The East Monroe rezone was back on the Monroe City Council agenda on Tuesday, Oct. 14, giving council the opportunity to discuss whether or not the city should invest anything further in pursuit of the rezone.
Data obtained by city staff was presented which provided an estimated cost value for the supplemental environmental work required by the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board. The additional work would have been needed to address deficiencies found during review of the property's environmental impact statement.
The two controversial rezone ordinances, which passed last December, have faced steadfast opposition by a group of residents who assert that the 43-acre parcel of property is not conducive to General Commercial zoning. The group appealed to the board earlier this year, recommending that the property retain its Limited Open Space zoning, citing numerous environmental concerns about the rezone.
In August, the board sided with the opposition; issuing a determination of invalidity and remanding the ordinances back to the city.
Since the board's decision, council has held numerous discussions on the topic and listened to extensive public comment protesting the rezone. On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Councilmember Patsy Cudaback made a motion to cease pursuit of the rezone. The vote ended up in tie, due to Councilmember Ed Davis being absent, at which point Mayor Geoffrey Thomas made the decision to break the tie and vote with Councilmembers Cudaback, Jeff Rasmussen and Jason Gamble.
In the past, Cudaback and Gamble have consistently stood opposed to the rezone. Historically, Councilmembers Kurt Goering, Jim Kamp, Ed Davis and Kevin Hanford have voted in favor of it. When ex-Councilmember Tom Williams was still in office, there was a five-to-two majority in favor of the rezone.
Even with the addition of Councilmember Jeff Rasmussen, who was elected last November, the majority of council still favored the rezone, four-to-three.
On Sept. 23, Cudaback's motion from the Sept. 16 meeting was rescinded by Councilmember Goering, who stated that he preferred that any decision regarding the rezone be made at a time when all councilmembers were present.
Throughout the process, the property owner, Heritage Baptist Fellowship Church in Monroe, has remained quiet. Pastor Thomas Minnick has been present, listening to the discussion but not participating.
On Tuesday, he finally broke his silence and addressed council.
"I'm speaking tonight because I'm weary,GÇ¥ said Minnick. "I'm weary to the bone of the constant barrage of misinformation and intentional distortion of facts that have surrounded the rezone of our church's property on Highway 2.GÇ¥
He explained that, while it was true that members of the Heritage congregation have not packed the council chambers during recent meetings to advocate for the rezone, it's not to say they haven't done so in the past.
"During our long history with the city, we've had hearings where we packed out the chamber, filled up the lobby, and spilled out onto the sidewalk for lack of room,GÇ¥ said Minnick. "People from our congregation and neighbors from the community came to this podium, and first asked, then finally demanded, that Heritage be treated with respect; that we be allowed access to the same process available to everyone else, and this property be rezoned as requested.GÇ¥
He stated that, after being repeatedly denied access to the process, the decision was made for the congregation to focus on their business of both community and international outreach, and that he would continue to work on the rezone project alone. The church has worked to build an orphanage and a school in central Honduras, in addition to performing extensive local outreach and providing for families in need.
Minnick refuted rumors that the city paid for the final environmental impact statement produced by the Kirkland engineering firm PACE Engineers.
"We at Heritage do not have a "spirit of entitlement' as someone suggested. We paid our own way, every bit of it. In fact we've paid more than any other applicant has ever paid for a non-project rezone application,GÇ¥ said Minnick. "Nobody in the history of our city has been asked to produce such an extensive and expensive EIS for a non-project application. But we were asked to do that, and we did it.GÇ¥
The pursuit of the rezone, however, has not gone without expense to the city; legal fees alone cost $121,493.71. The Monroe Monitor recently calculated that approximately $195,541.91 has been spent on the rezone in the last four years, a number which only includes a portion of the staff hours dedicated to the project.
Minnick said that he doesn't feel that Heritage Baptist should be blamed for those costs; that it was actually the opposition who necessitated the city's expenditures in relation to the rezone.
"If you think the city has spent too much money on legal fees and staff costs in responding to those appeals, don't blame us. Blame them,GÇ¥ said Minnick. "In reality, by spending all this money to respond to the neighbors' never-ending appeals, the city is, in effect, subsidizing the actions of a few people who are intent on using city resources to protect their view.GÇ¥
To the residents who live on the ridge to the north of the property, their protest is about more than just preserving a view; they have cited numerous environmental and safety concerns throughout the process. The hillside, located to the north of the property which includes slopes greater than 40 percent, has been prone to sliding activity in the past and residents fear the potential repercussions of extensive commercial development in the area.
In the final environmental impact statement, the slope's instability was noted with varying degrees of seriousness.
From an environmental standpoint, much of the parcel is unsuitable for development due to a myriad of environmental factors including wetlands, flood storage, endangered habitat, shoreline and a stream. Only approximately 11 acres out of 43 would be considered for development.
Another source of protest has been the lack of feasibility when it comes to commercial development. Long-time opponent Lowell Anderson estimated that the cost per square foot would be at least four times that of the Walmart being constructed in Monroe. Anderson also cited the many hazards associated with accessing the property off of U.S. 2, a notoriously dangerous stretch of roadway.
In addition to Anderson, Douglas Hamar, retired Monroe Planning Commission member Dave Demarest and several others spoke out in opposition to the proposed rezone.
Council discussion began after public comment was completed. As a result of the September 23 request made by Councilmember Kurt Goering to investigate what supplemental environmental impact studies would be necessary to address the deficiencies identified by the board, city staff had accumulated preliminary data on what this would entail.
Based on their analysis, it was determined that the additional study would cost anywhere from $135,000 to $195,000.
Repeating her actions from Tuesday, Sept. 16, Councilmember Patsy Cudaback made a motion to comply with the hearing board's decision by ceasing pursuit of the rezone. "My hope is that we can put this issue to rest and move on,GÇ¥ said Cudaback.
Discussion ensued.
Councilmember Kevin Hanford reflected on some of the things that occurred during and after the emotionally-charged September 23 council meeting with poignant dismay; dismay at the commotion that erupted when council voted affirmatively to rescind the motion made by Cudaback on September 16.
"The 23rd of September was a sad day in the history of Monroe,GÇ¥ said Hanford. "It's a sad day when some citizens cause a major disruption and show such a lack of respect when they don't agree with a decision made by the council.GÇ¥
Citizens had audibly expressed their frustration that night, as they left chambers in a disorderly procession.
"It's a sad day when a pastor in town can't walk out to his car without being surrounded and accosted, having people in his face screaming curses, jabbing fingers in his chest, as they shouted and banged on his truck and windows; shouting threats as he tried to drive away. That's sad,GÇ¥ continued Hanford. "That's very sad.GÇ¥
The altercation actually began in council chambers, immediately after the motion to rescind was passed and citizens began to file out of the room. One citizen paused in front of Pastor Minnick, who remained seated by the entrance. The citizen confronted him, raising his voice and gesturing towards him with his forefinger.
According to Minnick, who left the meeting shortly thereafter, the situation escalated rapidly as he tried to get to his vehicle from the front doors of City Hall.
Cudaback had voiced her concerns on September 23, after the contentious skirmish took place. She expressed the fact that, while she didn't agree with the motion that had been passed, and hoped that a different decision might be made in the future, she did not in any way condone what had occurred.
"Even though I might be passionate and disagree with people, I still respect the people that I'm up here with,GÇ¥ said Cudaback. "Those comments at the end of the meeting were unacceptable.GÇ¥
At that point, no one was yet aware of what had taken place in the parking lot.
Details of what had occurred were later reported to city staff, and as a precautionary measure, Monroe Police Chief Tim Quenzer assigned at least three officers to ensure the safety of all those who attended the meeting on Tuesday Oct. 14. No further altercations occurred.
Hanford commended city staff for their diligent work and addressed some of the concerns that had been articulated by members of the community.
"It's a sad day when some citizens say that we, the council, don't listen and have some kind of hidden agenda,GÇ¥ said Hanford. "I've been on council for just over three years, along with Councilmember Gamble, and ladies and gentlemen; there is no hidden agenda.GÇ¥
He went on to clarify that, due to the ambiguous language presented in the hearings board's decision, collecting accurate cost determinations for future environmental study was challenging at best. He appreciated the opportunity created by Councilmember Goering; to have all councilmembers present for the final decision.
"That being said, I will concur with Councilmember Cudaback's motion,GÇ¥ said Hanford.
Cudaback's motion to cease pursuit of the east Monroe rezone passed, five-to-two, with Councilmembers Davis and Goering dissenting.
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