Everett Marshlands park gets another look

Published 11:31 pm Saturday, February 9, 2008

EVERETT — A soggy swath of prime farmland on the city’s southern fringe called the Marshlands could one day be Everett’s largest park with miles of trails and open space for picnics.

More than triple the size of Forest Park, the squishy 305-acre property along the Snohomish River is close to the city, yet still a place where marsh hawks hunt for mice and farmers work the land.

A Seattle consultant that specializes in shoreline development, restoration and cleanup, is set to begin a study of nearly 1,000 flood-prone acres to determine the potential for recreation and salmon habitat restoration.

Private land, as well as public, will be included in the study. The city says it will meet with stakeholders during the early stages of the analysis.

The work is part of a 2004 legal settlement among the city, state Department of Ecology and a coalition of environmentalists.

“It’s just a gorgeous area out there,” said Hal Gausman, a special projects manager with the city parks department. “My hope is now we can get some resolution on how to best use that property.”

For now, the city leases the low lying land south of Lowell-Snohomish River Road to a farmer who grows canola and vegetable seed crops.

The $199,000 study is being paid for through a state Ecology Department grant.

More than a decade ago, Everett paid $1 million for the land for recreation. Early plans called for soccer and baseball fields, a climbing rock and a children’s golf course.

Those plans were tabled, however, after the Everett Shoreline Coalition and the Washington Environmental Council successfully challenged the city’s master shoreline plan before the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board.

The environmental groups argued more should be done to restore salmon and wildlife habitat at the area called the Marshlands. Developing a park was premature and could get in the way of restoration, they said.

“The vision that the city had didn’t fit what the shoreline management act said,” said Peggy Toepel with Everett Shoreline Coalition. Besides the Marshlands, the coalition also appealed the city’s designations for the Everett Riverfront project, the Maulsby mudflats, and other stretches of the Snohomish River along the northern tip of the city.

Rather than appealing the decision, Everett officials met with the environmental groups for a year and negotiated a compromise that requires the city to conduct restoration studies before developing the Marshlands

The environmental groups agreed to help find funding for restoration projects.

Don Bailey, a commissioner for the Marshland flood control district, which manages more than 6,400 acres of floodplains between Everett and Snohomish, said the Marshland’s drainage system that cuts through the city’s land before spilling into the river is critical to both agriculture and keeping Highway 9 and Marsh Road from flooding.

“From my perspective as a farmer, I’d like to see it stay as farmland,” he said of the area being studied. “That’s the highest and best use for it. That end of the valley gets really deep.”

Everett’s long-range planning manager Dave Koenig said the area being studied has several development and restoration hurdles, including a drainage canal, railroad and Puget Sound Power transmission lines. Because much of the property is privately owned and actively farmed, much of any restoration will be up to property owners, Koenig said.

“There are a number of challenges,” he said. “And the area does flood every so often.”

Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.