Edmonds Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

City: Apartment complex at 627 Dayton will not happen

By Brian Soergel

A proposed apartment complex at 627 Dayton St. is not going forward after the developer twice failed to submit the required documentation.

Planning and Development Director Susan McLaughlin has confirmed that any new design review application for a project at the site will have to meet all codes that are current at the time of the new application, which means it must be mixed use, with housing and business.

On Nov.14, 2022, Phil Frisk, representing Glenn Safadago and GBH Holdings, submitted an augmented design review application for a design review of a 17-unit multifamily residential building and site improvements at 627 Dayton.

The design application was submitted in accordance with Section 20.10.045 of the Edmonds Community Development Code to "vest" to the development standards in effect at the time of application.

In Washington state, according to the Municipal Research and Services Center, vested rights "refers generally to the notion that a land-use application, under the proper conditions, will be considered only under the land-use statutes and ordinances in effect at the time of the application's submission."

According to Edmonds code, the building permit application associated with the augmented design review application was valid for up to one year. During that one-year period, the design review must be reviewed and approved.

During that same period, the building permit application must also be reviewed, approved, and issued. Because the augmented application was vested on Nov.14, 2022, the design review and building permit reviews had to be completed by Nov. 14, 2023.

According to Edmonds code, proposals for design review in the Downtown Business (BD) zones that require a SEPA threshold determination such as are reviewed by the Architectural Design Board in a two-phase public hearing process leading to a decision by the board.

The applicant was not able to resubmit plans for both the July 27 and Sept. 28 meetings. Because there are less than two months left for the life of the vested building permit application, there was insufficient time to complete both the design review and the building permit application review.

According to the City: "Without a resubmittal for design review, the application is considered to have lapsed and cannot be revived."

627 Dayton, now housing office space, is the former site of Baker's Funeral Home.

@Resources@

"Emergency moratorium on BD2 permits": http://www.tinyurl.com/yusxfa93

"Edmonds: Multifamily design standards to be studied": http://www.tinyurl.com/mwk46u2p

"627 Dayton St .: 3-story, 24-unit apartment complex planned": http://www.inyurl.com/3y3hsf88