Problems with soccer field force second permit process

A planned youth soccer camp in the woods near North Bend will have to go through the permit process again after King County officials found its owners violated a permit to build a soccer field.

Because the owners, former Seattle University soccer coach Peter Fewing and his wife, Patty, allegedly moved four times as much dirt as allowed under their grading permit, a separate permit allowing them to build dormitories for 96 campers and counselors, a dining lodge, swimming pool, amphitheater and 58 parking spaces will get a second look by the county.

The soccer field was built above the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River in 2004, but construction of the buildings has been held up by a lawsuit filed by neighbors in King County Superior Court. They claim a conditional-use permit for the camp violates the area's rural zoning.

Lawyers for the neighbors, the Fewings and King County agreed Friday to put the suit on hold and send the dispute back to a county hearing examiner for reconsideration.

The attorneys signed a stipulation saying the soccer-field grading permit and the conditional-use permit for the camp buildings are "inextricably related" and should be considered together.

The agreement was prompted by Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) Director Stephanie Warden's finding in April that the amount of dirt moved to build the soccer field exceeded permit limits and the threshold for an environmental review.

Warden wrote to the Fewings' lawyer, Bob Johns, that his clients would have to apply for a supplemental grading permit and complete a checklist on the field's environmental impact. She said it appeared that 1,007 cubic yards of dirt was excavated and 1,136 yards placed as fill. The permit allowed no more than 490 yards of cutting and filling.

Warden took action after the county's rural ombudsman, David Spohr, said the Fewings violated their grading permit and that DDES had failed to take enforcement action.

Johns, who is on medical leave and could not be reached for comment, has repeatedly denied that his clients violated their grading permit.

"We did nothing wrong," Patty Fewing said Wednesday. "We did everything King County told us to do. That's why I hire professionals to do it. If it was that horrible, I don't think King County would have signed off on it."

Peter Fewing, a former professional soccer player, coached the Seattle University men's soccer team to two national championships before resigning in 2006. He and his wife have operated Peter Fewing Soccer Camps at various locations since 1981.

Spohr, who closed his investigation of the soccer field in April, wrote to Warden that DDES initially had been "somewhat dismissive of our concerns" until he hired an engineer who concluded that the grading permit had been violated. Spohr called Warden's finding of a permit violation "a step in the right direction."

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com