GRANITE FALLS — Plans to build an off-road motorcycle racetrack along the Mountain Loop Highway have again received approval from the Snohomish County hearing examiner.
The new decision, released Dec. 23, revisited an earlier one the examiner issued in May. The project still must adhere to a long list of conditions intended to limit noise, water runoff, dust, light pollution, fire danger, traffic and more.
“It’s great news,” said Gary Strode, co-owner of the company trying to build the track. “Hopefully, we’re getting near the end of it here.”
Not so fast, say neighbors and environmentalists fighting the project. They see the hearing examiner’s latest response as inadequate.
Lingering concerns include landslide risks on steep slopes, the risk of additional sediment to nearby Canyon Creek, groundwater contamination from oil spills and the potential for engine noise to harm populations of the marbled murrelet, an endangered seabird that nests in old-growth forests.
“There’s a lot of risk there for the county if they go ahead and approve this project,” said Bill Lider, an engineer who consulted for opponents.
The examiner’s decision can be appealed to the County Council and to Snohomish County Superior Court. Before starting construction, the project also must obtain permits.
The examiner’s 93-page decision is the latest turn in a nearly decade-long effort by MXGP of Kirkland to build a motocross facility in Snohomish County.
In 2005, the county shut down a track the company was operating without permits on farmland near Monroe. In 2006, plans to build a track in Maltby fell apart in the face of neighborhood resistance and zoning rules.
MXGP bought the Mountain Loop property in 2007, after the County Council agreed to open up some commercial forestland for motocross tracks.
Attempting to stop the proposed track there are the Mountain Loop Conservancy, the Pilchuck Audubon Society and the North Cascades Conservation Council.
They want to preserve the peace and tranquility that make the Mountain Loop Highway a magnet for hikers and wildlife watchers. They’re also trying to protect forest habitat and fish runs in Canyon Creek, a tributary of the South Fork Stillaguamish River.
MXGP’s proposal calls for building out a complex of multiple tracks in five phases. The work could take up to 15 years to complete. It would occupy a 437-acre site located between two quarries, Green Mountain Mine and Snohomish County’s Sand Hill gravel pit. About 80 percent of the property would remain as forest.
There are plans to build an earthen berm around the project to dampen the sound offsite.
The examiner’s decision takes up three legal issues: granting a request to rezone MXGP’s property to forestry and recreation from just forestry; issuing a conditional use permit; and denying a land-use appeal.
In February 2014, hearings on the project stretched over five and a half days. People sent in 385 comment letters. Track opponents compiled 899 signatures for a petition.
Examiner pro tem Phil Olbrechts issued the first decision in May, but agreed to reconsider it after opponents appealed.
In both decisions, the examiner imposed a 49 decibel sound limit at the property line. That’s lower than normal conversational volumes. If noise levels come within 5 decibels of that threshold, the track must conduct continual noise monitoring for next nine months.
The limit applies to racetrack operations and construction, though not daytime construction during the first year.
“The person with everything at risk is me,” Strode said. “If I’m wrong and my experts are wrong, I lose millions of dollars.”
The examiner’s rules prohibit recreational motorcycle or ATV riding before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. The nighttime limit is dusk when it falls before 9 p.m. No racing is allowed after 7 p.m. or dusk, whichever comes earlier.
Races could only be held on Saturdays and Sundays, with an exception for some holidays.
No more than 40 motorcycles or ATVs could race on at any track at the same time.
No national races under the American Motorcycle Association are allowed.
In the more recent decision, the examiner told MXGP to limit the number of parking spaces.
Also new is a condition for track operators to distribute leaflets informing patrons that off-road vehicles aren’t allowed on nearby national forest lands. Anyone who violates those rules must be banned from the facility for a year.
The new decision also clarifies noise-monitoring procedures.
Other conditions are addressing landslide hazards within 200 feet of any developed areas.
The track’s operator must keep a log to record complaints about noise, dust, traffic, parking, restrooms, security and other issues.
There’s a requirement to pay a combined $47,000 in traffic-impact fees to the city of Granite Falls, the state and the county.
One-day attendance cannot exceed 800 people for riders, spectators and facility staff. The motocross park can be used for a maximum of 150 days per year.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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