Despite opposition, Lake Stevens gravel mine given permission to expand

LAKE STEVENS — A gravel mine off Highway 92 has been given permission to expand the size and scope of its operations despite objections and a formal appeal from neighbors.

Snohomish County Hearing Examiner Peter Camp determined that neighbors had not provided enough evidence to deny a conditional use permit for the ThomCo gravel pit, owned by Pacific Premier Properties LLC and also known as the 44th Street Sand and Gravel Mine. The revised permit allows for increasing the size of the mining area, building an aggregate washing plant and processing or recycling asphalt, concrete, topsoil and brush.

The 45-acre property the mine sits on is located at 13600 44th St. NE, near the intersection of Highway 92 and 44th Street.

Neighbors’ concerns with the proposed expansion centered on traffic, noise, dust, water supply and environmental damage. County planners concluded that, by state standards, additional operations at the mine would not have a significant effect on the environment. A group of families appealed that conclusion. Camp upheld the planners’ findings.

He released his decision to approve the mine’s revised permit and deny the neighbors’ appeal Wednesday.

An updated permit is meant to put the mine back in compliance with county code. The company has been the subject of a code violation case since 2009, according to county records. Code enforcement officers found that the mine was processing materials without approval and had expanded beyond the area allowed under its permit. The manager and owners were told they needed to seek an updated permit or stop the unauthorized activities. They applied for a permit in 2010 and were granted at least a dozen extensions on the code enforcement case while the application was pending.

Neighbors say the mine’s history of being out of compliance with its permit is a problem. However, the code violation was not something Camp considered.

“While granting the requested conditional use permit would cure the code violation by regularizing the operation, the conditional use permit request stands or falls on its own merits and the code enforcement action is immaterial,” he wrote.

Public hearings were held in November and December. Neighbors echoed complaints that have been submitted in writing or online to the county over the past five years. They say their houses shake, their properties get covered in dust and some local wells have gone dry.

ThomCo’s attorneys argued that neighbors were relying on opinions and stories rather than any firm evidence that the mine has harmed the area. Fear of development or frustration with a business is not a weighty enough reason to deny a permit, they said.

The owners of the company have addressed neighbors’ concerns in their plans, according to Camp’s decision. Studies concluded that noise from new equipment could be managed with buffers and dust could be controlled by moving equipment farther from property lines and using a water truck and a crusher with sprayers to dampen the dirt. Though some wells in the area have dropped or dried up, it’s likely because of a falling water table and there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the mine contributed to well failures, Camp wrote. Traffic and slope stability also were studied, and experts concluded that the expanded operations wouldn’t cause substantial problems.

There is a list of conditions for the company to keep the updated permit. They include: only recycling plant material from the mine property; no burying or processing metal, lumber or garbage on site; no burying concrete or asphalt on the property; and keeping hours of operation limited to 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Neighbors have until Jan. 11 to decide whether they want to request that Camp reconsider his decision, or until Jan. 13 to file an appeal before the Snohomish County Council.

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