EDMONDS – A controversial development that would stack 55 homes on 7 acres on a bluff overlooking a Snohomish County park won approval last week.
Now opponents say they are weighing their next move and preparing for court.
The Snohomish County Council voted 4-1 to approve the rezone allowing the Arbutus Gardens project to be built above Meadowdale County Beach Park.
The opposition group, Citizens for Meadowdale County Park, plans a meeting Tuesday to discuss what to do next.
Members said they were frustrated by the council’s decision.
The builder proposes 55 single-family homes on the land in a compact configuration that recently was temporarily banned by some cities. The proposed low-density, multiple residential project might operate like a condominium, sharing costs for the land and streets.
“I think that the rezone is consistent with the comprehensive plan,” said County Councilman John Koster, who voted in favor of the rezone.
Only Councilman Gary Nelson voted against the proposal. He said the proposed zoning is incompatible with the neighborhood.
Opponents are livid at the outcome. They argue that the project will harm the nearby county park and put too many homes on too few acres in the neighborhood.
“There was a lot of disgust and anger after the appeal hearing,” said Michael Knight of Citizens for Meadowdale County Park.
The County Council’s vote reaffirmed a 2006 hearing examiner decision approving the project. Neighbors appealed to the County Council in hopes of overturning or further limiting the project.
Opponents also have sued in King County Superior Court, challenging the environmental review of the project. A hearing is pending.
Neighbors argued that once the property is clear-cut, storm water from the project would run into Lund’s Gulch, cause landslides and repeat flooding in the county park. Chum and coho salmon swim in Lund’s Gulch Creek downstream from the project.
“I have no doubt that some of the concerns about storm water have validity to them,” County Councilman Dave Somers said. “There’s no question this type of development is going to change the neighborhood.”
However, Somers said he would be hard-pressed to find a legal argument to support siding with project opponents.
“The proposed project is consistent with the land-use controls in place when the applicant filed,” Somers said.
The Snohomish County hearing examiner required Arbutus Gardens to have landscaping to screen it from neighbors.
The developer, John Lakhani of Quilceda Land Group Inc., is also required to boost storm-water controls and plant trees to prevent nearby slopes from sloughing.
Calls to Lakhani were not immediately returned.
Neighbors have been anxious about development on the property since 1999, when condos and town homes first were proposed. The 55 single-family homes are too much, said Dave Wege of Citizens for Meadowdale County Park.
“You’ve got twice as many people, twice as much density going in on the property,” Wege said. “It’s the wrong thing for that location, on the rim of a fragile environmental ecosystem.”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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