Olympia extends building moratorium

By Matt Batcheldor | The Olympian • Published September 24, 2008

Comments (0)

OLYMPIA – The Olympia City Council voted Tuesday night to extend a building moratorium for six months for parts of the Chambers Basin in southeast Olympia, as council members heard from the public on that topic as well as five proposed changes to the city's comprehensive plan.

City leaders said this should be the last six-month extension of the moratorium, and it could be lifted before the 180 days are up. The ban has been in place for about 21/2 years as the council considers how to fix flooding problems in the basin.

In one of five proposed changes to the city comprehensive plan, staff recommend downzoning 275 acres in the Chambers Basin area to "Residential 4 Units Per Acre." They also suggest amending the Transportation 2025 map "to remove future 40th Avenue link to Lacey, and adopt version of R-4 Single-family Residential zone and specific Engineering Development and Design Standards for the area."

The council likely will decide by year's end whether to accept the staff's recommendation and remove the moratorium.

During a public hearing, a number of property owners in the Chambers Basin area, much of it along Wiggins Road, said they support the downzoning.

"I am being harmed," said Jim Zahn, who lives on Yelm Highway.

He added that a drainage ditch needs to be enlarged.

"I am downstream of this," he said.

Some said the downzoning doesn't go far enough, and more is needed. Eric Nelson, who lives on Humphrey Street, said the downzoning was a good step, but it might be "too little, too late." He suggested 2 units per acre instead of 4.

Other landowners who want to develop property there and the Olympia Master Builders said the moratorium should be lifted because the city's drainage standards are sufficient.

"We do not believe it would be fair or proper to downzone our property or others," said Ron Deering, who has property in Chambers Basin.

Downzoning Chambers Basin was one of five proposed changes to the city's comprehensive plan that the council heard Tuesday night. A sixth, a proposal to raise building-height limits and change zoning on the downtown isthmus, was heard at a public hearing last week.

Another proposal, to rezone an area on Fourth Avenue to expand a U-Haul dealership, was withdrawn, said Jan Weydemeyer, senior city planner.

Here are the other proposed amendments to the city's comprehensive plan, which generally weren't controversial at Tuesday's hearing:

• Friendly Village. Rezone about 43 acres from Residential Multi-family (RM-24) to General Commercial (GC). Amend narrative text in Volume two, Chapter 1 of the comprehensive plan to clarify that the Friendly Village property is in an existing commercial area.

Residents of Friendly Village, a mobile-home park on the city's west side, and the park's owner support the plan. The two sides have come to a development agreement that restricts the development of the property, pending city approval.

• Fairview Street. Rezone 4.27 acres from single-family residential (R-4-8) to multifamily residential (RM-18).

• Mud Bay Road. Rezone 4.34 acres from residential low impact (RLI) to 3.19 acres professional office/multifamily residential (PO/RM) and 1.15 acres neighborhood retail (NR).