Snohomish couple trying to raise $150,000 to save home from cliff

SNOHOMISH — Teresa Shaw can only watch as a crumbling cliff inches closer and closer to her home.

Shaw, 45, and her husband, Lance, 39, both corrections officers at the Monroe Correctional Complex, are trying to raise $150,000 to save their house from falling more than 200 feet into the Pilchuck River.

The Shaws bought their geodesic-dome-shaped house on 27th Street SE in 2011. It wasn’t until about a year later that the couple noticed their back yard was disappearing into the river.

Their home is now less than 100 feet from the eroding cliff above the river and Machias.

“It’s horrible. We felt more droppage last night,” Shaw said in an interview Monday. “The house shakes and rumbles. It’s terrifying.”

Snohomish County officials late last month yellow-tagged their garage for limited entry because it is just 54 feet from the cliff.

The garage is mostly for storage. Their house, however, could soon be tagged, too. If that happens, county officials would decide whether the couple can still sleep there.

Michael Braaten, the county inspector who limited access to the Shaws’ garage, said officials are warning the couple to be careful, but there is not an “imminent threat.” Based on a geological study, the county found the current setback, for now, is acceptable, he said.

If conditions change and the risk becomes greater, the county could further restrict access to the garage and the home.

“They say I don’t need to worry, but I do,” Shaw said. “That stress and anxiety makes me sick in my stomach. It affects everything.”

The couple have a dog, three cats, six turkeys and 16 chickens on the picturesque property. Shaw said she and her husband had no idea of the risk when they bought their first home.

“We never in a million years thought we could afford a dream home like this,” she said. “It didn’t occur to us that something like this could happen.”

The Machias Ridge Estates Homeowners Association is now looking into the problem, she said. Neighbors living below the cliff on Pilchuck Way are also worried.

But, Braaten said, the county has not tagged any other properties in the area. He does not believe people living below the cliff are in imminent danger.

The geologic study for the Shaws’ place, which was completed by a Bothell firm in March, concluded that the slope would continue to retreat at about 10 feet a year, endangering the house. It recommended moving the house at least 400 feet away from the cliff.

Shaw has an estimate from an Everett construction company that put the cost of moving the house and garage at more than $116,000, not including permitting fees and a septic system.

The Shaws have set up a GoFundMe campaign to try save their place because their insurance does not cover erosion. So far, they’ve raised more than $11,000.

“When Oso happened, all I could feel is so sorry for the people involved and so scared it could happen to us too,” said Shaw, a Navy veteran.

However, the geologists reported that a catastrophic slide, such as Oso, which buried a North Fork Stillaguamish River neighborhood and killed 43 people, was unlikely on the Shaw property. The deadly March 22 slide was unusual in speed, size and loss of life.

The Shaws are not alone in facing home-threatening erosion. In Snohomish County, an estimated 30,000 people live in landslide zones but are often unaware of the danger.

Small, slow-moving landslides are not uncommon with the Northwest’s mix of frequent rain and steep slopes. Slides can cover property with debris and block roads and rails. Houses have been swallowed by area rivers.

A neighborhood near Index has been struggling with a slow-moving slide, which for months prevented residents from driving to their homes.

Like the Shaws, two families living above the South Fork Stillaguamish River near Arlington also have watched their property crumble.

Braaten said he checked on Keith and Juanita Eanes, as well as Phillip and Susan Burk, on Monday. Both couples have moved their homes farther from an eroding cliff and are not in danger for now. However, the bank is still crumbling.

Meanwhile, the Shaws are exploring an alternative to moving their house. They hired an Arlington engineer who is working on a plan that could help stabilize the cliff. Shaw said she doesn’t have a cost estimate for that, but the engineer is working on a proposal to present to the county.

“I love the idea of being able to help everybody in the neighborhood, not just us,” Shaw said. “We love it here. That’s why we’re fighting so hard to save it.”

Reporter Chris Winters contributed,

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.