Above: Theresa Nation, representing the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife presents testimony today regarding the proposed Oak Tree Preserve development at a hearing held yesterday and today at the Thurston County Fairgrounds in Lacey. Numerous homeowners from the area attended and also provided comment. Written public comment has been extended to April 3.
By Janine Unsoeld
Oak Tree Preserve LLC of Bellevue proposes to
subdivide 258.5 acres of land in Lacey into 1,037 single-family residential lots. Multiple tracts will also be developed for storm water drainage, preservation of some oak
tree habitat, parks, open space, alleys, and landscaping.
The area is addressed as 3346 Marvin Road SE, which
is generally on the east side of Marvin Road SE bordered by the Burlington
Northern Railroad on the south and the McAllister Park subdivision on the
north. It is within the Lacey urban growth boundary.
Through a process of four phases, City of Lacey
domestic water and sanitary sewer utilities will be extended into the
subdivision to serve all lots. A Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance
(MDNS) for the project was issued on December 2, 2014. The MDNS establishes
mitigating conditions for school impacts, soil contamination, traffic impacts,
and timber harvest.
The project is proposed to be developed in Thurston County's largest oak stand of 64 acres.
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife comments called for
preserving 100 percent of the oak habitat. Only 55 percent of the oak habitat
is being preserved under the proposed plans.
Project History
The project, under previous owners, was vested in
2009. The property changed hands in 2012. In May, 2014, Thurston County
received a revised application listing the new owner and met with county
staff. Staff provided comments and thus the
application was considered to be a revision of the original application.
Written notice of the public hearing was sent to property owners within 300
feet of the site and others on March 9. Notice was also published in The
Olympian newspaper on March 13.
The McAllister Park Homeowner Association had two
appeals. On March 23, within 24 minutes of the beginning of the hearing held at
the Thurston County Fairgrounds, Mark Quinn, president of the McAllister Homeowner
Association, and the Association's attorney announced to Hearing Examiner Sharon Rice that the group
had settled the SEPA appeals, surprising Rice.
Quinn and the attorney then left the
building, leaving the rest of the time to the developer to explain the
development.
One appeal challenged the county's decision to issue
an MDNS. The appeal asserted that impacts to traffic conditions on area roads,
Oregon white oak tree habitat, and storm water drainage were not adequately
addressed. The Association stated that the proposed subdivision is likely to
create significant adverse environmental impacts and asked that the issuance of
the MDNS be overturned and that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be
prepared. A motion by the applicant to dismiss the oak habitat and stormwater
issues was granted by the Hearing Examiner on March 4.
The second appeal by the applicant challenges MDNS
mitigating condition numbers 2 and 3. These conditions pertain to testing and
possible cleanup of soil contamination including contamination related to the
former Asarco smelter in Tacoma. The applicant believes these conditions are
unlawful to the extent they impose requirements on the applicant that exceed
state law.
The proposed development will impact children and
families attending Evergreen Forest Elementary School, Nisqually Middle School,
and River Ridge High School.
In a letter sent to McAllister Park Homeowner
Association (HOA) members prior to the March 23 hearing, Quinn discouraged homeowners within his association from speaking
at the public hearing, notifying them that the group had reached an agreement
with the Oak Tree Preserve LLC owners.
“Late
yesterday afternoon, the McAllister Park HOA signed a preliminary settlement
agreement with Oak Tree Preserve, LLC, the applicant proposing to build 1,027
homes just south of McAllister Park. The
agreement provides essentially everything we asked for in terms of traffic
calming in McAllister Park, including several features in OTP (Oak Tree
Preserve) and a couple of other revisions to the plat not related to traffic
like increasing the size of the buffer between the subdivisions and putting
better controls on construction traffic….
“I
believe the agreement is the best that we could have hoped for without stopping
OTP altogether or closing the road, things that appeared to us virtually
impossible considering the cost to the HOA and the risks involved. Although few of us like the idea of a huge
development just to the south, our main objective from the beginning was to
insure adequate traffic calming in McAllister Park. I believe we have achieved that. After the dust settles, we plan to continue
pursuing solutions to the larger Marvin Road traffic problem with neighboring
HOA's.
“We
are not able to distribute the preliminary agreement (attorney's orders) but a
more formal agreement should be available in a couple days.
“The
agreement requires that we drop our SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) appeal
of traffic issues and voice no objection to approval of the preliminary
subdivision. Based on our acceptance of the settlement, we ask all MPHOA
members to refrain from participating in the Plat Hearing on March 24th. The agreement further stipulates that the
MPHOA will not appeal OTP land use approvals.
“These
restrictions do not apply to homeowners in adjacent subdivisions, who are still
welcome to attend the public hearing and voice their concerns about the Plat
and traffic….One thing that we asked for and the developer agreed to, not
related to traffic, was to increase the buffer to 25 ft. between OTP and homes
in McAllister Park and Evergreen States.
“For
McAllister Park Residents we will be able to have a full discussion of the
settlement and ramifications at our annual meeting in early May,” wrote
Quinn.
The hearing continued on Tuesday with public
testimony beginning at 1:00 p.m. Theresa Nation, representing the Washington
State Department of Fish and Wildlife, spoke first, followed by residents from several nearby homeowners
associations, including Evergreen Estates, The Seasons, Eagle Crest, Laurel
Oaks, and Lake Forest.
About 20 speakers focused their comments on the
traffic impacts of the massive proposed development that one person described
as “out of sync with other developments in the area,” while others addressed
the lack of proper public notification and environmental impact issues.
Liz Kohlenberg, Olympia, commented that many of the
materials needed to comment on the subdivision were not on the county’s
website, such as the previous Critical Areas Ordinance. A couple of speakers asked
how the county was planning to serve all these people, noting the current lack
of law enforcement to handle current property crimes.
Elizabeth Rodrick, a wildlife biologist representing the Black Hills chapter of the Audubon Society, stated that in Washington State, 35% of pre-settlement oak habitat remains, and 16% of what remains is on private land.
“Local government plays an essential role in protecting oak habitat....several bird species are associated with large oak sites, and the roads for this development increase fragmentation and should be re-routed,” she said.
Rice closed public comment shortly after 3:00 p.m.
Rice, the developer and staff, and county staff responded to public comment.
Rice said she will reach a decision on April 24. Acknowledging
that county staff will need time to put additional materials on the county
website, Rice gave staff through March 27 to post the needed documents, and extended public comment through 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 3.
Written comment may be sent to Cami Petersen, Land
Use Clerk, Resource Stewardship Department, Thurston County Office of the
Hearing Examiner, 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Building One, Second Floor, Olympia,
WA 98502. Refer to Case: #2009103087.
For more information, contact go to http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/hearing/hearings/oak-tree-preserve/otp.html
or contact Cami Petersen at peterscs@co.thurston.wa.us or (360) 754-3355 ext.
6348 or TDD Phone: (360) 754-2933.
Full
Disclosure: Janine Unsoeld is a board member of the South
Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH) and presented written and
oral testimony on behalf of the SPEECH board of directors opposing the Oak
Preserve Development proposal. Presenting a variety of points, SPEECH believes
that the Mitigated Declaration of Non-Significance should be retracted and a
full Environmental Impact Statement prepared.
