LOCHSLOY — Neighbors who have watched the Pilchuck River devour their back yards get to vote this summer on whether to form a flood control district.
The special district would allow the 16 property owners involved to issue bonds and levy assessments in order to pay for riverbank stabilization projects. There are 15 private property owners along with some county-owned right-of-way within the proposed district.
Homeowners in the Lochaven neighborhood off Highway 92, between Lake Stevens and Granite Falls, petitioned Snohomish County last year to establish the Lochsloy Pilchuck Flood Control District.
The group has proposed two possible projects. The first would be to put in riprap and to plant native vegetation to stabilize the bank where it is now. The second option would attempt to move the bank back to where it was in the past by putting in riprap up to 100 feet out from the bank and filling in the gap.
“The proposed project is essentially a bank protection project to keep the river channel from continuing to migrate,” said Gregg Farris with the county’s Surface Water Management division during a public hearing last week. “It’s been migrating to the west, in toward the homes in the proposed district.”
The Snohomish County Council on May 11 voted 3-0 to authorize a special election for the property owners. They get two votes per property and a simple majority is needed to create the flood control district. The measure will appear on a separate Aug. 2 ballot from the regular primary election and will be mailed only to property owners in the proposed district, county elections manager Garth Fell said.
The council decided to exclude from the district some county-owned property along 152nd Avenue NE and state-owned aquatic lands that fall below the normal high water mark.
In order to grant permission for the special election, the council had to determine that the flood control district would benefit public health and welfare, help the majority of properties within the district and that the proposed projects are realistic.
A county engineer’s report found that the projects would be feasible. It also concluded the financial benefit outweighs the anticipated $1.3 million price tag for the work once expected increases in property value for homeowners are considered.
Stabilizing the bank could increase the value of properties in the district by between $62,000 and $94,000 per lot.
However, the engineer also noted that there is no guarantee the projects could get the necessary permits. That wouldn’t be decided until designs were submitted for review, which likely wouldn’t happen if the district fails in the election.
“Formation of the flood district is important because it’s preserving our properties and our lives,” said Mark Thompson, president of the Lochaven homeowners group. “Right now some of the river is within 40 feet of some of the houses.”
Homeowner Lisa Wasser told the county council that she’s lost trees and vegetation that used to border her lawn. Trees were uprooted and pulled away by the Pilchuck’s current as recently as March, she said. Even when the river isn’t flooding, erosion at that bend is constantly undercutting the bank and working its way closer to her home’s foundation.
“We purchased this not knowing that this erosion was catastrophic,” she said. “We thought this was flood-caused erosion that was a one-time event, and now we’re finding out that it’s not. I’m really concerned because some of my neighbors’ properties … their retaining walls are dropping into the river. We’ve had structures dropping into the river.”
Bill Lider, a private engineer based in Lynnwood, urged the county council to deny an election for the flood control district. He worries the proposed projects would harm fish in the Pilchuck River.
“With salmon runs at historic lows, preservation of stream-side habitat is critically important,” he said. “It’s most unfortunate that the county permitted these homes to be built within feet of the floodway fringe and on the river bend that aims the force of the river directly at these properties. Now these homeowners must seek public assistance to rectify an avoidable problem.”
If the flood control district is approved in the August election, people in the district would need to work with county officials on a formula for assessing how much property owners would pay toward projects. The method of assessing properties would come to the county council for a public hearing and vote. It would need to be approved by Sept. 1 for the district to begin collecting money in 2017.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
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