Now that the city has an application for land-use action, development and lease agreements have been established between the School Board, City Council and Boys and Girls Club, the PEAK project is heading into the development approval process.

While a specific timeline is difficult to discern because of the complexities of the process and the possibilities of appeals, the general system to be followed may be outlined. The controversial project will now move through the usual development steps with a few unique side bars, namely a request for $1 million from the City Council and selling the East Seattle property. The Boys and Girls Club hopes to break ground on the project in January but concedes it may be later.

The first step toward project construction began when the city received an application for land-use action from the Boys and Girls Club in early August. The city placed a notice at the property and opened a public comment period.

The public comment period for PEAK ended on Aug. 29 and the city received about 60 comments, according to senior planner Jeff Thomas.

“We received a healthy number of comments,” Thomas said. “Generally, it was a mixed bag. Some were for the project and some were against it.”

After reviewing public comments, the city will review the project under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) to consider the probable environmental consequences of a proposal before approving or denying it. City planners will then issue their determination to the Planning Commission.

Should the SEPA determination be contested, the Planning Commission holds a public hearing, reviews the appeal and issues a final ruling. Hinting toward a future appeal of a decision in favor of PEAK, Islanders for Common Sense — the neighborhood group opposing PEAK — issued a lengthy public comment that argues the project does not meet the criteria for a Conditional Use Permit and the city’s comprehensive plan goals.

Coinciding with reviewing an appeal, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing regarding the request for the conditional use permit (CUP).

“A CUP is required for atypical uses within a particular zone. An example of this might be the construction of a retirement home, government office, or public facility within a residential area,” development services director Steve Lancaster said.

At the public hearing, the Planning Commission may approve a conditional use permit — possibly dependent on some specific conditions it sets — only if all the applicable criteria in the city code are met. The Planning Commission must deny the application if it finds the criteria are not met.

Participants of the process may also appeal the conditional use permit issued by the Planning Commission. The city’s hearing examiner, an independent third-party arbitrator, hears the case and issues a ruling.

After the CUP is issued, the project moves into the design review process, which ends with an approval from the city’s Design Commission. In this portion of the process, the architects of the proposed structure submit their design to the city’s planning department. Prior to submitting the application, the architects are eligible for two informal study sessions. PEAK has undergone one such study session, and a follow-up may occur if the applicant requests it. The Design Commission gives feedback at such study sessions but does not issue any direction or ruling. Study sessions are also not public hearings. A formal design review application is also not necessary for the study sessions.

However, when the architects of PEAK submit their formal application of design to the city, a public hearing and meeting for preliminary approval will be made before the Design Commission. Commissioners issue preliminary approval with certain conditions that they expect to see before they make a final approval.

The architects and applicant then return to the Design Commission and present the updated project to demonstrate it meets the conditions sought by the Commission. Commissioners evaluate and determine if the project conforms to City design codes, in this case RCW 19.12 Design Standards outside the Town Center, and approves or denies the design.

The City’s hearing examiner would hear and rule on any appeal of the Design Commission’s ruling.

Applicants and their projects must then obtain the standard construction permits from the city. These include site, building and utility permits, to name a few.

The City Council must also decide what to do with the $1 million it earmarked to contribute to the construction of a Boys and Girls Club facility in exchange for city recreation use of a new gym. The Boys and Girls Club originally asked the Council for the money to go toward a new facility at the existing West Mercer location. The club must now ask the Council to issue the funds whether or not the new facility would be at the existing site or the high school. The Boys and Girls Club has not asked the Council for the funds as of this week but does plan to do so, according to Daniel Johnson, the King County Boys and Girls Club CEO.

The Council may decide to give the funds toward PEAK or return the money to the capital reserve fund.

The Boys and Girls Club of King County expects to finalize the sale of the East Seattle School soon.

The basic conditions of the sale originally agreed to with Island resident and auto dealer Michael O’Brien have not changed, Johnson said. Johnson also said the club still plans to sell the property to O’Brien for $6 million and expects O’Brien to invest an additional $2 million to demolish the existing school and construct new ballfields.

The proper demolition and construction permits must be obtained from the city as well before those actions take place.