2011-01-05 HEX# 10-008 Exhibit GSTATEMENT OF' JUSTIF[CATION
Kirk and Denise Reagan Residence, 4342 SW 307th Street Federal Way, WA
Variance Request — Total Lot Coverage: This variance request is to increase the
maximum allowable Lot Coverage of the existing developed property at -
4342 SW 307th Street (Parcel No 112103-9071) located within the Suburban Estate
(SE) Zone from 10% to 17.8%.
The Federal Way Revised Code (FWRC) in Section 19.195.010 Detached Dwelling
Unit - Use Zone Chart states:
Lot Coverage = 1017o Maximum
The FWRC Definition of Lot Coverage in Section 19.110.020 Calculating Lot
Coverage states:
(1) General. Except as specked in subsection (2) of this section, the area of
all structures, pavement and any other impervious surface on the subject
property will be calculated as a percentage of total lot area, exclusive of
the area of any recorded access easements, in determining compliance
with maximum lot coverage required in this title. If the subject property
contains more than one use, the maximum lot coverage requirements for
the predominant use will apply to the entire development.
(2) Exceptions. The following shall be excepted from the provisions of this
section:
(a) A wood deck will not be considered as an impervious surface for
maximum lot coverage proposed if the deck is constructed with' gaps
between the boards and if there is a pervious surface below the deck.
(b) A vehicular access easement, private tract, or that portion of a private
driveway located within the "flag pole" or "access panhandle" part of
the lot will not be used or considered in determining compliance with
the maximum lot coverage requirement of this title.
(c) One-half of the area covered with grass grid pavers will be considered
as impervious surface in determining compliance with the maximum
lot coverage requirement of this title.
The existing residence on .the subject property was developed circa 1936.
Applying the current Lot Coverage definition to -this development yields a total
Lot Coverage of 8,527 square feet or 17.6356% of the total property area of
48,351 square feet (1.11 acres). Please see enclosed Existing Site Plan.
RECEIVED
SEP 22 nio
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
EXPAIF'IT CDS
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Statement of Justification - Lot Coverage Increase • '
Kirk and Denise Reagan Residence, 4342,SW 307th Street, Federal Way, WA
21 September 2010; page 2 of 6
Design Summary: The proposed project is for the redevelopment of the 74 year
old residential property by re -using the location of the existing driveway access,
parking area, septic field and residence location. New improvements include
the construction of a new residence with garage and site improvements
including new driveway paving and a storm water management system per City
of Federal Way standards. - The existing residence has a total footprint of
approximately 2,236 square feet. The proposed residence has a footprint of
approximately 2,838 square feet plus the addition of a 3 car garage of
approximately 1,192 square feet (being located in the existing concrete patio
area of the site). Due to the steepness of the existing entrance driveway
(approximately 13% grade), this redeveloped drive is required to be an asphalt
or concrete impervious surface in order to provide reasonable access to the
residence; however, the parking area at the top of the driveway access is
proposed to be porous pavement (porous pavement is not recommended for
slopes over 5% and not allowed on slopes greater than 10%). Please see
enclosed Proposed Site Plan.
Recently developed and redeveloped projects in the vicinity and within the
same SE zone have residence building areas over 3,000 square feet with the
largest being approximately 5,100 square feet. Redevelopment of the property
will also allow an'increase in the value of improvements from the currently
accessed $98,000.00 with a new investment proposed of approximately
$650,000.00.
Lot Coverage Analysis: The proposed redevelopment of the site.will increase the
total Lot Coverage Area by 68 square feet (less than 1 % from the existing) to
upgrade the property consistent with the quality level of the directly adjacent
and surrounding properties. Furthermore, 1,850 square feet of this coverage
(21.5% of the total proposed Lot Coverage) is proposed to be constructed of
pervious paving. While the FWRC does include a 50% credit for a grass-crete
type of paving in Section 19.1 10.020 (2)c, the code has not been updated to
include other pervious paving systems currently being used in residential and
commercial construction and thus this Lot Coverage Credit is not being
incorporated into this variance, request. If a similar credit was applied for this
porous paving area, the net overall revised Lot Coverage would be less than 14%
for the entire property. While it would be ideal to also include the -access
driveway in similar type porous paving, the steepness of the existing topography
would, preclude the use of these types of porous paving materials (as noted
previously, the maximum allowable slope with a porous paving material is 10%
with slopes less than 5% recommended).
The 20-foot access easement along the South Property line is not included in the
total Lot Coverage calculations as allowed by FWRC Section 19.110.020 (2)b.
-EXHIPIM�2___
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Statement of Justification - Lot Coverage Increase -
Kirk and Denise Reagan Residence, 4342 SW 307th Street, Federal Way, WA
21 September 2010; page 3 of 6
City of Federal Way Comprehensive Plan: The Federal Way Comprehensive Plan
(FWCP) does not specifically address individual lots or variances; however, the
following is included at the Introduction of Chapter 5: Housing Policy:
This Federal Way Comprehensive Plan (FWCP) Housing chapter, together with
the Land Use chapter, is perhaps the most personal components of the
comprehensive plan. Their policies affect the immediate environment in
which residents live and raise their families.
The primary goal of the Housing chapter is to create high quality
neighborhoods that meet Federal Way's current and future housing needs for
all economic groups and household types. It does this by preserving existing
neighborhood character while also _encouraging the development of a wide
range of housing types. The Land Use chapter determines the location and
densities of that new housing.
Specific policies that support the proposed redevelopment of this property within
an existing neighborhood include:
HG 1: Preserve and protect the qualify of existing residential neighborhoods and
require -new development to be of -a scale and design -that is compatible with
existing neighborhood character.
HP6: If allowed by applicable law, development inside and outside the City
should be required to provide their.fair share of onsite and offsite improvements.
and
HP15: Review zoning, subdivision and development regulations to ensure that
they further housing policies and don't create unintended barriers. This is of
particular importance for small lot and cottage housing developments. In order
to facilitate small lot and cottage housing developments, if is particularly
important to revise, as necessary, the subdivision and development regulations
that govern their development.
The proposed redevelopment of the existing property maintains the
development scale and design character that is commensurate and
compatible with the existing neighborhood. Furthermore, the existing residence
does not have any storm water management systems since its development
preceded such requirements. This existing condition results in the majority of the
storm water from the property to sheet flow down to SW 307th Street. With this
property redevelopment proposal, all of the impervious surfaces will be
controlled by a storm water management system which would directly improve
the surrounding properties from .uncontrolled storm water run-off (properties that
lie directly South of the subject parcel).
Combined, these policy statements look for redevelopment of older residential
properties along with the incorporation of site storm water facilities per the FW RC_
EXHIPIT
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Statement of Justification - Lot Coverage Increase
Kirk and Denise Reagan Residence, 4342 SW 307th Street, Federal Way, WA
21 September 2010; page 4 of 6
Variance Criteria: Per Chapter 19.45 Variances of the FWRC, we'respectfully
submit, that'granting'of this variance request of the subject property should be
approved because: .
I- The variance will not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with
the limitations upon uses of other properties in the vicinity and zone in
which the property is located: This approval of this variance will not
constitute a special privilege relative to other properties in the zone or
vicinity for which the property is located. The adjacent property to the fast
was approved through a variance in 2005 by the City of Federal Way to
increase their Lot Coverage beyond 10% for new residential construction
on a then vacant parcel of land in order to construct a residence of similar
quality to the surrounding neighborhood (Federal Way File No. 05-103397-
00-U P) .
2. 'The variance is necessary because of special circumstances relating to the
size, shape, topography, location or surroundings of the subject property to
provide it With use rights and privileges permitted to other properties in the
vicinity and zone in which the subject property is located: The subject
property has a number of existing site conditions that require the increase
of the maximum Lot Coverage beyond 10%. These conditions include:
A. Property Size: The total property size is 48,351 square feet (1.11
acres) and was originally constructed under the auspices of
unincorporated King County under the IRS 9,600 zone classification
which allowed for a maximum Lot Coverage of 55%. The minimum lot
size in the current SE,zone is 5 acres; therefore, the 10% maximum `lot
coverage is difficult to achieve considering that the site is
approximately 1 /5th the minimum area of the underlying zoning _
requirement. If the property was a full 5-acre parcel as required for a
new lot development, the maximum allowable Lot Coverage would
be 21,780 square feet (or 250% more than the proposed
redevelopment project).
S. Property Shape: The property is incredibly narrow relative to its
overall length. This narrowness reduces the efficient layout of the
residence footprint, garage and parking area in order to minimize the
total Lot Coverage. A wider site would allow for a incorporation of the
garage and parking 'in -line' with the main residence resulting in a total
reduction of the impervious surface by a minimum of 14.5% (or would
allow for a total revised coverage of approximately 15% without
incorporating any porous paving surfaces).
C. Property Toi2ography: The existing site- topography slopes up from
SW 307th at about a 13% slope until a relative flat area exists
approximately 120 feet into the property (i.e. the location of the
existing parking area). A steep slope to the north of this flater area is
EXHIP1T-C,�-
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Statement of Justification - Lot Coverage Increase
Kirk and Denise Reagan Residence, 4342 SW 307th Street, Federal Way, WA
21 September 2010; page 5 of 6
unbuildable and is also located within the designated Critical Area
Buffer. This existing topography thus locates the proposed
redeveloped house in approximately the same location of•the
previously developed structure and complies with all other setback
and height requirements of the underlying zoning. A site with a flatter
topography would have more options for relocating the main
structures close to SW 307th and thus reduce the total Lot Coverage
since a shorter driveway could be incorporated into the design.
D_Prol2erty Location. As noted previously, this lot - along with 8 other
continuous residential properties along the bluff - were established in
unincorporated King County and were -designated as an IRS 9,600 Zone
(with 55% Lot Coverage). In 1986, King County changed the zoning to
Suburban Estates which increased the minimum lot size from 9,600
square feet to 35,000 square feet and restricted the maximum
allowable Lot Coverage to 35%.• Upon incorporation into the City of
Federal Way, this SE zoning was further down -zoned to minimum 5 acre
parcels and a maximum 10% Lot Coverage. The premise for this down -
zone was to protect Dumas Bay and associated wetlands; however,
when looking at the zoning around Dumas Bay, the majority of this
zoning is actually RSI 5 and RS7.2 (much higher intensity of
development than the Suburban Estates requirements). The actual
reality of the existing and proposed Lot Coverage has little impact on
Dumas Bay as the developed portions slope to the South directly away
from the Ruget Sound (and are protected by the Critical Area
designation). The small pond/wetland area to the South of the
property is furthermore surrounded by IRS 15 zoning (please see
attached excerpt from the City of Federal Way Zoning Map).
When reviewing the surrounding zoning, and the rest of the zoning in
Federal Way, it is clear that this SE zoning is an anomaly among- the
shoreline residential zoning for the rest of the city with a majority of the
properties not even meeting the minimum lot size required by the
revised SE zoning requirements (i.e. 67% of the properties within this SE
zone area). The rest of the zoning along the City of Federal Way
shoreline has a minimum RS35 classification (a zoning designation that
has a minimum 35,000 square foot lot area and allows a maximum of
35% lot coverage) - a zoning designation that is much more
appropriate to the character of the established neighborhood (and
consistent with the directly adjacent zoning to the South of IRS 15).
While an anomaly in zoning is not a criteria for a variance, the older
properties in this residential area cannot be reasonably redeveloped
without relief from the associated Lot Coverage maximum allowed
under the Suburban Estates zoning. Without such relief, redeveloped
properties will not be able to incorporate current building 'code and
environmental standards and thus will succumb to deterioration -
EXP!PIT
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PAGE C 7
Statement of Justification - Lot Coverage Increase
Kirk and Denise Reagan Residence, 4342 SW 307th Street, Federal Way, WA
21 September 2010; page 6 of 6
something that would be contrary to the City of Federal Way's
adopted. Comprehensive Plan.
3. That the granting of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the
public -welfare of injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity -
and zone in which the subject property is located.: Granting of this
variance will allow for redevelopment of the property which will be directly
beneficial to the properties in the vicinity and zone in which the property is
located. The incorporation of a storm water management system to
handle the impervious surfaces will have great benefit to the surrounding
,properties. The redevelopment of the existing property consistent with the
quality and character of the adjacent properties will also increase the'
property values of the other residential properties in the vicinity, zone and
neighboring zones.
4. The special circumstances of the subject property are not the result of the
actions of the owner of the subject property: All of the existing conditions
of the property, structures, site access, property -size, property shape.,
:property topography, and underlying zoning were established prior to the
purchase of the property in 2008 by the current Owners who are applying
for this variance.
Granting of this variance request to increase the Lot Coverage from 10% to
17.8% will allow for the existing residential property to be redeveloped consistent
with the goals a the City of Federal Way Comprehensive Plan and provide a _
direct public welfare benefit to the surrounding properties through the
incorporation of a storm water management system,
EXN101±_C2_—
PAGE__(,,�_dF.�—
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Variance Request - Total Lot Coverage
4342 SW 307th Street, Federal Way, WA
Excerpt from City of Federal Way Zoning Map
Surrounding Zoning