Medical Lake hearing on Fox Ridge monument sign spotlights safety concerns and missing plat records

Hearing examiner Carl Granrath held a public hearing on May 14, 2025, in Medical Lake City Hall on a variance application (file LU2024-032VA) from the Fox Ridge Homeowners Association to locate a subdivision entrance monument sign in the center median of North Fox Ridge Road at its intersection with North Graham Road.

The variance request asks the city to allow a monument sign in public right of way where Medical Lake’s municipal code generally requires subdivision entry signs to be on private property. Eliza Rodriguez, the city planner, told the hearing examiner the application was submitted Dec. 20, 2024, deemed complete Jan. 17, 2025, taken off hold March 13, and that the public comment period closed May 7. Rodriguez summarized the approval criteria and the site: an 80-foot right of way at the subdivision entrance, a roughly 10-foot-wide median, 5-foot sidewalks on each side and a median tip about 12–15 feet from the intersection stop bar. She said, “the variance does not constitute the granting of a special privilege inconsistent with the limitations upon other properties,” and recommended allowing the sign as depicted in the applicant’s exhibit subject to permitting.

Rodriguez also told the hearing examiner the city’s public works review raised no concerns about the proposed location or size; she said a public-works permit and any required maintenance agreement would be addressed separately at permitting. She said the city’s files did not include documentation explaining why the entrance right of way was laid out at 80 feet or any recorded agreement reserving private tract(s) for entry landscaping; the planner said she could not locate a final-plat decision text in the files and that the plat itself is recorded.

Applicant Carl Munson, representing the Fox Ridge Homeowners Association, described the project’s development, said he had solicited contractor bids and design work, and reported he and earlier HOA officers had located some historical HOA records that might bear on the entrance. Munson said the monument cost would be under $30,000 and that Fox Ridge contains about 80 lots; he said he would provide the documents he found to the city for the record.

Several residents spoke in opposition or with questions about safety and process. Ted Olson, a former school-bus driver who read a statement from Catherine Blevin (described in the record as a driver trainer for Medical Lake schools), said the intersection “is one of the most precarious turns I make in Medical Lake with a bus” and argued a monument could be “a distraction or a hazard to drivers.” Residents Ted Adams and Connie Olsen cited winter icing and prior incidents of vehicles sliding into the median; Adams said he had once driven onto the median himself when roads were icy. Scott Quigley and other neighbors said many homeowners had not been aware of specific design plans and expressed concern about HOA process and notice.

The hearing record includes city staff notes that other subdivision entry monuments in Medical Lake are located on private property, not in the right of way. Munson told the examiner that earlier HOA officers had discussed monuments for all three Fox Ridge entrances and that some archival material had been found at a former HOA officer’s home; he agreed to provide copies.

Hearing examiner Granrath did not make a decision at the hearing. He said his written decision would be issued within 14 calendar days under the ordinance and explained appeal rights. He explicitly left the record open only to allow: (1) submission of the documents the applicant said he located; (2) a copy of the recorded final plat and any documents recorded with it; and (3) written comments from parties the planner or examiner reasonably determines should be contacted, specifically naming the Medical Lake School District and the fire department and any other relevant public-works or utility comments. Granrath said no other public comment or documents would be admitted after those limited submittals.

If the variance is approved in writing, the planner noted the applicant would still need to obtain public-works and building permits and any maintenance agreement required for privately constructed items in the public right of way. The examiner closed the hearing after noting those limited items would be accepted into the record; no vote or permit was granted at the hearing.