CATHCART, Wash. — Neighbors downslope of a sprawling new housing development in Snohomish County are dealing with flooding and erosion problems, and they worry the worst is yet to come as the rainy season continues.
Directly next to what is now the Eastview Village development used to be 144 acres of trees, but they’re mostly gone now, leading to issues with runoff and erosion — just part of what neighbors say is a troubling pattern.
Joel Pentland has lived in the Greenleaf neighborhood for 14 years and has never seen anything like it. Earlier this month his streets turned to streams with the first hard rain of the season. People living next door to the sprawling new development saw mud cover their properties and clog their drainage systems.
“I’ll admit I was very upset, putting it nicely,” Pentland said.
About half a dozen properties were impacted by erosion and runoff from the development: 144 acres, or 58 city blocks, being clearcut to make way for 61,000 square feet of homes and retail.
Pentland says the flooding didn’t come as a surprise after years of sounding the alarm.
“We’ve been concerned. We told them our concerns, literally been to multiple hearings. I just feel like they don’t listen,” he said.
Snohomish County Division Manager of Planning and Development Services Stephen Phillips admits county inspectors failed to catch a breach in the erosion control system that was overcome with three times the expected amount of rain. But the builder, D.R. Horton, is also supposed to inspect safeguards before everyone goes home for the day.
“It is the county’s responsibility to make sure those are in place, but the ultimate responsibility does lie with the owner and contractor at that time,” Phillips said.
We first reported on the situation this summer when neighbors sued Snohomish County to halt the project because of flooding, traffic and safety concerns brought by the massive clearcut and development.
“I don’t think the real impact of razing 144 acres of trees is going to be known until we get further into our rainy season, so all of the residents of Greenleaf are guinea pigs,” said Kerri Lonergan-Dreke, a “Save Cathcart” organizer.
Neighbors are now preparing for what they expect to be a lengthy and expensive legal battle with D.R. Horton. They expect it to run into six figures and are asking for community support through an online fundraiser.
For now, D.R. Horton is paying to repair people’s properties, but Pentland has little faith the storm is over.
“Not much faith. I’m really a little disillusioned honestly,” he said.
Texas-based D.R. Horton has not responded to weeks of requests for comment.
트위터 공유: 대규모 개발로 인한 심각한 홍수 위협 우려 증폭