Hearing examiner will recommend Yakima rezone of 203 and 207 Oak Avenue to allow multifamily uses

The Hearing Examiner said he will recommend that the Yakima City Council approve a rezone of 203 and 207 Oak Avenue from Light Industrial (M‑1) to General Commercial (GC), a change the Community Development Department says is consistent with the city's Comprehensive Plan and could allow expanded multifamily housing.

Connor Kennedy, associate planner for the City of Yakima, presented the staff report and told the hearing examiner that "the Community Development Department recommends approval of this non project rezone request from Light Industrial m 1 to General Commercial GC." Kennedy said the parcels total approximately 0.55 acres, are served by City of Yakima water and sewer, and have a future land‑use designation of commercial mixed use established in the Yakima Comprehensive Plan 2040 (adopted 2017).

Kennedy told the examiner that the rezone application and environmental review were received Feb. 28, 2025, were deemed complete March 26, 2025, and that a State Environmental Policy Act determination of nonsignificance (SEPA DNS) was issued April 17, 2025; the appeal period closed May 1, 2025, and no appeals were filed. He said no SEPA comments were received during the public comment period.

Rick Glenn, the applicant's representative and agent for the property owners Jay and Kendrick Glenn, said the request responds to a pending purchase offer. "We got a purchase offer on the property, and the individual wanted to build. They said multifamily property on it," Glenn said, adding that the parcels on the block are mostly residential or vacant and that one lot is used for hotel overflow parking. Glenn told the hearing the M‑1 manufacturing zone creates practical limits: "they said that it's zone manufacturing and that a manufacturing, requires at least half an acre. Since this lots 0.22 acres, I said, so basically, the way it's zoned right now, the property is absolutely useless."

During the hearing the examiner and Kennedy discussed how the rezone would affect the existing 15‑unit apartment on one parcel. The examiner noted that multifamily uses in the GC district remain a Class 2 use subject to administrative review; Kennedy agreed, saying that approval would make the existing complex a conforming use rather than a nonconforming one and that adjacent parcels would likely need similar changes for additional residential development.

Kennedy summarized surrounding zoning and access: to the north and west are M‑1 parcels (residential and undeveloped uses), to the south are M‑1 and GC parcels, and to the east is GC; the properties are accessed by Oak Street and North Front Street.

No formal City Council action was taken at the hearing. The Hearing Examiner said he would issue a written recommendation to the City Council within 10 business days of the hearing.