GRANITE FALLS — A September decision by the Snohomish County Council that set up the possibility to divide a horse farm into a riverfront park and an upland subdivision has been rebuked by the city.
Granite Falls appealed the County Council’s decision to the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board this week.
For the project’s proponents, the appeal is akin to looking a gift horse farm in the mouth. The appeal is still new enough that some county officials had not heard about it.
"I’m kind of caught flat-footed by this," County Councilman John Koster said.
Dean Essex had floated the proposal for the past several months. He offered to set aside about 38 acres of his lowland horse pasture as open space or a park.
In exchange, he asked for 27 acres of his adjacent hilltop land to be rezoned from agricultural to urban density to allow 80 to 135 homes instead of the 11 or so that would normally be allowed.
The County Council approved that rezone Sept. 10 over the objections of a majority of Granite Falls’ elected officials.
The city leaders would prefer to incorporate the proposal into its ongoing update of the city’s comprehensive plan, which will take more than a year.
Essex does not want to wait. He wants to relocate his horse farm to a different state, where he hopes the business would be more profitable.
Granite Falls Mayor Lyle Romack said the appeal was filed to keep the city’s legal options open. Such appeals must be filed within 60 days.
"The substance of this is just to make sure we still are letting everybody know that we stand where we did before" the election, Romack said.
Romack and City Councilman Charlie Goodhope were newly elected to their positions in November and just sworn in this month.
Among other concerns, Romack said the city’s new sewage treatment plant would be unduly stressed by so many new homes all at once.
"Until we get our infrastructure established and built up and increase our sewage plant volume, my stance will be the same," Romack said.
Tom Ehrlichman, an attorney representing Essex, said the city’s own records show that its plant has capacity for 200 to 300 new homes.
"We would not have proposed this without doing our homework on those issues, and I believe the County Council would not have been able to vote unanimously for the proposal without an extensive record examining all of the capacity issues," Ehrlichman said.
At hearings this summer, City Councilman Matt Hartman (who was interim mayor at the time) said the sewer capacity needs to be spread out over the next three to five years. Bringing too many online too quickly would not fit the city’s plans, he said.
Ehrlichman said he was surprised the city was spending money on litigation because it can simply refuse to supply sewer hookups.
Koster echoed that thought.
"It seemed to me that Granite Falls could let this thing die," Koster said. "The ball was in their court. That’s why I’m kind of surprised."
The state hearings board will schedule a prehearing conference for city and county officials, probably a few days after Jan. 1, said Joseph Tovar, the board’s chairman.
The city’s stance might force Essex to scuttle his offer and leave the city without a nearby riverfront park, Koster said.
"The end result will be, I believe, that Mr. Essex will divide his land into larger pieces," and therefore fewer homes, Koster said. "I believe the city of Granite Falls would be missing a great opportunity."
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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