THE ISSUE

In September 2023, without any public review, King County granted a Certificate of Non-Conformance allowing Remlinger Farms to operate an outdoor concert venue at their farm, in the heart of rural Carnation, WA.  The certificate currently allows the farm to host 34 concert events per year, each with an audience capacity of 6,000 concertgoers per event. This could bring up to 200,000 concertgoers into the area during the proposed concert season which spans May-October on weekends and weeknights (in addition to their regular summer events and pumpkin season events!).  These concerts will include an alcohol service provided by Remlinger Brewery. Concerts at this scale are unprecedented in the Snoqualmie Valley and unincorporated King County, as events of this nature are currently reserved for Marymoor Park and the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery; both of which provide parking, noise code enforcement, police support, and road infrastructure to manage large crowds, traffic, EMS, noise, and DUI’s. The concert venue at Remlinger Farms exceeds the capacities of Marymoor Park and Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery by 1,000 and 2,000 people, respectively. 

Remlinger Farms’ Non-Conformance Certificate, granted by the County, was based on the Farm’s assertion that they had a longstanding history of hosting events of this nature and scale, pre-dating codes that require permitting for these types of venues. They were not required to submit detailed supporting documentation for this claim in the form of actual ticket sales per event. The lack of transparency regarding past event attendance at Remlinger Farms raises questions about the validity of the interpretation upon which the approval was based. Historically, since 1991, Remlinger Farms has hosted mostly corporate picnic events and private parties, nothing in comparison to the large public concerts of this scale. Despite significant impact on the local community and ecosystem, the public remains uninformed about a large-scale concert venue operating in their small agricultural community planned to start Friday, 5-24-2024!

PLEASE HELP US TO URGE KING COUNTY TO MODIFY OR REVOKE THIS CERTIFICATE IMMEDIATELY!

POTENTIAL IMPACTS

The Carnation Community Alliance (CCA) is concerned that these impacts have not been considered with ANY public input and without any review under the State Environmental Policy Act. The community, immediate neighbors, and other regulating agencies were not notified about this significant land use change and its magnitude. 

•   Noise pollution from amplified sound systems

•   Traffic congestion on SR-203 and adjacent roadways – our roads were designed for 1500 cars per hour max with no public transportation or shuttle service

•   Drain on already sparse rural emergency services 

•   Public nuisance from ongoing presence of over 200,000 concert goers in one season 

•   Light pollution

•   Stormwater pollution and runoff from thousands of parked vehicles

•   Associated environmental impacts to water quality, wildlife, and agriculture including illegal construction of the stage in the Tolt River Severe Channel Migration Zone and Floodplain

•   Not following standard T.U.P. (Temporary Use Permit) permitting process avoids thorough study and analysis of proposal along with public input to discover potential problems

VOICE YOUR CONCERNS

This Petition Needs More Than Just Your Signature To Succeed!

1.      SIGN THIS PETITION

2.      Share this petition with others

3.      Review facts and timeline at CarnationCA.com

4.      Email your representatives at King County + City of Carnation

5.      Tell your local media to report on this issue

6.      Join the Carnation Community Alliance on Facebook or email us at carnationcommunityalliance@gmail.com

7.  Donate by going to CarnationCA.com - Donate button upper right