Lacey hearing examiner closes hearing on side-setback variance at 6417 Shady Lane; written decision due

The City of Lacey Hearing Examiner on Nov. 20, 2025 closed a public hearing on a setback-variance request from Pamela James to put a two-story detached shop closer to the right-of-way at 6417 Shady Lane SE, a narrow lot on Hicks Lake. The request (file 25-0329) seeks to reduce the required side-yard setback from 5 feet to 2 feet so the accessory building can fit without encroaching on shoreline jurisdiction or recorded easements.

City planning staff summarized the application and reviewed the four local variance criteria, telling the examiner the proposal meets those standards because of the lot’s small size, steep slope toward the lake, existing easements and prior findings from a Feb. 5, 2023 Hearing Examiner decision on the site. Staff also clarified that building-code provisions can allow a 2-foot sidewall in some circumstances, but that the zoning code’s setback rules are nonflexible — a point staff said likely led to earlier confusion about whether a side-yard variance was required.

Pamela James, the applicant, recounted years of thefts from vehicles and yards that began around 2019 and said she needs enclosed storage to secure her truck and other property. "I had tools stolen out of my front yard again this summer," James said, describing repeated break‑ins that motivated the project. She said two contractors initially advised her she would need a variance to make the proposed shop fit; she later received an earlier front-yard variance and then learned the side-yard issue still required separate review. James testified she paid for a survey and redesigns, spent months coordinating with the local utility on electrical work, and completed a gas-line relocation this summer that required tearing out her driveway and cost "almost $13,000." She told the examiner she asked a neighbor for 3 feet of land to make the building fit and was refused, and that shrinking the structure further would make it unusable for storing a truck or pulling a boat through the shared circular driveway.

A supporting witness, Mr. Penrose, reiterated that the site is smaller than most lots around Hicks Lake and cited study-area figures ("123 parcels, 211 buildings") to show that the subject parcel is among the smallest, a factor he said that contributes to the hardship. Applicant counsel Heather Burgess asked the examiner to carry forward earlier findings of fact that remain unchanged and pointed to a neighbor letter included with the supplemental materials.

There were no members of the public who requested to speak. Staff and the applicant’s team agreed the material facts relevant to the variance criteria remain substantially the same as in the prior hearing record. The examiner closed the hearing and said there appeared to be a "pretty solid basis" for granting the variance; a written decision is expected within 10 business days.

The matter remains under review; the written decision will state the hearing record, findings and any conditions if the variance is approved.