Appeal 34778

Title 28: 28.06.050.B.1

Moorage exits. Two exit gangways are required whenever any one of the following conditions apply:

1. Except as noted in item 2, if a marginal walkway exceeds 250’ in length or if any point on the marginal walkway would be more than 250 feet from a gangway, additional gangways must be provided…..
2. Uncovered moorages for the moorage of pleasure boats (open moorage configuration) and having not more than two floating homes must have additional gangways if the marginal walkway exceeds 500’ in length or if any point on the marginal walkway would be more than 500’ from a gangway.

Allow a marginal walkway length exceeding 250’ feet in length to have a single gangway with floating home use at a replacement moorage.

At Tomahawk Bay Marina, 4 main walkways (Rows I, J, K and L) with 188 boat / boathouse berths were destroyed by infiltrating sand. The owner intends to replace these 4 walkways with a new configuration of walkways with berths for up to 50 boathouses. The project, dredging and replacement moorage, was approved through an Environmental Review (23-006494-EN) and the owner is in the process of preparing the commercial building permit application package for the installation of the replacement moorage.

The replacement moorage will be connected to the existing 6’ wide marginal walkway which has 4 existing gangways. The marginal walkway at the new moorage extends 385’ from the bottom of the closest gangway (gangway #4), exceeding the 250’ allowed by 28.06.050.B.1. . There is no access to Ricky Point to add another gangway east of gangway #4. The piles will be steel. The new marginal walkway and walkways will be 8’ wide with a concrete deck.

The Owner would like to change the use of the replacement moorage from boathouses to floating homes. While the proposed moorage design meets the standard of 28.06.050.B.2 for boathouses, it will not meet the standard of 28.06.050.B.1 when there are floating homes.

The replacement moorage, floating home separation, floating home construction, etc., will meet the requirements for Title 28 for floating homes with the exception of 28.06.050.B.1 per this appeal.

The total distance from the nearest point of apparatus set-up to the most remote portion of the moorage will not exceed 800’ per 28.06.050.B.3. The east end of the north walkway is the most remote location. During the final design of the walkways for the dock construction permit the north walkway will be shortened from configuration in attached drawings if necessary to ensure this, even it means reducing the number of berths.

Fire protection standpipes will be supplied to meet method “a” - from fire hydrants providing at least 200 GPM at 20 PSI and located within 300’ from closet point of fire department access to a moorage exit ramp, per 28.06.050.H.1. There are existing fire hydrants at the top of gangways #2, #3 and #4. At gangway #4, the hydrant is 6’ from the fire apparatus set up where there is a red painted curb; and 55’ from top of gangway. At gangway #3, the hydrant is 6’ from the fire apparatus set in the driveway; and 66’ from top of gangway.

The fire flow rate at the fire hydrants has been requested from the Water Bureau. Initial response is that all hydrants are on a 16” dia water main, and they have confidence that they will model to be at least 2,500 psi.

The fire protection standpipe system will meet the standards for floating homes in 28.06.050.H.7.a (100’ and within 50’ of end of walkway). In addition, there will be standpipes at both ends of the north walkway to provide two options for fire department connections with reasonable access for a fire boat. 28.06.050.H.3

The existing lighting at gangways #3 and #4 is nonconforming. Lighting will be added to meet requirements of 28.06.060.A.

Existing gangways #3 and #4 meet the slope and walk surface requirements for 28.06.060.

Existing gangways #3 and #4 have an unobstructed width of 5’ as required for a single gangway, per 28.06.060.C.

The owner would like to provide floating home berths for new housing instead of boathouses. The configuration of the marina basin does not allow for the addition of a 5th gangway as it would have to be located out on Ricky Point which has no road access, is in the C environmental conservation overlay, and is below Base Flood Elevation.

The proposed configuration is common for floating home communities because it maximizes the number of dwellings within an authorized disturbance area while maintaining adequate spacing and ease of access for fire/rescue vessels. Efficient space utilization decreases the cost per berth, which preserves affordability. Moreover, the layout is desired by floating home residents due to the greater privacy and improved sightlines with a large number of homes facing riverward.

The layout allows for easy access for fire boats, as well as the Columbia Crossings work vessel fleet, which can assist in a rapid evacuation in the event of an emergency. This is in addition to the 400+ boats at Tomahawk Bay marina and the floating home residents' own boats.

At the bottom of gangway #4, there is a 6’ wide marginal walkway parallel to shore that accesses 3 additional gangways, providing additional egress routes and fire department access.

All Title 28 Fire and Life Safety requirements will be met for the moorage and for the floating homes to be moored at the facility including floating home separation, construction, etc. In addition, the following items exceed the minimum requirements.

The new marginal walkway and main walkways will be 8’ wide, which exceed the 6’ minimum required by 28.06.060.D.

The new marginal walkway and walkway decks will be concrete, a noncombustible material in lieu of wood as allowed by 28.06.020.

The additional fire protection standpipes at both ends of the north walkway rather than the required 50'maximum, will provide additional options for fire department connections with reasonable access for a fire boat.

The separation between the existing moorage Row H and the replacement moorage (55’), and between berths of the north and south walkways (+/-75’) exceeds the 30’ rule-of-thumb separation used by PF&R for fire boat access.

The proposal provides additional life safety and fire protection in lieu of limiting the marginal walkway length to 250’.