Former Sundberg Property About 900 feet from Suspected Olympia Fault Line

Olympia’s Critical Areas Ordinance Updated, Gaps Remain

Above: Looking like Eastern Washington, the former Sundberg sand and gravel mine in Olympia as viewed on Wednesday from a surveyed county road and right of way called North Road, looking toward Grove Street and 20th Avenue. Cooper Point Road is to the west.Sitting on a critical aquifer recharge area, the property has been dramatically and illegally altered for decades, and features mounds of disturbed soil about 30 to 40 feet high.

Repeated requests to the property owner and his representatives by Little Hollywood to tour the property by the city's first public comment deadline of Friday, August 19 have not been acknowledged. 

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

The Olympia city council passed a critical areas ordinance on Tuesday evening that improves the last one, updated in 2004 and 2005, but it still has a long way to go.

As identified in a March 2016 memo to the city by its consultants, ESA Associates, of Seattle, says Olympia’s critical area ordinance still contains gaps.

The critical areas ordinance is required by the Growth Management Act (GMA), and the version passed mostly clarifies terms, streamlines code, and ensures consistency with the city’s recently adopted Comprehensive Plan.

Critical areas are considered to be wetlands, critical aquifer recharge areas, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, frequently flooded areas, and geologically hazardous areas.

The areas covered by the update are drinking water wellhead protection areas, habitats and species, streams and riparian areas, wetlands and small lakes, and landslide hazard areas.

A nine member working group met on July 26 to start identifying locally important species and habitats. Some species and habitats are known and others may be identified and considered through public workshops and meetings.

The first public workshop is scheduled for September.

“We expected to have this one meeting with this group but ran out of time so will be having a follow-up meeting, tentatively scheduled for Aug 29. 

“After that meeting, our consultant will synthesize the technical information, comments and best practices into general recommendations for protection options, which will be the basis of the presentation to the public in September,” said Linda Bentley, senior planner for the City of Olympia, in an email on Wednesday to Little Hollywood.

The group’s membership and meeting minutes for the July 26 meeting have not yet been posted to the city’s critical area ordinance webpage but were obtained by request from staff.

The group’s two environmental organization representatives are Sam Merrill of the Black Hills Audubon Society and Daniel Einstein of Olympia Coalition for Ecosystems Preservation. 

The group also includes Theresa Nation of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, a representative from Thurston County, three from the City of Olympia, and two of the city’s consultants.

Final recommendations for revising the code are scheduled to go to the city council in November.

Gaps Identified

Gaps in the city’s critical area ordinance include the fact that the city relies on the National Wetland Inventory and does not maintain any local mapping of delineated or potential wetlands. Several wetland model codes, categories, and buffer effectiveness guidelines were found to be outdated, and there was a general lack of alternative mitigation measures for wetland impacts.

In general, ESA Associates says that although the city has complete and reliable data for some critical areas, mapping for other areas are missing or incomplete.

For example, the city uses soils data to map steep slopes, but has not mapped any seismic hazards, severe erosion hazard areas, landslide hazards, or subsidence hazards, if present.

Green Cove Basin Concerns

Clearing up those gaps and areas of concern area can’t come soon enough for some residents of the Green Cove Basin area in west Olympia, as developers seem to know the city’s vulnerabilities. 

Multiple proposed land use applications for developments in the Basin are in progress. 

The Green Cove Basin is in the Eld Inlet watershed and contains steep slopes, ravines and canyons. Roughly bounded by Cooper Point Road on the east, Mud Bay Road on the south, Overhulse Road on the west, and Sunset Beach Drive on the north, it is protected by a 1998 Thurston County Comprehensive Plan. 

The area has been mapped as a critical aquifer recharge area by the county, but the city has not actually yet defined a critical aquifer recharge area, and instead relies on an identified wellhead protection area to serve the same purpose.

“Areas of ‘extreme’ aquifer susceptibility are mapped by the county as occurring near the city limits indicating similar unmapped areas of aquifer susceptibility may be present in the city,” says the ESA Associates report.

Property developer Jerry Mahan recently submitted a land use application to the city to convert the former Sundberg sand and gravel mine into a 177 single family housing development called Green Cove Park on the City of Olympia’s westside.

The exact area of this proposed development is labelled by Thurston County as an “extreme” aquifer recharge area.

Above: Tim Walsh, chief hazards geologist for the state Department of Natural Resources, gave an informative presentation about the history of earthquakes in the South Sound area at the annual meeting of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum in January. A maximum capacity crowd heard the presentation and many expressed that they were unaware that a fault runs under Olympia.

Olympia Fault Line Near Sundberg Property

The city has not mapped the city’s seismic hazards, and, as it turns out, the whole 104 acre former Sundberg sand and gravel mine property appears on county and state maps as being very near an earthquake fault line that runs through Thurston County.

So near, it’s about 900 feet from the property, and within about a half mile of the top of the hill on 20th Avenue near the proposed Parkside development on Cooper Point Road.

Tim Walsh, chief hazards geologist for the state Department of Natural Resources gave a presentation about the fault at the annual meeting of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum in the Coach House of the State Capitol Museum in January.

“We call it the Olympia structure but some people call it the Olympia fault,” said Walsh.

Walsh said it was initially identified on the basis of geophysical information. There is also paleoseismic data in support of an Olympia fault.

About 50 miles long, it was first mapped in 1965. In 1985, it was mapped from Shelton, near the Olympic foothills, southeast to Olympia, under the State Legislative Building, directly under the town of Rainier, to a point due east of the Doty fault, and apparently marking the northeastern limit of a band of southeast-striking faults in the Centralia– Chehalis area.

In 1998 a geologist saw enough similarity with the Seattle fault to speculate that it is a thrust fault.

Geologists Jack Odum and Bill Stephenson have also done seismic profiling along Steamboat Island Road and have made some interpretations of the Olympia structure to conclude that it is quite likely a fault.

Above: A close up of a slide by Tim Walsh, chief hazards geologist for the state Department of Natural Resources, showing the trajectory of the Olympia fault crossing  the area of Cooper Point and Eld Inlet very near the former Sundberg sand and gravel mine property. Click on image to enlarge.

Editor's Note, August 23: Please read note of clarification by Tim Walsh in the comment section under this article. 

Full Disclosure: Janine Gates is on the board of the Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum and heard Tim Walsh's presentation, along with a capacity crowd.

To read past stories about this land use proposal and other related Green Cove Basin developments, Parkside, and BranBar, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and use the search button to type in key words.

For updated information about the Green Cove Park development, go to the City of Olympia website at www.olympiawa.gov or contact Cari Hornbein, City of Olympia Senior Planner, phone: (360) 753-8048, email: chornbei@ci.olympia.wa.us. 

All Eyes on Tumwater’s Historic Old Brewery

 

Above: No bulldozers in sight. An aerial photograph taken today over Tumwater’s Old Brewery reveals the area disturbed by significant grading and fill placement in October. City of Tumwater staff met with staff members from the state Department of Ecology’s Shorelands Program and Water Quality Program as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to inspect the site on November 14.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

As 2014 draws to a close, several sets of eyes are still fixed on the historic Old Brewhouse property in Tumwater. The stop work order continues, put in place by the City of Tumwater in October due to a citizen complaint about significant activities that adversely impacted the environment.

“The stop work order is still in place and will be in place until a mitigation plan is developed for the wetland impact, said Chris Carlson, permitting manager for the City of Tumwater, who has given regular updates on the situation to Little Hollywood.

Carlson said that city staff met with staff members from the state Department of Ecology’s Shorelands Program and Water Quality Program as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on site on November 14 at the Old Brewhouse property. 

“We all agreed that a mitigation plan needs to be developed and submitted to the city for review and approval. The property owner will also be required to make application(s) to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the unauthorized work and be subject to any mitigation required under federal law,” said Carlson.

“As a part of the stop work order we have required that a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) be developed and implemented for the disturbed areas on the south side of the building to prevent water quality impacts. The SWPPP has been submitted to the city and approved. …The SWPPP we approved includes seeding the disturbed areas and covering the disturbed areas with coconut fabric. Staking in straw waddles will also be done on both sides of the road that leads around the building as well as putting a filter fabric stock in the exposed catch basin on the south side of the building,” said Carlson in an email to Little Hollywood in mid- November.

Carlson initially expected applications and mitigation plans to be submitted to the city, Ecology and the Corps for review within 30 days from the day of the initial site visit, however, that expectation turned out to be overly optimistic.

In an email dated December 13 to Little Hollywood, Carlson said the city just got the survey on December 11 outlining the area of the Category III wetland behind the brewhouse that was partially filled.

“Since we received the survey, we’ve been working with the wetland consultants -both the property owner’s and the one working on the Brewery Planned Action Environmental Impact Statement - to identify a mitigation site along the Deschutes River corridor so work on the mitigation plan can begin,” said Carlson. Carlson said he will keep Little Hollywood posted when the city decides on a site and the draft mitigation plan is submitted for review.

Carlson provided Little Hollywood with a map that indicates two disturbed wetland areas directly south of the brewhouse on the hillside containing artesian springs. The area disturbed by grading and fill placement encompasses a combined 5,011 square feet.

There are currently no permits in place at the Old Brewhouse site, says City of Tumwater building official John Darnell.  

“The stop work order is still in effect. They will need to submit plans and engineering to us for review before any additional work can be completed….The on-site erosion control measures that the city required the owner to put in place are complete. I will continue to monitor throughout the winter,” said Darnell.

Above: An aerial photograph taken this morning over the Old Brewery and the Deschutes River.

 

Role of the Tumwater Historic Commission

Meanwhile, the Tumwater Historic Commission reviews applications for projects within the historic district and approves or denies applicant requests for a certificate of appropriateness, which is required as a part of the permitting process.

The commission is looking at several upcoming projects which will require the historical commission’s review before they are approved for development, including projects at the Old Brewhouse.

Chuck Denney, City of Tumwater Parks and Recreation director said George Heidgerken, owner of the historic Old Brewhouse property, does not have a Certificate of Appropriateness before the Historic Commission at this time. 

“….Should any of his brewery projects solidify and he reaches the point where he is submitting paperwork for a development permit – meaning he has a site development plan and is prepared to move forward with construction – he will then be required to obtain the certificate from the commission as a part of the permitting process.  The work he is currently doing does not trigger that requirement. There are several projects in the planning stages in the Historic District that may require the commission’s approval.  Those may include something from Mr. Heidgerken, but also include development of the Deschutes Valley Trail through the Historic District and the reconstruction of the fish hatchery at Tumwater Falls Park,” said Denney.

Public Comment to Proposed Land Use Options

Several state agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations and individuals weighed in by the October 20 deadline to comment on the city’s land use determination of significance for redevelopment of the site.

The Nisqually Indian Tribe, Washington State Departments of Archaeology and Historical Preservation, Natural Resources, and Ecology, City of Olympia, LOTT Clean Water Alliance, Black Hills Audubon Society, Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team, South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH), and the World Temperate Rainforest Network plus seven individuals provided the City of Tumwater with detailed comments about the proposed land use options provided by the city.

Jackie Wall of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, wrote, “The Deschutes River is a very Culturally Sensitive Area that was used by our people for thousands of years. The Nisqually Indian Tribe requests an Archaeological Survey be done by a qualified Archaeologist before there are any ground disturbing activities. I would like to receive a copy of the survey results. The Nisqually Indian Tribe also requests that an Inadvertent Discovery Plan be put in place for this project.”

She also asked to be informed if there are any inadvertent discoveries of archaeological resources or human burials.

A letter and paper submitted by Pat Rasmussen documents that the Steh-chass people lived in a permanent village at the base of Tumwater Falls for time immemorial.

“The village was originally Nisqually but after the Treaty of 1855 became part of Squaxin Island, in their Stehchass Inlet. As the Steh-chass were driven from the permanent village site by settlers who took it over, some fled to Nisqually and others to Squaxin, so there are likely descendents with knowledge of what happened there.” 

She attached an 1854 map she received from the Washington State Historical Society that shows the area with the name Steh-chass on the river, now called the Deschutes River.

For several past stories on Tumwater and its Brewery District Plan, the Old Brewhouse owner and developer George Heidgerken, and the stop work order, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search engine. Recent stories were posted on February 19, October 12, October 16, October 30, and November 5, 2014.

Editor’s Note: Janine Unsoeld also met the October 20 deadline to comment on the city’s Determination of Significance and as a private citizen, requested a stop work order on all activities at the Old Brewery site. This is documented in an article on Little Hollywood dated October 30, 2014. Unsoeld is also a long-time board member of the South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH), a 25-year-old nonprofit organization that publishes the South Sound Green Pages.

Above: An aerial photograph taken this morning approaching the Old Brewery from Olympia places the site in the context of the Deschutes River, Tumwater Historic Park and Interstate 5.