09-102069FILE
CITY OF
L Federal Way
June 24, 2009
Chong S. So
Korean -American Calvary Baptist Church
7817 South 125th Street
Seattle, WA 98178
CITY HALL
33325 8th Avenue South
Mailing Address: PO Box 9718
Federal Way, WA 98063-9718
(253) 835-7000
www.cityoffederalway.com
RE: File #09-102069-00-AD; CHANGE OF USE INQUIRY
Korean -American Calvary Baptist Church, 37515 8th Avenue South, Federal Way
Dear Mr. So:
This letter is in response to your inquiry (submitted to the city on June 4, 2009) regarding the potential
change of use at 37515 8th Avenue South. As indicated in your letter, the subject property was last used as
Spring Valley Montessori School (middle school). The proposed use is a church
Per Federal Way Revised Code (FWRC) 19.05.030:
"Change of use " means the general character of a use has been modified This determination shall
include but not be limited to a review of:
(1) Hours of operation,
(2) Required parking;
(3) Traffic generation;
(4) General appearance;
(5) Type, extent or amount of indoor or outdoor storage; and
(6) Constituents of surface water discharge or runoff.
Based upon the analysis of information in your letter, the following determinations have been made:
The hours of operations are of less intensity than the current use. The hours of operation of the
church are listed as follows:
a. Sunday: 10:00am — 2:00pm
b. Office Hours: Tuesday through Friday 9:00am to 4:00pm
c. Saturday: 4:00pm— 6:00pm
2. FWRC 19.200.090 (Schools) and FWRC 19.200.050 (Church) both generally require a
transportation management plan (TMP) to determine both parking requirements and traffic
control. The existing school has a total of 31 parking stalls. The narrative states that there are
currently 59 registered members. It is a reasonable conclusion that 31 stalls will adequately
support 59 registered members at a calculation of 2.5 people per vehicle for church uses as
evidenced by prior church uses within the city. However, as the size of membership grows, it is
also a reasonable conclusion that there will be a greater demand for parking, and all parking must
be handled on site due to the geographic location of the proposed church. Just as a note, the
parking would be at maximum capacity with a congregation of 77 people. In the event of
Mr. $o
June 24, 2009
Page 2
membership growth past the point of 77 members, a parking study must be conducted in order to
determine whether or not there is adequate parking. It is also important to note that the maximum
occupancy for the gymnasium building for a church use is 321 people (non -fixed seating) and the
classrooms (assuming the classrooms will remain classrooms) is 219 people based upon the
International Building Code (IBC) for church uses and school/classrooms.
3. Per the 8d' Edition ITE Trip Generation manual, a private middle school generates 1.19 trips per
1,000 square feet (or .16 per student). A church generates .55 trips per 1,000 square feet. At the
peak rate, a school would generate 10.94 trips, whereas a church would generate 5.05 trips. It can
therefore be deduced that a church use would generate less traffic.
4. It is stated in your letter, at this point, the church wishes to use the existing buildings "as -is."
Therefore, no changes to the general appearance of the existing structures or site are expected.
5. Based on the letter submitted, no changes are proposed to the site in terms of the amount of
indoor/outdoor storage.
6. As there are no proposed additions to impervious surfaces, there are no expected changes to
surface water issues.
With 59 registered members and if the proposed church were to use the site "as -is" there would be no
"change of use" of the building, and therefore, no fi rther land use review is necessary. However, a City of
Federal Way business license is still required. The license will be conditioned to limit the congregation
size to no more than 77 people if there is no expansion of parking or formal transportation management
plan applied for and approved by the City of Federal Way. If you have any further questions, please
contact me at 253-835-2622 or at david.lee@cityoffederalway.com
Sincerely,
David Lee
Associate Planner
09-102069
Doc I.D 50251
y � 0 - ® o / 9
RECEIVED BY
upMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Pi an merlcan a�va
•BAPTIST CHURCH
June 3, 2009
Isaac Conlen
Planning Manager
City of Federal Way
33325 8th Avenue South
PO Box 9718
Federal Way, WA 98063-9718
Re: Property — 37515 8th Avenue South, Federal Way, Washington
Dear Issac,
JUN 04 2009
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us regarding our plans as to the above referenced
property. Per our discussion, this letter is to provide you and the City of Federal Way with our
intended use of the subject property. Although it is our intention to eventually submit a
preapplication to construct a new sanctuary facility, at this time, we are requesting a
determination of use under our current usage requirement.
The following are information on the subject property, as well as the usage of the property for
you review.
Property Characteristics:
Parcel Number: 322104-9091
Land: 291,582 Square Feet
Buildings: 4,374 SF school classrooms built in 1951—
4,812 SF gymnasium built in 2001 — SZ I hod �7xtd scu+:
I V' Fry- G T/cvy p cw Itwb4 f�
Land Use Zone: RS 35
Location: Located along 8th Avenue South, just South of 374th and west of I-5.
Property is accessible via 3 separate routes: First by heading east off of
Pacific Highway South on 373`d Street; Second heading west off of Milton
Road South on 375th Street; and Third access route heading South on 16th
off of Enchanted Parkway South.
7817 S 125th Street, Seattle, WA 98178 — Tel. 206.772.4371
June 3, 2009
Page 2
Current Use:
The subject property has been used by Spring Valley Montessori Schools as its middle school
campus for over 10 years. In year 2001, the City approved the construction of a gymnasium on
the property to be used by the middle school student body, and also to hold assemblies for larger
gatherings which included the entire school, including middle school students, as well as students
from Spring Valley's elementary campus, and their families. Such gatherings were held
throughout the school year, typically on weeknights.
Intended Use:
KAC Baptist Church is prepared to purchase the subject property and use the facilities as a
Church. The following is some information on our Church, which should provide you with a
general understanding of our usage needs.
Current Staff: 2 Full time and 1 part time employee
Current Membership: 59 Registered Members
Church Weekly Schedule: Sunday Worship/Fellowship —10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Pastor's Office Hours Tues thru Fri — 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday Youth Ministry — 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Our intended use of the property is typical of a small congregational Church, which will consist
of one gathering on Sundays, a small youth gathering on Saturdays, and minimal use of the
facilities by 3 staff members during the week. Attendance to our Sunday services typically
consists of our registered members, approximately 50 of their children, and few visiting guests,
which fluctuates weekly.
Understanding the past use of the subject property by Spring Valley Montessori Schools, our use
should be consistent with the use contemplated by the City when it approved the subject property
as a school. The types of activities held on the premises by KAC will be similar to that of Spring
Valley schools, with far less usage of the property over any given week. Outside the Sunday
gatherings, our intended use of the facilities will be very minimal. Even our Sunday gatherings
should not add any additional impact on the neighborhood. This avoids the early morning and
evening hours when families in the neighborhood are typically home, minimizing any added
impact to our neighbors on Sundays. And of course, we will insure all local building codes and
regulations are followed, and do our best to minimize any negative impact to our neighbors.
We believe this property is ideally situated for our ministry, and the type of use by our Church
will be consistent to its current use by Spring Valley Schools. We look forward to making a
June 3, 2009
Page 3
positive impact in the local neighborhood and in the City of Federal Way.
Again, thank you for your time and consideration. Please review our request, and if there are any
questions you may have that can assist you in your determination, feel free to contact us anytime.
We look forward to hearingpack from you and receiving your determination.
Chong S.
Cell Phone: 253-973-2491
chongs@trinityglass.com