SULTAN PUBLIC MEETINGS OF NOTE, ALL HELD AT 319 MAIN STREET

Every 1^st & 3^rd Tuesday: Planning Commission meets at 7:30 PM (The Valley Review incorrectly reported in their last issue that the start time is 7:00 PM, continuing to follow in the muddy footprints left by its precursor, The Sky Valley Weakly News.)

Every 1^st & 3^rd Wednesday: Sultan City Council, beginning at 7:00 PM (but watch for revisions to that start time; hearings and other events may cause it to begin at 6 or 6:30, so keep an eye on our website for the agenda packet)

This document gives advice and a plan of action to protect your neighborhood from "rude" development of the type that has plagued Shoreline’s first few years as a city. Rude development takes no account of neighborhood character or values or the neighbors’ vision of what they want their neighborhood to become. It is an affront to the neighbors (therefore, "rude"). Rude development is concerned only with maximizing profit, which usually entails maximizing density, without regard for its impact on neighbors who are viewed as having no standing whatsoever in this process. Your job is to reverse this attitude, to ensure that the development is as neighborhood-friendly as possible. You do this by organizing, by ensuring that the development obeys the law, and by negotiating with the developer, as explained below.

TIME!

If you first learned about the proposed development from a notification sign posted on the lot ("Notice of Proposed Land Use Action") or from a notification letter in the mail, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! You may only have 15 days to submit public comments - 30 days at most!

Submitting comments about the project is essential. If few or no critical comments are received, the project will sail through with no changes, and you are sunk, but to have any real weight, the comments must be pertinent. Blind ranting and raving is totally ineffectual - as good as no comments at all. That's why you have to get educate yourself - rapidly - by doing the stuff listed below.

If the City Council accepts the revised Phase 1 development code that was proposed by staff in Aug 1999, the developer will be required to invite all neighbors within 500' of the project to a neighborhood meeting to discuss and explain his project before he formally submits the application. If this applies to you, boy, are you in luck! The Planning Academy and CCFS fought hard to get this "early warning system" for the neighborhoods.

In both the present and proposed code, the developer is required to put up a notification sign ("Notice of Proposed Land Use Action") on the lot upon the acceptance of his application by Planning and Development Services (PDS - the City agency that evaluates all land use actions). The sign is supposed to have a plastic envelope containing sheets with information about the project (but they run out fast). The developer is also supposed to notify all residences within 500' of the project by mail. If the notification omits neighbors within 500’, or if the sign is not posted for the required period, ask PDS for a new notification period immediately in writing with as many signatures as you can quickly collect. Also, if the notification letters are late, or if the notification coincides with a long holiday weekend, ask for an extension of the public notice period in writing.

The duration of the public comment period will be noted on the information sheet that you got in the mail or from the notification sign. Other important info on this sheet is the project number (you need this to get and read the project files), the developer's name, the staff member from PDS who is in charge of the project (and his address for mailing in your public comments), and a site plan of the project that shows the original lot, the proposed subdivided lots, and the layout of the proposed new dwellings. The sheet should also list the present (or proposed) zoning parameters (e.g., density designation such as R-6), the class of subdivision (e.g., short or long subdivision), and the number and type (e.g., townhouses) of dwelling units to be constructed.

If the "neighborhood early warning" provision of the new code is approved, you will learn all this at the neighborhood meeting with the developer. Insist on getting this basic info at the meeting - and much, much more (see below). To make these meetings effective for the neighborhood, you still need to educate yourself.

GET ORGANIZED

A. Meet your neighbors - as many as possible, ASAP. Tell them what's happening.

C. Hold a neighborhood meeting ASAP. Even if the early neighborhood notification provision goes through in the new code, hold your own neighborhood meeting before you meet with the developer to get everyone in sync - decide on strategy, questions and potential problems to discuss with the developer. A united front of informed citizens always works best.

D. Organize your neighbors - make a plan and divvy up jobs. One job is to notify a larger area than you think will be interested. If you use flyers, be sure to list a name and phone number or address so they know how to reach you. (Put flyers on doorknob, not in mail box.) You will be pleasantly surprised. People far away will be concerned about adverse impacts on the area and on traffic. They'll sign a petition. If water issues are relevant, be sure to notify folks downstream. Your problem is their problem.

E. Get names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails of all who participate or express interest or sign a petition and set up a phone tree.

F. Make your group an official group. Collect a dollar from everyone, give your group a name and officers (president, secretary, treasurer), establish a regular meeting time and take minutes. You are now an official group (even better, a voting block) that can receive special group treatment and privileges at hearings, appeals and during public comment periods before the Planning Commission and City Council. Letters to staff from an official group may also be taken more seriously.

FACE IT: YOU PROBABLY WILL NOT BE ABLE STOP THE PROJECT (if the legal process has been followed). But you can get improvements for most projects. PDS staff (or the Planning Commission or the Hearing Examiner) probably will not ask for any improvements unless you and your neighbors insist! The battlefield is TECHNICAL. Your job is to find out what the rules are and then determine where they are not being followed in the proposed project, and then insist (both in writing and orally) during public hearings that code requirements must be met.

If you have neighbors or friends who are knowledgeable, ask for their help. If you are thinking about hiring a land-use lawyer to represent you at a hearing or an appeal, get started locating one immediately. Conflict of interest and availability will eliminate many possible attorneys. Even if you hire an attorney, his time is (lots of) money, and you can facilitate his work and keep costs down by helping with the research.

A. Go to the PDS office (in the City Hall, 319 Main Street in Sultan) to read the project file. Go inside, ask the receptionist to see the PDS person in charge (probably Rick Cisar, but a name should be on the project notice) and ask he or she to see the project file (the number of which you also got from the notice). Read everything in the file. This is the raw material you need to make the project less onerous.

B. Pay to photocopy everything (15 cents/page), especially the BIG plat maps (which may cost more). (If you have a lawyer, you are getting stuff he will need, and you are saving big bucks by doing this "grunt legwork" instead of having him do it and charging you $200/hour).

C. Find out the VESTING DATE of the project. (After the project is "vested", any subsequent new laws or codes won't apply to that project.) Get this in writing, signed by the project manager, and dated with the city's date stamp.

D. Request that the City NUMBER the original file pages in ink. The rules say they should be numbered but they rarely are. This will eliminate the possibility of critical pages disappearing or appearing later. The City of Sultan will most probably not wish to do this. The next best thing would be to ask that the city apply its date stamp (which carries the city of Sultan designation) to each page, making sure the date is set for the day you pick up the material, and have someone initial each page within the stamped area.

E. Ask PDS staff what (free) pages of rules or codes they will give you for things like fences, driveways, short/long plats - anything pertaining to the project.

To reiterate an essential point: The battlefield is TECHNICAL. Generally, however, your job is to find out what the rules are and then determine if they are being followed in the proposed project. And if they are not, insist (both in writing and orally) that code requirements be met. To do this effectively, you must become familiar with at least some aspects of the Shoreline development code.

This is a hard pill for most folks to swallow, but unfortunately, if you don't learn some code (or don't hire a lawyer who's familiar with the code), you are bound to fail. Emotion, outrage, health, welfare, logic, common sense - all mean nothing in this fight. It's all based on the development code. That's because the development code is a set of laws. The developer can do whatever he wants as long as he obeys the letter of these laws. Neither PDS staff nor the Planning Commission nor City Council can or will make the developer do anything not specified by code. They can't make him do more than the law says he must do. If they try to, the developer (who has no problem with paying legal fees) can and will sue the City. Apparently, there is nothing that the City fears so much as a developer's lawsuit - or even the threat of a lawsuit. Not only the City, but individual staff members, Planning Commissioners, and City Council members can be sued individually (putting their own money and property at risk). This is why they’re so fearful of a developer’s lawsuit. Thus, the code is the alpha and omega in fighting a development.

In the recent past the PDS staff has often required the developer to do less than the code prescribes. Your job is to find out if PDS was lax in this development and then point it out during the public comment period and during hearings or appeals. That's how you win, where winning means to get a less-onerous project for your neighborhood. Although the development code is extensive, there are relatively few parts that you need to read. This is because in the recent past, the areas in which staff has committed oversights are relatively few and now well known (see below).

First, you may be able to make this project significantly better for your neighborhood than if you do nothing. Second, you may not stop this project, but do you think this will be the last project in your neighborhood? What about the next project - and the next?

If developers find that you just roll over and take it, they are likely to consider you as willing victims and pour it on. But if they find resistance and an organized, knowledgeable citizenry, they'll tend to look elsewhere for the next project. If there is a next project, you'll be prepared from the get-go to fight even more effectively than you fought this one. Even before the next sign goes up, you'll understand what land-use issues are important to your neighborhood. When such issues come before the Planning Commission or City Council for action, you'll be there with your (already-organized) neighbors to fight for or against them - to become proactive before the bulldozers appear next door. Developers hate that.

The other thing developers hate is delay. Time is money. The more obstacles you put in their path, the more it delays and costs them. The more it costs them, the more likely they are to look for easier pickings elsewhere next time (and to tell their friends to do likewise). The more code you know, the more obstacles you may put in their path. It will cost you $350 to formally appeal, e.g., a short plat before the Hearing Examiner. It will cost the developer much more in time and lawyer's fees, and it will set him back at least a couple months. He won't be so anxious to go through that again. But you must have some rational grounds for an appeal - based on code. The developer’s fear of delay (lost money) serves as motivation for him to negotiate with you and your neighbors to find ways to make the project less onerous to the neighborhood before it comes to the point of formal objections or appeals. Thus, it may be to your advantage to meet with and negotiate with the developer at the outset (see below). The more code you know, the better your negotiating position.

The present Shoreline development code was adopted almost entirely from the King County development code. Thus, it includes many "by reference " codes, such as the "1993 King County Road Standards", the "1992 King County Surface Water Design Manual", the Shoreline Fire Dept Standard Operating Procedures, parts of the King County Building Code, and certain sections of the Shoreline Municipal Code itself. Many of these are available at the Shoreline library reference section. Often, the PDS staff will allow you to read and photocopy their working copies. Staff will also answer your questions (but only if you ask them; they won't volunteer the info). You are also affected by the Shoreline Zoning Map ($1.50 at PDS office) and the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan (at reference section of library and at PDS).

As of Fall, 1999, the development code is being revised - to be all Shoreline's instead of mostly King County’s - and it will be a "unified code" in which all information is available in one document instead of the scattered "by reference" pieces referred to above. The proposed revision (as of Aug.1999) is much simpler, clearer and better than the old King Co code, but it's not law yet. It will become law in 2 phases (Phase 1 and Phase 2). Phase 1 is expected to be passed in Fall 1999. Phase 2 (the rest of the code) probably won't be passed until Spring of 2000. In the meantime, you simply have to keep current with which rules apply by asking PDS.

Both the present Shoreline code and King Co. code are available on-line as well as in the library. Probably, the on-line version will be updated rapidly to include the newly-revised sections. Also, it's very convenient to use. This huge document will be at your fingertips, section by section. Read Shoreline Municipal Code (and King Co. code) at http://www.mrsc.org/codes.htm

You can also contact staff at King County. They will help interpret what the King Co. code says and how it is usually enforced.

It is in the developer's economic interest to maximize profit. This is capitalism, after all, and that’s their job. Unfortunately, that usually means that they will try to cram as many houses as possible on the site in the cheapest manner possible without regard for the neighbors or the neighborhood ("rude" development). The development code presents an awkward obstacle to maximizing the developer's profit in this manner, but in the recent past code requirements have sometimes been "relaxed" through, e.g., the granting of gratuitous variances by the City, and by inattention to certain code requirements. Recently, staff seems to have become more diligent, and the developer will usually get the basic numeric requirements (such as minimum lot size) correct (but don't take this for granted!). It's usually issues around the margin that are used to increase density. Problems in the recent past have revolved around inadequate access roads and the turn-arounds at the end of these roads, drainage (storm water) facilities, vegetation removal or grading (possible SEPA issues), setbacks, and code-required recreation space (for multi-family development). This list is not all-inclusive but it's a start - what you should check first.

A. Pay special attention to the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements. If you can't win on other code issues, you may be able to win through SEPA requirements, which are separate from other code requirements. However, if you are opposing a project based on SEPA, you may require a knowledgeable land-use lawyer. Read PDS's SEPA checklist. Read the fine print on the form.

SEPA requirements are supposed to ensure that the project doesn't degrade the environment. The environment can include traffic and noise, but these aspects are never considered by Shoreline. Nevertheless, SEPA can give the City a way to force the developer to do good things that are not required by the rest of the development code. That's how it might help you.

Staff is supposed to conduct a separate SEPA review (separate from other code requirements). If certain risk factors cross a SEPA "threshold", then an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required from the developer. Developers hate this, but this is unlikely to happen unless it is a really huge project or is on, or affects, a "sensitive area" (as defined in code). The usual case is for staff to issue a "Determination of Nonsignificance" which means there is no significant environmental impact. The best you can hope for is a "Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance" (MDNS) which means that no EIS is required and the project can proceed as long as certain staff-imposed conditions are met which will reduce the environmental impact. The thing is, staff has a relatively free hand in imposing conditions if they decide to do this, so you can get a lot. On the other hand, State law lists a bunch of project types that are completely exempt ("categorically exempt") from SEPA review; e.g., construction of any residential structures of 8 dwelling units or fewer, short plats, commercial structures less than 12,000 sq. ft. floor area with 40 or fewer parking spaces, etc.. However, even these "exempt" projects may be subject to SEPA review and a MDNS if they are located on or adjacent to a "sensitive area", so check out the definitions of a sensitive area. The possibility of increased runoff into a downstream, flood-prone bog might trigger an MDNS, for example.

B. Locate the Fire Marshall's (Jeff LaFlam) sign-off paper in the project file and photocopy it. If it lists sprinklers, then the Fire Marshall has allowed sprinklers as a substitute for a legal road width, or road length, or turn-around size. The Fire Dept. uses Standard Operating Procedures that they developed themselves. Either ask them for a copy of their S.O.P. with diagrams or ask PDS for a copy. A copy is also available as a part of the Hageman Long Subdivision Planning Commission Public Hearing (9/17/99) packet that Sue Kurnik should be able to locate for you. (Part of the continuance of that hearing, I think). The Fire Dept. requires a road width, not including sidewalks, of 20 feet.

C. The 1993 King County Road Standards is the present (Aug. 1999) code governing roads, driveways and streets for the City of Shoreline. Insist that it is followed. Single-family requires 22-ft wide roads, and Multi-family requires 24-ft wide roads. Turn-around (end-bulb) diameters are also specified, but the City of Shoreline has not built any end-bulbs to code diameter. If you want to fight on this issue, you need to read and photocopy relevant parts of the 1993 King County Road Standards. Mary Leonard's (keymow@aol.com) group fighting against the Zevenbergen plat has a copy, or you can ask to read and photocopy the Shoreline Road Engineer's (Mike Gillespie's) copy, or you can order it from the reference section of the King County library.

Is there a "road tract" that is going to be dedicated to City of Shoreline? If it is, the road will be built more or less to code width, but the turn-around will probably be smaller than code specifies. Is the road to be built on a "road easement" (see code for definitions of road tracts and easements)? If so, some of the lots may be below minimum size. Check it out.

D. How will storm water runoff be handled? Will the runoff be collected in an uncovered pond or an underground tank? Will there be a special tract dedicated to storm water collection/detention? Will this tract share space with the required recreational space? Read the SMC to see if this tract meets code requirements.

Will the runoff stay on site (retention with slow release) or will it be piped slowly into an off-site drainage pipe (detention)? What percentage impermeable surface is the project? How close to the maximum allowable % is it?. Is the storm water system planned for the 25-yr storm or the 100-yr storm? If impermeable surface is more than 50%, you want to fight for 100-yr storm system. If you have any special soil condition, slide hazards, or drainage problems downstream, now is the time document them (to force a SEPA review and a MDNS).

E. Check for illegal setbacks. Read the Density and Dimensions Table of SMC 18.12.030. Setback between a single-family R-6 and an R-12 zero-lot-line townhouse or apartment is 20 feet. The setback between a free-standing, single-family, residential building of R-12 and greater and a single family R-6 building is 10 feet.

F. A sufficiently large multifamily project is suppose to provide a certain square footage of on-site, dedicated, identified, recreation area that meets certain criteria. Read SMC 18.14.180 and see if the development meets the requirements.

If this feature of the Phase 1 revised code is enacted into law, take full advantage of it. A previous meeting of neighbors and a united neighborhood front would be very helpful before meeting the developer. The developer is required to write a written summary of neighborhood objections, problems, etc. and deliver this to PDS. He is also supposed to present a verification that all neighbors within 500' were invited. Tape record this whole meeting. Check his written summary in the project file for accuracy. Check that area neighbors were notified. If any of these requirements are performed unsatisfactory, report to PDS immediately. The application cannot be complete (the notification sign cannot go up) until this neighborhood notification, meeting and summary is performed adequately.

Take your time at this meeting. If you know some code at this stage it would be very helpful. The code design standards and the Densities and Dimensions Table (SMC 18.12.030) would be good to have read beforehand and to have handy at the meeting to be sure they are followed. Undoubtedly, the developer will tell you the project follows the code, but you’ll have to check this out at your leisure after the meeting. Have the developer go over the project feature by feature (roads, drainage, setbacks, density, recreation space, etc.) Ask him if he expects any variances to be required. If you’re knowledgeable, you might see potential code defects during this meeting. At least you will have seen his plans and will have time to check out potential code problems well before the public comment period begins.

Code problems aside, this is your big chance to negotiate with the developer - to affirm neighborhood values and to suggest modifications of his scheme that will help the neighborhood. Undoubtedly, you wish the development would just go away - but it won’t, so keep a cool head, and think, and negotiate. What construction features would make the project more consistent with the neighborhood? (e.g., a different roof line; more relief in facade, etc.). What would help privacy? (e.g., a different orientation of the houses or their windows? Greater setbacks or plantings on the periphery?) Can trees or vegetation be retained or replanted? Could on-site parking or the access road be oriented differently or improved? It would be valuable to take his basic site plan and try to rearrange (redraw) the houses, the road, etc. to benefit the neighborhood instead of the developer. It’s always more effective to put forth a positive plan than to just say, "I don’t like it." This need not be your only contact with the developer. You can submit your re-design ideas to the developer later and to PDS during the public comment period.

The two-pronged approach of submitting a reasonable alternative plan and demonstrating a good knowledge of code issues is your best bet of getting what you want. The developer’s motivation for acceding to your demands is that his time is money. If he can bend your way without losing too much money, and thereby avoid opposition at hearings and appeals, he’ll probably do it. Also, having a positive, reasonable alternative plan will help you immensely with PDS, who must approve his project. PDS doesn’t like neighbor trouble either. They’ll help you put pressure on the developer to compromise if you have reasonable objections and (especially) if you have a feasible alternative plan.

After the developer's application is ruled complete by PDS, the notification sign goes up, but you still have the public comment period to make written comments to PDS. Take full advantage of this opportunity.

During this period get as many letters in to PDS as possible. Phone calls to PDS won't be "counted", nor will letters before or after the public comment period. Submit any petitions at this stage. Now is the time to get your phone tree going to get your neighbors to write their comments before the deadline. Make a "form letter" if necessary to give them an idea of what to write. Volume does count, but code-related arguments count most. Quote code if you can. General ranting and raving counts not at all.

In his written summary of the neighborhood meeting (should this proposed development code revision be adopted), the developer is supposed to state which of the neighbors' objections to the project he can't or won't meet and why. Check the written summary, and then write why and how he can meet your objections after all.

Make photocopies of all letters sent, especially any petitions. Check that they are in the project file. Better than mailing is to hand-deliver them to PDS and see that they're time-stamped as received and put in the file. Someone should make it their business to check the file periodically. Letters have been known to disappear.

If you wrote a letter during the public comment period, you have become a Party Of Record (this is the only way to become a POR). You will be notified by mail by PDS of all further rulings and actions on the project.

What happens after the public comment period closes depends on the type of subdivision. If it's a long plat (aka long subdivision, formal subdivision) there will be an automatic public hearing before the Planning Commission. If you don't like their decision, you can appeal to the City Council (Council makes the final decision in any case.) If it's a short plat (aka short subdivision), the Director of PDS makes a decision. If you don't like it, your only recourse is to appeal his decision to the Hearing Examiner. These actions are discussed in more detail below.

To prepare for the long plat public hearing (or if you are going to appeal short plat preliminary approval):

1) Learn what quasi-judicial means (see the Revised Code of Washington, the RCW; in "garden variety" layman terms it refers to a specific land use or project). Public hearings and appeals are quasi-judicial. Quasi-judicial means that you cannot talk about this specific case to members of the Planning Commission or the City Council except at an open public hearing. If you do, a friendly official might have to excuse himself/herself from the hearing/appeal.

One strategy is to use the public comment period held during every Planning Commission or Council meeting to alert that body to a problem with the proposed development. Organize several neighbors to testify. Although you may not be able to speak about YOUR project because of the quasi-judicial nature of the up-coming hearing or appeal, you can talk about the nature of the problem in general, or refer to a previous specific project with a similar problem. This strategy is to get them to pay particular attention to the type of problem that you will target at the upcoming public hearing.

2) Start attending hearings and appeals. You will learn the format, meet the decision makers, learn what is expected of you. Or contact City Clerk Laura Koenig (360-793-2231), and ask to listen to tapes, read documents from hearings and appeals. All meetings and hearings are on voice tape. Shoreline Municipal Code details how hearings and appeals work.

Both present and proposed code allow (at most) only 1 hearing and 1 appeal on any land use action. Furthermore, there can be (at most) only 1 open-record hearing (or appeal). The second action (hearing or appeal) must be closed-record. This is set by State law. Open-record means that public testimony can be given to establish the facts. Closed-record means that the quasi-judicial body will allow no new facts to be introduced through public testimony. The judgment will be based entirely on a review of the facts established at the previous open-record hearing.

Subdivision permit decisions are not the only actions that require a hearing or may be appealed. There may be SEPA questions, which are distinct from whether the subdivision code requirements are fulfilled. Grading permits or even a re-zone may also be required for the project. State law mandates that hearings or appeals on all issues pertaining to the project be combined as much as possible and considered altogether in one hearing (or appeal). This is true for SEPA issues. Up to recently, there could be a separate hearing and appeal on SEPA issues. No more. Both subdivision code issues and SEPA issues must be combined at the same public hearing or appeal according to State law. Staff does still makes a separate report or recommendation about SEPA issues. This is required by code, and different staff members are usually responsible for analyzing SEPA and code issues. You must look at the SEPA report in the file. Your letters during the public comment period must also address any SEPA issues that you identify, and you must be prepared to address them, as well as other code issues, at any hearing or appeal. Your State Legislature, in its wisdom, has made it easy as possible for the developer to ram his project through as fast as possible, and as hard as possible for you to resist it.

If the project is a short plat, there is no hearing. PDS staff is supposed to consider all the public comments, and the PDS Director (Mr. Tim Stewart) makes a recommendation to disapprove, to approve, or to approve with conditions. None have been disapproved in recent history. If your public comment arguments have been cogent, you may find that the preliminary approval is given contingent on fulfilling certain conditions along the lines that you proposed in your comments (i.e., you got some or all of what you wanted). Your option at this point is to accept his (i.e., the City’s) decision or to appeal it before the Hearing Examiner. You have 10 days to file an appeal, and it'll cost you $350. You must write a letter to the City (as specified in code) stating the issues of appeal within the 10 days (and include your check). The Hearing Examiner can deny an appeal if he judges your appeal issues to be irrelevant (see code for details), so make your letter good. Also, at the appeal itself you can only bring up the topics that you outline in your letter, so try to be inclusive. See more on appeals below.

If the project is a long plat, there will be an open public hearing before the Planning Commission. (There is some possibility that this will be conducted by the Hearing Examiner under the revised code.) This is an open-record, quasi-judicial hearing. During this hearing, staff will first summarize the proposal and give their reason for approving it as-is or for recommending certain additional conditions for approval. The developer gets to present his case (invariably through his lawyer and other hired experts), and the public gets to make its comments. (Note: the odds are already 2 to 1 against you.) The PC is supposed to have read the public comments (your letters). You and other POR's can give testimony at the hearing. Don’t simply read a previously-submitted letter, but you can present the same idea (briefly) in a different way or present a new idea. During your testimony, you can also present letters (new ones; not the same as you’ve previously submitted) and petitions (new ones) to the Commission. You can also present "exhibits" at the hearing, e.g., maps, diagrams, photos, video, etc. - handy tools to help make your points. The PC makes a decision to approve, reject, or approve with conditions. If you don't like their decision, you can appeal it to the City Council.

Appeals are limited to issues raised at the previous public hearing, or those that have been listed in the filing of an Appeal.

The folks who are allowed to speak are those who filed the appeal, so be sure to have anyone you wish to speak also sign your appeal. There are special rules for expert witnesses, but I don't know what they are. Contact people who have been through the appeal process and ask their advice.

If you are appealing the preliminary approval of a short plat, you appeal before a single person, the Hearing Examiner. Other than that difference, this is an open-record, quasi-judicial proceeding that follows the script outlined above for Public Hearing before the Planning Commission for a long plat.

If you are appealing a long plat or a rezone (or any other Type B action - see code), the appeal is a closed-record, quasi-judicial proceeding before the City Council. You can't speak. Only staff and the developer (his attorney) get to speak. Tough luck for you! The decision is made on the basis of the previous open-record hearing.

At these appeals, another aspect of "quasi-judicial" is made clear. You are appealing the decision of the City (not the developer) to approve the project, and the burden of proof is on YOU to show (by evidence) that they exceeded their authority or made a mistake in interpreting or applying the code. This is no joke. To win, you have to provide convincing evidence.

If you lose this appeal, you have one final recourse. You can file an appeal with Superior Court (within 10 days, I believe). You must have a lawyer for this, and it will probably cost you $10,000 minimum. Not an attractive option.

So, they only threw you a sop at the hearing, and you lost the appeal? What can you do now that the bulldozers and chain saws are humming next door? Fight for better land-use laws - and for public officials who support YOUR vision for Shoreline! This takes a lot of work - way out of proportion to the incremental results obtained - and a long time - but it's your only choice. Otherwise, you lose forever - or rather you lose again and again, as successive developments chew up your neighborhood and clog your streets.

Feel frustrated by the whole process? March right down to the Planning Commission and to City Council meetings and tell them so in no uncertain terms during the public comment period that is part of each meeting.

Now you understand better the importance of land-use policy and how it can affect you directly. You're educated the best way - the hard way - and you now know the questions to ask. Ask them of Council candidates at the next election. Find out what issues are coming before Council or the Planning Commission. You can find out from the City's Agenda Hotline (546-2190. Also, agendas and staff reports to be presented to Council before their next meeting are available on-line on the City's web site. Go down to the meeting (it's much more entertaining than TV) and express your wishes during the public comment period. Pay attention. Write letters. Work for good candidates.

Remember, the zoning map and the development code are not irrevocable like the laws of physics. The development code can be revised, and the City's Comprehensive Plan (thus, the zoning map) can also be revised. Both are to be reviewed formally by Council once a year. They represent political decisions that are supposed to represent what Shoreline citizens want their city to be like now and in the future. The more citizens lobby for change, the faster it will happen.

Keep your neighborhood organization going, and encourage your neighbors to take the actions outlined above. Join with Concerned Citizens For Shoreline, a city-wide organization, to amplify your power. We focus on a variety of land-use issues and goals that are important to Shoreline citizens, and we don't plan to go away.

By mail: Write a letter addressed to "City Council Members", City of Sultan, 319 Main Street, Sultan, WA 98294. Staff will make copies and distribute the letter to each of the seven members. Because letters have become "mislaid" or "lost" in Sultan, we recommend that if you mail the letter, you send it via certified mail with a return receipt requested. Better, hand-deliver it to city hall and bring a copy with you and have your copy stamped "received" with a date and initials of the person who receives it (or have the clerk receptionist make you a copy and do the same. Either way, ensure you receive a copy of the letter back, with an ORIGINAL (colored) date stamp and initials of the receiving individual.

By phone: The city does not publicize individual council member phone numbers, although by law they are required to be accessible.

By email: the left side of our main webpage (toward the bottom) for current email address links.

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