Neighbors of Lake Stevens gravel pit object to its expansion

LAKE STEVENS — Owners of a gravel mine off Highway 92 are seeking Snohomish County’s permission to expand its size and the type of work it does.

The owners of the ThomCo gravel pit have requested a revised conditional use permit to start recycling and processing asphalt, concrete, topsoil and brush. The owners also are looking to grow from 30 to 45 acres. They own 45 acres near the highway’s intersection with 44th Street NE but are allowed to use 30.

Neighbors object to the proposal, citing years of complaints about noise, dust, vibrations, traffic and damage to the environment. The company is a habitual violator of its existing permit and shouldn’t be allowed to add to its operations, they said.

County Hearing Examiner Peter Camp has until Dec. 30 to decide whether to let ThomCo, owned by Pacific Premier Properties LLC and also known as the 44th Street Sand and Gravel Mine, expand.

The mine has been the subject of code enforcement issues going back more than five years. A stack of complaints kept by the county is more than an inch thick. Neighbors have written that heavy equipment operations outside of permitted hours “rattle and shake the ground and walls” and “when it is dry, the dust rolls so thick from the pit” that they can barely breathe. “I have to turn up my TV to drown out the sound of their rock crusher,” wrote Jim Nissen, who lives across from the mine. He can’t keep his roof or truck clean in the summer, when the dust is like a cloud, he said.

In September 2009, a code enforcement officer observed that the mine was processing minerals and had expanded beyond the acreage allowed under its permit. He informed the owners and manager that they needed to apply for a modified permit or scale their work down to what is allowed under the existing one.

The company responded with a letter insisting the mine was within its boundaries. Ten days later, the officer noted that he’d met with the manager and owner and “went over existing (conditional use) permit and aerial photo that clearly show that they have expanded their operation.”

In April 2010, the state Department of Ecology also notified the company that it had illegally cleared, filled and graded wetlands.

Pacific Premier Properties applied in 2010 for a revised conditional use permit to start legally recycling and processing, and to grow to 45 acres. The county granted the company more than a dozen extensions on dealing with violations that would be solved with an updated permit.

In June 2014, the county prosecutor’s office notified the mine’s owners that the county wants to revoke its permit if it’s not updated to address the mine’s unauthorized operations.

The case landed in front of the hearing examiner this November. Public hearings wrapped up earlier this month.

The examiner is considering the permit application and an appeal by neighbors.

Anne, Otie and Lex Dunn, Erin Coughlin and Michael Crane are appealing county planners’ conclusion that expanded operations would have no significant effect on the environment under state policies and protections. They’re worried about neighborhood wells running dry and about groundwater and local creeks being polluted. Health and safety concerns like dust, noise and traffic also factor into the appeal.

The neighbors are relying on “personal anecdotes, opinions and erroneous information,” according to a brief filed by attorneys representing ThomCo. “Community displeasure” and “generalized fears of development” are not enough to deny a project or permit, they said.

The mine has been operating since the 1970s. Anyone who bought a house nearby knew what was on the corner, neighbor John Welch said. However, there’s a big difference between mining gravel and processing asphalt, topsoil and brush. He’s frustrated that the county is considering a revised permit rather than cracking down on the work that already happened without one, he said.

“Now to correct this illegal act the county is going to give them a permit to do it?” he said. “It’s like me robbing a bank and then standing in front of the bank saying, ‘I know it’s illegal, but I hear you can get a permit.’ We all bought houses knowing there’s a gravel pit there, but it should stay a gravel pit.”

The hearing examiner has 15 business days to decide the case.

“I’ve already reviewed everything once and I promise I’ll review it all again before I make a decision,” Camp said.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.