Lake Forest Park hearing on Mark Gary RUE continued; applicant given 180 days to resubmit

Hearing Examiner John Gault continued an open-record hearing on city file 2021-RUE-0001, a reasonable use exception filed by Mark Gary, to a date and time uncertain and set a 180-day deadline for the applicant to submit any revised application materials for staff review.

The continuation comes after testimony from the applicant and his consultants describing design changes the team said they would pursue to address concerns raised by city staff and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The applicant’s consultant said the team is “willing to reduce the house foot footprint size to 750 square feet,” and proposed a cumulative floor area of 1,500 square feet and site changes intended to reduce potential impacts to Lion Creek.

Gault said the applicant’s planned revisions and the volume of existing written comment made taking public testimony on the current materials less useful. “I truly believe that taking the time, taking more time to listen to your testimony would probably be not worthwhile because the project that I'm going to carry over or carry any significant weight to a project that's different,” Gault said, explaining why he would not hear public testimony at this sitting and would continue the…