Faith Richie, executive director of Valley Cities Counseling and Consultation, had hoped by 2010 to have the first local homeless people in supportive housing at 2516 I St. NE.

But the owner of two nearby apartment buildings near the proposed VCCC project has filed a last-minute appeal of the Hearing Examiner’s decision of March 27, 2009, a ruling that found that the 24-housing units of supportive housing, which includes 1,937 square feet of office-community space, wouldn’t have an adverse impact on its surroundings.

Seahurst resident Dana Dunn Ketcham, owner of two 4-plexes south of the project site, found plenty wrong with the proposed supportive housing in her 7-page appeal of the Final Determination of Non Significance (DNS).

Ketcham claims that:

• VCCC failed to disclose, and the city failed to require, an accurate definition of the amount of land the project required.

• The City failed to engage other agencies – especially the Auburn School District – in the State Environmental Policy Act process (SEPA) as far VCCC’s alleged plans to house felons such as sex offenders and mentally ill tenants adjoining Cascade Middle School.

• VCCC failed to refine and limit the types of residents in the project to soften adverse effects on nearby property owners and residents.

• The SEPA process and the DNS were based on misrepresentations regarding community input and on legislation that Ketcham claims constituted illegal spot zoning. Auburn City Council members in April of 2008 passed an amendment to the city’s zoning rules to make supportive housing possible.

Ketcham cited the increased likelihood of flooding, parking congestion, excess density and loss of property values in her bid to have the DNS overturned and either withdrawn or remanded. She suggested that the buildings easily could be sited much farther north, leaving the property adjacent to her apartment buildings as open space.

A federal Housing and Urban Development program, Supportive Housing, provides permanent housing for the homeless and potentially homeless within 1,500 feet of helpful services, such as food banks, mental health clinics and facilities that offer vocational training. Many of the agencies providing the services lie along the I Street Northeast and Auburn Way North corridor, including Valley Cities Counseling and Consultation at 2704 I St. NE, the Auburn Food Bank at 930 18th Place NE, Lakeside-Milam Recovery Center at 721 45th St. NE, Seattle Mental Health at 4238 Auburn Way N. and the South King County Alano Club at 1317 Harvey Road.

Half of the units would be reserved for homeless veterans.

Richie, while disappointed, was determined to press on.

“I think of this as an everything-including-the-kitchen-sink appeal,” Richie said. “She doesn’t want it there. The concerns she is raising have all been addressed on water and where the project is sited and whether the setback is right and whether people with mental health problems can live here. My response to the last point is that people with mental health problems have a right live in the neighborhood. We had a community meeting attended by neighbors, the neighbors asked questions and we responded.”

Richie said VCCC has met all the requirements for zoning and environmental review. She said VCCC hired professional consultants who completed geo-technical studies, assessed drainage, studied all the environmental conditions and found the site appropriate.

“We’re not accepting sex offenders. We made that committment to the Auburn School District. I talked to the superintendent in the fall of 2007 and again last month, and they’re OK with the project as long as we don’t serve sex offenders, and we don’t serve sex offenders,” Richie said.

Responding to Ketcham’s claim that the project site has not been clearly defined, Richie said that the site originally consisted of three parcels but a boundary line adjustment made them two. The supportive housing would located one parcel and the other would remain undeveloped, except for landscaping.

Richie said a study showed that the supportive housing would not affect property values, especially by taking in sex offenders.

A hearing has not yet been scheduled.