Hearing examiner approves Gig Harbor plan to relocate Lift Station 5, adds noise-and-odor review condition

Hearing examiner Mark Scheidmeier granted a shoreline substantial development permit, a general variance and minor site-plan approval for the city of Gig Harbor’s plan to replace and move Lift Station Number 5 and build a small generator enclosure on Harborview Drive, but he added a condition that the permits may be modified if substantive noise or odor issues are later demonstrated.

City principal planner Catherine Schafer told the hearing that the project would replace nearly 50-year-old equipment at Lift Station Number 5, which serves 26 homes in Wastewater Basin 5, and move pumping equipment further upland to reduce exposure to predicted king tides. The consolidated application includes the shoreline permit (project exceeds the statutory cost threshold), a variance to reduce the 20-foot front-yard setback to zero for the proposed generator enclosure, and a minor site-plan review for the accessory structure.

Schaefer described the generator enclosure as located outside the 200-foot shoreline jurisdiction, with the proposal resulting in a net increase of 253 square feet of impervious surface attributable to the enclosure. She said staff found the relocation maintains the residential shoreline character, avoids permanent shoreline impacts by siting improvements upland, and is designed to achieve no net loss of shoreline ecological functions.

Applicant and city senior engineer Steve Demmer said the enclosure would be roughly 12.5 by 8 feet and about 10 feet tall, constructed of concrete masonry units with fiber-cement siding and asphalt shingles to blend with nearby outbuildings. "We moved forward with fiber cement siding in an effort to have the building blend in more naturally with the surrounding neighborhood," Demmer said. He added the city met with nearby property owners in virtual meetings during design and will hold a final meeting with residents before construction.

Neighbor Mike Lierman, whose home at 2821 Harborview Drive sits immediately south of the site, urged caution on aesthetics, noise and odor and questioned whether the generator could instead be located across the street on city-owned land. "There are hundreds of people that walk up and down Harborview Drive in this location," Lierman said, noting the public use of the view and expressing concern about removal of an approximately 20-foot holly tree to make way for the enclosure.

Demmer told Lierman that the wastewater storage portion of the lift station will remain at the waterfront and that no change in odors is expected as part of this project; the design includes a pad so odor-control equipment could be retrofitted if odors occur. He added that the CMU construction and buried lift components provide substantial noise attenuation and that the city is pursuing a permanent easement for the building footprint with compensation to the property owner, plus a temporary construction easement for site access.

After hearing from staff, the applicant and the public, Scheidmeier said he would grant the consolidated permits but add a clear, written condition allowing the matter to be returned to the hearing examiner for modification of permit conditions if substantive noise or odor problems emerge. Scheidmeier noted his oral approval will not be effective until he issues written findings and that the shoreline decision will be subject to Ecology's 20-day review.

The examiner closed the hearing and said he would prepare the findings and conclusions necessary to finalize the written decision.