[0:00] All
[0:06] right, good morning everyone. We do have
9:00 a.m. as you just heard. We're now
[0:08] recording. So, this hearing this hearing
is now in session. My name is Carl
[0:13] Granth. Uh I am the hearing examiner for
the city of Spokane and I also serve as
[0:17] the hearing examiner prom for Medical
Lake. Uh my assistant is Kimberly
[0:22] McIntyre. She's going to be acting as a
clerk for today's hearing. And um again,
[0:28] just to reiterate, uh the hearing is
being
[0:30] recorded. For the record, today is
Wednesday, May 14th, 2025. It's about
[0:35] 9:00 a.m. We are located in the Medical
Lake City Hall.
[0:40] The item scheduled to be heard at this
time is a variance application with file
[0:43] number
LU2024-032 VA by Fox Ridge Homeowners
[0:48] Association to construct a monument sign
in the center medium of the North Fox
[0:54] Ridge Road rideway located at the
intersection of North Graham Road and
[0:57] North Fox Ridge Road in Medical Lake,
Washington in the single family
[1:02] residential zone. Uh so to start with a
summary of our process, uh we're going
[1:07] to start with a staff report. um uh from
the planner for the city of med medical
[1:11] lake uh Miss Eliza Rodriguez and so
we'll provide an overview of the project
[1:16] and also context for further discussion
and public comment and I'll be asking
[1:20] questions during that portion as well.
Uh next we'll have testimony from the
[1:23] applicant uh who is Mr. Carl Mson on
behalf of the Fox Ridge Homeowners
[1:28] Association uh along with any other
witnesses that the applicant wants to
[1:31] call along with their presentation. Um
then we'll move to our public testimony
[1:36] portion of today's hearing. Uh and when
we get there, um we'll we'll go in the
[1:42] the list that everyone signed up. I
prioritize people who show up in person
[1:45] and then we'll move to anyone who may be
connected via Zoom. Uh I'm going to
[1:50] allow up to five minutes for each
person. Uh but I will do a hard stop at
[1:54] the five minutes. I I have some
discretion about how long to give for
[1:57] public comment. Um, based on the size of
of the crowd, I think five minutes um is
[2:03] plenty. It usually ranges from three to
five minutes. So, I'll allow you up to
[2:07] five minutes, but I will put a hard stop
in your testimony at 5
[2:11] minutes. Um, following public testimony,
uh, both, uh, city staff and the
[2:16] applicant will have an opportunity to
provide rebuttal testimony, answer
[2:19] questions, address concerns, anything
they so wish. Um, and at the conclusion
[2:24] of the meeting, as always, the final
word goes to the applicant.
[2:29] So, um, a couple other preliminary
matters. I did conduct a site visit this
[2:33] morning on our way, uh, here to city
hall. Um, I'm generally familiar with
[2:37] the project and its surroundings. I have
reviewed the file. It's on staff or that
[2:41] the staff provided uh, that's part of
the record. So, I am generally familiar
[2:45] with the proposal and the project site.
My decisions are in writing, so they're
[2:50] not going to be made at this hearing.
Um, under the ordinance, I have 14
[2:53] calendar days on which to complete my
decision.
[2:58] My decisions on variances are final
unless they are appealed uh to the
[3:02] medical lake city council. A written
appeal to the hearing examiner's
[3:06] decision must be filed to the city
medical lake to 10 working days from the
[3:10] date of hearing um or for the date of my
final decision and that information will
[3:14] be in my decision as well. So, uh looks
like we have about a dozen members of
[3:20] the public here today. Um, so I'll go
over some of these procedures again, but
[3:24] I'm going to have you uh state your name
and address when you come up and I'll
[3:27] have you swear an oath uh before you
provide
[3:29] testimony. Um, other than that, do we
have any other questions or
[3:32] administrative concerns before we begin?
No.
[3:36] Okay. All right. Uh, let's proceed with
the over overview by the planning
[3:39] department. Mr. Rodriguez.
[4:02] Okay. So, I'm going to summarize the
staff report that was re received by our
[4:06] hearings officer and there was a copy at
the entrance if anyone picked it up.
[4:12] Um, sorry, is the clipper working today
or
[4:23] Um, Mr. Grandmath just went over the
process um, from this day forward. So, I
[4:28] will just back up a little bit. This
application was submitted on December
[4:33] 20th, deemed complete on January 17th.
Um, the applicant asked to place a hold
[4:39] on the application at that time because
he was going to be out of the country
[4:44] for a bit. So, he came back and took the
the application off hold March 13th. Um,
[4:51] and then we arranged for this hearing
and he mailed the notice of application
[4:58] to all property owners within 300 ft of
the site, posted a sign on the site, and
[5:06] published a notice of the public hearing
in the Cheney Free Press. The comments
[5:12] period closed on May 7th, last
Wednesday. And here we are at the the
[5:17] public
[5:25] hearing. One of these days this thing's
going to work, but not
[5:29] today. Okay. the vicinity map. Uh the
red circle represents the intersection
[5:36] of North Graham Road and Fox Ridge Road,
which is the first intersection for the
[5:41] Fox Ridge and Fox South subdivisions uh
heading from the south from uh Highway
[5:48] 902. Next,
please. Um this is a zoom in on the
[5:54] site. We have this the the property
lines from the scout website. We have an
[5:59] aerial where you can see the road, the
street that's in question um has a grass
[6:07] median in the center and on the right is
the recorded plat which is difficult to
[6:14] read at the scale. Um, and I have
another slide where it's zoomed in a
[6:19] bit, but essentially we are dealing with
an 80 foot ride ofway for that first
[6:26] block and the block is about 145 ft.
Next slide. Uh, so this is a photo of
[6:33] the site looking straight on standing
across Graham looking at North Fox
[6:39] Road. Uh, there's the median in the
center. It's approximately 10 feet wide.
[6:44] We have five foot sidewalks on each side
and uh the the grass and trees the
[6:50] landscaping on either side are in the
public rightway. The edge of rightway is
[6:55] the fence line or essentially so on this
site. Next slide. This is taken um from
[7:04] from the north
looking southeast generally at the
[7:09] intersection. So you can see the median
and the curb stop line. The actual um
[7:17] Graham Road is still a little further.
It's out of the picture. So from the tip
[7:23] of that median to the intersection of
Graham Road, it's a little over 30 feet.
[7:29] From the tip of the median to that stop
bar is 12 to 15 feet.
[7:37] So the applicant is requesting a
variance to allow a subdivision entrance
[7:43] monument sign to be allowed in the
public right ofway. Our municipal code
[7:49] states that they should be located on
private
[7:55] property. Uh if you could go back one
slide please. Um, so the image on the
[8:00] right shows the Foxbridgeidge monument
sign that's being proposed and on the
[8:05] left is the site plan showing the sign
the monument sign in the median towards
[8:12] the west end of the median. And I want
to point out at this time that the
[8:18] applicant in the proposal had two
pillars on either side of the street um
[8:24] as part of the drawings. Those are not
being reviewed in this because they are
[8:28] not signs. They will require a permit
from our public works department to be
[8:34] built in the public right of way but our
code our municipal code does not speak
[8:39] to that directly. Um so we are only
looking at the sign the in the median
[8:46] today. Next slide please. So the
approval criteria. Um, so I just want to
[8:52] take a moment. I know um from citizens
that have come in to speak with me on
[8:57] phones that there's some contention in
the neighborhood um between the
[9:02] residents and the homeowners
association. And I just want it to be
[9:06] clear that this decision is based on the
approval criteria that is spelled out in
[9:10] our municipal code. And it is not um a
vote of the people. And
[9:18] um there if this variance is approved,
it is not mandatory that this monument
[9:25] sign is built that is still up to the
homeowners association. So this um
[9:31] variance if it is approved simply gives
the right for um the homeowners
[9:36] association to apply for a public works
permit and building permit in order to
[9:42] um construct this this site. So um the
approval criteria which is
[9:49] um complete in the staff report here
I've
[9:54] summarized number one the variance does
not constitute the granting of a special
[9:58] privilege inconsistent with the
limitations upon other
[10:02] properties. Number two strict
application of the zoning code is found
[10:07] to deprive the property of rights and
privileges enjoyed by other properties.
[10:13] And three, granting the variance will
not be detrimental to the public welfare
[10:18] or injurous to property or improvements
in the
[10:22] vicinity. So to describe, we saw the
photos earlier, but this sign is being
[10:28] proposed in the rightway of North Fox
Ridge Road, which is the first entrance
[10:34] for the Fox Ridge and Fox Ridge South
subdivisions. When arriving from the
[10:37] south, the Fox Ridge Road has an 80 foot
rideway at its entrance. There's a 10
[10:43] foot wide median in the center uh 32
feet back from the intersection. The
[10:48] site is surrounded by single family
houses to the southeast and north with a
[10:52] vacant property across Graham Road that
is zone commercial. Um and as far as
[10:58] other subdivision entry signs in the
city, we have two other um entry signs
[11:03] that are boulders with the inscription
uh on them.
[11:10] Uh, and both of those are located on
private property, not in the
[11:14] rightway. So, this is a closer um
depiction of the recorded plat. And the
[11:23] red circles show the rightway width. So,
the entry is an 80 foot rideway, 40t on
[11:29] each side from center, and the two other
circles show 25 feet for each side,
[11:34] therefore 50 foot rideways. Um and that
is consistent throughout this shows
[11:40] south Fox South, but it is consistent
through Fox Ridge. Um there's three
[11:45] entrances, all of them are 80 ft and um
the rest of the subdivision has 50
[11:51] foot rightways.
[11:56] So, something that I find unusual about
this particular plat because this is a
[12:00] recorded plat is that these yellow areas
um labeled on the plat say 10-ft
[12:06] landscape area. I find this unusual
because um it's in the public rightway
[12:13] and I honestly haven't seen that on a
plat before. uh flats often time have
[12:18] tracks uh that will be commonly owned or
they will have easements on um
[12:23] individual lots for the purpose of um
signage or landscaping. In this
[12:30] instance, u there are these noted
landscape areas to either side, but as
[12:36] you can see in the photo on the right,
what got built, um we do have the
[12:40] landscaping on the sides, but we also
have the median, which I found no um
[12:46] documentation regarding this median and
how it came about. So the next slide um
[12:52] this is not perfect but basically I
overlide overlaid the plat and the
[12:57] aerial to show um that it's pretty close
maybe not exact but pretty close the
[13:05] planting areas on either side behind the
sidewalk do match pretty well the um the
[13:12] landscaping that exists and then that
median in the middle um it would not
[13:17] typically be shown on a plat so it's
just right away. So, I would not expect
[13:21] it to be there, but it is what got
built. Next
[13:25] slide. Comments I received, uh, the
Medical Lake Public Works Department
[13:30] reviewed the plans and is not concerned
about the proposed location or size of
[13:35] the
monument. Um, I received three written
[13:39] comments. Popsmith sent an email
expressing concerns of safety when it's
[13:44] slippery, noting that um when we have
snow, that intersection he considers to
[13:50] be dangerous and folks might slide
towards the median. Uh Ted Adams
[13:56] expressed discontent with how the HOA is
spending their money and told Ted Olsen
[14:00] submitted a petition with signatures of
area residents opposing the
[14:06] sign. the findings. To summarize, you
can see the complete si findings in the
[14:10] staff report, but to summarize,
um the medical a municipal code allows
[14:17] any subdivision to have an entry sign as
long as it's not taller than six feet
[14:22] and it's located outside of the
rightway.
[14:25] Uh, in this particular instance, the
ride ofway for North Fox Ridge is 30
[14:30] foot wider at the entrance and there's
no private property or easements that
[14:35] were set aside for landscaping, leaving
only the public right away for
[14:39] landscaping or
signage. And so um doing research in the
[14:45] preliminary plat I was unable to locate
the final plat file um to see if there
[14:51] is any discussion for instance of the
median that was developed um but I could
[14:56] only go on what was provided in our
preliminary plat file and there's very
[15:01] limited information regarding the
entrance and the landscaping. It was
[15:05] noted that um there would be entrance
landscaping but past that there wasn't
[15:11] any information
But based on the fact that they made
[15:16] this rightway larger, I think it is
possible that they did that in order to
[15:21] provide for the landscaping. And then
um it would also provide for a landscape
[15:28] monument, although that was also never
mentioned in any of the written
[15:33] documentation I could find in our
preliminary plat file. Um and finally,
[15:38] the proposed sign being in the median
quite a distance back from the
[15:41] intersection does not impede visual
clearance for
[15:46] traffic. Uh the recommendation is that
the variance to locate the subdivision
[15:52] entrance sign as depicted in exhibit
A3 allowed be allowed in the existing
[15:59] median of North Fox.
[16:05] Okay. Thank you for your presentation. I
do I do have quite a few questions for
[16:09] you. Yes.
Um I guess to try to figure out the best
[16:14] way to what order to ask them in. So
um can you tell me a little bit more
[16:20] about the public works permit they're
going to get to locate this in the ride
[16:23] of way? Is it uh is is there going to be
any sort of legal agreement that's
[16:27] executed along with that or what is the
are there conditions in the permit etc.
[16:32] Right. So, I am not party to that's a
public works permit. So, I'm not
[16:37] involved in the review, but um they do
if there's a maintenance agreement
[16:43] needed, they would require a maintenance
agreement in order to have um
[16:49] essentially a private a private
construction and a public.
[16:55] Okay. So yeah, along with that,
um, basically thinking about the
[17:01] scenarios because the you're not going
to vacate the property, it's still going
[17:04] to be public right away. It'll be a
privatelyowned sign structure in the
[17:10] median. So I'm wondering about future
hypothetical situations. Say someone
[17:15] does slide and crash into it. How's the
city approaching potential future
[17:20] liability?
um or if the sign becomes dilapitated or
[17:25] the city wants to take the rightway back
um change it how costs are aortioned if
[17:31] that is being thought of ahead of time
or going to be put into an agreement.
[17:34] Uh, I believe that would be considered
during the right of way agreement or
[17:38] excuse me, the right of way
[Music]
[17:48] permit and you don't have to disclose
attorney client um, communications, but
[17:54] did did you consult your legal
department about these types of
[17:57] scenarios? We did not.
[18:15] Um, okay. So, um, I guess kind
of keeping in that same vein a little
[18:23] bit. So, it does. So, okay, real quick.
So, you weren't able to find your
[18:27] internal
uh file for the final plat, right? Is it
[18:32] was the final plan recorded? It is
recorded. Okay. Were you able to take a
[18:37] look at that and see if there was
any comments or conditions or
[18:42] alterations to that? Um I'm sorry. The
the plot itself was recorded. I did not
[18:47] find a decision.
No. Uh, the city council minutes make
[18:53] the statement that it was voted and
[18:58] approved and the final flat is
signed by the city, including the mayor.
[19:09] Right. So, you know, I I guess I I sort
of agree there's some interesting
[19:14] aspects to the to the to the plat map
and I guess maybe agree with your
[19:18] assessment that it's Um perhaps maybe
these should have been private tracks or
[19:24] I guess we can only hypothesize at this
point.
[19:29] Um so did you did you consider
alternative measures to address this
[19:34] instead of a variance say a plat
alteration? If you think a mistake was
[19:37] made then you could alter the plat or a
waiver or there's other
[19:44] um avenues to approach. Do you believe a
mistake was made on the plat? Um, we
[19:49] didn't consider that a mistake was made
on the
[19:53] plot. We thought it more likely that
there were discussions and verbal
[20:00] agreements rather than written
agreements by the parties at the time.
[20:08] That's kind of just your best guess.
That's our best guess.
[20:13] The people that were involved are no
longer working for the city.
[20:29] And again, I know you just said this,
but you
[20:32] have no record of an agreement to build
a median there. That's That's correct.
[20:38] the um the homeowners association
uh takes care of the landscaping in the
[20:47] the right of way including
irrigation and um they have done so
[20:53] since it was constructed but I have not
been able to locate any formal agreement
[20:59] regarding that.
[21:04] So then so then obviously then there's
no rightaway permit or anything from
[21:08] public works. That's correct. Originally
that's
[21:17] would a potential future agreement
between public works and the HOA maybe
[21:21] try to resolve some of these and put to
paper what's basically already existing
[21:25] on the ground? That's certainly
possible.
[21:43] Okay. So, um I want to turn to the
criteria of approval. Um kind of dig
[21:51] into a couple of the key terms here. So,
um for granting a special
[21:59] privilege. So, we have in the code right
now that you're just blanket not allowed
[22:04] to put signs in the rightway. The
subdivision subdivision sign entrance
[22:08] signs. That's correct. Are there are
there other ways that people can put
[22:12] signs in the public right away? Not
subdivision signs like business signs or
[22:17] political political signs or something
like that. There are situations, yes.
[22:22] Um certainly political signs are allowed
in the public right of way, temporary
[22:27] signs, um advertising events are allowed
in the right of way. How about for
[22:32] permanent signs? Does the city allow
permanent signs in the public right
[22:35] away? I could not say that off.
[22:58] So again because you you basically this
variance for us is basically asking to
[23:03] just not apply this one city code
provision in this particular situation.
[23:12] Um, do you think that there are special
circumstances here
[23:16] that trying to think about how to phrase
this question? Um, I'll say frankly this
[23:22] is a little a little bit of an odd
request.
[23:27] Um, because of the various portions of
this, you know, HOA asking to use public
[23:32] right away and to just basically not
have a single code provision apply to
[23:36] them.
Um, how do you think this won't create
[23:41] uh this isn't a special privilege
that other um other subdivisions might
[23:46] want to
use to to put to put it or they'll say,
[23:51] "Okay, you approved it for this one. You
didn't apply for provision to this
[23:54] subdivision, so we still can't do it."
Or would you be comfortable with other
[24:00] subdivisions saying, "Well, you did it
for this one. We should be able to
[24:03] also." Um so in this instance we're not
changing the
[24:09] um the improvements at all. So the
median exists. So um it's unlikely that
[24:18] another subdivision if they had the st
standard 50oot rideway would be for
[24:23] instance allowed to put a median in um
changing the improvements and changing
[24:29] the width of the traffic lanes.
um having it on the the sides of the
[24:36] rightway adjacent to the sidewalk. Um
that I really can't speak for our public
[24:43] works department on that one. Is there a
public works representative here today?
[24:49] He's not. Okay.
Uh well I I do see the rideway is 80
[24:55] feet wide but there are
[24:59] the hard to tell. Is it 10 foot wide
landscape
[25:04] areas? It kind of looks like it might be
15 feet on one side between the fence
[25:08] and the the road roadway edge. It is
approximately 10 feet on each side. The
[25:14] u the scout map is a little off the two
layers. Um, but when I lined up the two,
[25:22] it it is approximately 10 feet behind
the sidewalk on each side to the edge of
[25:26] the red one. Okay.
And how wide is the median again?
[25:31] Approximately 10 ft.
[25:36] So 80 minus roughly 30 is about 50. So
you have about 50 foot of two 25 foot
[25:41] lanes there right now essentially. Okay.
[25:54] So, if just hypothetically speaking, if
they weren't granted this variance, they
[25:59] they're still the homeowner association
is still allowed to put a neighborhood
[26:02] sign somewhere, right? On private
property. On private property.
[26:08] Did you consider whether there was
reasonable alternatives on private
[26:12] property that would require a variance
request?
[26:15] Um, we did not consider other
[26:28] alternatives. Okay. So for the special
circumstances,
[26:34] um your the criteria number two, uh they
don't have the language in here, but
[26:41] um I'm sure you've seen different cities
and different codes like unnecessary
[26:45] hardship or some sort of there's lots of
different ways these
[26:50] um are worded.
Um, but the language in here kind of
[26:57] goes along with that where we're
typically looking at, you know, a
[27:01] homeowner owns a parcel and we're going
to look at the size, shape, topography,
[27:05] location or
surroundings, usually something physical
[27:09] to do with the site that's creating the
hardship. Um, and that's in state law in
[27:14] case stuff too. um that if you apply,
you know, the strict, you know, the
[27:20] strict uh provisions of the code to
their property, then they're going to be
[27:24] deprived of being able to do something
like I have a really steep slope, I have
[27:27] a rockout cropping, I'm not going to be
able to build a house on here unless you
[27:30] give me a setback. So, how is this
situation analogous to those more
[27:34] typical variance requests? Right. I
agree. Uh that is exactly the
[27:39] description I would give an applicant if
they were looking into a variance in
[27:43] this situation because it's not a
private property. Um I took a little bit
[27:48] different view on that which is whatever
the agreements were at the time that
[27:54] created the 80 foot ride of way. It
basically eliminated the opportunity to
[28:00] put it in public or excuse me on private
property.
[28:04] Um so the the restriction is in fact the
unusually large
[28:20] right I don't I don't see the language
in here so I guess it probably doesn't
[28:24] apply to your code but usually there's
some sort of provision that's like has
[28:27] no fault of your you know the applicant
can't be the one who creates the
[28:31] hardship. Yeah, that phrase is not
inactive.
[28:37] So you don't think that analysis should
apply? Did you consider this is you know
[28:42] this was someone's mistake a while ago?
The creator of the subdivision
[28:47] essentially maybe the HOA's you know in
some long-term connected ways fault so
[28:53] to speak. Yeah. Because it's not part of
the criteria didn't consider it.
[29:07] And you think
that not allowing them to build a sign
[29:12] in the rideways, depriving them of
property, defi depriving the property,
[29:18] again, we're saying public
property, but we're depriving the HOA of
[29:25] rights and privileges to to build a
sign. they can still build a sign.
[29:31] Uh yeah. So that is the the tricky part
and it all comes back to from the
[29:37] information that I was able to gather
from the the files
[29:43] available.
I think it is very possible that there
[29:48] was intention not necessarily for a sign
uh but definitely for enhanced
[29:55] landscaping. Uh there was no uh for
instance landscape plan like detailed
[30:02] landscape plan in any of the the files.
There was um only a landscape plan that
[30:11] showed like the air the 10 foot areas
essentially um but and also a long gram.
[30:16] So essentially all Long Graham and um
and then the two
[30:23] entries and actually I'm sorry that was
for Fox Ridge. There's they're two
[30:28] different subdivisions. So Fox Ridge,
they did have a landscape plan or not a
[30:32] plan but just an area of landscaping
showing all along Graham Road and the
[30:37] two other entries. Basically that first
block, the first 145t or whatever one
[30:42] lot depth is for those. So based on that
that whatever discussions happened in
[30:50] the past that is
[30:54] um so by not granting the
variance deprivives them of
[31:02] the normal privilege of having a sign
that if the subdivision had been
[31:09] designed in a way that I would consider
more typical they would have the space.
[31:15] Like for instance, if someone was doing
a subdivision now, I would advise them
[31:19] to do a private tract rather than plan
to put anything in the public right away
[31:30] is so in the in this in the subdivision
sign part of the code. Um does it say
[31:37] anything about where it's supposed to be
located?
[31:40] Not specifically.
just just out of it's common for it to
[31:45] be in the main road in and out. Um but
it can be located in other places too,
[31:52] right? Yeah. I mean it's called the
entrance sign in our code. So entrance
[32:22] Okay, I think that's enough questions
for now. Um, if I have some more, I
[32:26] might bring it back up and ask them
later, but I'll I'm going to move over
[32:29] to the applicant. Thank you very
[32:32] much. All
[32:37] right. Okay. We have the uh applicants
uh opportunity for their presentation or
[32:43] testimony and we have Mr. Carl Mson on
behalf of the Foxridge Homeowners
[32:47] Association.
Well, this is fascinating listening to
[32:51] your questions and I have to apologize
to both of you. This is the first time
[32:55] of course I I wouldn't be able to
anticipate what was going to be asked.
[32:59] Okay. Uh Ria, real quick, can I have you
go to the podium? There's some just
[33:04] because we're being videotaped. Uh and
just have you identify yourself with
[33:07] your voice for the record. MSON medical
a Okay. And do you swear or affirm any
[33:12] testimony you give me the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
[33:15] I do. Okay. Please proceed, sir.
Yesterday I went door to door with some
[33:20] handouts and um I'm going to give you
one whether you need it or not. Okay.
[33:27] I'll take a look at it and then we'll
enter it into the record with an exhibit
[33:30] number. And what I said when I went to
the doors of the people that I talked to
[33:35] was I'm Carl Mson from Don and East
Angie. Uh there have been some
[33:41] misunderstanding with regards to the
proposed entry monument. I'm going door
[33:46] todoor and presenting this handout. The
first page contains answers to
[33:52] frequently asked questions. The second
page shows where the design concept came
[33:58] from. And the third page has the site
plan and
[34:03] elevation. Uh tomorrow morning we're
going to be having a meeting at city
[34:07] hall at 9:00 and you're certainly
welcome to attend. And that's all I
[34:11] said. Some of the people were really
interested and one of those uh well was
[34:17] actually a
couple. Molly and Bob Deolt were
[34:22] actually the first president and
secretary of the homeowners association.
[34:28] they invited me in and uh we got to
talking about this and this is the part
[34:35] where I have to apologize to Lisa
because I just didn't think of
[34:38] mentioning it. But I mentioned to them
that the city uh was having a tough time
[34:45] finding all the records and Molly said,
"Oh, well, I've got them." She had kept
[34:51] all the records from when they were
secretary and president of the first
[34:55] homeowners
association. So Bob went into the
[35:00] bedroom and he came back out with some
files and we started going over them and
[35:04] you know I don't remember too much just
a lot of words. But one thing that uh
[35:09] was originally proposed and not done was
entry monuments at all three entrances.
[35:17] Um, I mention this because it might be
relevant and I'm sorry I didn't mention
[35:22] it earlier.
Okay. Are these documents you have with
[35:26] you? I'm sorry. Do you have these
documents with you? No. Okay. This is
[35:31] something you could get. Yes. For us.
Yes. I'll consider that at the end, but
[35:36] that's I I might leave the record open
so that you can have those sent over so
[35:40] I can Well, and and Mr. Rodriguez as
well, so we can review them before this
[35:44] decision, too. So, yeah, that would be
good. Okay, continue. Okay.
[35:50] Uh, I I'll kind of explain how this all
came about and I'll try to keep it as
[35:54] short as possible. Uh, I was a
commercial real estate appraiser for 50
[35:59] years. I did my first appraisal of a
subdivision in Lynen in
[36:04] 1972. The value, as I recall, of the
lot, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, all
[36:10] utilities, conduit, so on and so forth,
was
[36:16] $3,250. That was
then. The last appraisal I did was in
[36:21] Muckle Teal. That was in
2022. Same scenario, no view. And the
[36:28] estimated value was $325,000.
[36:33] $325,000. Of course, wouldn't wash in
Medical Lake, uh, where you can still
[36:38] buy a house for
$325,000, but that's an indication of
[36:43] what was going on over there. I then
retired. Uh, I won't go get into the
[36:49] reasons why I moved to Medical Lake, but
I found out about Medical Lake when US
[36:54] Bank sent me over here to do an
appraisal of a proposed subdivision on
[36:58] Tulie Pond.
And uh it was interesting. Uh I saw
[37:05] tremendous potential for this area.
You've got West Medical Lake, Medical
[37:10] Lake, and all the other lakes. You've
got multiple ponds. It's something of a
[37:14] waterland around here. Uh but the only
thing that I could see at that time that
[37:19] was really of significance was the
Howlet Home that was built in 1890. Not
[37:24] much had been done since then.
Anyway, long story short, when Wendy and
[37:30] I decided to move over in this direction
from Belleview, uh I remembered that I
[37:35] also remembered that at the time I did
the appraisal, Medical Lake school
[37:39] district had the highest test scores of
any school district in central and
[37:43] eastern Washington, just a little bit
below Belleview, Isiqua, and Northshore.
[37:50] That was impressive. Uh spoke well for
the community. So when we decided to
[37:55] move over in this direction by be
because of that and because of the uh
[38:01] ambiance of the area and uh the
proximity to the airport um I said why
[38:08] don't we move to medical lake so that's
what we
[38:10] did now having appraised hundreds of
subdivisions and having bought in uh Fox
[38:17] Hill uh I approached this is about three
years ago the uh homeowners associ ation
[38:24] president and I said why don't we have
an entry monument because uh entry
[38:31] monuments increase value that's not just
value but also absorption rate uh I
[38:37] noticed uh in the mid to late 1980s uh
when I was doing subdivision appraisals
[38:45] that uh you could take two subdivisions
which were essentially the same and put
[38:51] an a nice entry monument, not you know
just anything but it has to be nice and
[38:56] that would definitely enhance value. Uh
the degree to which it would enhance
[39:02] value depended on the number of lots,
the location and other intervening
[39:06] variables but it always did and I just
kind of developed a rule of thumb of
[39:12] about 5% as far as the increase that
that that it would enhance value.
[39:19] So, I mentioned this to the homeowners
association president and he said that
[39:24] they had talked about it in the past,
but no one would take the lead. Well, I
[39:29] brought it up. So, I said, "Well, I'll
do it." And then it's become quite a an
[39:34] undertaking. First of all, I went down
to Mutual Materials and asked for the
[39:39] names of five masons who would be uh
good for this sort of a project. And I
[39:46] was given five names. I called all of
them. Um, two of them never did return
[39:53] my calls and I can only speculate that
it was because this project was just too
[39:59] small. Uh, and other two got back to me
but gave me bids that were indicative
[40:07] that, you know, if we're going to pay
that much money, they'll go ahead and do
[40:10] it. But that was it was too much money.
But uh Marty Bland of Bland Masonry uh
[40:17] was competitive and seemed to know what
he was doing. He had done a number of
[40:22] entry monuments. He showed me one where
it was a gated community was really
[40:27] beautiful. So I went with him. Then
there was the question of the concept
[40:33] and what I just gave you on the second
page shows that. uh then uh getting the
[40:38] design done and
um during that process I discovered that
[40:45] uh Mr. Bland does the masonry but he
does not do the excavation. So I had to
[40:50] find somebody that would do the
excavation and that took some time. Uh I
[40:55] called a number of people that were
recommended to me and it wasn't until
[40:59] yesterday that I really got a firm
number and uh it was uh a very happy
[41:06] moment because the cost for the
excavation was significantly less than
[41:11] what I anticipated it would be. So
anyway during that process we also have
[41:16] to get a variance because of what you
have been discussing and
[41:21] um I think that ultimately uh based on
my own experience uh this entry monument
[41:30] would enhance value significantly. We
have 180 lots in uh
[41:37] Foxbridge and I'm not going to say, you
know, and the 5% applies to lot value,
[41:43] not the finished home value, but it's
still if you take 180 lots and I'm not
[41:49] going to say what market value is. My
professional designation does not allow
[41:54] me to to speculate unless I've actually
done an appraisal. But I can say that
[42:00] the assessor's value for the vast
majority of lots in Fox Ridge is
[42:06] $80,000. And if you take $80,000 times
180 lots, and my memory isn't always the
[42:12] best, but I think that's about
14,400,000, 5% of that is a very high
[42:18] number. Even if you just go with 2% of
that, it's way above the cost, which
[42:23] will be under $30,000 for the entry
monument. So, uh I think this is a very
[42:29] feasible project. It does not preclude
uh doing other things that are necessary
[42:35] within the subdivision and
um it will not raise homeowners
[42:41] association fees, so on and so forth.
The things that people worry about and I
[42:46] answer in this handout. Did you have any
further questions for me? Uh yeah, I
[42:52] guess I just want to follow up on the
documents you saw at your neighbor's
[42:55] house. Um, if you remember seeing
anything in there about entry monuments.
[43:00] Yes. Do you remember what it said or?
Just that they were proposed and and as
[43:08] uh is evident never done.
Well, without knowing what it says, it's
[43:16] I guess I don't want to speculate too
much, but it's possible it might be
[43:19] approved in those documents. So, I would
really like it might be. Yeah. I forgive
[43:25] me. I I didn't realize how important
that moment was. Well, I guess I'll just
[43:29] say now before we go on with the rest of
the hearing that I that I am going to
[43:32] request that you get those documents uh
over to us uh so we can review them. So,
[43:37] I'm going to keep the record open at the
end of today's hearing um so that we can
[43:42] get those documents. Um I guess I'll
just say for the record, I'm only
[43:45] keeping it open for that purpose. I may
keep it open for other reasons at a
[43:49] later time, but I'm going to request
that you send um Miss Rodriguez and and
[43:54] us a copy of those documents, or you can
send them to her and she can forward
[43:57] them to us, whatever is easier for you.
We can get you that contact information
[44:01] at the end of the hearing. I think what
I'll do is ask Lisa to come with me and
[44:05] we'll we'll go out and go through them.
Okay. One by one. Um I think that's a
[44:09] very good idea. Um
[44:13] so, uh I I I think that's all the
questions I'm gonna have for you right
[44:16] now. I might something might come up
again from the public comments and
[44:19] you'll have an opportunity to, you know,
come back up and give rebuttal
[44:23] testimony, too. If I remember uh any
other questions I have for you, I'll be
[44:27] sure to bring it back up and ask ask
them of you. But, um, thank you for your
[44:31] for your testimony. I'm going to move us
to public comment. Yeah, you're welcome.
[44:34] Thank you.
[44:47] Okay. So, uh, just to go over real
quick, um, for those who signed up, um,
[44:52] I'm just going to go through the list I
have, and then I'll check and see if
[44:55] there's anyone on Zoom who wants to
testify. I'm going to call you in order
[44:58] you on here. I'll have you come up to
the podium, state your name and address
[45:01] for the record, and then I'll have you
swear uh an oath before you provide
[45:05] testimony. Uh, as I stated before,
you'll have up to up to five minutes. uh
[45:09] because that's a little longer than
usual, we are going to do a hard stop at
[45:12] five minutes. So, just to prepare you,
if you're hitting the fiveminute mark
[45:16] and we cut you off, uh please don't be
offended, but it's for the purposes of
[45:20] us keeping uh this hearing moving
forward in an orderly fashion. So, first
[45:24] I have uh Ted Adams.
[45:38] Hey, state your name and address. Ted
Adams. Uh address is North 1112 North.
[45:44] Okay. And do you swear or affirm any
testimony you give? Be the truth, the
[45:46] whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
It is, sir. All right. Please proceed.
[45:49] Um, first when this came about, I saw
the sign. I approached Ted uh Ted Olsson
[45:54] with a lot of concerns about this.
Um, and it's interesting that this
[46:00] showed up at my house last night um,
while I was gone. As you can see, I made
[46:05] a whole bunch of notes on it. And it's
great that Mr. Mson gave us whole
[46:09] history of how we ended up here. Um, I
could have that whole spill last night.
[46:13] I actually had that spill ready. But
when I got over to Ted Olson's house
[46:17] this morning, he said, "I can only argue
about the
[46:21] variance." Well, this is all great. The
one thing that hasn't been addressed is
[46:26] there hasn't been any
comment, letters, anything regarding
[46:30] fire code, fire access, nothing like
that. Now, there was a gentleman that
[46:38] brought up the concern about vehicles
sliding into the medium. I can testify
[46:45] that a couple years ago on Christmas day
I was heading to a friend's house for
[46:48] Christmas. I actually slid up onto the
median because the lack of proper care
[46:54] of the roads. So that is a huge concern
that has not been addressed. Now the
[47:00] city planner states that she believes
that the medians were made possibly for
[47:08] that. That's speculation.
I find it interesting that now all of a
[47:14] sudden once there's been push back about
this proposed HOA monument that now it's
[47:22] coming to light that oh magic papers
have appeared but yet if it were me I
[47:28] would have had them here to present to
you
[47:31] sir just for the fact that we know that
they exist they're here I understand and
[47:38] respect that you're leaving it open for
you to view, but I would call into
[47:42] question if that is really the proper
way that this should have been
[47:47] proceeded.
Um, you know, again, I really would like
[47:52] to have argued a lot of the points on
this note. Um, but
[47:58] unfortunately, I'm not going to. I do
feel that this is a joke because it has
[48:05] been put the carriage before the horse.
This HOA board should have voted on this
[48:11] prior to getting to this point. Thank
you for your time, sir. I appreciate you
[48:16] hearing me out. Thank you,
[48:29] sir. All right, Connie Olsen.
[48:45] Connie Olsen, 810 East Colin Avenue.
Okay. And do you swear or affirm any
[48:50] testimony you'll give? Be the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
[48:53] Okay. Please proceed. Um, I know this is
only for a variance, but I was a school
[48:58] bus driver here in medical lake for 25
years. And in any other given time,
[49:04] there may be plenty of room to come
around there. And that's if you're
[49:07] going, you know, you have to know how to
get around it. You go slow. Well, not
[49:11] everybody goes slow. And then you have
to account for the ice and the pileup of
[49:15] snow everywhere. and the amount of
traffic going in and out of there in the
[49:20] winter, it doesn't provide
um a lot of room for buses to to
[49:25] maneuver through
there. You can get around there very
[49:30] slowly, but when you're talking about a
huge um piece of equipment on ice, we
[49:36] all know that you don't know you're not
going slow enough until you aren't, you
[49:42] know, until you hit the middle.
Um, it does really concern me just
[49:47] because we've seen things go wrong
there. They're talking about the way the
[49:51] buzz the way they turn and stuff and
maybe know a wheel doesn't go on there,
[49:56] but when it turns the wheel is under the
bus, the front part of the bus goes over
[50:01] the top of that and um my husband
observed that this morning with one of
[50:05] the buses coming around the corner.
Other than that, I just don't have
[50:09] anything more to say. Deans, it's only a
variance, but
[50:13] I as I when I found out about this, I
was totally incensed only
[50:21] because I don't want to be divided from
the rest of the town and have a
[50:27] monument. Is it beautiful?
Absolutely. Do Do most of the people up
[50:32] there want it? No, they don't. Um, this
is a rocky area around here. We've seen
[50:38] a few monuments, if you call them that.
Um, I don't want to be exclusive. We
[50:44] love our neighborhood and we just want
it to be safe for everybody, but this
[50:50] was kind of all just
done with nobody knowing about it except
[50:55] for the president and Mr. Mson. As far
as I know, I didn't see any information
[51:00] that this was going to take place. Would
we like information? Would we like to be
[51:05] involved in the picking of
such signage? Um, so other than that, I
[51:12] mean, I've got a lot to say about it,
but as far as the variance, I'm not
[51:16] quite sure that's
a thank you for the time. Thank you.
[51:28] Okay, Wendy Mson.
[51:47] Can you hear me from here or do I need a
microphone? Oh, good. Should be okay.
[51:52] Thanks. Hard to stand. Um, so you just
state your name for Wendy Mson. And some
[51:59] kind of oath. Yeah. Do you swear or
affirm any testimony and give me the
[52:02] truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth? Yes, I do. Okay. just
[52:05] proceed. Okay. So, um I'm I actually am
a former planner uh with the uh Monroe
[52:12] County in New York uh planning
commission and planning department and
[52:18] with the California coastal commission
and with the uh city of Seattle. Um and
[52:24] so I have some background in planning
and variances etc. Uh also, um I as I
[52:30] understand it, this is the variance is
what we're here for today. This is a
[52:35] variance on a public right of way and
the criteria are in comparison to other
[52:42] subdivisions, not in comparison to
properties within 300 ft. It's an
[52:46] awkward situation. Where do you send the
notice? you know, uh actually
[52:51] technically you might send a notice to
uh any subdivisions within 300 ft of the
[52:57] boundary of this subdivision. It it's
difficult to know and um it's certainly
[53:03] more interesting to the people in the
subdivision, but it actually is in
[53:08] regard to what uh effect would it have
in regard to other subdivisions? I is
[53:14] that correct? I I don't know. I mean
that's what I understood with Alisa. And
[53:20] so um what what impact would it have in
terms of perhaps future subdivisions or
[53:27] existing subdivisions in terms of your
decision? And so as I think it was
[53:33] mentioned in one of your questions, how
would it
[53:37] affect other right of ways? And it
doesn't seem like there are any other
[53:42] cuz now when somebody would do a
subdivision they would be asked where is
[53:46] your track for a common area. So that
wasn't and maybe it was and that's what
[53:52] we're going to find out apparently
because when my husband went around the
[53:55] other night last night probably about
six o'clock I found out this really
[54:00] interesting
information and um this is all part of a
[54:05] public process so it's nothing
conspiratorial. Now, as far as uh the
[54:10] president Dana of the board, he's been
putting this out for at least three,
[54:15] four years in the minutes of the HOA
that we're thinking of a monument and in
[54:21] all of the newsletters and that's how it
came up and anybody who attended those
[54:26] meetings would know about this just not
part of your issue, but this is well
[54:31] known. So, that's how it he was always
asking, does somebody want to research
[54:36] this? So this is not news and also all
these issues which may be important are
[54:41] public works issues and those should be
handled by the permit process through
[54:46] the public works department which has to
happen after a variance is decided upon
[54:51] one way or another. So that's just a
technicality but it's an important one.
[54:57] It's a chicken and egg thing, a horse
before the cart. You have to do
[55:01] something first. Unfortunately, my
husband had to spend two years of his
[55:05] life figuring all this out. But that's
neither here nor there. That's a risk
[55:09] you take. But it was well known to
everybody. Nothing sprung upon anybody
[55:15] if they were if they were looking at
their newsletters or
[55:19] minutes. I know I'm running out of time.
So, a fire code, all those are public
[55:24] works issues. Uh and uh by the way in
terms of intent, why would the city why
[55:30] would the HOA pay all these years to um
water and put uh uh sprinklers in on
[55:40] this particular tract if they didn't
intend to have some HOA use of that
[55:46] tract and the other two that's a lot of
money over the years and that's on the
[55:52] public rightway as a donation to this
city has a very and they must have had
[55:58] some kind of agreement. Nobody goes out
and spends that kind of money every year
[56:03] uh on these this is a variance issue.
Why on earth would we be doing that if
[56:09] it weren't that we had some kind of
interest in it and some kind of formal
[56:13] agreement? Uh if you look at the old
CCNRs for the first part it does say as
[56:19] part of approval of this agreement we
agreed to actually
[56:25] take care of the sub outside on Graham
Road take care of that landscaping and
[56:32] that's not part of every CCNR because
there were five different tracks and
[56:38] it's very complicated as Lisa knows
she's spent her life last few months
[56:42] trying to figure this out and these
papers which he did not know about no
[56:47] conspiracy here he just found out last
night and it's a good thing this isn't
[56:51] public process we we didn't know Mr.
girls and got concerned. He went around
[56:57] and rallied the troops. And so now we
know more. And we wouldn't have known
[57:01] this if my husband hadn't gone around to
try to find out what people did know or
[57:05] didn't know. So there we go. And so this
is part of the public process. It's
[57:09] nothing that anybody should be concerned
about. We're finding information.
[57:14] Fine. Okay. Thank you. Well, perfectly
timed.
[57:26] You have any questions? Oh, no. Thank
you.
[57:35] Uh, Ted
[57:49] Olsson.
Morning. Ted Olsen, 810 East Colin
[57:54] Avenue, Medical Lake, Washington. Okay.
And do you swear or affirm any testimony
[57:58] you'll give me? The truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth. Very
[58:00] true. All right. Please proceed. Thank
you. Good morning. Uh, and I want to
[58:04] thank you for affording me the time to
uh speak on the Fox Ridge variance and
[58:09] I'm speaking for myself as an unofficial
representative of the homeowners at
[58:14] Foxbridgeidge Developments.
two major reasons not to approve the
[58:19] variance. Number one is the monument
could be harmful harmful to the public
[58:25] welfare. I have lived in this
development for 10 years. I've lived in
[58:28] the medical lake area for 32 years and
been a resident of Eastern Washington my
[58:33] entire
life. because of poor driving or before
[58:39] uh excuse me be uh because of poor
drainage. Winter snow and ice form
[58:44] around the medium. Every winter at least
one person slides into that media, me
[58:49] included. It's solid ice. There's no way
for it to drain. And if we add snow to
[58:54] the problem, it makes it even more
hazardous. A wheel light a wheel
[59:00] alignment cost uh is much less than a
crash into a proposed monument.
[59:06] I've been a school bus driver, a
substitute school bus driver for Medical
[59:10] Lake for the last nine years. In a
40-foot school bus, that corner, Graham
[59:16] Road and Fox Ridge Road, is difficult to
manage in the best of conditions.
[59:23] Although I have never hit a curb of the
median, the front of the bus usually
[59:28] sticks out into the median to avoid the
back tires on the passenger side from
[59:32] going over the media over the
curb. At this time, I'd like to read a
[59:39] short statement from uh Katherine
Bivven. She operates the position of
[59:46] driver trainer and she's a longstanding
member or driver in the medical lake
[59:50] school district. Having both trained
drivers in Medical Lake and been
[59:54] specifically contracted to the Fox Ridge
route for at least two years, I would
[1:00:00] like to state it is my personal opinion
that having any type of monument in the
[1:00:03] median at the entrance to Fox Ridge
could definitely be a distraction or a
[1:00:08] hazard to drivers. This is one of the
most precarious turns I make in Medical
[1:00:13] Lake with a bus due to the combination
of the angle you approach the street
[1:00:17] from Graham Road and the maneuvering you
have to do onto the street without
[1:00:21] running into the median. This is
particularly precarious in the winter
[1:00:25] months where there is snow on the
ground. It is my belief that it is not
[1:00:31] an optimal location for a seemingly
unnecessary and visually obstructing
[1:00:35] object of any sort. Thank you for your
consideration. That's Katherine Bivven.
[1:00:41] I also spoke with my uh boss and this
week unfortunately I had to take the
[1:00:47] morning off to come here. They are very
short-handed and the state patrol is
[1:00:50] inspecting all the buses. So otherwise
my boss would have been here also to
[1:00:55] testify the same thing that I'm
testifying to.
[1:01:00] And as my wife pointed out this morning,
I watched a bus go around the corner
[1:01:04] because I took some pictures at the at
the bottom of the
[1:01:07] hill for another purpose. And I saw bus
number 28 come around the corner nice
[1:01:15] and
smoothly. And he his back tires did not
[1:01:19] hit the curb. His front tires did not
hit the medium, but the front of the bus
[1:01:23] stuck over into the medium that far. it
would have hit any monument that is
[1:01:34] there. One more item is worth
mentioning. There are two utility access
[1:01:38] covers between the median and Graham
Road. And having worked as an equipment
[1:01:43] operator my life for Washington State, I
can tell you that the the
[1:01:49] median's monument would be in jeopardy
if there's any digging that has to be
[1:01:54] done there. And I was also told by a
city maintenance worker that there's
[1:01:58] possibly a water mane line in the
proximity of where the proposed monument
[1:02:03] is going to
be. And we all know that these things
[1:02:07] break once in a while. But and I also
have two more pictures. Can you bring
[1:02:12] those pictures up, please?
[1:02:20] I took two pictures this morning for
your
[1:02:28] consideration. One reason
for
[1:02:33] please. Now the one one shows the sewer
line which is just a couple of feet uh
[1:02:39] right in front of the media. This the
other picture shows a water line which
[1:02:43] is further out but that's a different
water line.
[1:02:47] If you go back to the bigger one where
the sewer line is right there, you'll
[1:02:51] notice a crack in the in the uh
asphalt just slightly behind about where
[1:02:57] this where this monument is proposed.
And this is where the speculation lies
[1:03:03] and I don't know for sure yet, but they
said there's probably a big main water
[1:03:07] line that goes underneath right there.
Definitely.
[1:03:11] Okay. Uh I think that's all I had
anyway. So that was perfect timing.
[1:03:16] Thank you for your time. I appreciate
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
[1:03:23] All right. Is there anyone else uh
present here who didn't sign up who
[1:03:27] wishes to testify?
You do,
[1:03:32] sir. Um we'll get you to I'll get you to
come up and you can set your name for
[1:03:37] the record. Then I'll have you sign up
on here as well.
[1:03:41] You can you can sign it uh write your
name down after you're done testifying.
[1:03:45] Okay. Good. Thank you.
My name is Scott Quigley and um I live
[1:03:51] in that area on on Terra Lee Boulevard
at the top of the hill. It's 1012 is the
[1:03:59] actual address. Okay. Do you swear or
affirm any testimony to give me the
[1:04:03] truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth? Yes, I do. Okay. Please
[1:04:05] proceed. So, I had a couple of comments
um that came about from other people
[1:04:12] making comments.
One one of those comments was that
[1:04:18] the the signage, the monument that it
was uh going to be at the primary
[1:04:27] entrance because of where I live on
Teri. Uh I'm able to see a lot of the
[1:04:34] traffic uh that goes up and down that
street. And uh had I known I was
[1:04:42] actually going to
um speak today, I might have gone out
[1:04:48] there yesterday and counted cars. So I I
don't have an official count. I just
[1:04:53] know it's a lot because every time they
come up, the lights shine right in the
[1:04:59] windows of our house. Um so um there are
at least what I would think three
[1:05:08] primary entrances and um and so we're
leaving with this proposal and what's
[1:05:15] being talked about today. We're actually
leaving two uh of those entrances out of
[1:05:23] the of consideration.
[1:05:27] And then
um I I just wanted to uh say I have
[1:05:35] excuse me uh I have um opportunities to
go to the homeowner association meetings
[1:05:41] and someone said oh gosh it's been on
the agenda many times and and we talk
[1:05:49] about you know plenty of opportunity for
all the homeowners to have heard that
[1:05:54] information. I I I disagree. I I'm a
homeowner and and I and I've been to to
[1:06:00] some of the meetings. Not not didn't
make it to every single one of them, but
[1:06:04] to to many of them. But I uh suspect
that somewhere because there's always an
[1:06:12] agenda. There's a written agenda that
must be a document that we could
[1:06:17] probably easily lay our hands on to see
in fact if everybody did have as much
[1:06:24] opportunity as as we're
uh leading ourselves to believe. So uh
[1:06:31] so that's all I have to say and I'll
sign the yes please. Thank
[1:06:39] you. Is there anyone else who's present
here who wishes to provide testimony?
[1:06:54] Do you
[1:07:01] have
to issue more?
[1:07:07] But how often have we had All right.
Yeah. Um I I'll circle back if he
[1:07:12] changes his mind before I close public
comments. So I'll consider it. But is
[1:07:17] there anyone on Zoom who is there anyone
even connected to Zoom?
[1:07:22] City administrator.
Okay.
[1:07:27] All right sir. Uh so I am about to close
public comment. So now will be the last
[1:07:31] chance if you want to give public
comment.
[1:07:35] I just wanted to corroborate my
statement that there have been
[1:07:39] many corroborate that statement I made.
[1:07:46] Let me state your name and address for
the record and I'll have you sign. Dana
[1:07:49] D'vorak. I live at 106 Fox Ridge Road
Medical Lake. Okay. Do you swear affirm
[1:07:56] any testimony you give to be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the
[1:07:58] truth? I do.
uh just as per the
[1:08:04] uh incidents of opportunities that have
been put out there, the putting in this
[1:08:10] uh monument has been something I I
started living in the HOA in 2010. Uh I
[1:08:17] got involved with the HOA board in 2011
when web properties uh have been hired
[1:08:22] as our management company uh because I
felt like I needed to be involved with
[1:08:28] that particular thing. Um I had never
been on a board before or dealt with an
[1:08:32] HOA before uh in any kind of capacity
but um I know that there have been many
[1:08:40] uh meetings when we had web properties.
We did quarterly meetings uh up to the
[1:08:45] point uh just before COVID um when 2019
when we closed out uh the contract for
[1:08:51] web properties. But during several of
those meetings uh over the years it had
[1:08:58] been brought up by homeowners suggesting
that we need to look into getting a
[1:09:04] monument placed out there. people
discussed different various types and
[1:09:10] you know big boulders and whatnot. Um
uh in 2019 when uh we got rid of web
[1:09:18] properties and I started uh doing the
majority myself uh Nicole Richards uh
[1:09:24] Glenn was on the board for a while. Ted
had been on the board for a while uh
[1:09:29] Monica there's a number of folks in our
neighborhood.
[1:09:33] Um those items had been brought up in a
number of meetings but as she said
[1:09:40] um a lot of times they never went
anywhere because the HOA is all
[1:09:46] voluntary. I don't know anything about
like the procedure of what he went
[1:09:52] through to get us to this point. The
best I would have been able to do is go
[1:09:57] and try to get an estimate on what it
would cost for the monument itself. Um
[1:10:01] but nobody ever picked up the project
and carried it forward. So it kept
[1:10:05] getting mentioned here and there uh at
the meetings uh since I had taken over
[1:10:11] and I send out uh a newsletter or brief
on specific things for that particular
[1:10:17] quarter when I send out the quarterly uh
invoices for the HOA dues to homeowners
[1:10:24] uh whether it be by email or uh by mail
more recently. Um, and it doesn't list a
[1:10:32] lot of information regarding it, but it
would be um, hey, we're continuing to
[1:10:38] look at uh, yeah, moving forward with
this. We found out this uh, our annual
[1:10:46] meeting in
2024. Uh, Carl had come to the meeting
[1:10:50] to give an update on it. He had started
working on it in
[1:10:55] 20 2022 2023 time frame with uh going
out and talking to people here and
[1:11:01] there. It wasn't like a fast-paced
project that we're trying to get done
[1:11:05] immediately.
Um but it has been put out there. Um
[1:11:12] invites are sent to every homeowner for
the annual meeting. Uh we typically get
[1:11:17] about 12 people that actually show up
and that probably constitute actually
[1:11:21] about seven homes because usually
husband and wife will come.
[1:11:28] Um I don't know what else to say about
for various portions. Um you sent me six
[1:11:34] messages that showed it. That's all
that's all I wanted to say. I do have
[1:11:38] copies of like some of the uh meeting
minutes that do have references on them.
[1:11:45] I'll take a look. I I might not admit
this to the record, but I'll take a look
[1:11:48] and see whether I should or not. Um
there's an agenda for the 2024 meeting
[1:11:53] in there. Um one of the newsletters that
I sent out most recently in December for
[1:11:59] the first quarter 2025 dues. um that
each of those have a mention of the
[1:12:08] monument project or the uh update to be
given by uh Mr. Mson at the meeting for
[1:12:15] 2024. Those types of instances I just
wanted to prove. Yeah, ma'am. I'm sorry.
[1:12:21] Your your public comment portion is is
over. Um
[1:12:26] yeah, I appreciate you bringing these,
but I don't think I'm going to the
[1:12:29] record. No, no, it's okay. Thank you
very much. All
[1:12:38] right, that is going to conclude our
public comment portion of today's
[1:12:43] hearing. U we're going to move uh back
to an opportunity for both uh Miss
[1:12:48] Rodriguez and Mr. Mson to provide
rebuttal testimony. Mr. Rodriguez, do
[1:12:53] you want to uh make any comment?
[1:13:02] I just wanted to offer since you're
intending to leave the record open that
[1:13:05] I could contact the school district. I
hadn't gotten comment at this point, but
[1:13:09] I could contact them to see if they
would like to make written um statement
[1:13:14] regarding their position on school
buses. Okay. Back here. Oh, sorry. I I
[1:13:21] was making the offer to contact the
school district to get an official
[1:13:26] statement on their position regarding
school buses in this particular
[1:13:30] intersection. Okay. Yes. And actually I
was going to discuss this um because we
[1:13:36] don't have uh we did get your uh comment
I think Monday from the public works
[1:13:45] um fire access was brought up. So maybe
a comment from the fire department would
[1:13:50] be appropriate as well. I can contact
you also. Um so I'm going to direct you
[1:13:55] ask I guess um and leave the record open
for you to submit comments from uh I
[1:14:01] guess the school district or whoever is
responsible for the buses district and
[1:14:04] fire district 3. Yes. Okay. Um make sure
we get those comments on the record and
[1:14:07] anyone else you might think is
appropriate to have their comments on
[1:14:11] the record. Um please uh request
comments from them. We'll do. Um, and
[1:14:18] then I'm also going to ask if um, you
can retrieve for the record a copy of
[1:14:23] the final plat and any documents that
were recorded with it. So, we can have
[1:14:26] that on file and I can take a look at
that and maybe compare it to whatever
[1:14:29] we're able to get from the applicant or
one of the one of the neighbors. Um, so
[1:14:35] I can take a look and see if there's any
differences in the the final plat as
[1:14:38] well. So, anything else from you? No.
Thank you. Okay. I'll go over this at
[1:14:44] the end to to make it official about
what I'm leaving leaving the record open
[1:14:47] for. So, thank
[1:14:51] you. Uh, Mr. Mson, any rebuttal
testimony? And then I I think you're
[1:14:55] going to get the last word also. So,
we'll make this your opportunity to
[1:14:58] provide for further further testimony
and then you can have a final word on
[1:15:02] your application.
Uh as far as placement of the proposed
[1:15:10] um entry monument, we took into
consideration that there might be some
[1:15:16] problem with overlap. The distance
between the edge of the front of the
[1:15:21] entry monument, excuse me, the center
island and the entry monument is 14 ft.
[1:15:30] So, we really shouldn't have too much
trouble there as far as unless you know
[1:15:34] somebody just plows into it. Uh, with
regards to
[1:15:40] utilities, obviously we would check with
a vist to make sure that we weren't
[1:15:45] disrupting
anything.
[1:15:49] Um, I will say what the the the
statement was made that everybody is
[1:15:55] opposed to this. I took yesterday north
of Tara Lee. They were all very very
[1:16:02] much in favor of it. So, and that I'm I
kind of understand the reason for that,
[1:16:08] but I won't get into that now. Thank
you. Okay. Um, and just real quick, have
[1:16:13] you stay up here? Um, so I am going to
uh request that you I know I already
[1:16:18] said this, but just to have it official
on a record, I'm going to request that
[1:16:21] you try to achieve uh whatever documents
it is. Is it is it possibly a final
[1:16:26] approval decision for the final plat or
is it do you remember off the top of
[1:16:30] your head what what the I don't remember
off the top of my head but that's very
[1:16:34] probable. She had a lot of stuff. Okay.
Um I guess I'll ask you to be over
[1:16:40] inclusive. If it turns out it's not
really relevant to me. That's fine.
[1:16:43] We'll just make it part of the record.
So, whatever you can get that is part of
[1:16:47] the final plat final plat decision, any
associated agreements, um please uh make
[1:16:54] sure you get those and and we'll get
those into the record and I will review
[1:16:57] them. Sure, I will do that. Okay. And
then one final question. I know this is
[1:17:02] probably more at permit time, but can
you say for the record where you're
[1:17:06] intending along the median to put the
the monument sign if it were approved?
[1:17:12] at the front, at the back, in the
middle. 14 feet from the front. 14 ft
[1:17:17] from the front of the start of the
median. Yeah. And the uh I know that if
[1:17:22] you took out the 3 and 1/2 ft uh depth
of the median, there'd be about 85 ft
[1:17:29] left in the center
island. Okay. So again, that's if if
[1:17:35] approved, that's something that probably
would be addressed in that process.
[1:17:38] Okay. All right. Any final word on your
application? No. Okay. All right. Thank
[1:17:43] you.
[1:17:51] All right. Thank you all for coming
today and testifying.
[1:17:54] Um, as I stated before, but uh, just
for, you know, my own legal purposes, I
[1:17:59] want to make sure this is really clear
in the record. Um, I'm I'm leaving the
[1:18:03] record open only for the specific
purposes I've outlined before. I'll
[1:18:07] state them again. Um, but this is not an
There will be no other opportunity for
[1:18:11] public comment or submitt of comments.
Uh I am only leaving it open for the two
[1:18:15] for the things I requested uh from the
city which are some comments from
[1:18:19] possibly affected departments. Uh make
sure we have their written comments on
[1:18:23] the record at least at this time. Uh
fire fire department and school district
[1:18:28] and any anyone else. Miss Rodriguez um
reason reasonably determines uh should
[1:18:34] should be um contacted um as well as
I've directed her to get a copy of the
[1:18:40] final plat and any other recorded
documents that may shed some light on
[1:18:44] this. And then as well as I've directed
the applicant um to submit any of the
[1:18:49] records he um says he located yesterday
that have to do with approval of the
[1:18:54] final plat. Other than no specific
items, uh no other no other documents or
[1:18:58] comments will be admitted to the record.
So for the rest of the record, uh it's
[1:19:02] closed remaining open for those limited
purposes. And staff presentation. Uh
[1:19:08] yes. And also thank you uh for the
administrative matter. So the staff
[1:19:11] presentation will also be made a part of
the record. Uh so it is uh open until
[1:19:16] for that item as well until we receive
it. Um other than that, any other
[1:19:20] administrative matters? No. Uh anything
else from the city? No.
[1:19:24] Okay. All right. Thank you. With that,
um, I'm going to close, uh, the hearing
[1:19:29] and we are now adjourned. Thank you.
Thank you.