April 30, 1997
To: Robert Nacht, Manager
Community Development Division
Community Services Dept.
1321 So. Market Blvd
Chehalis WA 98532
From: Chehalis River Council
P.O. Box 586
Oakville WA 98568
Re: File #97-EO49
Threshold Determination of Non-Significance (Mitigated)
Chehalis Landing Site
821 W Main St., Chehalis WA 98532
Tax Parcel #05533-000-000
Applicant: Elaine Clark (Venita Hofmann)
Project: Fill approximately 25,000 cu, yds. and construct restaurant
and retail complex with
associated parking.
SEPA checklist applicant: Venita Hofmann
Contact: Larry Morris
Darrel Peterson Construction
These are our comments on the lead agency determination that this project will not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment:
1. The threshold determination process is flawed.The lead agency should not have made a threshold determination based upon an incomplete application. For a project which will require a shoreline permit, the application should contain all of the information listed in WAC 173-27-180.
The proponent/applicant is not the same as the checklist applicant. The relationship of each applicant to the property, i.e., owner, lessee, purchaser, other, should be clarified. The Upland Fill sketches are not to scale, are vague in reference to the location of wetland soils and inadequate in defining the area of proposed fill. The site is identified as being in an area of hydric soils according to the Lewis County Wetlands Inventory for the Comprehensive Flood Management Plan, Figure 3B.
The proposed construction is not detailed and is defined and located by sketches only. WAC 173-14-110 calls for a specific description of the proposed use of the property.
The attached Settlement Agreement has no valid information to provide the proposal. It is not signed by all parties, is not dated, has no recording number and is not notarized. The questions of access to the site remain unresolved by this application.
2. The threshold checklist was incomplete, particularly in "B. Environmental Elements:
(1) Earth: (e) The source and nature of the fill to be placed in the floodplain is not provided.
(f) Erosion would occur until permanent revegetation is established.
(g) The percent of the site to be covered with impervious surfaces is essential to a determination of possible adverse impacts to Dillenbaugh Creek and the Chehalis River.
(h) An erosion control plan is essential before a decision of non-significance can be made.
(3) Water: (a) Surface, (1) Both reaches of Dillenbaugh Creek are floodways to the Chehalis River.
c) Water Runoff, the checklist does not properly describe the methods for collection and disposal of surface run-off from the site. The sketch (sect. A-A1) indicates: "Drainage" in an area which appears to be Dillenbaugh Creek, which is described by the Dept. of Interior as providing spawning and nursery habitat for coho salmon, and which flows into the Chehalis River which provides a migratory corridor and nursery habitat for chinook salmon, chum salmon and coho salmon. These streams must be protected from run-off waters, rather than be the recipients of them.
The location of this site meets the definitions of Critical Areas as defined in Lewis Co. Ordinance #1150, Interim Critical Areas Ordinance, 1996, City of Chehalis Resolution #3-92, Amending Resolution #8-81 and the Chehalis Comprehensive Plan, "Appendix N" and WAC 365-195, Growth Management Act. The checklist does not identify the site as a Critical Area, an area of wetlands, floodplain, floodway and important natural resources.
This area is also identified as a fish and wildlife Habitat Conservation Area. The Dept. of the Interior is responsible for protecting the following trust resources for this area: "This site is within the Usual and Accustomed fishing grounds and stations of the Chehalis Tribe as adjudicated in United States vs Washington, 1974 (384F Supp. 312)...the tribal right to harvest fish includes the right to have the environment upon which the fish and wildlife depend protected from degradation." (See File #97-E048, Chehalis River Council comments, Dept. of Interior letter).
Under WAC 365-195-825 (GMA) Regulations specifically required by the Act: "(2) Protection of critical areas (b) "Protection" in this context is construed to mean measures designed to preserve the structure, values and functions of the natural environment...". Filling, paving and construction would destroy the "structure, values and functions of the natural environment" of these wetlands. This is particularly true when the cumulative effects of this project and the Crossarm Site project (See File #97-E048) are taken into account. A total of 52,000 cu. Yds. Of fill will be placed in the floodplain of the Chehalis River upstream from the Chehalis Wastewater Treatment Plant and residential and commercial properties in the cities of Chehalis and Centralia.
Both proposals for filling and construction in this area (File #97-E048 and #97-E049) should be withdrawn until their cumulative impacts on the environment can be determined and public hearings held in each region affected by Chehalis River floods before an environmental impact decision is made by the City of Chehalis.
Signed: ________________________________________________
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Chehalis River Council
Merrily Knutsen, Trustee
3414 Centralia Alpha Rd.
Onalaska WA 98570
Ph: 360-978-4132
U.S. Dept. of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
County Commission, Lewis County
County Commission, Thurston County
County Commission, Grays Harbor
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