9/26/12 SHELTON HILLS MEETING REPORT

EIS Scoping Meeting for Shelton Hills 

600 Acre Mixed Use Development  

(Shelton, WA)

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Katherine Price Mason County Progressive  

I attended a public meeting at the City of Shelton Civic Center on Wednesday, September 26, 2012. The topic of conversation was the scoping for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Shelton Hills Development that the Hall Equities Group is planning for the 600 acres they own near the Wallace Kneeland interchange in Shelton.

First, let me express my frustration, which was shared by other members of the public, that we will only have access to the full underlying documents on the City's website by Friday, September 28. The comment period closes the following Friday, October 5th. 

Steve Goins of the City of Shelton held up the published version of the documents and I would guess it is approximately 2 inches of paper. I think that a one week period of time to digest, investigate, question, and comment is ridiculous, and hope that if any of our readers feel the same way, that they let Steve Goins know.

I, for one, will be calling Steve and asking for an extension to, at a minimum, October 12, 2012.  Some folks, myself included, work five days a week, have families, homes and lives, that make the one week time frame difficult.  I would assume that is not the intention of the City, that they fully intend to allow us enough time to make intelligent comments based on a review of the underlying documents, and that very shortly we will be advised that the comment period has been extended. 

Absent that, some of us will have to take time off of work, give up sleeping, or stop taking care of our houses and families, so that we can wade through the documentation and put together intelligent comments and questions. 

For those folks in Mason County who were up against the clock on various ADAGE matters, this won't be unusual behavior.  But for the City of Shelton to appear adversarial, as Steve Goins appeared the night of the meeting, is not what we have come to expect from the City of Shelton. The Port of Shelton, yes, but not the City.

Full disclosure requires me to say that I expressed my fervent desire for this project to proceed when the Port of Shelton opposed it.  I would have, at that time, during the passions of ADAGE, been against anything the Port was for, and for anything the Port was against.  I still believe this project can be a wonderful benefit to our community, and it also has the possibility to not be a wonderful benefit to our community.  This is the reason why it is so important that we be allowed sufficient time to inform ourselves in connection with what has been done, what is planned, and whether these plans will enhance our community.

In the summary portion of the presentation, we were given some bare bones facts:

• The site contains 600 acres.

• Fifty acres are to be designated for the business park, which hopes to attract new business to our community.

• 150 acres are to be designated for housing, and they intend that 150 acres to provide 1,600 units of housing.

• Goose Lake is inside the project, but will be cleaned up under the auspices of the Department of Ecology, and deeded to the City of Shelton by ITT Rayonier, Inc.

If each unit of housing has an average of 2 residents, I immediately wondered how existing services will accommodate another 3,200 citizens.  What kind of strain would that put on our fire and emergency services, on our police, schools, sewer, water and roads?  It will have a significant impact I think.

Many of the folks present commented.

I was particularly impressed by Denny Hamilton and his succinct comments and concerns about the aquifer recharge areas under the proposed development.  Denny also suggested to the developers that solar street lights be included in the development.  Further, as a Fire Commissioner, Denny stressed the need for pass through streets rather than cul de sacs to make things easier for firefighters.

Matt Matayoshi of the EDC mumbled something about economics, and thankfully kept his comments short.

Tom Davis commented on the reconfiguration of the Wallace Kneeland Boulevard interchange; recommended that the developers hire local where and when they can; and suggested that a piece of ground be set aside for the YMCA that we hope to be bringing to our community soon.  Tom also stated that he has seen developments done well, and ones done not so well.  He hopes that this one will be done well, and that the housing will also include single family residences that might attract more people than just those looking for low income/affordable housing.

Roslynne Reed expressed concern about the impact of the influx of cars that 1600 residences will likely bring.

Terri Thompson and Pat Vandehey did a tag team question and comment session that involved their concerns for aquifer protection, impermeable surfaces (210 acres of it), concerns about storm water run off into local wetlands and Goldsborough Creek, and stated that at least two special permits would be required in connection with the storm water drain off.  They had questions about where the 2 million cubic yards taken from the site will end up, and where and what are the critical areas affected by the planned development.  In fact, Pat believes there should be no new development until we know where these critical aquifer areas are in relation to the proposed project.

Doug Sayan expressed concern for increased traffic by our junior high school.

Terri Thompson then reminded us that there is an abandoned landfill where the proposed project is, and one of the attendees not known to me asked if anyone was old enough to remember Love Canal.  And yes, I am.

Pat Vandehey asked why the citizens (through the Department of Ecology if I am not mistaken) were paying $200,000 to help with the Goose Lake clean up/reclamation project, since ITT Rayonier, Inc. poisoned the lake and the land in the first place.  Steve Goins said that money was used to create the schematic the City has of the lake and proposed amenities, and that there is still some money left.

All in all, there were many questions, some of which were not answered, but will be used in the scoping process.
 
The gentlemen from the Hall Equities Group (Brandon Farrell and Kim Adams) assured us that they are in this for the long haul, and they consider this a 20 year plan.  They have owned the property for 6 years and had to engage in a lengthy legal battle which was recently resolved in their favor.

Now we need to see the nuts and bolts of the project; need to find out how much of the land is contaminated, and in what way it is contaminated; and hundreds of other questions that arise now that the project seems to be truly moving forward.

Steve Goins said it can take 4-6 months to complete the draft EIS, at which time we will be allowed to comment again.  Hopefully there will be more than one week to digest an EIS and make intelligent comments.  Steve also estimated 9-12 months before the project begins.

I left with many more questions than I came with, but am cautiously hopeful that this project will be a good thing for our community.  But we need to know a whole lot more before the citizens can put their seal of approval on the project.

If some of our readers also think that one week is a little too short a time to review, discuss, digest and comment on a project of this scope, please call Steve Goins at the City of Shelton at 432-5136.  You can also call Dave O'Leary, the City Administrator, at 432-5110.  I find that calling both Mr. O'Leary and Mr. Goins produces the best results.

This is a huge project, it is incredibly detailed, it affects things all over the community, from our water and sewer to our roads and emergency services. We really need to study this hard to be sure that it is the right thing for Shelton, and the right thing for future residents.

Remember Love Canal?

If not, please google it and inform yourselves as to what a nightmare building homes and schools on toxic sites can be for a community.

Happy reading activists!  It seems we have had a slight break from ADAGE, and Solomon, and that we are going to have to clean our eyeglasses, sharpen our pencils, and get to work providing helpful comments and questions to the City of Shelton.