SULTAN — For nine years, Theron Saluteen opposed Snohomish County’s efforts to get him to clean up his property and remove the shack he built near the Skykomish River.
The fight ended Tuesday when the Sultan man was led away in handcuffs and county code enforcement officers used a front-end loader to clean up his property at 15532 N. Skyview Drive in Sultan. Saluteen was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of obstructing law enforcement.
A contractor hired by the county knocked down Saluteen’s 800-square-foot shack illegally built in the floodway of the Skykomish River. The crew then sorted the shack’s wood and metal to be recycled later.
The property, littered with junk vehicles, was a safety and environmental hazard, said county fire marshal Tom Maloney, who oversees code enforcement for the county.
There are 12 cars on the property, a tractor and parts and a school bus, Maloney said.
It’s expected to take several days to haul away all the debris, he said.
“There was no voluntary compliance after nine years,” Maloney said. “In order to provide what we all want, a livable sustainable community and protect the environment, the county proceeded with the abatement process to remove the conditions that were affecting the property.”
The cleanup is part of a crackdown on illegal junkyards in Snohomish County that County Executive Aaron Reardon launched in 2006.
The county first investigated a code violation complaint against Saluteen in 1999. His shack was encroaching on the floodway, where rising waters are swift and dangerous.
Later, officers found junk vehicles on the land in violation of county codes. Saluteen wouldn’t clean up his property voluntarily, so the county launched a lengthy legal process to clean up the property.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said they arrested the landowner on Tuesday because he was interfering with a court order. Property records show that Saluteen owns the property. Snohomish County jail records show Saluteen was booked Tuesday.
The property is south of the Skykomish River in an area called Skyview Tracts. The county owns about 75 percent of the properties in that area, and has worked aggressively to clean up the area, take back the land from squatters and buy up properties from sellers who are willing.
The county has removed an estimated 400 tons of junk from the area as part of plans to make the area into a riverfront park.
As police and heavy equipment moved in on Tuesday, David Waugh stood outside the property holding a No Trespassing sign protesting the county’s cleanup. Waugh said he lived on Saluteen’s land for three years.
Saluteen offered him a place to set up a tent in exchange for help with yard work, Waugh said.
County code officials were rude, Waugh said.
“The county wants the land,” Waugh said. “It’s prime real estate, and they need a new holding pond for flooding.”
Living near the river with Saluteen was pleasant.
Saluteen “taught me how to read and the patience of fishing,” Waugh said. “He taught me how to make pancakes over (an) open fire.”
Saluteen is expected to owe the county about $30,000, which includes $10,000 in fines and fees for failing to clean up the land and $20,000 for contractor and disposal costs.
The county might recoup the money by tying the debt to the property through a lien. Under that system, if the property is sold, the county would be paid what it is owed, Maloney said.
The county seldom resorts to this type of cleanup, Maloney said. Of 1,200 complaints last year, 75 percent were solved voluntarily.
Saluteen’s is the fourth junkyard the county has forcibly cleaned up, Maloney said.
When the county is done with the cleanup this week, “it will be a vacant lot,” Maloney said. “It will be back to its natural state. All of the material brought on will be removed.”
Snohomish County District 5 Fire Chief Merlin Halverson said he’s ecstatic that the county finally took action.
“Dealing with folks out there endangers my firefighters,” Halverson said.
The area has attracted transients who sometimes shoot, stab and beat each other, Halverson said. They also wander into Sultan and cause problems such as urinating on the street and letting their dogs run loose.
Fire district officials rescued those transients during floods, costing taxpayers “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Halverson said.
“We take them out and they go back. We can’t keep them out,” he said.
As a result, officials continue to rescue the same people who cause the same problems, Halverson said.
“When we allow people to live like that, we are really not helping them,” he said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara and photographer Kevin Nortz contributed to this story.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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