is a finding of fact is hereby deemed such.
IV. DECISION:
Based on the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law above, the subject application for a
conditional use permit is hereby approved, subject to compliance with the conditions of the various
agencies specified below.
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 5
Any conditions of approval of public agencies that have been added or significantly altered by the
Examiner are italicized. This approval does not waive the applicant's obligation to comply with all other
requirements of other public agencies with jurisdiction over land development.
Conditions of Approval:
The following conditions of approval apply to the conditional use permit (CUP) in File No.
CUP-2017-0001:
COMMUNITY&PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT—PLANNING DIVISION:
1. The day care center shall be limited to a total of 94 children and shall operate within the areas identified
on the site plan and floor plan date stamped on June 23, 2017, unless other approvals from the City of
Spokane Valley are received.
2. Outdoor play times shall operate no earlier than 7:00 a.m., pursuant to Section 7.05.040.L (Noise) of
the Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC) and SVMC Section 8.25.060 (Noise Disturbance).
3. A 6-foot high vinyl fence shall be installed along the east property line of the site adjacent to the
outdoor play area, for a minimum distance of 85 feet.
4. Landscaping shall be installed along the interior of the new vinyl fence along the entire length of the
outdoor playground, for a minimum distance of 85 feet. The landscaping shall be consistent with
SVMC 22.70.070.E.
5. Existing and new landscaping shall be maintained in a healthy condition.
6. A building permit is required to address the new occupancy classification and occupant load
associated with the new day care area.
COMMUNITY&PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT—DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING:
1. Right of way (ROW) dedication along 8th Avenue is required. ROW dedication shall match the
dedication to the east per Ancestral File Number(AFN) 7603190129.
2. ROW dedication along 6th Avenue is required. The required half ROW width is 19 feet. ROW
dedication of 19 feet is required.
3. A 13-foot-wide Border Easement dedication is required along 6th Avenue, and shall extend from the
ROW to the back of future sidewalk.
4. The ROW dedication and border easements shall be recorded prior to Certificate of Occupancy.
SPOKANE COUNTY DIVISION OF UTILITIES:
1. The facilities on the site are currently connected to sewer. However. depending on the nature of the new
use and/or expansion, additional facilities for the expansion may need to be connected to the County
sewerage system, and a sewer connection permit and inspection may be required.
2. Commercial developments shall submit historical and/or estimated water usage prior to the issuance of
the initial building permit of the project to establish sewer fees. A sewer plan may be required. The
applicant should contact Colin Depner at (509) 477-3604. Estimated water usage will be necessary to
determine if increased General Facilities Charges and monthly service fees will be required.
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 6
SPOKANE COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT 1 (SPOKANE VALLEY FIRE DEPARTMENT):
1. All specific fire district requirements shall be conditioned on the commercial building permits for the
proposed expansion.
DATED this 6th day of November, 2017
CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY HEARING EXAMINER
?1 /L C, 42,14„,4,1—/
Michae C. Dempsey, WSBA#8165
NOTICE OF FINAL DECISION AND NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL:
Pursuant to Chapter 17.90 of the Spokane Valley Municipal Code (SVMC), and Chapter
36.70C of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), the decision of the Hearing Examiner on an
application for a conditional use permit is final and conclusive unless within twenty-one (21)
calendar days from the date of issuance of the Examiner's decision, a party with standing files a
land use petition in Superior Court pursuant to RCW Chapter 36.70C.
Pursuant to RCW Chapter 36.70C, the date of issuance of the Hearing Examiner's decision
is three (3) days after it is mailed.
On November 6,2017, a copy of this decision will be mailed by regular mail to the Applicant,
and to all government agencies and persons entitled to notice under SVMC 17.80.130(4). The date
of issuance of the decision is November 9,2017.
THE APPEAL CLOSING DATE IS NOVEMBER 30, 2017.
The complete record in this matter is on file during the appeal period with the Office of the
Hearing Examiner, Third Floor, Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway Avenue, Spokane,
Washington, 99260-0245; and may be inspected by contacting Kim Thompson at (509) 477-7490.
The file may be inspected during normal working hours, listed as Monday-Friday of each week,
except holidays, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.After the appeal period, the file may
be inspected at the City of Spokane Valley Community Development Department-Planning
Division, 11707 E. Sprague Avenue, Spokane Valley, WA, 99206; by contacting Karen Kendall at
(509) 921-1000. Copies of the documents in the record will be made available at the cost set by the
City of Sp tkane Valley.
Pursuant to RCW 36.70B.130, affected property owners may request a change in valuation
for property tax purposes notwithstanding any program of revaluation.
Findings, Conclusions and Decision File No. CUP-2017-0001 Page 7