FINAL 2022 0531 Council Special MeetingMoses Lake City Council
Dean Hankins, Mayor |Don Myers, Deputy Mayor | Deanna Martinez, Council Member | Dustin Swartz, Council Member
Mark Fancher, Council Member | David Eck, Council Member| Judy Madewell, Council Member
Moses Lake Civic Center – 401 S. Balsam or remote access*
Special Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Executive Session - 6:00 p.m.
-Litigation pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(i)
Call to Order - 6:30 p.m.
Mayor’s Report
-Robb Elementary School Shooting
Public Hearing **
#1 Ordinance to Repeal 2021 Comp Plan Update Ordinance 2992
Presented by Allison Williams, City Manager
Summary: Council to hear from public, review and consider adoption
Supplement Attachments pg 44
Adjournment
Next Regular Council Meeting is scheduled for June 14, 2022
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Council Special Meeting Page 1 of 43
ORDINANCE 3005 AN ORDINANCE REPEALING ORDINANCE 2992 THAT ADOPTED THE 2021 UPDATE TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, FUTURE PLAN LAND
USE MAP & RECOMMENDATION OF THE AREA OF URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOSES LAKE, WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Repeal. Ordinance 2992 is hereby repealed by this Ordinance. Section 2. City of Moses Lake Comprehensive Plan. The 2021 City of Moses Lake Comprehensive Plan adopted by Ordinance 2992 is repealed and the 2001 City of Moses
Lake Comprehensive Plan remains in effect.
Section 3. Amendment to Comprehensive Land Use/Zoning Map. The Community Development Department is directed to withdraw the City’s application for changes to the City’s Urban Growth Area, timely filed with Grant County for the 2022 docket.
Section 4. Work Plan. The Community Development Department is directed to develop a work plan to establish the schedule and process for the development of a new City of Moses Lake Comprehensive Plan.
Section 5. Severability. If any term or provision in this Ordinance shall be held to be invalid or
unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other term or provision of this Ordinance. Section 6. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force five (5) days after its passage and publication of its summary as provided by law.
ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Moses Lake, Washington and signed by its Mayor on May 31, 2022.
________________________________________ Dean Hankins, Mayor ATTEST:
________________________________ Debbie Burke, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
__________________________________ Katherine L. Kenison, City Attorney Martinez Swartz Myers Fancher Madewell Eck Hankins
Vote:
Date Published: June 6, 2022
Date Effective: June 11, 2022
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CITY
OF
MOSES LAKE
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ISSUE
OVERVIEW
November 9, 2021, City Council took action to
approve Ordinance 2992 adopting an overall update
to the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Urban Growth
Area recommendations for Grant County (UGA
amendments are approved by Grant County)
Action took place at a public hearing after SEPA
review, 60-day review from Commerce and based on
the input received through the public participation plan
created for the review and update of the
Comprehensive Plan.
Exhibits: Washington State Department of Commerce
Letter/Public Participation Plan
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ISSUE
OVERVIEW –
URBAN GROWTH
AREA
CONSIDERATIONS
EXHIBIT: SEPTEMBER 23,
2021 LAND CAPACITY
ANALYSIS
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CAPITAL
FACILITIES PLAN:
ENSURE THAT THOSE PUBLIC
FACILITIES AND SERVICES
NECESSARY TO SUPPORT
DEVELOPMENT SHALL BE
ADEQUATE TO SERVE THE
DEVELOPMENT AT THE TIME
THE DEVELOPMENT IS
AVAILABLE FOR OCCUPANCY
AND USE WITHOUT
DECREASING CURRENT
SERVICE LEVELS BELOW
LOCALLY ESTABLISHED
MINIMUM STANDARDS.
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CAPITAL FACILITIES
PLAN
TRANSPORTATION
ELEMENT
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OPTION 1
Repeal of Ordinance #2992
Motion: “I move to adopt Ordinance 3005,
repealing Ordinance 2992 that adopted the
2021 update to the Comprehensive Plan, Future
Land Use Map and recommendation of the Urban
Growth Area Boundary adjustment”
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OPTION 1
Ordinance would direct staff to develop a work plan for a process to create a new City of Moses Lake Comprehensive Plan and revert
to the 2001 Comprehensive Plan for the City
Concerns:
If adopted, Ordinance 3005 would violate SEPA, the Department of Commerce 60 day review/opportunity for agency comment,
the GMA’s public participation requirements, and the mandatory periodic Comprehensive Plan update leaving the City out of
compliance with GMA
This would be the City’s one Comprehensive Plan action allowed by state law for 2022, requiring the City to postpone other
docketed applications
The City’s 2001 Comprehensive Plan would be reinstated. It is critically outdated and fails to address current city infrastructure
identified in our updated Capital Facilities Plan (CFP). A project listing in an updated CFP and adopted Comp Plan is required to
apply for state and federal infrastructure funding, or to implement needs through concurrency
Projects that moved forward through permitting under new zoning provided for in the updated Comprehensive Plan would be left
in limbo
Leaves the City open to litigation
Places City staff in a difficult position when reviewing, assessing, conditioning, and otherwise processing land use applications
during this period pending an updated comprehensive plan.
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OPTION 1B: COUNCIL ADOPTS A PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAN
AND APPROVES A DRAFT ORDINANCE FOR REVIEW
This option avoids the violations identified in the first bullet of the slide above.
Council would need to adopt a public participation plan and approve the draft ordinance for review.
City would need to issue the DNS and commence the 60-day Commerce and public/agency review and
comment period, plus provide for public participation and public hearing(s).
Following the comment period, Council and staff would review all comments for consideration prior to final
action.
Council would adopt the ordinance repealing Ordinance 2992.
In order to complete the above procedural steps, the earliest (if initial action taken May 31st) date of final
action would be August 9, 2022.
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OPTION 2
Consideration of Amending Ordinance #2992
“I move to amend Ordinance #2992, modifying
Appendix A to include Area 5”
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OPTION 1
This action would leave the 2021 Comprehensive Plan adoption intact and would only
deal with Area #5
Concerns:
The Amendment would violate SEPA, the Department of Commerce 60 day
review/opportunity for agency comment, the GMA public participation requirements,
and would leave the City out of compliance with GMA
The City would be required to withdraw its County application for the Urban Growth
Area amendment leaving the stand alone applications for the County for UGA
amendments in limbo (analysis built upon updated Land Capacity Analysis utilized for
the 2021 overall Comprehensive Plan update)
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OPTION 2B: COUNCIL ADOPTS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAN
AND APPROVES A DRAFT ORDINANCE FOR REVIEW
This option avoids the violations identified in the first bullet of the above slide.
This option requires that the Council adopt a public participation plan and draft ordinance for review,
followed by issuance of a DNS and 60-day Commerce/public and agency comment, plus public participation
and public hearing(s).
Following public and agency review and comment, City Council and staff would review the comments for
consideration.
City Council would adopt the amendment adding back UGA 5.
The earliest this could be processed (if the first step occurred May 31st) is August 9, 2022.
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OPTION 3
Consideration of withdrawing the City’s Application to
Grant County for the Urban Growth Area Amendments:
“ I move to authorize staff to withdraw the City’s
application for the Urban Growth Area amendments
from Grant County’s docket and authorize staff to
engage the necessary resources to update the analysis
of the urban growth area in coordination with the City’s
annual Comprehensive Plan update process.”
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OPTION 2
This option would leave the City’s updated Comprehensive Plan in place and direct
staff utilize this year’s annual update process to reconsider the Urban Growth Area
recommendation to the County
Concerns:
•Both the County and State of Washington have expressed concerns about the size
of the City’s Urban Growth area and the ability to provide urban services.
•This would leave the existing urban growth area in place limiting the city’s future
flexibility with where to direct growth.
•Of the prior two options, this action provides a lower liability risk
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PROCESS FOR OPTION 3
Council first takes action to withdraw its UGA petition from the County (could be done May 31st).
Council engages consultant and staff to review the Comprehensive Plan and UGA through the annual amendment
cycle combined with all other docketed applications.
Council adopts and distributes the public participation plan.
Council develops a revised draft of the comprehensive plan.
Staff conducts SEPA review, commences the 60-day Commerce/public/agency review and comment period.
Planning Commission and Council hold public hearings and public comment period(s).
Council adopts a revised updated Comprehensive Plan and UGA.
The above procedures would need to be completed prior to March 31, 2023, which is the County’s application
deadline for the 2023 docket cycle.
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OPTION 4
If Council takes no action, the City’s
application for the Urban Growth Area
amendment continues through Grant County’s
annual update process.
City staff proceeds with this year’s annual
process which includes a docket of new
urban growth area requests.
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Public Hearing
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Page 1 of 2
STAFF REPORT
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Allison Williams, City Manager
Date: May 29, 2022
MAY 31, 2022 – PUBLIC HEARING STAFF OVERVIEW
For the May 31, 2022 public hearing, staff has provided you a copy of the Powerpoint which will
be presented. It provides a brief overview of the key issues surrounding the decision options for
City Council in regard to the potential repeal of Ordinance 2992. As background, and in response
to the public comments received May 27, 2022. Staff provides the additional information for City
Council consideration:
1)Final Response to the Petitioner: Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings
Board. This will allow Council to review the response in full, versus excerpts incorporated
into the public comment letter received.
2)Documentation of input, outreach and analysis provided during the process:
a.Phase 1 Engagement Summary and raw
comments received on the Story Map created for the
process. These comments helped to frame plan
priorities.
b.Powerpoint presentation created for public
outreach and utilized at presentations to the Port of
Moses Lake, Adams-Grant County Association of
Realtors, Rotary between May and July 2021 to get the
word out about the upcoming formal process.
c.July 2021 City Manager’s Report to the
Community asks the community to attend the July 2021
joint meeting of the City Council and Planning
Commission in regard to the Capital Facilities Plan (which
identifies where growth can be served)
d.9/23/21 Quick review of the outreach history in
light of comments by ASPI and others that no contact had
been made
(This photo was taken yesterday – 5/28-31 at McCosh
Park. Note the schedule for the process)
Packet Supplement, Page 44 of 203
Page 2 of 2
e. Petition and letter from the Marina Drive neighborhood regarding the
Comprehensive Plan adoption
f. Revised SEPA checklist for the Comprehensive Plan
g. Slides from the September 23, 2021 Planning Commission hearing regarding the
Land Capacity Analysis. Berk updated analysis, more conservatively projecting
available land by increasing deductions for critical areas, roads and infrastructure
and market factor, and still the City had the capacity to accommodate growth
based on accelerated growth figures.
Circulated as exhibits to the Powerpoint presentation were the letter from the State Department
of Commerce, the Public Participation Plan and the Land Capacity Analysis.
Staff from the Department of Commerce will be on hand for questions, but specifically from their
comment letters, staff would point City Council to the following:
“We appreciated your coordination with our agency….In previous years, Commerce
expressed concerns primarily centered on the lack of a land capacity analysis to support the proposal, as well as a lack of analysis regarding costs to provide capital facilities and urban services…We are pleased to see the City engage in a more rigorous evaluation…We are also encouraged by the collaboration we have observed
with Grant County Development Services….We are confident the work completed on
the periodic update with yield positive, long lasting results for the community. The City and County now have much better information regarding the cost of public facilities and services that are required to support new growth and development. We agree with the assertion that ‘the City should identify portions of the unincorporated UGA
where it will be difficult to extend urban services within the planning period and consider
such areas for removal from the UGA. (City of Moses Lake Land Capacity Analysis – updated September 23, 2021). The County cannot approve a UGA proposal unless there is a realistic, financially-constrained plan to provide urban services and facilities to the proposed UGA.” WAC 365-196-320 and 365-196-415.
Finally, staff will again reiterate state law: RCW 36.70A.070 (3)(e):
A requirement to reassess the land use element if probable funding falls short of meeting existing
needs and to ensure that the land use element, capital facilities plan element, and financing plan
within the capital facilities plan element are coordinated and consistent.
Four options are provided for City Council consideration and will be presented to City Council at
the meeting.
Staff still recommends staying the course – Option 4. With a revised Urban Growth Area, there is
flexibility for guiding growth to where urban services exist or can be added concurrent with
development.
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1600 Lind Ave. S.W., Suite 220
Renton, Washington 98055
425.264.1000 FAX 425.264.1268
www.ASPIGroup.com
May 27, 2022
City of Moses Lake
City Council
401 S Balsam
P.O. Box 1579
Moses Lake, WA 98837
Re: Proposed Ordinance to Repeal Ordinance 2992 - Comprehensive Plan Amendments
Retention of UGA Area 5 – North Mae Valley
Dear Mayor Hankins and Councilmembers:
I am submitting this material on behalf of ASPI Group, and our affiliate entity CFML LLC, for
your consideration regarding the Motion to Repeal the November 9, 2021, Ordinance 2992 referred
to as the Comprehensive Plan Update.
As you are aware, ASPI and CFML filed a Petition for Review of Ordinance 2992 with the Eastern
Washington Growth Management Hearings Board under Case No. 22-1-0001. Attached is our
Reply Brief that was filed by our attorneys in Spokane yesterday. Also attached is a previously
issued interim decision from the EWGMHB discussing the alleged deficiencies of the city-
managed SEPA process. I would encourage you to review those.
I think everyone is probably clear on our objections to both the way the notice and procedure was
managed and manipulated prior to the adoption of Ordinance 2992 as well as the glaring omissions
of critical information that formed the substantive conclusions. Our objections were set forth in
the following letters:
Letter to Planning Commission dated August 25, 2021
Letter to Planning Commission dated September 7, 2021
Letter to Planning Commission dated September 16, 2021
Letter to City Council dated October 8, 2021
Letter to City Council dated November 3, 2021
I would incorporate those letters herein along with the exhibits attached.
Without belaboring the arguments that we have already made, I would briefly describe them as
follows:
1.Lack of any direct notice, whatsoever, to the affected landowners in the UGA areas that
their properties were about to lose millions of dollars in value. Despite being one of the
largest landowners in the city and with constant communication with the city on various
Packet Supplement, Page 180 of 203
1600 Lind Ave. S.W., Suite 220
Renton, Washington 98055
425.264.1000 FAX 425.264.1268
www.ASPIGroup.com
issues we were never told that the ‘plan’ was to eliminate the UGA designation from our
property. This could have been done by a simple phone call or disclosure at any number of
meetings we have with city staff so that we would have an opportunity to rebut the city’s
consultant. This lack of simple ‘courtesy’ when causing millions of dollars in lost value
has significantly eroded our ‘trust’ in the city administration as we continue our efforts to
bring new retailers, residential developers, and industrial employers to Moses Lake. That
needs ‘healing’.
2. Obfuscation of information typically intended to give adequate notice to affected
landowners. There was nothing in the materials leading up to the adoption of Ordinance
2992 that would indicate which specific UGA properties were to be deleted. No addresses,
no parcel numbers, not even boundaries delineated on a GIS map. The only ‘map’ was a
‘cartoonish’ depiction in the consultant’s report that had a ‘dashed circle’ over a portion of
what is now referred to as the North Mae Valley UGA. Note that the ASPI/CFML property
is NOT even included in the ‘dashed circle’.
3. Legally deficient published notice. The city code requires a 15-day notice. The initial
public notice published in the Columbia Basin Herald, in addition to continuing the ‘cryptic
description of the agenda to remove a UGA area, was not published with the 15-day
requirement.
All of this is indicative of process ‘manipulation’ that would have given affected landowners an
opportunity to review, rebut, engage consultants, supplant the record with missing data, and make
the whole process open and transparent. I would direct you to comments from Planning
Commission members Gary Mann and Anne Henning that expressed these notice concerns as well
and ultimately recommended that the UGA area be maintained.
4. SEPA deficiencies. The original SEPA determination was predicated on an abbreviated
protocol that didn’t address any of the myriad of issues that these sweeping changes would
have on Moses Lake, including the ability to meet housing needs of employers, traffic
impacts expected to result in Level of Service “F” (gridlock), displacement of low-income
residents from the downtown core, and impacts to affordable housing. After our initial
objection, the city surreptitiously issued a 2nd SEPA determination – issued while the
deliberations on Ordinance 2992 were ongoing – and made no mention of it at the public
hearings or council meetings or to us, directly. Its only mention was a single sentence in
an almost 1,000-page Agenda package given to council members right before a meeting. It
was also time-deficient as discussed in the Interim Decision of the EWGMHB.
Our SEPA objections are discussed in the interim decision of the EWGMHB attached.
5. Lack of any information in the staff reports or city’s consultant’s report regarding projected
employment growth and the dearth of available housing to meet the needs of inbound
employers. ASPI is a well-known, ongoing participant in the industrial/retail employer
recruiting process with the Washington State Department of Commerce, Grant County
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1600 Lind Ave. S.W., Suite 220
Renton, Washington 98055
425.264.1000 FAX 425.264.1268
www.ASPIGroup.com
Economic Development Council, and the Port of Moses Lake. None of those critical
economic development entities were contacted for the consultant’s report. We have
proposals out to dozens of new employers that would result in hundreds of new direct jobs
that would then be subject to a typical 2.5:1 multiplier for indirect and induced jobs
resulting in thousands of new employees and residents. A glaring example of how
information was intentionally withheld from council is the REC/Hanwha expansion
estimated at 2500 direct jobs. A letter from Kevin Richards opines up to 5000. That was
known to the city and not disclosed to council. Employment projections are statutorily
required by the Growth Management Act.
The only assumption that can be made is that the intentional withholding of these industrial
employment numbers (along with impacts from the LDS Temple and new hospital) was to mask
the need for maintaining robust supplies of UGA areas that can be easily and quickly developed
to meet the needs of these inbound employers. Downtown ‘infill’ properties cannot meet surges in
demand.
6. The city’s consultant’s land analysis assumed far more available lands in the urban core to
meet housing needs and applied an erroneous Market Factor deduction that assumes an
unrealistic supply of available residential lands in downtown Moses Lake.
7. There was no economic analysis, whatsoever, on the enormously high costs to develop
high-rise condominiums and townhome projects in the urban core as compared to single
family residential projects in the UGA areas.
8. There was no demand analysis on where people – including the inbound employers – want
to live. The city manager said that fancy pictures of high-end projects were shown to people
at the county fair but there was no accompanying information on cost.
These combined issues show how the entire analysis supporting Ordinance 2992 was deficient and
flawed. In response to our assertion to the EWGMHB that development of infill-only properties
was too expensive, the city’s response to the EWGMHB was, essentially, that high costs of infill
development was the ‘developer’s problem’ – seemingly without any cognizant regard to
economic market forces whatsoever. A developer can’t build projects where the cost drives rent
higher than the median family income. That is why you don’t see any of these projects being
developed in Moses Lake. We discussed this at length in our letter to council dated November 3,
2021.
9. There was never any cost/benefit analysis performed by the city’s consultant on retaining
the UGAs. All the consultant and staff ever referred to was ‘cost’ to serve the UGA areas.
Of course, they didn’t explain that developers in the UGA area bear those costs exclusively.
They describe Moses Point in their submission to the EWGMHB as a ‘failed planned
development’. When I read that in the city’s brief, I felt so bad for the owners of Moses
Point – having invested their capital in a terrific golf course and highly desired place to live
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1600 Lind Ave. S.W., Suite 220
Renton, Washington 98055
425.264.1000 FAX 425.264.1268
www.ASPIGroup.com
being described by city administrators as ‘failed’. Is that council’s opinion? In fact, master
planned developments, in addition to supplying affordable housing, return significant
revenues to the community. We supplied, as an example, an Economic Impact Study on a
development in Wickenburg, Arizona, that returned more than $100 million in net revenue
to the city. We are working with the developer of this Wickenburg Ranch community to
come to Moses Lake. Again, the information has been ignored.
10. No analysis of a second lake crossing from Mae Valley and the positive impacts that it
would have on traffic in downtown Moses Lake. We submitted the former Transpo Study
for the second lake crossing commissioned by the county in 2009.
The Transpo Study is another example of the city’s ‘candor’ in addressing these issues. Our
attorneys pointed out to the EWGMHB the prior Transpo Study on the second lake crossing as
being absent from the Comprehensive Plan review. The city represented to the EWGMHB that the
Transpo Study concluded a ‘second lake crossing wasn’t necessary’. In fact, this is the actual
conclusion of the Transpo Study as taken from the report:
The point of this example isn’t to argue whether the Transpo Study is still valid. There are current
efforts under way at the county and POML to assess and update that. The point of the example is
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1600 Lind Ave. S.W., Suite 220
Renton, Washington 98055
425.264.1000 FAX 425.264.1268
www.ASPIGroup.com
that if you are going to so blatantly misrepresent and withhold critical information used to base
decisions on, you cannot be confident in the result. If the information used to make critical
decisions on the city’s future is corrupt, developers and the community itself, lose confidence –
and trust – in the decision-making processes. Investment in the city will suffer.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this information. ASPI and its affiliate entities have been
invested in the community for 35 years. We have enjoyed a terrific mutually beneficial relationship
that has created hundreds of jobs and brought great industrial employers and retailers to the
community. In that time, we have never sued anyone, or appealed anything until this decision.
We hope that your decision will allow us to continue our – and others – efforts to move the
community ahead. All we are really asking for is reinstatement/confirmation of the UGA area as
the Planning Commission originally recommended.
Sincerely yours,
Kim Foster
Kim Foster
Corporate Counsel
Packet Supplement, Page 184 of 203
PETITIONERS' REPLY BRIEF - 1
422 W. Riverside Avenue, Suite 1100 Phone: 509.624.5265
Spokane, Washington 99201-0300 Fax: 509.458.2728
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BEFORE THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT HEARINGS BOARD EASTERN WASHINGTON REGION STATE OF WASHINGTON AERO-SPACE PORT INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC., a Washington corporation; CFML,
LLC, a Washington limited liability company; STREDWICK LAND, LLC, a Washington limited liability company; and Robert L. SCHIFFNER, an individual,
Petitioners, v. CITY OF MOSES LAKE,
Respondent.
Case No. 22-1-0001
PETITIONERS' REPLY BRIEF
I. INTRODUCTION
While the City’s policy decisions are entitled to deference on review, no amount of
deference can remedy a decision made without the necessary information. The Amended
Comprehensive Plan is based on incomplete information and inaccurate assumptions. The
incomplete picture presented to the public and the City Council is a result of the City’s failure to
adequately notify and involve the public throughout the process and its ambivalence about fate
of the unincorporated UGAs. These failures have yielded an Amended Comprehensive Plan that
is procedurally and substantively noncompliant with the GMA.
Packet Supplement, Page 185 of 203
PETITIONERS' REPLY BRIEF - 2
422 W. Riverside Avenue, Suite 1100 Phone: 509.624.5265
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The City's failure to provide relevant information to the Planning Commission, the City
Council, and the public has plagued the comprehensive plan amendment process throughout. The
City failed to adopt or distribute a public engagement plan and failed to give adequate notice of
the hearing before the Building and Planning Commission. The City also failed to notify the
public that it planned to eliminate large portions of the unincorporated UGA in the Amended
Comprehensive Plan. When the plan was presented to the public at the September 26, 2021
Building and Planning Commission meeting and public hearing, the elimination of certain areas
from the unincorporated UGA was described as a mere recommendation from the City's
consultant, not a feature of the Amended Comprehensive Plan. The City likewise failed to
adequately evaluate and disclose the probable environmental impacts of the Amended
Comprehensive Plan and did not give notice of its revised Environmental Checklist until just
four days before the public hearing before City Council. And most recently, the City amended
its comprehensive plan again, without a properly noticed public hearing, to include the expansion
of its UGA to include additional land to accommodate a large new industrial development, which
promises to bring a substantial influx of residents to the City.
The GMA is intended to encourage thoughtful, community-oriented planning to ensure
responsible development and growth. Petitioners merely seek to hold the City to the requirements
under which it is legally bound and to ensure the City in which they live and work upholds the
integrity of its Comprehensive Plan, its most basic land use planning component.
II. ARGUMENT
A. The City's public participation and notice efforts did not comply with the requirements of the GMA.
The City cannot point to any evidence that it distributed a public participation plan.
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Instead, it recites the steps it took to engage the public in the early phases of the comprehensive
plan amendment process. See Resp. Br. at 6–13. However, the City's efforts to engage the public
do not cure its failure to adopt and disseminate a public participation plan under RCW
36.70A.140.
In Wold v. City of Poulsbo, Case No. 10-3-0005c, the City of Poulsbo updated its
Comprehensive Plan following a three-year review of elements within the previous
Comprehensive Plan. The city divided its comprehensive planning process into three phases. See
id. at 14. Phase 1 was an opportunity for the public to participate in a community visioning
exercise. Id. Then, after formally issuing the Draft Comprehensive Plan, the City began Phase 2
and Phase 3, during which time the plan was considered in a number of public hearings. Id.
The Board observed that the City undertook "an impressive attempt" to engage the citizens
of Poulsbo to participate and develop the future vision of the City. Id. However, this alone was
not enough:
Petitioners appear to be correct in their assessment that while Phase I was
underway, there was not a fully designed Public Participation Plan in place. The
Petitioners are correct that RCW 36.70A.140 requires the City to not only "establish" a public participation program but to "broadly disseminate it and, that this program is to identify procedures providing for early and continuous public participation in the development and amendment of comprehensive plan."
Id.
The Board continued:
The dilemma for the Board is that while Phase 1 of the public outreach program was an extensive effort, it did not apparently include a fully laid our Public
Participation Plan—a plan that would notify the public that over an eighteen month period the staff needed time to develop a draft plan and the supporting analysis and what to expect from a Phase 2 and Phase 3.
Packet Supplement, Page 187 of 203
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Id. at 15. Accordingly, the Board concluded "[t]he intent of 'early and continuous' was not met."
Id.
Here, as in Poulsbo, the City recounts its efforts to engage the public in its early planning
process. However, no public participation plan was adopted, nor was one disseminated to the
public. As the Board's decision in Poulsbo illustrates, the fact that the City engaged in public
participation efforts does not, alone, satisfy the public participation requirements under RCW
36.70A.140. Without a broadly disseminated public participation plan, citizens cannot know what
to expect at each stage in the planning process.
Moreover, the Board should reject the City’s attempt to cast the generalized requirements
of MLMC 19.55.070 as a public participation plan under the GMA. That section states only that
"The public shall be made aware of the opportunity to suggest amendments and to comment on
suggested amendments through methods including but not limited to direct mailings, newsletter
and newspaper articles, legal advertisements, and notices posted in public places." This
generalized directive is not a public participation plan as conceptualized under the GMA.
Critically, the City adopted substantial changes to the UGAs without giving the public
adequate notice and opportunity to participate in this analysis and decision. The City contends
that it did not need to comply with MLMC 20.07.020 because the action was purely legislative.
Even assuming the City's interpretation of MLMC 20.07020 is correct, the City nonetheless failed
to give adequate notice as required by the GMA.
At a minimum, the GMA requires Cities to use notice procedures that are reasonably
calculated to provide notice to property owners. Here, the only notice provided of the September
16, 2021 Planning Commission Meeting and public hearing was published in the Columbia Basin
Herald on September 3, 2021. This provided only 12 days' notice of the hearing. Notably, the
Packet Supplement, Page 188 of 203
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notice itself is not separated by any hearing, which makes it appear to be part of a preceding legal
notice.
The City's overall process also failed to give adequate notice of the specific changes to the
Comprehensive Plan the City intended to ultimately adopt. The materials provided in advance of
the September 16, 2021 Planning Commission public hearing on the Updated Comprehensive
Plan did not identify the specific reductions to the UGA that were ultimately adopted and
recommended by the City. As to the Mae Valley UGA, the City's Land Capacity Analysis stated
only that the Mae Valley UGA "contains nearly a third of the UG's residential capacity, so
additional analysis should be completed before making UGA reductions in this area." MLCP 411.
This tepid suggestion did not place owners on notice of the City's planned UGA reductions
through the Amended Comprehensive Plan.
The "suggested UGA revisions" map provided by the City was also insufficient to give
the public notice of the proposed UGA amendments. That map shows suggested UGA revisions
through a dashed circle. MCLP 608. However, the circle over the Mae Valley area does not
include the entire Mae Valley UGA area. A citizen looking at this map could easily conclude that
only a portion of the UGA was being proposed for removal. Again, this failed to put property
owners on notice of the precise changes the City was considering and ultimately adopted in the
Amended Comprehensive Plan.
While perhaps not required under the GMA, the fact that the City failed to provide notice
to individually affected property owners in the Mae Valley UGA highlights the City's general
disregard for public participation on this topic. Removing the Mae Valley UGA will substantially
limit the potential uses to which the property can be put and will, in turn, reduce the property
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value. The City's failure to give notice to Petitioners, thus, was not in the spirit of the meaningful
opportunity for public participation embodied in the GMA, which specifically contemplates
notice should be given to "public or private groups with known interest in a certain proposal or in
the type of proposal being considered."
B. The City's post-hoc justifications for removing the Mae Valley UGA do not cure the deficiencies in the Amended Comprehensive Plan.
Petitioners do not contend that the City should retain an “oversized UGA,” nor do they
assert that all of the unincorporated UGA lands should have been retained in the Amended
Comprehensive Plan. Instead, Petitioners assert that the City went too far in recommending the
UGA be reduced by over a thousand acres—the majority of which come from the Mae Valley
UGA—and did so without considering important factors relevant to the analysis.
Without citation, the City contends that “[a] review of the record clearly establishes robust
and lengthy conversations about land capacity, appropriate market factor, need for affordable
housing, and projected growth.” Resp. Br. at 17. However, the record does not reflect that the
City or its consultant considered the issues Petitioners raise here—namely, that large industrial
projects will bring a rapid influx of residents to Moses Lake that the current housing supply cannot
accommodate. There is also no evidence that the City consulted with the Washington State
Department of Commerce, the Grant County Economic Development Committee, or the Port of
Moses Lake regarding future economic conditions.
The Land Capacity Analysis makes no mention of the large industrial projects that are
coming to Moses Lake, despite the fact that the City has been aware of some of these projects for
Packet Supplement, Page 190 of 203
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over a year.1 Indeed, there is no evidence that this project, or others like it, were considered by
the City’s consultant or the City Council in evaluating the Land Capacity Analysis.
The City’s conclusion that “affordable housing [is] not a priority for Petitioners” is both
inaccurate and irrelevant. Resp. Br. at 17. In letters provided to the City, developers in the
community pointed out that the “in fill” examples provided by the City’s consultant do not match
the realities of what can be supported in the Moses Lake market. Developers will not invest in in-
fill development without a strong basis to believe the market can support the development. Yet,
the record is completely absent of any discussion of these realities and contains no evidence that
these factors were considered in developing the market factor.
The Board should also reject the City’s attempt to side-step the deficiencies in its analysis
by stating that any deficiencies can be addressed through future amendments to the
Comprehensive Plan. The GMA requires local governments to plan based on information known
to them at the time, including information about future development.
The City’s Land Capacity Analysis failed to account for large-scale development that
would require additional land to be added to the UGA and would bring hundreds of jobs to the
City of Moses Lake. It also failed to adequately evaluate the economic feasibility of the in-fill
development it asserts will provide the additional housing not currently available in Moses Lake.
Most importantly, however, the record shows no evidence that the City investigated or analyzed
whether removing Mae Valley from the UGA was consistent with City and County planning
1 One of the letters attached to the staff report in support of the amendment to the Amended
Comprehensive Plan discusses REC’s plans to establish a new manufacturing site in Moses Lake. That letter is dated March 15, 2021.
Packet Supplement, Page 191 of 203
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goals.
C. The City has failed to adequately address the GMA's capital facilities requirements.
The Amended Comprehensive Plan identifies a number of projects that identify the state
as a source of funding. See MLCP 1713. These include improvements to Broadway Ave &
Stratford Rd. Intersection ($75,000), Stratford Road and SR 17 Intersection and Marts Road
Signalization and Interchange Improvements (3,000,000), Additional Lake Crossing – Motor
Vehicle Bridge ($42,000,000,000). However, the only project in the Transportation Improvement
Program for which state funds are identified as a funding source is the Additional Lake Crossing.
This inconsistency between the Transportation Improvement Program and the Comprehensive
Plan was pointed out to the City by the Department of Transportation, but the City failed to
reevaluate its capital facilities element in light of this inconsistency.
D. The City failed to comply with applicable notice requirements for its SEPA
threshold determination.
Faced with its failure to give adequate notice of the SEPA determination under WAC 197-
11-210(2), the City contends that the integrated SEPA/GMA review procedures do not apply to
it. The City erroneously submits that "neither Chapter 14.06 MLMC, State Environmental Policy
Act, nor Chapter 19.55 MLMC, Comprehensive Plan Amendment Regulation Amendments,
incorporates [the integrated SEPA/GMA procedural rules." However, MLMC 14.06.010 states
that the City of Moses Lake has adopted the State Environmental Policy Act and "the SEPA
rules." MLMC 14.06.020(B)(2) defines "SEPA rules" as "Chapter 197-11 WAC adopted by the
Department of Ecology." Of course, WAC 197-11-210 is a part of Chapter 197-11 WAC. Thus,
contrary to what the City contends, it has been adopted under Chapter 14.06 MLMC.
Packet Supplement, Page 192 of 203
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Moreover, the City cannot in good faith contend that it was not utilizing the integrated
SEPA/GMA procedures when it issued the DND and "Revised" DNS for the Amended
Comprehensive Plan. On the first page of both documents in the upper right-hand corner, the
Environmental Checklist and "Revised" Environmental Checklist plainly state "Integrated
SEPA/GMA Process." See MLCP 1223. It is also plain that the City undertook the threshold
determination as part of an integrated SEPA/GMA process given the timing of the threshold
determination and the fact that the Amended Comprehensive Plan was submitted to the SEPA
register in tandem with the Environmental Checklist.
E. The City's SEPA determination is clearly erroneous.
The "Revised" Environmental Checklist acknowledges that the Amended Comprehensive
Plan "will require some Agricultural land within the City to be converted to housing or other
urban style land use." MLCP 1238. However, it fails to critically assess how much agricultural
land will be converted and how intensely that land will need to be developed in order to keep up
with the population demands, especially in light of the removal of UGA 5 from the unincorporated
UGA.
The Environmental Checklist also fails to account for how deletion of the Mae Valley
UGA will affect "discharge to water; emissions to air; production, storage, or release of toxic or
hazardous substances; or production of noise." The Amended Comprehensive Plan and
supporting Land Capacity Analysis emphasize industrial UGA development. Prioritizing
industrial uses, rather than other types of uses such as residential or recreational, will undeniably
impact these factors. However, the City makes no attempt to assess the environmental
ramifications of its policy choices in the Environmental Checklist.
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ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS SEPA ISSUE Case No. 22-1-0001
MARCH 17, 2022
Page 1 of 5
Growth Management Hearings Board 1111 Israel Road SW, Suite 301
P.O. Box 40903
Olympia, WA 98504-0953
Phone: 360-664-9170
Fax: 360-586-2253
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BEFORE THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT HEARINGS BOARD
EASTERN REGION
STATE OF WASHINGTON
AERO-SPACE PORT INTERNATIONAL
GROUP, INC., STREDWICK LAND, LLC,
AND ROBERT SCHIFFNER,
Petitioners,
v.
CITY OF MOSES LAKE,
Respondents.
CASE No. 22-1-0001
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS SEPA ISSUE
This matter comes before the Growth Management Hearings Board (Board) on the
City of Moses Lake’s (City) Dispositive Motion for Partial Dismissal1 and Petitioners’
Response to Respondent City of Moses Lake’s Motion.2
The dates of the actions taken by the City leading up to this case are not in dispute,
but are pertinent to the Board’s consideration of the Motion.
The City first issued a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist and a
Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) in support of the comprehensive plan changes that
became the challenged ordinance on September 1, 2021. Petitioners provided oral and
written comment within the City’s identified comment period.
The City issued a Revised SEPA Checklist and DNS on October 14, 2021, providing
for public comment through November 8, 2021. The revised DNS referenced the City’s
1 Filed February 28, 2022.
2 Filed March 9, 2022.
Packet Supplement, Page 196 of 203
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS SEPA ISSUE Case No. 22-1-0001
MARCH 17, 2022
Page 2 of 5
Growth Management Hearings Board 1111 Israel Road SW, Suite 301
P.O. Box 40903
Olympia, WA 98504-0953
Phone: 360-664-9170
Fax: 360-586-2253
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administrative process for appeals, but no further comments were received from the
Petitioners and no appeals were made under the City’s process.
The City passed the Comprehensive Plan Amendments under consideration in
Ordinance 2992 on November 9, 2021 with publication on November 15, 2021.
At that point in time, the deadline to file a petition for review with this Board was
January 14, 2022.3 The Moses Lake Municipal Code (MLMC) provides for review for
procedural determinations on non-project action.4
ANALYSIS
The City of Moses Lake alleges that because the MLMC provides an administrative
remedy for challenges to the SEPA Checklist and DNS, the issue alleging violation of SEPA
must be dismissed. The City’s motion correctly describes the general rule that challenges
brought under SEPA must exhaust administrative remedies before further appeal.5
Both parties cite Citizens for Clean Air v. City of Spokane6 as providing the test for
whether the exhaustion requirement bars review of a SEPA challenge, requiring inquiry as
to “(1) whether administrative remedies were exhausted; (2) whether an adequate remedy
was available; (3) whether adequate notice of the appeals procedure was given; and (4)
whether exhaustion would have been futile.”7
Petitioners respond that the facts in this case illustrate that the appeals procedure
provided in MLMC and state law do not provide a judicial path for appeal of the revised
DNS, thus the appeal is properly before this Board. The fourth prong of the test is not met,
Petitioners argue, because on these facts pursuing exhaustion of the administrative remedy
would have been futile.8 In its motion, the City addressed the question of futility by providing
a quote from Citizens for Clean Air that “the policies underlying exhaustion impose a
3 WAC 242-03-220.
4 MLMC 14.06.070(C).
5 City of Moses Lake’s Disposition Motion for Partial Dismissal, p. 3 et seq., citing State v. Grays Harbor
County, 122 Wn.2d 244, 857 P.2d 1039 (1993) and Board cases.
6 114 Wn.2d 20, 785 P.2d 447 (1990).
7 Citizens for Clean Air, p. 26.
8 Petitioners’ Response to Repondent City of Moses Lake’s Motion for Partial Dismissal, at 7.
Packet Supplement, Page 197 of 203
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS SEPA ISSUE Case No. 22-1-0001
MARCH 17, 2022
Page 3 of 5
Growth Management Hearings Board 1111 Israel Road SW, Suite 301
P.O. Box 40903
Olympia, WA 98504-0953
Phone: 360-664-9170
Fax: 360-586-2253
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substantial burden on a litigant attempting to show futility”9 and then offers a conclusory
statement that the appeal process provided the Petitioners with a meaningful opportunity for
appeal and “is the opposite of futile.” The City in its motion does not address the factual
situation here, created by the City’s own decision for calendaring the SEPA process
immediately prior to adoption of the challenged ordinance.
This Board’s singular jurisdiction to review SEPA challenges to comprehensive plans
and development regulations was explained and affirmed in Davidson Serles where
property owners attempted to bring suit directly to the superior court on SEPA claims.10 The
case illustrates that review of the underlying governmental action must be joined with the
SEPA appeal. Furthermore and more applicable to this case, an unconsolidated appeal
where the underlying governmental action is properly subject to review by another tribunal
cannot be sustained.
The guiding principle here was set out in In re Jurisdiction of King County Hearing
Examiner, where a SEPA appeal was brought under the county’s administrative review
process, but before the hearing examiner completed review, a permit application was filed
under a development agreement.11 The county code did not provide for review of the
underlying development agreement, but the court of appeals granted the motion to enjoin
the hearing examiner’s continuation of the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The action of
acceptance of the permit application pursuant to an adopted development agreement halted
administrative appeals and the hearing examiner lacked jurisdiction to continue the
appeal.12 Appeal could not, in this particular instance, have been entertained by this Board,
because development agreements are not reviewable by us, but the principle concerning
consolidation of appeals under SEPA and the conjoined governmental action is applicable.
9 Citizens for Clean Air, at 30.
10 Davidson Serles & Assoc. v. City of Kirkland, 159 Wn. App. 616, 626, 246 P.3rd 822 (2011).
11 135 Wn. App. 312, 144 P.3rd 345 (2006).
12 Id. at 328.
Packet Supplement, Page 198 of 203
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS SEPA ISSUE Case No. 22-1-0001
MARCH 17, 2022
Page 4 of 5
Growth Management Hearings Board 1111 Israel Road SW, Suite 301
P.O. Box 40903
Olympia, WA 98504-0953
Phone: 360-664-9170
Fax: 360-586-2253
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The City’s actions leading up to adoption of the challenged ordinance covered a
relatively short period of time, only a few weeks between publication of the revised DNS on
and adoption of Ordinance 2992 on November 9, 2021.
While the City argues that the Petitioners could have pursued an unconsolidated
appeal under MLMC 14.06.070(2)(c), the facts suggest that the timelines under that process
clearly indicated the futility of pursuing that path. The appeal must be filed within 14 days
and then the Director must set a hearing within ninety (90) days of that filing.13 These
actions would have overlapped with the requirement for the Petitioners to file a petition for
review with this Board by January 14.
The City wants to take the opportunity for the SEPA appeal back to September when
the first Checklist and DNS were issued and to time the question of futility from that point.
The City declines to address the fact that the September Checklist was relatively
perfunctory and that the entire process from the initial Checklist and DNS to the revised
Checklist and DNS was a little more than six weeks; the comment period ended on
November 8 and the challenged ordinance was adopted the next day, November 9.
As Petitioners point out, if the City had issued the DNS and Checklist sixty (60) days
prior to adoption of the proposed amendments, as required by WAC 197-11-230(1)(a), the
Petitioners could have filed the appeal called for in MLMC 14.06.070(C). That was not the
case. The speed of the City’s issuance of the revised Checklist and DNS, followed by and in
conjunction with filing deadlines pertinent to the GMHB, led to the futility of filing an
administrative appeal.
Even if Petitioners had pursued an unconsolidated SEPA appeal under MLMC
14.05.070(C)(3), the hearing examiner would have lost jurisdiction as soon as the
Petitioners filed an appeal on the challenged ordinance with this Board.
The Board is persuaded that the facts in this case support a consolidation of the
SEPA appeal with the challenge to the underlying ordinance. The Board finds that
13 MLMC 14.06.070(C)(3)-(4).
Packet Supplement, Page 199 of 203
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS SEPA ISSUE Case No. 22-1-0001
MARCH 17, 2022
Page 5 of 5
Growth Management Hearings Board 1111 Israel Road SW, Suite 301
P.O. Box 40903
Olympia, WA 98504-0953
Phone: 360-664-9170
Fax: 360-586-2253
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exhaustion of the administrative remedy is not required in this case, as pursuit of the
administrative remedy would have been futile.
ORDER
The City of Moses Lake’s Dispositive Motion for Partial Dismissal is DENIED.
DATED this 17th day of March, 2022.
________________________________
Bill Hinkle, Presiding Officer
________________________________
Deb Eddy, Board Member
_________________________________
Rick Eichstaedt, Board Member
Packet Supplement, Page 200 of 203
1
Debbie Burke
From:Debbie Burke
Sent:Friday, May 27, 2022 2:44 PM
To:Kim Foster
Cc:Vivian Ramsey; Michelene Torrey; Allison Williams; Kirsten Sackett; Jennifer Schober
Subject:RE: City of Moses Lake - City Council Submission - May 31, 2022 Meeting
Hello,
This is to acknowledge that your written testimony for the Council hearing is received.
Thank you,
Debbie.
Debbie Burke
Administrative Services Manager/City Clerk
City of Moses Lake
PO Box 1579
401 S Balsam St.
Moses Lake, WA 98837
(509)764‐3703
NOTICE OF PUBLIC DISCLOSURE: This e‐mail account is public domain. Any correspondence from or to this e‐mail account
may be a public record. Accordingly, this e‐mail, in whole or in part, may be subject to disclosure pursuant to RCW 42.56,
regardless of any claim of confidentiality or privilege asserted by an external party.
From: Kim Foster <kfoster@aspigroup.com>
Sent: Friday, May 27, 2022 1:51 PM
To: City Clerk <cityclerk@cityofml.com>
Cc: Vivian Ramsey <vramsey@cityofml.com>; Michelene Torrey <mtorrey@cityofml.com>
Subject: City of Moses Lake ‐ City Council Submission ‐ May 31, 2022 Meeting
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verify the sender. Allow sender | Block sender
sophospsmartbannerend
Subject: City of Moses Lake ‐ City Council Submission ‐ May 31, 2022 Meeting
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Hello – Please include the attached letter in the council agenda package for the May 31, 2022 meeting
addressing repeal of the Comprehensive Plan updates and Ordinance 2992.
Please confirm receipt.
Thank you! Have a great holiday weekend.
Kim Foster
Corporate Counsel
ASPI Group, Inc.
1600 Lind Ave. SW, Suite 220
Renton, Washington 98055
(206) 356‐4936
Sent from Mail for Windows
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Debbie Burke
From:Vic Jansen <vicj@gcpower.net>
Sent:Friday, May 27, 2022 2:37 PM
To:City Clerk
Subject:Public Comment for 05/31/2021 Special Meeting
Caution! This message was sent from outside your organization. Allow sender | Block sender
Following please find my public comment for the Moses Lake City Council Special Meeting on
05/31/2021 at 6:30 PM.
Re: Ordinance to Repeal 2021 Comp Plan Update Ordinance 2992
Dear Moses Lake City Council Members,
My name is Vic Jansen. I own 213 acres of Heavy Industrial property within the UGA and
Opportunity Zone in the West Side Employment Center. I recently spent over $900,000 paying for an
LID conceived and executed by the Port of Moses Lake for improvements in access and utilities all to
bring new jobs to our area.
Two multi-billion dollar companies have recently inquired about acquiring all or part of my property. A
huge concern seems to be housing for employees of these and other potential new companies
considering moving to the Moses Lake area.
I urge you to repeal the 2021 Comp Plan Update Ordinance 2992 and ensure the public has more
opportunity to have input on the Comprehensive Plan in the future.
Best,
Vic Jansen
509-766-1542
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