Sno-King Watershed Council has filed another appeal of the Ironwood development.  This is our second appeal of the project that proposes clearing 13.3 acres and grading about 50,000 cubic yards of cut to fill and 50,000 cubic yards of import to make the site suitable for future urban residential development in an area designated as a Priority Habitat Species (PHS) area by WDFW.

SKWC first filed an appeal to stop the early clearing of the Ironwood site on July 22, 2020.  As a result of that appeal, the early clearing permit was withdrawn.  Still, the County allowed the developer, Pacific Ridge to demolish all the existing homes on the Ironwood site, destroying several million dollars of existing homes, making an appeal even more difficult.

SKWC believes that the project is still flawed and that the County’s DNS decision should be withdrawn and an EIS required for the following reasons:

Category II Wetland Incorrectly Classified as Category III
Wetland Hydroperiod Will Not Be Maintained
Impacts to Wetland A Buffer
Infiltration Feasibility Not Determined
Low Impact Development (LID) Not Implemented
DNS Improperly Relies on Code Compliance
Stormwater Flow Control & Water Quality Treatment is Inadequate
Water Quality Treatment is Not Provided to East and West Basins
Landscape Buffer Vegetation Buffer not Provided
Lack of Reasonably Sufficient Information
Project’s Impacts Are Actually Significant
 

We anticipate that a Hearing will be scheduled before the Hearing Examiner in early January, 2021.

Your donations to SKWC’s legal defense fund will go a long way to help us fight this unwise development.  Please consider a donation to help us continue this appeal.  http://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/donations/

All donations received will be used for legal wetland expert expenses.   Lider Engineering is donating its time on this appeal pro bono.

William (Bill) Lider, PE, CESCL

Lider Engineering, PLLC