HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-01-03-minutes-200pm-public-hearing01/03/2017 MINUTES 1
COMMISSIONERS' MINUTES
KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
COMMISSIONERS AUDITORIUM
SPECIAL MEETING
TUESDAY 2:00 P.M. JANUARY 3, 2017
Board members present: Chairman Paul Jewell; Vice-Chairman Laura
Osiadacz; and Commissioner Obie O’Brien.
Others: Julie Kjorsvik, Clerk of the Board; Neil Caulkins, Deputy
Prosecutor; Lucas Huck, Engineer; Traci Shallbetter, Attorney; and 5
members of the public.
PUBLIC HEARING ROAD VARIANCE APPEAL-ODEGARD/DAVIS PUBLIC WORKS
At 2:00 p.m. CHAIRMAN JEWELL opened a Public Hearing to consider an
Administrative Appeal of a decision of the Road Variance Committee
in the Matter of RV-16-16 Harlan Odegard and John Davis, filed by
Attorney Traci Shallbetter.
TRACI SHALLBETTER, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE APPELLANTS explained
the history of the preliminary short plat application for a 21 acre
parcel submitted filed by her clients John Davis and Harlan Odegard
in September of 2005. The location of the property is at 820 Filbert
Road Cle Elum, WA. She argued her clients were vested under the Road
Standards from 2005 and how there is no rational that exists for
denying the Applicants since the County has granted the same
variance requested by similarly situated property owners; there has
been no changes in circumstances; and there was no notice provided
to the Appellants of a change in the law or policy, violating Equal
Protection and is patently unfair. She said there is no evidence in
the record that the variance would be detrimental to the public
welfare or does it present a risk to public health and safety. She
submitted additional information into the record (Exhibits #1 – #3).
The Board asked questions of Ms. Shallbetter and for clarification
of information she provided during her testimony.
MARK KIRKPATRICK, ENCOMPASS ENGINEERING & SURVEYING said he has been
working with the applicant since 2012 and is very familiar with the
area. He said he was a member of the County’s Road Variance
Committee but did not sit in on the matter. He explained how he
never had the notion that they would have to apply for a variance
until after they had applied for Preliminary Short Plat. He said he
was on the Road Variance Committee and felt one of the benefits to
being on it was how he could obtain knowledge and share it with his
office and clients. He said he relies greatly on input from the Fire
Chiefs, Fire Marshal, etc. He submitted a letter into the record
from Fire District #7 Chief Jay Wiseman (Exhibit #4). He recommended
creating a process to protect clients, himself, and business in
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general. He suggested having something in place to notify people of
these types of situations, for example maybe having a pre-
application meeting. He felt the application for a variance to the
current Road Standards met the public safety, health and welfare. He
noted he was unaware of the ownership of the bridge.
LUCAS HUCK, ENGINEER provided background information about himself
and answered questions from Ms. Shallbetter. He said once the facts
were presented at the Road Variance Committee meeting relating to
how many lots could potentially be created, and additional unknowns
relating to crossing the bridge, the committee determined the
proposal was not in the best interest of the public and that
requirements for safety, fire, appearance and maintainability based
upon sound engineering judgment were not fully met as required by
County Code. He provided a history of the Road Variance Application
from Harlan Odegard and John Davis, owners of the Filbert Estates
Short Plat (SP-15-0004). He indicated the Road Variance Committee
unanimously denied the request based on the number of lots Filbert
Road serves and issues with fire, life and safety surrounding the
narrow bridge. He said he has not yet run across an issue with
unknown ownership of a bridge while working with the County. He
stated he had previously visited the site to look at the bridge in
the summer and in the winter, but could not get underneath it to do
a proper inspection. He answered questions from the Board of
Commissioners and provided clarification on issues.
MS. SHALLBETTER said she has not looked into the ownership of the
bridge but did not believe it was unique, and it is no different
than a road easement. She explained the only thing the applicant is
requesting a variance to was the width of the bridge. She suggested
the County create an amendment to the variance process or even have
special criteria which would provide the County a hard basis for
situations like theirs.
COMMISSIONER O’BRIEN explained concerns he had relating to the
safety of the general public and by continuing practice of past
decisions, as he felt it would be detrimental to the public safety.
He said the County has learned a lot from the recent years of
wildfires and had concerns of how the bridge has not been inspected
for the past 10 years. He stated that although previous land use
decisions may have not been proper in past, they must go by the
current requirements. COMMISSIONER OSIADACZ said the Code is clearly
written and that each variance is to be looked at on a case by case
basis. She said the County Code, regulations, and what is
detrimental to public life and safety seems to be changing and the
County has more knowledge relating to wildfires in the recent years.
She noted how the Interim Fire Marshal voted to deny the request for
a variance based on concerns of fire, life and safety. She also
referenced District #7 Fire Chief’s letter relating to the current
bridge in place and how the water tenders would not be able to cross
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it due to weight however, if the water tender is needed for fires it
can position without crossing the bridge and supply pumpers by fire
hose and pumps operating on either side of the bridge. CHAIRMAN
JEWELL said he would like additional time for review of the record
and information.
COMMISSIONER OSIADACZ moved to continue the Appeal Hearing to
Wednesday January 18, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. in the Commissioners
Auditorium, noting the record was closed. COMMISSIONER O’BRIEN
seconded. Motion carried 3-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:06 p.m.
KITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
CLERK OF THE BOARD KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON
Julie Kjorsvik Paul Jewell, Chairman