The Renton City Council on Monday affirmed the hearing examiner’s decision to allow a proposed 96-lot single-family development in the Tiffany Park neighborhood.
The decision was made following an appeal before the City’s Planning and Development Committee brought by residents in the Tiffany Park Woods Advocacy Group.
The members of the committee, which include Councilmember Randy Corman as chair and Councilmembers Marcie Palmer and Armondo Pavone, found no substantial error in fact or law in the hearing examiner’s decision and recommended their findings to the full council in the regular council meeting later that evening.
Members of TPWAG said they were decompressing on Tuesday after the decision. Group leaders still haven’t decided if they will appeal to Superior Court. There will be a 21-day period, from June 12, where either party can file an appeal with Superior Court.
Renate Beedon, TPWAG member, was disappointed but not surprised at the committee’s decision.
“This whole process was flawed from the beginning on,” she said. “What I find amazing is that none of the planning committee had read all the documentation we provided for them to make an intelligent decision. As a citizen, I expect my representatives in government to educate themselves about a topic before they make major decisions like that, but apparently I am still too naive.”
At one point during the proceeding, Beedon asked council member Pavone if he had read all of the documents provided to the committee on the appeal. Pavone admitted he had not read all 300-pages of material.
The committee, led by Corman, did spend time examining and discussing the more “controversial” aspects of TPWAG’s claims, such as whether the committee or council could require the developer, Henley USA LLC, to perform an environmental impact statement.
“I want to be clear here,” said Beedon during the appeal. “This is not us against the developer; it’s us trying to preserve a precious piece of land.”
Beedon on more than one occasion questioned why an environmental impact statement was not done and demanded that the developer be required to submit one.
City Attorney Larry Warren, who also attended the appeal, explained to all present that it was not within the committee’s purview to rule on whether an environmental impact statement should be submitted.
“The decision to require an EIS is referred to as procedural SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act),” Warren said in an email Tuesday. “State law specifically limits appeals of procedural SEPA to a single appeal. That appeal, in this case was made to the hearing examiner. Therefore, there could not be an appeal to council.”
The committee also looked at the fact that TPWAG was denied access to the property, which is owned by the Renton School District. The group wanted to do their own environmental assessment of the property. The group has speculated in the past about the possibility of hazardous materials being on the site because the Department of Defense had an easement on the property.
Nancy Rogers, an attorney who represents Henley, said in her rebuttal that an environmental assessment was done and asserted that “reams and reams of environmental reports related to specific issues” have been reported about the property.
Warren later clarified for the committee that a Level 1 review of the site would have disclosed historical records, inquiries to regulatory agencies and a site examination on whether or not the property has hazardous waste on it.
The explanations given by Warren and Rogers and the committee’s conclusions were not enough to satisfy the TPWAG members in the end.
If there is no appeal to Superior Court, and once Henley is approved, the developer can apply for engineering and construction permits.
