GETCHELL — Despite its large lots and horse pastures, Getchell is growing, and what is one of its oldest farmhouses might be a casualty.
Getchell Fire Department officials say they must build a new station on the farmhouse lot across the street from their current firehouse at 8424 99th Ave. NE, east of Marysville.
The owners, however, don’t want to sell their home.
“People are in such a hurry to whack things down, destroy the past,” said Ed Long, who owns and lives in the house with his wife, Pat Weiland. “It’s not right.”
The fire department’s number of calls has increased in the past 10 years from 225 per year to more than 1,000, Chief Travis Hots said. The district recently added 14 firefighters, bringing its total to 48.
“We’ve outgrown this place,” he said of the station, built in 1962. “It would have been nice to be in a new building about eight years ago.”
Fire officials hope to begin construction on the $4 million project within three years.
The district has yet to make an offer, but they’ve sent an appraiser to evaluate the property. If Long and Weiland won’t sell, the fire district has already said it could use the power of eminent domain, forcing a sale of private property for public benefit.
Even though Long and Weiland would be compensated, they say that’s not the issue.
Their home was built between 1900 and 1910 by Peter Johnson, one of the first two landowners in Getchell, according to their research.
Long, 58, and Weiland, 56, have extensively remodeled the old house in the nine years they’ve lived there, they said. They’ve peeled old grasscloth wallpaper off the walls and repainted. They’ve lifted linoleum and polished original hardwood floors. They’ve installed new tile and fixtures in the kitchen.
“That’s basically our hobby, is working on this place,” Long said.
They’ve planted trees, flowers and vegetable gardens in addition to the stately old apple, pear and nut trees they believe are as old as the house, Long said.
“The apples are this big,” he said, using his hands to form the size of softball.
The couple is investigating historical status for the house. Even so, state law does not protect historic structures from eminent domain.
Last year, the couple started making plans to remodel the upstairs, but then found out about the fire district’s plans, they said.
“Our lives have been on hold,” Long said. “We can’t do anything.”
The district has yet to make an offer to the couple. An appraiser was sent to evaluate the property recently.
The department needs nearly five acres for its new station, which includes a building, a parking lot and a septic system, said Hots, who also is a battalion chief for Lake Stevens Fire District 8.
The district plans to keep its current station after the new one is built, though for how long is uncertain.
Long’s lot is about 3 1/2 acres. Last year, the fire district bought a small home directly across 99th from the station, next to Long’s house.
The current station is surrounded by mostly open land on the same side of 99th. Hots said the new station can’t be built directly to the north or the west because of slopes and wetlands. The south side is too close to 84th Avenue NE.
The district has not done any studies of the surrounding property, he said. State law does not require it.
“It’s pretty obvious there are wetlands there,” Hots said. “If you go out there it’s pretty swampy. It’s so obvious that I don’t think you’d need a consultant to come in and tell you that it’s all wet.”
Building the station in another location entirely would jeopardize response time to one side of the district or the other, Hots said. The district covers much of the unincorporated area between Lake Stevens, Marysville and Granite Falls. Also, fire trucks entering 84th from 99th can switch the stoplight to stop cross-traffic, he said.
If a bill to be introduced in the state Legislature this coming year is approved, the district would have to document its explanations justifying eminent domain. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland, would require jurisdictions to show they’ve fully investigated alternatives before taking someone’s property.
The bill also would require governments to pay for all appraisals of the property. Currently they must pay only up to $750 with the rest coming from the property owner, Springer said. Agencies also would be required to give property owners an opportunity to suggest alternatives, among other safeguards.
Springer has introduced the bill each of the past two years, after one of his constituents had trouble with a pipeline company, he said. Both times, it’s passed the House of Representatives but failed to make the floor for a vote in the Senate.
Going to court is the only recourse for owners of property condemned through eminent domain, Springer said.
That’s something Long is willing to do if necessary. He doesn’t buy the district’s explanation that they need his property.
“Going to court may be good for corporations and governments and things like that, but for the average working person, that’s setting the bar a little too high, in my estimation,” Long said.
Long works for Washington Energy Services in Lynnwood while Weiland works for the Puget Sound Blood Center. They plan to move to the Southwest after they retire, “and we just hoped we could find someone who would appreciate and care for and love this place as we have,” Long said.
The district’s three commissioners unanimously approved the station plan. Hots said officials understand the historic and aesthetic value of the home.
“There’s nothing we can do about that,” he said. “We took that into consideration. This was a very difficult decision for the board of commissioners to proceed with this.
“This decision we’re making is in the best interest of the entire community,” he said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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