A. Upon receiving an application for a license or, in the case of governmental proposals, initiating the proposal, the city shall determine whether the license and/or the proposal is exempt. The city’s determination that a proposal is exempt shall be final and not subject to administrative review. If a proposal is exempt, none of the procedural requirements of this chapter shall apply to the proposal.

B. In determining whether or not a proposal is exempt, the city shall make certain the proposal is properly defined and shall identify the governmental licenses required. WAC 197-11-060. If a proposal includes exempt and nonexempt actions, the city shall determine the lead agency, even if the license application that triggers the city’s consideration is exempt.

C. If a proposal includes both exempt and nonexempt actions, the city may authorize exempt actions prior to compliance with the procedural requirements of this chapter, except that:

1. The city shall not give authorization for:

a. Any nonexempt action;

b. Any action that would have an adverse environmental impact; or

c. Any action that would limit the choice of alternatives.

2. The city may withhold approval of an exempt action that would lead to modification of the physical environment, when such modification would serve no purpose if nonexempt action(s) were not approved; and

3. The city may withhold approval of exempt actions that would lead to substantial financial expenditures by a private applicant when the expenditures would serve no purpose if nonexempt action(s) were not approved.

D. 1. Short subdivision of lands previously subdivided under an exemption from the SEPA rules shall not be exempt from environmental review.

2. Proposed short subdivision of land that is adjacent to previous short subdivisions or adjacent to land on which a subdivision is pending shall not be exempt if adjacent subdivisions share any improvements or access easements. In such cases, the proposed short plat will be considered physically or functionally related regardless of ownership. (Ord. 92-06 § 1, 1992)