The excavation site across the street from the blueberry farm continues to fill with groundwater. It appears that the water table must be just a few inches below the level of the soil. (I think the pond shwon below is approximately two feet deep.)
Monthly archives for February, 2007
Beautiful Blueberry Farm appearantly to be subdivided to make way for one more house
I have to admit, I don’t really understand the motivation. If you have a 3.5 acre piece of property in an urban area, with willow trees, ponds, creeks, and acres of naturally watered blueberries….why would you want to give that up to put in one more home lot. A building lot in Renton is worth maybe $150,000, and there are potentially tens of thousands of them. The 3.5 acre U-Pick Blueberry farm, with it’s charming farm house, beautiful grounds, and loyal customer base is probably worth closer to a million dollars, and is entirely unique. (In order to build the new house, the property will have to be subdivided and a long private road will have to be built to reach the only dry upland section suitable for building.)
While I do not share the property owner’s enthusiasm for replacing a blueberry farm with one new home lot, I actually voted against this rezone because we do not have a good understanding of the underlying wetland. We had been told that the new R4 zoning will allow the blueberry farm wetlands to be protected, but I have several reasons to be concerned this may not happen. For instance, the property across the street from the blueberry farm is being legally excavated, and it is filling with ground water faster than it can be pumped out…leaving many wondering exactly when the wetland protections apply. And there appears to be risk of differing opinions as to whether a centuries-old peat bog qualifies for a wetland where it is not actually under water. City staff believe it is a wetland, but they are not legally qualified to make the determination…so we may have skirmishes over this issue in the future.
We also received a petition tonight, signed by 75 residents, asking us to get a wetland delineation before taking any action. I gave this weight in my decision.
In addition, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wrote to council a few days ago, asking us not to rezone the property without a wetland delineation. Our city attorney says we don’t have to follow their suggestion, but I have seen this department demand attention elsewhere, such as when they added extensive fish mitigation to the billion dollar I-405 expansion project. And even if we can bully our way past Washington Fish and Wildlife, I don’t understand why we would burn bridges with this important department in an unpopular effort to turn a blueberry farm into a house, when we will need State Fish and Wildlife support for projects like our lake boardwalk trail in front of Boeing (the Sam Chastain Trail), toxic cleanup efforts at a polluted lakefront site, the rebuilding of Coulon park boardwalks and boat ramps, and on-going dredging of the Cedar River.
Finally, even with the R4 zoning, I am not sure if the required wetland buffers will even let one additional house be built. So if the property is sold, and the new buyer expects to subdivide, they could be very disappointed; they would likely be asking the question…why would council rezone property for four units to the acre if it won’t support anymore homes. A wetland delineation, prior to the rezone, would have eliminated this uncertainty.
We simply should have obtained more information on the wetland before proceeding.
Even though I voted against the rezone, it still passed. Not the first time (and probably not the last time) that I vote in the council minority. I hope the city is successful in providing good stewardship of the wetlands, and if possible, the blueberries.
Getting bogged down
The owner of the Kennydale Blueberry farm has applied for a rezone from RC to medium density R8, to allow additional homes to be built on the 3.5 acre site.
Council is considering allowing the property to instead be zoned to low density R4, which would allow one or two new homes, and would require that a biologist survey the wetland and put it into a protected status at the time of development.
And above and below is how the site looks today, now that some digging is occuring. A neighbor told me that ducks have been flying in and out.
While R4 would require wetland protection, we’ve been told that RC zoning would not require wetland protection, and that dog kennel runs or horse paddocks could be built on the low lying areas.
Personally, I would like to see the 2.25 acre damp area remain a blueberry farm, regardless of whether an additional home is built on the uplands. We have many homes in Renton Highlands, but only one U-Pick Blueberry farm.
Feeling powerless? You aren’t
I love the simile Jerry Large uses in this column …”is the world driving itself while we pretend to steer, like kids in a carnival ride?”
Classic!
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Monday, February 19, 2007
Feeling powerless? You aren’t
By Jerry Large, Seattle Times staff columnist
A person could be forgiven for thinking life around here has gotten out of hand.
Neighborhoods change overnight, and big civic issues seem beyond the touch of average people. Big decisions about the viaduct, the Sonics, Iraq and development happen on a level most folks can’t reach. The paper seems full of anti-civics lessons.
Is the world driving itself while we pretend to steer, like kids on a carnival ride?
READ MORE »
The Open Public Meetings Act and Electronic Communications
I’ve recently been asked about Washington’s open public meetings act, and how it affects email. I have attached a great article about it from Washington’s Municipal Research Center.
Even though council email is a recognized public record, an exchange of emails from a majority of council members can actually constitute an illegal non-public meeting. It’s not wrong to send an email to all council members….but it is wrong for a majority of council members to respond back using their reply-to-all function. Furthering this risk, emails can also get appended and forwarded, from one council member to another, which can inadvertantly create a “meeting” via an email daisy chain.
I’m solidly within the spirit and letter of the law with this blog, as long as I don’t have a majority of council members replying to my articles. I like this blog format because it keeps my thoughts and discussion out there for all the public to see, without citizens having to trek down to city hall to read email. But, as I promised at the start of the year, the email I do recieve is available for everyone to see.
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Here is the article:
Municipal Research & Services Center
Ramsey Ramerman, Attorney
Foster Pepper, PLLC
Communicating with today’s technology is faster and easier than ever. But this ease poses new pitfalls for officials subject to the Open Public Meetings Act, 42.30 RCW (“OPMA” or the “Act”). Unless proper safeguards are in place, the careless use of emails, instant message, chat rooms, electronic bulletin boards and other electronic communications can lead to the unintended and unknowing violation of the OPMA. Accordingly, public entities subject to the Act should have rules and procedures in place to ensure that unintended violations do not occur.
The OPMA requires that all “meetings” of a “governing body” be open to the public unless expressly exempt. RCW 42.30.030. Most multimember bodies of public agencies will be subject to the statute. RCW 42.30.020(1)(b). A meeting occurs when a majority of the government body meets to take “action.” RCW 42.30.020(4). The term “action” is expansive and includes not only the transaction of official business, but also simple discussion about official business, and the taking of testimony about official business. Accordingly, the OPMA will usually apply when a majority of any board, commission or council gathers for any official purpose.
Under the plain language of the statute, as well as opinions from the Supreme Court, the Act does not apply if less than a majority meet.1 The Attorney General and Supreme Court have also recognized that the Act does not apply, even when a majority gather, if no “official business” — business that could come before the governing body for a vote2 — is conducted.3 But the Act is not limited to in-person gatherings — a conference call could also amount to a meeting.4
Conceptually, emails land in a gray area. Like letters, emails create their own record that is subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act, so they will already be exposed by the sunshine laws. For example, the Virginia Supreme Court held that an email exchange is like an exchange of letters, already subject to public disclosure, but not amounting to a “meeting.” 5 Unlike letters, however, the exchange of emails can be nearly instantaneous, allowing for a practically real-time exchange. For other forms of communication, like chat rooms and instant message, the exchange is instantaneous, and no “record” is necessarily kept.
Renton Myspacers concerned about Sonics proposal
Renton Myspace users seem very concerned about the Sonics Arena discussions to date.
For example, Dave Says “I feel that everyone that wants this to happen sees $$$. I think we should really do what’s right for the citizens not for the cities revenue. And we are a growing comunity but we are going to bust at the seams trying to cram everything down here at North Renton. And how is this going to impact the wildlife in our area, fish, and birds. And where are all of these people supposed to park? In front of my house 
”
And Stephanie says “The millionaire owners and players need to pay for the new arena. At least 85% and get 15% from taxpayers. It’s rediculous that just because they feel they need a new playground we have to pay for it.”
In the fourteen comments recieved this afternoon, only two were supportive. Chris says “Renton should pony up the dough to make sure that we can not only keep the sonics in Washington, but bring them into our city. With the Seahawks training facility, The Landing and the Sonics, Renton will grow tremendously in the future. It will be worth the millions in the years to come!”
Click here, and scroll to the bottom, to see how Renton Myspacers are feeling about the Sonics Arena
Sonics Arena
The Council needs to recieve details on the Sonics Arena proposal as soon as possible. Several of us on council have expressed our support of having the Sonics in town, but we are getting nervous about not getting formal information from the Mayor’s office, and not having a chance to discuss the options. When we ask questions, we get fierce lobbying instead, which is not what we need to develop a winning package. Meanwhile, today’s Times makes it sound as if Renton is being eyed for more than one-hundred million dollars, when council has in fact not approved any expenditures for this project. While we have a great site, and a beautiful proximity to new shops, restaurants, and parking at the Landing, and a council willing to work with the Sonics, we only have 58,000 residents….one-hundred million dollars is a lot of money for 58,000 people!
I would like to see the council get involved in the problem solving for this project, so that we can examine every possible way to make this successful. Pushing us out of the decision-making is not going to work.
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Here is an email I recieved from my colleague Denis Law on this topic on Friday.
Dear Colleagues,
I want to share some of my observations regarding the meeting the mayor convened
this morning regarding the Sonics. Please call me if you wish to discuss this so
that we don’t violate the Open Public Meetings Act. My intention is to just
inform you of what seems to be taking place from my point of view.
Those invited this morning were primarily business owners who would have a
predictable opinion on the value of having the Sonics locate in Renton. We did
have representation from the Kennydale Neighborhood Assoc., North Renton and
Highlands. There was no well-planned presentation and most of the the time was
devoted to asking the opinion of those in attendance as to whether or not there
is community benefit to have the Sonics in our community. The majority reaction
could have been predicted without attending the meeting.
What I see that is wrong with our process is that we’re asking local restaurant
owners or the chamber if there is a benefit of having the Sonics in our
community. Duh………………… of course there is benefit. What is
concerning to me is to have a restaurant owner call me after the meeting and
relay that he was asked by a member of the mayor’s staff what he thought about
the Sonics announcement. He replied that he thought it was great, and was then
urged to share his thoughts with the council since there are council members
clearly concerned about the Sonics coming to Renton.
I have heard some very legitimate questions raised by council members but have
not heard one word that we should not work with the Sonics to make this happen
if possible. Why would the administration spread the rumor that the council is
against the Sonics, or to try and influence community leaders to pick a side?
Our role is to understand what it will cost Renton residents in real dollars,
impacts and long-term debt to build a stadium in our community. We need to
determine if we can truly mitigate the impacts to neighboring communities and
also generate enough revenues to support the cost of city services needed to
support this facility while also repaying the bonded indebtedenss that we may
decide to incurr.
I have stated in emails to Jay and to Toni that I feel strongly that the council
needs to have the opportunity to weigh all of the information in order to make a
decision that is in the best interest of our citizens. I want to reiterate my
opinion that we should not spend any money on studies or consultants until the
council has had the opportunity to understand what will be expected of us, in
terms of financial support, and the proposed use of the facility in order to ask
questions regarding mitigating impacts to our neighborhoods. It’s my
understanding that Alex’s staff is prepared to move forward with hiring a
consultant without council approval or input.
It’s my opinion that the city council needs to be the driver of how we solicit
public input, time-frames and other aspects of this process. Right now, it
appears to me that we’re merely an inconvenient nuisance that needs to be dealt
with at some point in this process.
It’s my sincere hope that the city council will be the driver to all processes
involving the potential stadium being located in our community.
Thanks for listening!
Denis
–
Denis Law, Publisher
The Business Report
Renton Magazine
15 S. Grady Way, Suite 514
Renton, WA 98055
Kennydale Blueberry Farm; council rezone discussion
Time for another Blueberry Bog Blog 
We had a lengthy and interesting discussion at Monday night’s council meeting concerning the Kennydale Blueberry Farm rezone. The owner of the decades-old 3.5 acre farm is ready for retirement, and desires to rezone the property to an R4 or R8 (four to eight units per acre), from its current RC (resource conservation). She also says that the Blueberry plants are dying as a result of the dramatic development all around her farm, and the de-watering of the farm’s natural basin thanks to the city’s new storm-water drainage system.
The city staff, the Planning Commission, and the council’s Planning and Development subcommittee have all recommended R4 zoning for the property, which allows up to four homes per acre on the dry, buildable portion of the property (estimated to be 1.25 acres). Much of the past citizen testimony, however, has been in favor of keeping the zoning at RC, which would not allow subdivision but would allow the existing home, one accessory home, and (as we learned on Monday) several other rural type uses including professional dog kennels, professional stables, and other rural businesses.
But it turns out that the RC zoning would not ever require that the owner delineate the most delicate feature of the property, the peat bog (fen) fed by underground springs, which appears to be thousands of years old and forms the headwaters for Kennydale Creek. In a worst case type scenario, it sounds like RC zoning would allow for a future owner to bulldoze the blueberry plants, and put kennel runs on this peat bog if they were so inclined.
R4 zoning would require wetland delineation, but not until the property owner applied for subdivision. At that time, the wetland peat bog (estimated at 2.25 acres) would be delineated and documented by biologists in a wetland report, marked as a nature zone, and protected against building or any active uses. The remaining dry upland property would accommodate one to three new homes, in addition to the existing home.
Several citizens expressed concern that if the wetland delineation is not done before rezoning, then the character of the property may be altered before the biologists have a chance to survey the wetland. So the council asked the Mayor and the administration to contact the property owners, and see if the city could obtain permission to perform the wetland delineation now, in order to know specifically what the impact of the rezone will be. The report could then be provided to the property owner, and she in turn could share it with potential buyers, to eliminate all unknowns about the wetland when the property changes hands. In addition, council asked the administration to explore whether the owner would be interested in selling the wetland section back to the city, to protect it in perpetuity. ( This is a very common action along creeks and other bodies of water.)
The council has agreed to take up this issue again at Committee of the Whole, in two weeks.