Selah City Council chambers overflowed Tuesday with standing room only as “concerned citizens,” identified by name tags, came to hear how the city council would vote on a South Selah Neighborhood Association request to rezone Southern Avenue property.

The issue has been contentious, and became more so Tuesday. The council voted 4-0 to approve a Selah Planning Commission recommendation to reject the SSNA rezone request. The SSNA had requested in November of 2006 that three parcels on Southern Avenue be rezoned to R-1, or single family residential, and redesignated to low-density from the existing high-density designation.

Tuesday’s vote was a reversal from a vote May 13, in which the council voted 3-1 to reject the planning commission recommendation.

Two of the parcels, at 605 Southern Avenue and 503 Southern Avenue are owned by Torkelson Construction Company and both properties are under development.

The Planning Commission had put off hearing the SSNA request because the 605 Southern Avenue property has been in litigation in Superior Court. But this winter the planning commission considered the request and recommended that the council retain existing R-3, multi-family residential zoning, and high and medium density land-use.

June 10 the council tabled the decision in order to determine “fact from fiction,” in the materials they had been presented by city staff, as well as from SSNA members.

Council Member Denise Nichols said that when the rezone issue came before the council several weeks ago, there was a lot of information given to them, not necessarily in chronological order.

“We had been receiving information from the citizens, and at the same time, official minutes from the planning commission and hearings,” she said.

Nichols said much of the issues had transpired over a long period of time, and some of those before she, and others, were elected.

“I had a difficult time knowing what was fact and what was fiction, and the sequence,” she said. “Some things were not dated.”

Nichols referred to a SSNA petition, which she assumed was relatively new, and would justify a change in circumstance, thereby justifying her rejection of the planning commission recommendation. The petition was several years old.

Nichols said she was further confused by comprehensive plan drafts, and different map scenarios showing different options for zoning the City of Selah.

 “As it ended up there were three options, and then the planning commission decided on a separate additional option, which was the preferred alternative,” she said.

Nichols said she was concerned about changing the zoning to R-1 because it would create a non-conforming use.

Councilman Herb Schmidt said he had been convinced the city was overcharged with multifamily-units in Selah.

“I was under the impression there were more R-3s. I was in error,” he said. “Sometimes when you take positions and you don’t have all the facts, you run into a problem. I apologize for that.”

Schmidt said developers’ intentions should be clearly stated and posted for all residents to see.

City Planner Dennis Davison also made available a Selah zoning map Tuesday, which drew comment from SSNA attorney Jamie Carmody, and SSNA members Kathy and Dave Hoffert.

Kathy Hoffert stood and addressed the council and said they had requested the zoning map for the past eight months and had been denied.

Carmody requested that he be allowed to speak.

“No,” said Mayor Bob Jones. “This meeting is for council business.”

 Every one had a prior opportunity to speak, he said. He said he would request police assistance to remove anyone who disrupted the meeting.

After the vote, Carmody again requested that the documents the council saw Tuesday would be made available. He was assured they would be.

Carmody said after the meeting that the association had submitted repeated public disclosure requests for the zoning map for past eight months.

“It’s inconceivable to me that if this map existed it wouldn’t have shown up eight months ago when it was requested,” he said. “We haven’t even had a chance to look at it to see what it is.”

After Hoffert and other SSNA members left council chambers, the question about the zoning map was brought up again.

During the open comment portion of the meeting after old business, citizen Jane Alexander told the mayor and staff that they “were not providing us as citizens, and you as council members, the most accurate and most carefully decided results.”

“Personally I asked for that map, in a PDR, but they could not locate it,” she said.

Public Works Director Joe Henne then said that unfortunately the map had been lost.

“We moved our offices the last week of December,” he said. “A few weeks ago, I heard they lost that map, I said, ‘look here, look there.’ Diane went over and found that map three weeks ago.”

Jones said that was why information should be digitally put on film.

After the meeting Jones said that the amount of documents the SSNA requested had taken a month of Administrative Assistant Julie Gray’s time.

“Julie has been very accommodating,” he said. “They asked for (the same things repeatedly). And to say they weren’t notified? I take exception to that. I sat here and there were empty seats.”

SSNA member Dave Hoffert said after the meeting that this is the reason few people actually show up at meetings.

“No one listens to the citizens,” Hoffert said. “We had our facts totally disregarded.”

Hoffert said the council backed one contractor, but told 90 citizens to “take a hike.”

But Nichols said the council did not ignore the citizens.

“We just followed proper procedure,” she said.