County backs project near wetlands

The Snohomish County Council will allow a development near wetlands to continue as long as it is phased in gradually and water quality is monitored.

Quinn's Crossing, a 48-home subdivision near Maltby, is expected to be under construction before the year's end. Only about half of the homes likely will be built during the first phase.

Residents had appealed a May decision by the county Hearing Examiner's Office that approved the project. They questioned whether enough studies had been done on potential water-quality issues.

The 114 acres sit near the headwaters of Bear Creek, which is home to endangered chinook salmon, and encompass what project opponents say are sensitive wetlands. The land also sits atop an aquifer, a drinking-water source for the area's Cross Valley Water District.

Under the development plan, the luxury homes will use septic systems to treat waste, and residents say that could lead to pollution of the aquifer and of Bear Creek.

They also have questioned the size of wetland buffer zones, which help dilute pollution before it reaches groundwater and surface-water sources. Under a county-approved plan, a required 100-yard buffer can be smaller in some areas as long as it's larger in others. The method is called buffer averaging.

"The applicant has not done what it needs to do to comply" with state and local standards, said Jennifer Dold, an attorney representing the neighbors. "This is a dramatically sensitive site."

The council said it appeared that enough review and study had been done to allow the planners to move forward. Twice the Hearing Examiner's Office has upheld county planners' decisions to approve the project.

The Snohomish Health District also has signed off on the septic plan, while the water district has raised no alarms over water-quality issues. In May, it agreed to monitor water quality at a well on the site. What was not determined then was what would happen if homes polluted the stream or aquifer.

To settle the issue, council members, save Kirke Sievers, who was absent, said they want to see the development staggered while water-quality monitoring is completed.

"The site is very sensitive, obviously," said council Vice Chairman Dave Gossett, who moved for the hearing examiner to review water-quality data before the next section of homes could be built.

"Monitoring without a remedy doesn't serve a purpose," he said.

Residents could still try to stop the project by suing in county Superior Court. They have said they'll consider that option.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com