A neighborhood group and a development company have agreed to withdraw their lawsuits over this year’s Street of Dreams luxury housing development.
A proposed court settlement announced Thursday would end the controversy over Quinn’s Crossing, a 48-home project on about 115 acres on Echo Lake Road southwest of Monroe.
Yarrow Bay Group of Kirkland has been working on the project for two years. The developer sued the county last year after the County Council said their project must be spread out over several years.
In April, members of the Echo Paradise Community group living near the project also sued over fears that future pollution might harm wetlands and an underground aquifer.
Both lawsuits would be dropped under a proposed settlement that calls for greater environmental protections and a way for the developers to build more homes more quickly.
Developers would be required to have a second monitoring well to watch for pollution, said Laura Hartman, president of the neighborhood group.
Also, future residents of the development would be banned from using pesticides and weed killers, a move to protect nearby wetlands.
The neighborhood also might be able to buy up 11 building lots next to the 644-acre Paradise Valley Conservation Area to prevent them from being developed.
“I think it’s a great agreement,” Hartman said.
In exchange, builders will have more assurance they’ll be able to build 37 homes sooner than the county previously allowed.
The Snohomish County Council has final say over the proposed settlement because it changes the conditions for the county-approved project, senior deputy prosecuting attorney John Moffat said.
The court cases are on hold for six months while the county is processing the proposals.
Five homes on the property are scheduled for this summer’s home tour, each with an asking prices of $1.8 million.
Yarrow Bay development director Colin Lund praised the proposed settlement in a statement Thursday.
“We believe the result of the efforts of both parties will create a model for environmentally-friendly development on sites with special concerns,” Lund said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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