Engineer Lider's full report can be found on our website  https://anewpathforsno.co/#rec425502185

September 26, 2023

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and the Snohomish County Community at Large,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. As concerned members of the Snohomish County community, we bear the collective responsibility of ensuring the safety, sustainability, and the ecological balance of our locality. Recent developments concerning the Ambleside construction site necessitate our immediate attention and united action to preserve the essence of our community.

I hereby share crucial information concerning two prevailing issues at the Ambleside construction site that demand our urgent intervention:

I. STOP CLEAR CUTTING
Recently the developer has submitted a developer's extension agreement, revised proposals and request for a land disturbing activity permit on the Ambleside construction site. As it is now interpreted by PDS a land disturbing activity permit allows developers in Snohomish County to literally clear-cut single-family unit construction sites. Urban forest and significant trees along with all vegetation are destroyed in exchange for a pile of dirt to then be covered by impervious surfaces. Clear cutting and deforestation release the carbon stored by a tree back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change, erosion of the watershed and critical areas which are supposed to be protected by law. Who among us including our elected officials would have thought of or contemplated that the Snohomish County code would allow and promote clear cutting knowing full well inevitable disastrous and dangerous consequences of such a policy. Let it be said that none of us stand for climate change, global warming and the destruction of our fragile ecosystem and watershed. The time is now for this Snohomish County Council to enact an emergency measure that requires the developer to conduct or pay for a complete written inventory of the existing tree canopy and significant trees along with a plan to retain at least 30% of this tree canopy on the site. This is entirely consistent with existing Snohomish County code provisions and for this purpose the following Snohomish County code provisions must be exclusively applied to the Ambleside site and all such development sites similarly situated. Based on SCC 30.25.016, the removal of all vegetation is prohibited on this property. Planning and Development Services should require strict compliance with the code provision and the submittal of drawings and plans that demonstrate how this proposal will code criteria. SCC 30.25.016 states tree canopy retention requirements for all new residential development within unincorporated Snohomish County. Per SCC 30.25.016(3) Table, for “Subdivisions for Single Family Residential 10 lots or more” the “Required Tree Canopy Coverage of Development Site (gross site area)” is 30 percent. Table 30.25.016(4) sets the standards for “Measuring Tree Canopy.” That section requires that “calculation of existing and new tree canopy shall be submitted in writing by a qualified landscape designer or license land surveyor.” The applicant has provided landscaping plans, but they do not address or provide a calculation of existing tree canopy nor an inventory of “significant trees” on the site. “Significant trees” are defined in the Snohomish County Code at Section 30.91.320, generally defining all trees with a “caliper of at least 10 inches” applying the standards of SCC 30.91.005 measuring trunk diameter 4.5 feet above the base of the trunk. Significant trees are required to be retained under the terms of SCC 30.25.016(2). PDS should require the applicant to provide a complete written inventory showing the existing tree canopy and significant trees, together with a plan to retain at least 30 percent of the tree canopy on the site. Significant trees are defined in the Snohomish County Code at Section 30.91.320, generally defining all trees with a “caliper of at least 10 inches” applying the standards of SCC 30.91.005 measuring trunk diameter 4.5 feet above the base of the trunk. Significant trees are required to be retained under the terms of SCC 30.25.016(2). Under the known exigent circumstances immediate action must be taken to mitigate and stop ongoing ruination. Accordingly, this is a call to the Snohomish County Council to apply the above-referenced codes as they are written and make it the law that will be enforced.

II. ERRORS AND OMISSIONS
In the attached report dated 9/26/23 Engineer Bill Lider responded to the developer’s recent DEA application and revised construction site proposals. In accurate and precise detail Mr. Lider identifies and exposes the continuing design flaws which will negatively impact the area, breach the code, create safety hazards and encroach private and public property as documented in Mr. Lider’s report. He points out that the proposal has errors in open space calculations, that the revised onsite parking plan doesn’t meet code, the proposed sanitary sewer is incorrectly located on 25th Ave SE, lack of the full width pavement overlay of 25th Ave SE as required from the proposed cul de sac to 130th Pl SE, lack of the force main bypass in the event the primary lift pumps fail, lack of a macerator to prevent debris from clogging pump impellers, lack of detention vault footprint and calculations for an impervious surface, failure to provide for the minimum recommended drop for the perk filter water quality treatment, incorrect offsets for the wetland and stream buffers, and no wetland delineation provided for the WSDOT property to the north of the site. Further it’s likely that the Silver Lake Creek wetland buffer if delineated this buffer would extend further into the Ambleside development, requiring a further design of the SPA permit. Despite the fact that the maximum amount allowable slope for a permanent or temporary cul de sac is 6%, the cul de sac connection to the private driveways is at the bottom of the hill is approximately 20% which is illegal and noted as a safety and visibility hazard for those driving up and down this hill to include emergency and delivery vehicles. In view of what appears to be an endless continuum of irresolvable issues connected with the developer’s revised proposals it is all the more reason the county council should take immediate measures as a first step to forbid clear cutting and the destruction that follows it.

Let us come together as a community to address these pressing issues. It's our collective effort that will ensure the safety and sustainability of Snohomish County. Your awareness, support, and action are invaluable at this critical juncture.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Together, we can make a substantial difference in safeguarding our community.

Please SHARE our petition https://www.change.org/p/people-of-snohomish-county-would-you-like-to-save-your-neighborhood-county-from-rampant-and-unrestrained-development?recruiter=1127834194&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition  and also contact:

 Snohomish County Council:  contact.council@snoco.org; 

Snohomish County PDS:  Director m.mccrary@snoco.org

Silver Lake Water and Sewer District https://www.slwsd.com/contact-us   425-337-3647

State legislators: 

1st District:  derek.stanford@leg.wa.gov; shelley.kloba@leg.wa.gov ; davina.duerr@leg.wa.gov

38th District:  june.robinson@leg.wa.gov; mary.fosse@leg.wa.gov;  Julio.Cortes@leg.wa.gov

21st District:  Marko.Liias@leg.wa.gov; Lillian.ortiez-self@leg.wa.gov; strom.peterson@leg.wa.gov

44th District: John.Lovick@leg.wa.gov; april.berg@leg.wa.gov; brandy.donaghy@leg.wa.gov