Marysville neighbors push back against new homes

MARYSVILLE — For a group of residents in a small Marysville neighborhood, getting to and from their home can be a challenge.

The community of more than 150 homes is bordered by the protected Quilceda Creek to the east and north and Interstate 5 to the west. One intersection — at 36th Avenue NE and 88th Street NE — is the only way in and out of the neighborhood. Traffic frequently gridlocks there, causing long delays, especially when trains pass through the city or vehicles crash at the intersection.

Now, a developer is planning to add another 59 single-family homes there, along with two parks and a pickleball court. The neighbors are fighting back, citing concerns over added traffic, possible groundwater contamination and emergency service response times.

“We feel like it’s unsafe to put 59 homes back here with only one way to access the area,” said neighbor Shelia Davis.

But under the state’s Growth Management Act, the city needs to allow for a significant amount of housing construction to fight the ongoing affordability crisis affecting the entire state. Over the next 20 years, about 622 housing units will need to be built every year to keep up with demand, according to the city’s latest comprehensive plan. By law, Marysville can’t deny developments that meet the city’s code requirements, city spokesperson Connie Mennie said in an email.

Soon after the developer, California-based KB Home, first filed its application in August, the neighbors formed an LLC, the 35th Ave Community Action Group, and started meeting weekly. After the city determined the proposal will likely not have a significant impact on the environment, the group hired a lawyer to appeal the city’s findings.

It’s unknown when construction could begin, but a traffic impact analysis produced by engineering consultants for the developers references 2027 as an “opening year.” The city must grant preliminary approval and approve plans before groundwork could start. Right now, the developers are seeking preliminary approval from the city’s hearing examiner.

Six single-family homes currently sit at the site of the proposed development. KB Home does not yet own any of the property.

“KB Home cannot comment on land we currently do not own,” Craig Lemessurier, a spokesperson for the developers, said in an email Friday.

Residents raise concerns, city responds

Relieving the strain on the single intersection could be prohibitively expensive, city staff said, because of the neighborhood’s location and natural barriers.

Building another road out — most likely a bridge over Quilceda Creek — could cost as much as $30 million, Marysville’s engineering services director, Jeff Laycock, said in an email. For context, that’s more than the city’s entire transportation capital budget for 2025 and 2026 combined, a total of about $29 million.

This year, 16 crashes at the intersection of 36th Avenue NE and 88th Street NE were reported to police as of Aug. 15, according to police records. The intersection sees an average of 15 crashes per year.

The Tulalip Tribes are leading a $35 million project to construct a series of roundabouts, including one at 36th Avenue NE and 88th Street NE, as well as other exits off I-5 that lead to the reservation. The project is meant to prevent traffic from backing up onto the highway and improve safety. Currently, traffic trying to exit at 88th Street routinely backs up onto the interstate.

Roundabouts are safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists compared to two-way stops or traffic signals, especially if the roundabout is limited to a single lane, studies have shown. They also improve traffic flow and reduce delays, although current residents worry the intersection could be blocked if trains stop traffic.

The new homes will add about 509 daily trips to and from the neighborhood, according to the traffic impact analysis. The increase in trips will add about one second of delay for every car passing through the intersection by 2027 and 3.6 seconds by 2033, the study found.

Another main concern for residents is water contamination. Most of the neighborhood uses well water, as many of the homes were built when the area was in unincorporated Snohomish County. Marysville annexed parts of the neighborhood in the late 1990s, annexing the rest by 2006, city Community Development Director Haylie Miller said in an email.

Residents worry runoff from construction or pesticide use could contaminate their wells, most of which range in depth between 30 to 50 feet, said one of the neighbors, Matt Johnson, in a public comment submitted to the city.

Wells that shallow are prone to contamination, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, because they draw water from aquifers near the surface.

The new homes — which will use the city’s water system — will have a layer of engineered soil to prevent pollution of groundwater, according to a preliminary report on the development’s drainage prepared by an engineering firm. Storm drainage would be sufficient if a 100-year storm event were to occur, engineers said, as overflowing water would make its way to drainage ditches.

The city also has the right to inspect and repair the system if needed, according to a covenant. The community development department also set a number of conditions for the developers, including a requirement to complete multiple studies to address concerns over stormwater filtration and well contamination. Construction can’t begin until those studies are completed.

Some residents were also upset the new homes would be connected to city water, while their homes would remain on well water. If they wanted to switch, residents would have to foot the bill.

“If we want to put city water in our houses, we have to pay for it,” said John Ray, one of the neighbors. “City’s not going to do it, but the development gets their water, no problem.”

The developers, however, are paying all of the costs for public utility hookups. The city is not allowed to pay private residents or builders to hook up to city water.

“The city cannot legally provide those services to existing neighborhood residents; this would be considered a gift of public funds without the ability to offer it to all city residents,” Miller said in an email.

Current residents also worry about emergency service response times due to the single intersection.

But first responders will still be able to get into the neighborhood if an intersection is blocked, Marysville Fire Marshal Tom Maloney said in an email.

“Having blocked roadways resulting from storms is not uncommon and fire crews are trained to deal with these potential emergencies,” Maloney wrote. “Response times would be similar to current response times.”

A hearing on the residents’ appeal is set for 6 p.m. Jan. 16 at 501 Delta Ave. in Marysville.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.