SNOHOMISH – A contractor accused of damaging fish habitat at his home on Flowing Lake also was caught this week building a dock without permits, Snohomish County officials said.
On Tuesday, county officials ordered Jason Bruers to halt work on his dock.
It’s the latest in a string of reported county code violations for Bruers, owner of Infrastructure Systems Inc., a Snohomish firm that does site and utility work for housing developments.
Last year, the county ordered Bruers to halt work after he allegedly landscaped and dredged near the lake’s edge to build a sandy beach and make room for his power boat.
He might be forced to restore the lake’s shoreline. The area is required to be protected as habitat for endangered bull trout believed to be living in Flowing Lake.
Bruers said he violated no laws.
“All I did was put topsoil down, hydroseed and planted bushes like any other homeowner on any other lake in Washington,” Bruers said. “Did I disrupt a habitat area? No.”
Bruers appealed the county’s order regarding the alleged dredging and the case has yet to be resolved. The first of two hearings on the matter was convened last week.
Then, the county found the dock.
The county is handling the dredging and dock cases separately, but the pattern of repeat violations is clear, said Mike McCrary, county inspection services and enforcement manager.
“There have been considerable rules and regulations ignored,” McCrary said.
Since Bruers is a grading contractor, “a reasonable person can assume he knows what grading is and is not,” McCrary said.
County inspectors returned to Bruers’ property on Tuesday to take photos of the partially completed dock. They said they found 10 concrete pilings tied together with beams and stretching 24 feet into the lake.
Bruers said he doesn’t need a permit for the dock. Homeowners are exempt if the freshwater dock costs less than $10,000, he said.
“I think code enforcement needs to know the codes before they go out and start citing people at will,” Bruers said.
McCrary said Bruers is only exempt from a major shoreline permit for the dock, but must still complete an environmental review and get a building permit, McCrary said.
“We just had a hearing last week where there was in excess of three hours testimony where we talked exclusively about what things could and couldn’t be done in the shoreline and critical-areas environment,” McCrary said.
Bruers’ company does site and utility work for housing developments, including work in Mill Creek and Everett, according to a feature article the trade publication Modern Machinery.
The work has upset some of Bruers’ neighbors.
Lisa Brown said she kept quiet when Bruers bought the lakeside property and buzzed down the brush and trees in 2005. But when heavy equipment was tearing into the shoreline, she had to complain.
“I tried to turn a blind eye to it, but it got to a point where he doesn’t have any boundaries,” Brown said. “I don’t see the lake living as a healthy lake if people continue to have that kind of behavior. Homeowners on the lake have some obligation.”
Bruers met with county officials before he started building his home and was told the area near the water was environmentally protected, according to county officials.
After the house was mostly built, Bruers reportedly scraped down and filled land within 200 feet of Flowing Lake, causing substantial damage, officials said.
After he was told to stop work and seek required permits, neighbors and county park rangers reported he continued to work late at night.
Bruers said he didn’t dredge the lake for his boat.
“I did not go out into the water or fill into the water,” Bruers said. “All I did was enhance my property up to the water’s edge.”
Sand placed at the lake’s edge was not for a beach, Bruers added. Instead, it acted as a filter for runoff from the property during construction of his house, Bruers said.
He said he hasn’t had time to remove the sand and plant new grass.
Bruers is scheduled to appear before the county hearing examiner in two months.
“It’s still an ongoing thing,” Bruers said. “We’ll be back in on Aug. 29 to hear my side of it.”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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