The East Monroe rezone proposal has been a costly endeavor to all those involved. It has been costly for the property owner, Heritage Baptist Church, and it has been costly to a group of local residents who strongly oppose the rezone.
It has also been costly for the city of Monroe.
After the property was rezoned from Limited Open Space (LOS) to General Commercial (GC) in December of 2013; a group of opposed residents appealed to the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board. In August, the board determined that the SEPA review completed by the Kirkland engineering firm PACE Engineers was inadequate.
The rezone ordinances were returned to the city with a determination of invalidity.
The 43-acre parcel of land is located on the north side of U.S. 2, just east of Woods Creek. Per the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) completed by PACE, only approximately 11 acres of the land would have been developable due to a multitude of environmental constraints.
Numerous environmental difficulties were identified by the board who determined that the rezone ordinances interfered with the Washington State Growth Management Act's Planning Goal 10 which relates to protecting the environment. The presence of wetlands, an oxbow slough which constitutes habitat of endangered species, steep slopes which have a history of recent landslides and various other mitigating factors were identified to substantiate the board's determination.
The board also found that PACE failed to consider a "reasonable range of alternatives and failed to adequately analyze environmental impacts on the entire 43-acre rezone.GÇ¥ This violates Washington State RCW 43.21C.030(c).
In response to numerous inquiries from citizens, the Monroe Monitor has been in the process of obtaining records from the city of Monroe to determine how much the city has paid out in the interest of pursuing the rezone. We have begun assimilating the data and will be receiving additional records from the city as the information is compiled.
We have analyzed legal fees, costs associated with publicity including postcard mailings and hearing notifications published in our newspaper, as well as hearing examiner fees. We have begun totaling staff hours dedicated to the rezone and have translated the staff hours to an approximate monetary value.
Based on research and the data received thus far, the city of Monroe has spent approximately $195,541.91 on pursuit of the East Monroe rezone. More data is expected to be forthcoming, at which point this number could increase.
The hours tallied in this total include hours dedicated to the rezone by planning and permitting staff only. A total of 433 hours were tallied for the Planning and Permitting Manager from 2012 through 2014; a total of 930 hours for the Senior Planner in 2013 and 2014; and an additional 150 hours were tallied for miscellaneous planning staff in 2013 and 2014. A total of 1513 hours was calculated based on data received from the city.
These numbers were translated into a monetary value by taking the hourly wage for each position, plus benefits, and multiplying it by the number of hours. In the case of the Senior Planner, an average was taken of the hourly rate paid during 2013, as it fluctuated throughout the year. In the case of the miscellaneous planning staff, an hourly rate was calculated by taking an average of the lowest salary range reported for planning staff on the city's 2014 budget document, and adding $9.09 for benefits; an average reported by the United States Department of Labor.
On this basis, it was determined that an approximate total of $69,818.43 was paid out by the city for 1,513 hours of staff time. The total amount of expenditures including legal fees and miscellaneous expenses was approximately $125,723.48. The total of these two numbers is $195,541.91.
As more data is received from the city, these numbers could change.
Additionally, more staff hours have recently been ordered. On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Councilmember Patsy Cudaback made a motion authorizing the city to comply with the board's decision, and give up pursuit of the rezone. The motion, which resulted in a tie due to Councilmember Ed Davis being absent, passed with Mayor Geoffrey Thomas breaking the tie.
This means of passing the motion was dissatisfactory to councilmembers Kurt Goering and Jim Kamp, who felt that the vote on the rezone should have been based entirely on council action. On Tuesday, Sept. 23, Councilmember Goering made a motion to rescind the vote taken on Sept. 16. The motion to rescind passed despite heavy opposition, as 16 residents spoke against the rezone.
Goering made two further motions after the motion to rescind was passed. He had voiced concern that the board's stringent requirements for non-project SEPA review could potentially set a negative precedent, impacting other municipalities in ways that could be problematic. He requested that city staff investigate this with the Association of Washington Cities, to obtain an outside opinion on the board's determination of invalidity.
A second motion was made by Goering directing staff to investigate what a supplementary EIS would entail.
Goering clarified that he and Kamp meant no disrespect to the mayor when they rescinded the vote. They strongly felt that a more comprehensive decision could be made with the additional information requested in the two motions that were subsequently passed.
During the meeting, Councilmember Cudaback reflected dismay with the motion to rescind.
"I believe that by rescinding this motion we are being fiscally irresponsible to the taxpayers - the people who elected us to make these decisions,GÇ¥ said Cudaback. "I believe that the only fiscally responsible choice that we have is to let last week's motion go forward.GÇ¥
The motion to rescind and the two additional motions made by Councilmember Goering all passed, 4-2, with Cudaback and Rasmussen dissenting. Councilmember Gamble, who has not shown support for continuing pursuit of the rezone, was absent.
Residents in opposition to the rezone have reflected that they feel staff hours should be tallied for the first EIS which was completed by city staff in 2012. The 2012 EIS was found to be inadequate, which is what led the property owner to obtain a more comprehensive study via PACE Engineers.
On Sept. 23, Monroe business owner and former Councilmember Mitch Ruth expressed that he felt an additional $150,000 should be added to the ledger, as well as an additional $75,000 in legal fees. These costs are associated with an open government lawsuit brought against the city that he feels is directly related to the East Monroe rezone. The city paid $157,000 in 2010 to settle the lawsuit.
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