The move continues an emergency action taken last October to rezone about 80 acres near the Ken Lake subdivision to the Residential Low Impact zone (RLI) from Residential-4 (R-4). The RLI zoning calls for less impervious surface, lessening the potential for stormwater runoff.
The council’s move last year was an interim one, meaning that it would have to revisit the zoning change after a year.
Council members moved after the lake’s neighbors had expressed concerns that the proposed Kaiser Heights subdivision on the property, which when proposed in 2006 included about 300 homes adjacent to the Ken Lake subdivision, could flood Ken Lake or siphon groundwater that infiltrates into it.
Shortly before last year’s surprise rezoning, the Kaiser Heights developer withdrew its application. The developer, Washington Land Holdings of Seattle, submitted a new proposal called Park Heights about a month after the rezoning, with 100 homes. That subdivision would include 36.24 acres of open space, with an average lot size of 12,145 square feet, and was intended to fit under the new zoning.
Neighbors also objected to that plan.
City staffers since have recommended that the RLI zone be made permanent. But that requires a public process that doesn’t finish until November, according to a city staff report. City staff recommended the council adopt a six-month extension of the interim zoning until a decision on a permanent zoning change could be made. The city’s review of Park Heights would continue under the interim zoning, the report says.
Todd Stamm, the city’s planning manager, said staff members needed more time to study issues in the Ken Lake area because of staffing constraints.
Lloyd Goodwin, president of the Lakemoor Community Club, asked the council to put conditions on the new zoning.
He asked that the RLI zone requirements be modified “to incorporate statements of geologic site standards.” He asked that the city not consider subdivision applications in the Ken Lake Basin until an environmental impact statement can be made. And he asked the city to determine whether Park Heights was complete enough to warrant “vesting” or a determination by the city that the subdivision application meets the zoning.
The Lakemoor Community Club, the neighborhood association for the Ken Lake neighborhood, asked the city to deny vesting for Park Heights.
Goodwin said the community, whose lake is the lowest point of a 638-acre basin, has suffered more than $300,000 in flooding damage. He offered to give the city an easement to build a stormwater retention area on 22 acres of property near Ken Lake.
City Prosecutor Paul Wohl, representing the city’s legal team in the absence of City Attorney Tom Morrill, said Goodwin’s requests are out of scope for the temporary zoning action Tuesday and would be part of a new zoning ordinance process.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869 mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
