The Plat Committee on Oct. 8 approved a subdivision plat for Marathon Petroleum Company LP and granted a waiver of sidewalk installation along 80th Street, reversing city staff’s recommendation to deny the waiver.

City staff told the committee: “We are recommending denial of this waiver request,” citing the lack of a site‑specific practical difficulty and the city’s pedestrian and greenway plans. Committee members, however, voted to approve the plat and the sidewalk waiver.

The petition (2025PLT‑052) proposes a replat dividing 81.68 acres of an industrial area into two lots and requested a waiver of sidewalks along 80th Street. The applicant, represented by Andrew Dodson of Y Engineers, said no continuous sidewalk exists for roughly 3,000 feet east or west of the frontage and noted the property sits on the north side of the street while an existing trail segment lies on the south side.

Staff planners said the city’s consolidated zoning and subdivision ordinance allows sidewalk waivers where extreme topography or practical difficulties make sidewalks infeasible (chapter 7 44 section 3 0 1 was cited in the staff report), but staff did not identify steep grades or site‑specific difficulties and flagged the city’s Vision 0 initiative and the Greenways Plan as reasons to prefer sidewalks where feasible. The Greenways Plan and staff’s Greenways team were described as identifying the corridor for a potential connector between 86th and 80th streets; that plan remains in scoping and has no firm alignment.

Committee discussion centered on prior action: members noted a waiver for the broader area had been approved in 2023 and questioned whether a payment to the sidewalk fund accompanied that earlier waiver. Staff said the 2023 decision letter did not reference a payment and there was no record in the meeting that a contribution had been made; the committee chose not to require an immediate payment on the record and approved the current waiver.

The committee’s roll call recorded yes votes from the members present (Evans, Rassdale and Wilson), and the motion to approve the plat with the sidewalk waiver carried. The applicant was told they would receive the approved plat and waiver without a new contribution assessed at the meeting.

Why it matters: granting the waiver allows the property owner to proceed with the plat without adding curbside pedestrian infrastructure along that frontage now; staff said adding sidewalks would support the city’s walkability and greenway goals, while the applicant emphasized the absence of nearby sidewalks and the industrial nature of the corridor.

The decision leaves an open question about whether a prior sidewalk fund contribution was made in 2023; staff advised that contributions, if required, are sometimes appended at permit stage and that they had no record of a payment in this case. The committee approved the plat and waiver; any future development permits or connections to the greenway could change requirements or trigger contributions.