Hearing examiner to decide Oak Harbor facility's six-bed expansion after staff recommends approval

On July 8, 2025, the City of Oak Harbor hearing examiner heard a request to expand an existing conditional-use care facility by 985 square feet and six beds and admitted the staff report and exhibits into the record.

City staff recommended approval of the conditional use permit and the site plan review with conditions, saying the site plan met review standards and that engineering had confirmed the proposed stormwater design. “We recommend approval of the conditional use permit and the site plan review with the conditions that we have attached to the hearing examiner staff report,” said Ray, a City of Oak Harbor staff member who presented the report.

The expansion would increase the facility’s authorized capacity from 10 beds to 16 beds. Staff said the requested addition is being processed as a Type 3 conditional-use application packaged with site-plan review; the staff report includes a condition that any future expansion would also require a conditional-use application. Staff confirmed that all reviewing departments examined the proposal and that engineering had reviewed and was satisfied with the stormwater facility design as submitted.

The hearing had no members of the public in attendance. The applicant representative, identified in the record as Mr. Walsh, indicated in the Teams chat that he and the applicant “agree with the conditions of approval.” No public testimony was offered during the hearing.

The hearing examiner admitted the staff report and exhibits 1 through 5 into the record. Staff said a final written decision will be issued in about 10 business days. There was no formal vote recorded at the hearing; staff’s recommendation and the applicant’s agreement to conditions were the main outcomes reflected on the record.

The file number for the application as reported at the hearing is 2504-0016/2504-0017. The record includes the staff report, the conditional-use application and site plan, a zoning and vicinity map, and public noticing documents among exhibits 1–5. The presenter noted this expansion differs from the original approval only in that the current request packages site-plan materials with the conditional-use review to allow approval at the higher Type 3 permit level.

The hearing lasted under 10 minutes and proceeded without contested issues; the presenter called the request ‘‘pretty straightforward’’ and said the plan’s exterior impacts are “nominal.” The hearing examiner will issue a written decision within the timeline stated on the record.