Olympia committee hears a proposal for a three-unit townhome on Walnut Road, NW

The Olympia Site Plan Review Committee heard a proposal for building townhomes at an empty lot at 2011 Walnut Road NW on Wednesday.

Applicants for the Walnut Townhomes project, Tim Fyrst and Kai Fyrst, are currently planning to buy two lots – one empty and one with a house, and asked the review committee about submitting permits on the empty lots, which they would subdivide to build a three-unit townhome.

"We want to make sure nothing, in particular, would cause us issues to move forward,” Tim told the committee.  “We want to make sure that this is not going to be an egregious process to be able to make something work there."

Planning and engineering review

Paula Smith, Olympia's associate planner, noted that the proposal they received from the applicants was a for three-lot short plant for townhome development. The property is in the R 4-8 district, with a maximum density of eight units per acre.

Paula said a maximum of two units is allowed to build based on the city code provision for calculating density.

"When subdividing, we have to ensure that density is not being exceeded. So, if you decide to subdivide, then two units are going to be the maximum that you're going to be able to get with that," Paula said.

However, Paula offered other options where maximum density is not a factor. 

She said the zoning district allows other uses, such as duplex, triplex, or fourplex. "You can either choose to subdivide and be limited to two, or you have other uses allowed by the district that will not trigger density provisions to come into play."

Paula said they would look at a tree plan for urban forestry requirements that would go with the building permit application. She said they would be required to have five to six tree units for a 0.19-acre lot.

Tim Smith, Community Planning and Development deputy director and facilitator of the review committee meeting, explained that the tree plan is put together by a certified arborist, who would look at adjacent trees and ensure no roots are impacted during the construction. He added that they would require tree protection fencing around the root zones.

If the developer opts to do townhomes, senior engineering plan examiner Tiffani King said each unit has to have its water meter and would have to install a one-inch meter to facilitate domestic use and fire suppression for fire sprinklers.

However, for the triplex or fourplex, considered commercial, King added that they require a larger meter that all the units share.

King noted there is no sewer on Walnut Road on the property side. She said the sewer was stubbed out to Walnut Road and at the intersection of Division Street.

The developers are asked to pick the line up and do a main sewer extension across the entire frontage of the parcel.

The developers are asked to pick the line up and do a main sewer extension across the entire frontage of the parcel.

Transportation

According to the city code, King said 20 average daily vehicle trips would require full frontage improvements.

King informed the developers that a single-family house or townhouse is under ten daily vehicle trips.

She said if the developers opted to do more than two units, full frontage to the major collector standards is required. These are the sidewalk, planting strip, streetlights, and others.