Car dealer Dwayne Lane has asked Snohomish County to withdraw his applications for permits that would start initial work on his controversial auto dealership at Island Crossing.
Lane has been seeking permits to grade the 14.3-acre property, as well as flood hazard and shoreline development permits.
Lane wants to move his Arlington car lot to the high-profile location next to I-5 west of the city limits, but his plans have been opposed by several groups that want to see the land kept for farming.
It’s the latest twist for Lane’s proposal.
Earlier this week, a state growth management hearings board began its review of the zoning change for 110.5 acres at Island Crossing that would take the land out of agriculture zoning and make it possible for Lane’s car lot and other businesses to move there. The zoning change is being challenged by Gov. Gary Locke, farmers, anti-sprawl activists and others.
Henry Lippek, an attorney representing the Stillaguamish Flood Control District, said the current designation of the Island Crossing property wouldn’t allow the initial construction work necessary for Lane’s new car lot.
It’s currently labeled rural under the county’s shoreline management program, and Lane has asked it to be changed to urban.
"You can’t build an auto dealership in a rural flood plain," Lippek said.
A consultant for Lane, however, said the auto dealer only wanted to complete basic leveling of the property, plus drainage maintenance and flood protection efforts. That work wouldn’t run counter to the rural shoreline zone, John Burkholder, Lane’s consultant on his Island Crossing project, said in a letter to the county.
Burkholder did not submit a reason for withdrawing the permit application in his request to the county.
The permit applications sought approval for bringing roughly 18,000 cubic yards of fill into the flood plain — enough material to load roughly 750 dump trucks with trailers.
The material would be used to raise approximately 6.4 acres of Lane’s property by 1 to 3 feet. Lane’s initial permit proposal also included digging a 7-foot-deep, 36-foot-wide channel to divert floodwaters along one edge of the property. The channel would stretch 260 feet.
Although the county has stopped processing Lane’s permits for now, work on his proposal continues on other fronts.
Arlington has given Snohomish County notice that it will annex 266 acres, which includes Lane’s property.
And the Snohomish County Council is expected to hold a public hearing March 24 on the proposal to change the shoreline designation of 73 acres in Island Crossing from rural to urban. County planners say the change is a necessary next step before commercial development permits can be processed for the Island Crossing properties.
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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