Sunnyside holds public hearing on six‑month moratorium for essential public facilities and LRAs

The Sunnyside City Council opened a public hearing March 23 on an emergency ordinance that places a six‑month moratorium on acceptance and processing of applications for certain essential public facilities and less‑restrictive alternative placements (LRAs).

A resident speaking on behalf of a sign‑up (Vicky Ripley, substituting for Jennifer Martinez) urged the council to anticipate where LRAs might be placed and to prefer lighter industrial zones away from schools and parks. "These are court ordered placements ... We need to require that any future LRA homes be located in lighter industrial areas away from schools, parks, and homes," the speaker said, arguing the city should act now rather than after a placement notice arrives.

Legal counsel and planning staff told council the adopted six‑month pause already includes both secure community transition facilities and LRAs and that the next steps will be to return an ordinance continuing the moratorium and then to run proposed zoning text amendments through the planning commission. "Now that you've had this public hearing, at the next meeting, we will bring back the ordinance that continues the moratorium for the full 6 month period," counsel said. Staff explained that proposed changes will likely be text amendments (not new zones) and will specify where such facilities can locate and whether conditional use permits or other parameters apply.

Council and staff emphasized the moratorium is intended to create time for the city to evaluate zoning and regulatory options; staff said the planning process will include text amendments and additional public review before council consideration.