16.39.080 Use of exemptions.
(1) For each department within the City that receives an application for a license or, in the case of governmental proposals, for the department initiating the proposal, the responsible official shall determine whether the license and/or the proposal is exempt. The responsible official’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 apply to the proposal. The City shall not require completion of an environmental checklist for an exempt proposal.
(2) In determining whether or not a proposal is exempt, the responsible official 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 responsible official shall determine the lead agency, even if the license application that triggers the responsible official’s consideration is exempt.
(3)
(a) If a proposal includes both exempt and nonexempt actions, the responsible official may authorize exempt actions prior to compliance with the procedural requirements of this Chapter.
(b) The responsible official 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
(c) The responsible official 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. (Ord. 84-25 §10, 1984).