Lacey City Council votes to make no change to land-use process that angered residents
In a surprise move, Lacey City Council voted 4-3 on Thursday to make no change to a land-use process that angered many in northeast Lacey and near Hicks Lake.
What’s that process? It’s called the quasi-judicial process and it comes into play during certain land-use cases that involve a hearings examiner.
Two prominent land-use decisions came before the hearings examiner this year: The controversial Meridian Market and Gas proposal in northeast Lacey and the more than 300 apartments proposed for the west shore of Hicks Lake. Both generated neighborhood outrage in the form of emails, phone calls and protests.
And yet those emails and phone calls went unanswered because in Lacey, the council is the decision-making body after the hearings examiner makes a recommendation to them. And because the council takes on that quasi-judicial role, they adhere to an appearance of fairness doctrine, which means the council members couldn’t discuss either Meridian Market and Gas or the Hicks Lake proposals with residents.
“The quasi-judicial system needs to be more than the city’s method of dotting its i’s and crossing its t’s to meet the state’s environmental requirements, and simply a check-off box in the approval process for developers,” said Hicks Lake resident Janet Ikeda in a letter to the council. “The quasi-judicial system needs to be revised or replaced.”
The staff recommendation before the council Thursday night was to amend the process via an ordinance that would take the council out of the process, meaning the final land-use decision would rest with the hearings examiner, subject to appeal to Thurston County Superior Court.
“If you’re not in the decision-making tree, you can talk to your constituents about any land-use application at any time in the process,” said Grant Beck, planning and development services manager.
Despite the staff recommendation and residents’ wishes, Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder came out against making any change, saying it’s not likely to achieve anything because residents simply want the council to intervene and stop the land-use process. And that’s something the council can’t do, he said.
He also thinks the recommended change would put increased pressure on city staff. “Our staff is going to be thrown under the bus time and time again,” Ryder said.
Council member Lenny Greenstein said he has concerns about the current process, but still defended it, saying if the council isn’t in that decision-making role, it feels like “we are shirking our responsibilities.”
“We shouldn’t be recusing ourselves because a decision is difficult,” he said. “You should only recuse yourself if you have a true conflict, otherwise you need to stand there and take the vote.”
Easier said than done, said council member Michael Steadman, who used to live in northeast Lacey but now lives near Hicks Lake.
“People approached me every day,” he said. “There’s no way I wouldn’t be in violation of the appearance of fairness doctrine.”
Voting to make no change were Ryder, Greenstein, Ed Kunkel and Malcolm Miller. During the Meridian Market council vote earlier this year, Miller acknowledged that he felt compelled to listen to what residents were saying, so he drove out to look at the site and talk to neighbors. He was asked to recuse himself and left council chambers during the vote.
Reached by phone after the meeting, Miller said that the ordinance didn’t go far enough.
“We have to find a better way,” he said.
Voting in favor of the change were Steadman, Carolyn Cox and Robin Vazquez.
“I see this as a benefit to the long-term future of Lacey in terms of community engagement and clarity of process,” Vazquez said.
Immediately after the vote, Ryder called on the city to do more public engagement on the topic so residents can understand where the council is coming from.
That request fell on deaf ears. A public engagement process on the quasi-judicial process is bound to be too technical and poorly attended, Community and Economic Development Director Rick Walk said.
Cox agreed.
“I think what you’re asking is more than carrying a boulder up a hill,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a waste of time and resources.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 12:22 PM.
