Crossarm plan returned to Chehalis
Ruth Levine, The Chronicle , 7/11/97
The city of Chehalis has been ordered to gather more information on how a proposed fill project at a Superfund cleanup site will affect the environment.
After a 20-minute, closed-door executive session, the Chehalis Board of Zoning Adjustment said the environmental review submitted to the city by the property owner was incomplete. The former American Crossarm and Conduit property sits between Interstate 5 and Chehalis Avenue.
The board's decision supports four appeals heard last month.
Lois Lopez, Merrily Knutsen, John Mudge and Rose Spogen raised several questions at June's meeting, from the cumulative impact of filling in the floodplain and the water quality of Dillenbaugh Creek to a flawed environmental review process.
What has become a lengthy saga first began when owner Darrell Peterson filed a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist in March as the first step to placing 27,000 cubic yards of fill on his site.
After Chehalis Community Development Manager Bob Nacht issued a decision that the filling would not cause a "significant adverse environmental impact," almost 20 letters of protest were received by the city.
Nacht then issued a second modified decision, which was challenged by the four appeals.
At Thursday's meeting, board member Paul Dugaw said he didn't think the SEPA checklist was adequate to determine if environmental concerns would be addressed.
The board lacked significant information on the developer's erosion and drainage control plans, wetland mapping, the impact of fill on flooding in the neighborhood, and a sediment control plan for the Dillenbaugh Creek.
The city's decision provides "a piecemeal analysis of a very sensitive site," Dugaw said. "This is a Superfund site."
He added that all appropriate governmental agencies with an interest in the project should have been notified.
The decision has been sent back for Nacht to not necessarily do a "full-blown environmental impact statement," but more homework, Dugaw said.
Peterson, and his agent and environmental engineer Larry Morris, said the federal agency responsible for the cleanup of the site has given them the thumbs-up on their proposed filling and construction plans.
Regardless, the city has to approve any permits, and ultimately has the final word on the project, rather than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
For now, the proposed fill remains on hold. Morris and Peterson appeared surprised by the board's decision, and said they have sent three to four packets of supplementary information to the EPA and the city since the SEPA checklist was first submitted.
Lopez, who represents the Sasquatch Group of The Sierra Club, said the board "did exactly what the appellants asked them to do."
"It is politically impossible to say to a developer do not develop," Lopez said, adding that there have to be valid environmental issues to challenge a project.
Concerned about the cumulative effect of filling in the floodplain, Lopez said she would have filed an appeal even if the property was not a Superfund cleanup site.
Chehalis resident Rose Spogen, another appellant, agreed with the board's opinion, calling it a "correct decision."
"I think it's very good news," said Merrily Knutsen, representing the Chehalis River Council. "They are not going to rush into a decision. We are more interested in the process being followed and completed as intended."