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Pasco examiner keeps record open on Columbia Basin College dormitory; staff recommends special permit with corrections
Summary
At a Jan. 8 hearing the City of Pasco planning staff recommended approval of a special permit for a five-story, on-campus dormitory for Columbia Basin College at 26100 North 20th Avenue; the examiner kept the record open to Jan. 9 at 5 p.m. for additional analysis of applicable height limitations.
City of Pasco hearing examiner Andy Cotkamp on Jan. 8 admitted the planning staff file and said staff recommends approval of a special permit to construct an on-site dormitory for Columbia Basin College at 26100 North 20th Avenue (parcel 119170013), but he kept the record open until 5 p.m. Jan. 9 for staff to provide additional analysis on building-height code language.
Planner Ivan Barragan told the hearing the proposal (SP2024-017) is for a roughly 54,000-square-foot, five-story building (including basement) that would contain 47 units and provide 162 rental beds for students; four of the 47 units are intended for resident advisors and one for a resident director. Barragan said a SEPA mitigated determination of non-significance (SEPA 2024-055) was issued Dec. 24, 2024, and that public notice was mailed to property owners within 300 feet and published in the Tri-City Herald.
Barragan flagged a correction to the staff report: language in staff findings should be revised because Pasco Municipal Code 25.45.0505(a) was inadvertently edited through Ordinance 47100A and one line regarding an exception for greater height was not carried forward. He also corrected the unit count in the report from 42 to 47 and recommended updating condition of approval language to require a maximum of 47 units and at least 47 parking spaces (one space per unit).
Brian Dexter, appearing as agent for the applicant (RGU Architecture on behalf of Columbia Basin College), confirmed he had reviewed the staff report and did not object to the corrected representations. Dexter told the examiner the proposed dormitory will be on campus adjacent to existing student housing and that the college intends future phased student-housing projects as demand requires.
Cotkamp said the record will remain open until 5 p.m. on Jan. 9 for staff to provide a written revision and additional analysis explaining why the project is not subject to the 35-foot multifamily-attached housing height limit cited elsewhere in the code. He said he will close the record at that deadline and issue a written decision within 10 working days after the record closes. The examiner noted that decisions on special permits are final unless appealed under the land-use petition process.
