Planning staff recommended on Wednesday that the hearing examiner recommend rezoning a Pasco parcel at 1925 Road 40 from RS‑1 (suburban) to R‑1 (low‑density residential).

"The rezone application proposal is consistent with the council‑approved comprehensive plan," a city planner said during the hearing. The application, identified as Z2025‑002, would apply to parcel number 119132073, staff said.

Staff noted that a notice of application and the SEPA notice both contained a scrivener's error: the public notices referred to seven future lots when the preliminary layout included eight. "Both notices referred to the number of lots being 7, whereas the actual number is 8," the staff presenter said, and confirmed that the preliminary layout included in the file showed eight lots.

Staff described the site's annexation and prior zoning history and said the proposed R‑1 zoning would allow minimum lot sizes consistent with surrounding parcels and the city comprehensive plan. The presenter told the hearing the site was annexed in 2004 and had subsequently been assigned RS‑1 zoning in 2021 via ordinance cited in the staff report.

Applicant representatives, including engineer Christine Batayola, said the rezone would allow smaller lot sizes and noted adjacent property to the north had been rezoned to R‑1 in recent years. Batayola said the change would not commit the owner to a particular development form but would enable infill subdivision consistent with the comprehensive plan. The applicant's representative said the change would allow the owners to develop feasible lot sizes "in accordance with the comprehensive plan."

The hearing examiner admitted the staff report and application materials into the record and closed the public record for Z2025‑002. The examiner said any final decision on rezones will rest with the Pasco City Council, which will consider the hearing examiner's recommendation at a later closed‑record meeting. "There is no project action with this; if the city council approves the rezone they're not committed or tied to any particular type of development," the examiner said.

No members of the public testified at the hearing on Z2025‑002. The examiner said a written decision or recommendation will be issued within 10 working days and forwarded to the city council.