Monroe council sides with east Monroe rezone

After hearing nearly 75 minutes of public comment regarding the east Monroe rezone proposal, the Monroe City Council voted 4-2 in favor of directing city staff to prepare an ordinance approving the east Monroe Comprehensive Plan amendment and zoning map change.

The vote took place on Tuesday, Nov. 10, with councilmembers Patsy Cudaback and Jeff Rasmussen dissenting. Cudaback and Rasmussen have stood consistently opposed to the rezone, along with Councilmember Jason Gamble, who was absent.

The east Monroe rezone has been in limbo since the ordinances rezoning the 42.8-acre parcel from Limited Open Space (LOS) to General Commercial (GC) were passed on Dec. 26, 2013. The ordinances were remanded back to the city with a determination of invalidity after the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB) sided with a group of petitioners opposed to the rezone.

Petitioners were concerned about environmental impacts on the property, 75 percent of which is undevelopable due to environmentally sensitive areas that include flood plain, wetlands, nearby steep slopes, habitat and shorelines. The GMHB agreed with petitioners that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) created by Kirkland engineering firm PACE Engineers was inadequate.

Additional environmental study ensued, as PACE deployed a team of experts to develop a supplementary EIS (SEIS) in order to cure the deficiencies found in the original document. Next, the matter went before the Monroe Planning Commission.

After its review of new information presented in the SEIS, including hours of public testimony by Monroe residents largely opposed to the rezone, commissioners voted 5-2 in favor of a denial recommendation.

It will now be up to the Monroe City Council to determine whether or not it will follow the planning commission's recommendation, and as of Tuesday, it seemed it would not. Councilmembers Kurt Goering and Ed Davis have remained staunchly in favor of the rezone. Councilmembers Jim Kamp and Kevin Hanford wavered briefly in October 2014, voting with Cudaback, Gamble and Rasmussen, but Hanford later rescinded the vote.

This was after an earlier rescission made by Goering, after Mayor Geoffrey Thomas issued a tie-breaker vote in favor of a motion that would have ended pursuit of the rezone. A councilmember was absent that night, and the vote was tied 3-3. Goering issued his rescission so east Monroe could be decided by a full vote of the council.

If ordinances approving the rezone are passed through the city council, it will then be up to the city to defend the SEIS before the GMHB.

PACE Engineers gave testimony during the public comment period, along with several experts who helped pen the SEIS. Pastor Thomas Minnick represented the property owner, Heritage Baptist Church, with testimony in support of the rezone. Stephen Weeks, a member of Heritage Baptist Church from Sultan, also testified in favor of the rezone.

"This site has been studied and researched in a fashion previously unprecedented for any non-project application. Every single environmental question that could possibly be asked for a non-project rezone has been asked and answered ' answered with very costly, and we believe, unimpeachable science,GÇ¥ Minnick said. "The opponents have bombarded the city with anecdotes and, in some cases, gross inaccuracies. But we have provided well-researched answers.GÇ¥

The rest of the public comment came from nine Monroe-area residents opposed to the rezone and one former planning commissioner in favor.

Misty Blair helped author the appeal to the GHMB. She also penned a detailed comment letter in response to the SEIS, and has provided testimony on numerous occasions. Blair maintains the deficiencies in the original EIS have not been satisfactorily remedied, particularly when it comes to a reasonable range of development alternatives. The board sided with Blair in August 2014, when it found the EIS failed to consider a lawful range of development alternatives.

"The main issue here is the alternatives that were provided. You basically have a no action ' do nothing, leave the property vacant ' and all other alternatives are an 11-acre build-out,GÇ¥ Blair said. "That doesn't give you guys a range of development scenarios to look at.GÇ¥

Additionally, in her comment letter, Blair referenced "spot zoning,GÇ¥ and asked the city to look into it.

According to the Municipal Research and Services Center, illegal spot zoning has been defined by the courts as "arbitrary and unreasonable zoning action by which a smaller area is singled out of a larger area or district and specially zoned for use classification totally different from and inconsistent with the classification of the surrounding land, not in accordance with the comprehensive plan.GÇ¥

Councilmembers eventually engaged in discussion. Cudaback gave a prepared statement defending her position of opposition to the rezone.

"I believe the changes proposed constitute spot zoning. I find the Blair letter compelling,GÇ¥ Cudaback said. "It would not be compatible with the surrounding development and it benefits a single owner. It certainly doesn't benefit any of the neighbors on the ridge or any of the neighboring farms, as evidenced by the outpouring of opponents to this project.GÇ¥-á -á

Cudaback refuted the idea that the east Monroe rezone is a property rights issue, which has been stated in the past. If the property had started out as GC and was being rezoned to LOS, there might be a property rights issue, she said.

"Our city has done more for this applicant than any other I have seen in my six years serving this city, and I have to question that,GÇ¥ Cudaback said. "If the applicant were a marijuana business or an adult entertainment company, would we be here today? Would we be defending their property rights? I think not.GÇ¥

She urged council to consider following the planning commission recommendation of denial, but instead, Hanford moved to instruct the city to pursue approval. Goering seconded the motion, which then passed 4-2.

Hanford then requested an additional public hearing be held, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Monroe City Hall. Following that, there will be the first reading of the ordinances approving the east Monroe Comprehensive Plan amendment and rezone.-á