Hearing examiner signals approval for Sedro‑Woolley mixed‑use project, decision due Jan. 9

Peregrine Sorter, the hearing examiner appointed by the City of Sedro‑Woolley, said after reviewing exhibits and testimony that "it does appear to me that this proposal meets the criteria for a conditional use permit," and announced his intent to issue a written decision approving Conditional Use Permit application CUP 2025133 with the conditions recommended by city staff.

City planner Nicole McGowan told the examiner the applicant proposes a mixed‑use project on a vacant 4.71‑acre parcel (Parcel 136897) zoned mixed commercial on Trail Road, north of the Trail Road–Cook Road intersection. The plan calls for a 7,500‑square‑foot commercial building facing Trail Road and, behind it, up to 61 townhouses arranged into eight buildings with ground‑floor garages. Access would be provided by a new loop road connecting Trail Road to Legacy Drive, and the applicant proposes four construction phases.

McGowan said the applicant is vested under previous residential parking rules (two parking spaces for two‑bed units, three for three‑bed units, plus one visitor/overflow space per eight units) and that commercial parking will be determined once a commercial use is identified; staff estimated one parking stall per 300 square feet for a medium‑intensity commercial use and judged the proposed parking supply adequate given staggered peak hours between residential and commercial uses.

In her presentation, McGowan emphasized that design standards will be enforced at building‑permit review, that landscaping and generous open space are intended to soften the transition to adjacent single‑family neighborhoods, and that a privately constructed trail along Brickyard Creek within the neighboring Bucko Estates subdivision is expected to connect to the city's public trail system in the future.

Applicant representative Sarah Bucko, speaking for Bucko Properties, said the project — described in testimony as "The Grove" — is intended to address Sedro‑Woolley's shortage of middle‑housing options by offering townhouses priced between large apartments and more expensive single‑family homes. Bucko said the team worked with city staff and community feedback and that the applicant will comply with the conditions recommended in the staff report.

An applicant team engineer raised one cost consideration: the city's engineering request for an east–west sanitary sewer main routed in the public road along the south side of the site would add roughly 500 feet of sewer in structural fill rather than native soils, potentially increasing construction cost. The applicant asked whether any credits or impact‑fee adjustments might be available to offset that added expense; city staff and the applicant agreed to work together under the language of Condition 3 to refine the approach.

The parties also discussed a discretionary engineering detail in Condition 4, in which the city engineer may request rolled curbs given the length of the proposed driveways. The applicant said the requirement is not a deal‑breaker but requested flexibility in final design to coordinate with the city during engineering review.

Sorter asked that the record be left open for him to prepare a written decision. He noted the code generally gives him 14 days to issue a written decision, but because that window falls during the holidays he asked permission to issue the decision by Jan. 9; city staff and the applicant raised no objections. The examiner said he intends to issue a decision approving the application with the staff‑recommended conditions by that date.

There were no public speakers present at the virtual hearing. With no further testimony, Sorter adjourned the session and thanked participants.

Next steps: the hearing examiner will issue a written decision — incorporating the staff‑recommended conditions and any clarifications discussed at the hearing — and that written decision will be filed by Jan. 9, according to the examiner's statement at the close of the hearing.