MUKILTEO — Preservationists hoping to keep a large stretch of forest out of the hands of developers just got an assist from City Hall.
And it didn’t cost the city a penny of its own money.
The City Council this week unanimously agreed to purchase 16 acres of Japanese Gulch, a forested ravine of nearly 300 acres that lies within Everett and Mukilteo city limits.
“It’s fantastic news,” said Joe Elsholtz, president of the Mukilteo-based nonprofit Japanese Gulch Group. “The city’s been very supportive in doing this for a while now.”
With its $980,000 purchase from Washington Federal Savings of Seattle, the city now owns 36 acres of the ravine.
Money to buy the property came from a 2009 state capital grant.
State Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, pushed for the money. He had help from Rep. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, who is a former Mukilteo city councilman, and Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish who is chairman of the House Capital Budget Committee.
Mayor Joe Marine credited Shin for his efforts on the city’s behalf.
“Without him, there’s no way we could have gotten this,” Marine said.
Other Snohomish County cities over the years have received money for a variety of projects from the capital fund.
Richard Emery, the council’s vice-president, said the city had long sought an opportunity to buy more property in the gulch, nearly all of which lies within Everett city limits.
The door to that opportunity opened late last year, after developers backed away from purchasing the Washington Savings Bank property.
After that, the only question, Emery said, was whether the bank would be willing to sell the property.
“It’s astonishing progress, actually,” said Emery, who also is a member of the preservation group. “In the past year and a half, we’ve secured just over 25 acres in the gulch, something previous councils have talked about for decades and never were able to quite manage.”
The latest city acquisition is wedged between an 11.4-acre parcel the city owns on the north end of the gulch, near Old Town and a 97.7-acre parcel owned by Metropolitan Creditor’s Trust, which is holding the property to sell as part of a bankruptcy.
Mukilteo also owns 8.7 acres on which the Mukilteo Garden Club maintains a community garden.
Last year, Latitude Development of Auburn expressed an interest in the 16-acre site but eventually pulled out, said Debby McGehee, membership chairwoman for the Japanese Gulch Group.
Her group, which formed in 2008, has worked to prevent warehouses and condos from being developed in the gulch, a popular yet mostly privately owned forest.
The Boeing Co. owns most of the gulch.
“It would be terrific if we could garner support from the city of Everett and Snohomish County for the remainder of the property,” McGehee said. “It is used regionally.”
Oscar Halpert: 425-339-3429, ohalpert@heraldnet.com.
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