B. EC 9.8110(2) <br />2 The hearings officer also concluded that the proposed modification failed to comply with <br />EC 9.8110(2), which requires in relevant part a finding that the modification will have insignificant <br />4 impacts on the surrounding properties. See n 2. The hearings officer relied on testimony from <br />5 adjoining landowners that the preservation-of the existing vegetative buffer in Zone 6 was necessary <br />6 to prevent adverse impacts to their properties, specifically to prevent "windthrow" of downed trees <br />7 and increased runoff onto their properties .4 <br />a The hearings officer's decision states, in relevant part: <br />* * [W]hile the modification will not change the use of the remaining property as a <br />cemetery, the use of the Zone 6 portion of the cemetery as a buffer necessary to ensure <br />compatibility for purposes of drainage and windthrow, and the impact to the surrounding <br />properties when that buffer is removed from the CUP protections, must be evaluated. While <br />the applicant states that the removal of the Zone 6 area from the CUP in itself will not alter the <br />appearance of that property, it will remove the condition that the Zone 6 area remain as a <br />buffer. As one concerned neighbor with a Forestry degree explained: <br />"`Anyone who has ever viewed a clear cut in a west-side Cascade Douglas Fir forest <br />knows that for the first few years after the clear cut Douglas Fir trees will blow down <br />around the edge * * * Doug fir trees are very shallow rooted and prone to blow <br />down when suddenly exposed to wind by the removal of trees around them. <br />"`Most of the properties surrounding Rest Haven have large Doug fir trees in the <br />back yards. I have two; one about 20 inches in diameter and one about 24 inches in <br />diameter. Both are uphill from my house, close to the property line. If these trees <br />blew down, they would land downhill and are tall enough to hit my house. Cutting <br />trees in the buffer would directly impact my property. If trees were cut in the buffer <br />next to my property, I would have the choice between taking a chance of these trees <br />blowing down and doing serious damage to my house or removing the trees. The <br />buffer contemplated by the original conditional use permit protects my property from <br />harm.' <br />"Other nearby residents testified regarding the increased run-off that could occur without the <br />protection of the buffer provided by the 1995 CUP and the impacts of that run-off on their <br />properties. <br />"The applicant is correct that removal of the Zone 6 property from the CUP does not guarantee <br />that the trees will be removed. However, removal of that property from the CUP will remove <br />the protections afforded by that CUP, and the removal of those protections could have a <br />significant adverse impact on the surrounding properties. Accordingly, before a conclusion <br />can be made that the modification will have no impact on the surrounding properties or the use <br />of the site, the effect of the removal of the protections of the CUP Master Plan condition <br />requiring a 75-foot buffer must be considered. The applicant has not sustained its burden to <br />establish that there will be an insignificant change in the use or surrounding area as a result of <br />this proposed modification." Record 13 (ellipses in the internal quote in original). <br />Page 12 <br />