Is it reasonable for a developer with the approval of Snohomish County PDS to proceed with destroying 200 trees with a 60’ tall retaining wall in your neighborhood?  

PDS has rubber stamped developer Lennar’s proposal to delete 200 trees on the 10-foot-wide landscape terraces for the 60-foot-high retaining wall that were required by the Hearing Examiner’s 2016 decision.  The only reason for this change is that Lennar paid too much for the Bexley Ridge land, formerly known as Frognal Estates.  At $214,000 per un-developed lot, this was the most ever paid for a residential property, up to that time.  Lennar now seeks to reduce its construction costs by the construction of this ugly wall.

PDS approved the wall change from the tree terraced wall to rock the faced wall in July 2021, without any public notification, claiming that this was a minor change.  Lennar never intended to landscape the wall at all; and PDS never required the wall to be landscaped, until we brought it to their attention.  The 200 deleted trees will be planted elsewhere on the Bexley Ridge project, where they will do no good.  A tree canopy on the 60-foot-high retaining wall would intercept and help transpire rainfall, reducing stormwater runoff into the downslope Regatta Estates HOA.

In lieu of the trees, Lennar proposes to plant to low growing shrubs that will die on a 9” x 18” slope. 

Regatta Estates will review the PDS decision and make a decision this week on pursuing their LUPA appeal now pending in Superior Court. 

Please take a moment to contact your County Council member and demand a code change to prevent these Grand Coulee like retaining walls 60-feet plus high from being constructed in residential neighborhoods where the maximum building height allowed is 30-feet.  County council:  https://snohomishcountywa.gov/172/County-Council