My offer to pay $100 to the first person who can show me Kennydale creek dried up has struck a nerve with one of my readers. I can't tell exactly why they might be so upset with me, but there seems to be quite a bit of emotion in this comment.

To the commenter: If people are pouring fuel into the creek, or anything else so wreckless, please make sure the proper environmental agencies are informed. I would like to hear the details as well. As a part-time legislator, I am in no position to patrol the whole city for environmental violations like this. However, once told about them, I CAN make sure that someone acts on them.

Also, there are studies and findings that were produced during the last administration that I have never had confidence in, including the one that said Kennydale Creek was an intermittent creek. If you think I agreed with everything our last mayor did, you were not watching the meetings or keeping up with my blog.

If you think we should commission a new study, I could support this. However, I don't even think we need a study to prove that this creek is a year-round creek.... our community observations should be enough. We certainly have many other uses that we could put the $20,000 study-money toward, other than to tell us something we all already can see by looking.

Click Here for the comment I'm referring to

We reviewed three appeals tonight on city council, all of them as "quasi-judicial" land-use hearings. In quasi-judicial cases, council is not allowed to take new testimony, and instead is required to make appeal findings strictly from the public record that is already captured in the project file. In this special situation, the council is not acting as a normal political body, but is instead serving the role of judges or juries (hence, quasi-judicial).

In one of tonight's three cases, the case of the Blueberry Haven Appeal, the public record contained contested testimony about whether Kennydale Creek in the highlands flows year-round; If it does, then it is not a class 4 "intermittent creek" as the city has officially classified it, and it requires larger land-use buffers than the applicant proposed. The Hearing Examiner has already had a hearing on this decision, and he heard testimony from a representative from the State Department of Fisheries, and from numerous citizens, indicating that this was a year-round creek. But the applicant insisted if flows only intermittently, and can not support life. This is similar to the official city classification that was assigned to the creek a few years.

After 20 years of living in the highlands, I have my own observations about Kennydale Creek. To me, it appears that the creek flows year round, every year. I have never seen it stop flowing in 20 summers.

Since I have made this observation on countless walks through my neighborhood, I could not think of a way to keep from being biased by my own observation that this creek seems to always be flowing.

I have seen attorneys reject potential jury candidates based on the candidate being too intimately familiar with a location or other aspect of a case. I understand judges recuse themselves for a similar reason in some cases. Since this was a legal matter based on the existng record, not a political question, I recused myself instead of arguing my belief that this stream is always flowing.

However, I still think it flows year round.

Council Member Marcie Palmer, a resident of lower Kennydale, recused herself for the same reason (as I understand it).

I should add that I feel that my other five council colleagues (who do not live near this creek) did an honorable job of evaluating the case record, and I don't blame them for the decision they made.

I might introduce the idea that we have a new study commissioned to once-and-for-all decide if we have an intermittent creek or a year-round creek. It probably won't affect the subject property, but it could affect others.

From guest contributer Sarah Leingang:



In the hills of the Renton Highlands there is a charming little blueberry farm. This farm is located on about 3.5 acres of land, which is roughly equal to 3.5 football fields. This is quite a bit of land for a suburban neighborhood like the Highlands. Especially when considering how quickly these areas are being densely developed into much smaller lots covered for the most part with single family homes.

This farm has been Tucked away in between I-405 and Edmonds Ave, and has been enjoyed by countless families. But most visitors coming and going never realize the true value of the place they have visited.

So what's the point of this random rambling? Well in recent years this bit of land has undergone a lot of discussion between those that want to develop and those that want to conserve. With the common residential zoning of R-4, you can build 4 homes per acres, which means that if there were no wetland issues there would be a potential for 14 homes to be built over this beautiful farm. Already the farm owner has expressed concerns about the effect neighboring developments has had on the microclimate of her farm. These effects include such items as the loss of trees as a wind buffer, and water run off from nearby land that used to water her farm but is now diverted uselessly into the city's storm water system.

This little blueberry farm tucked into the highlands is a rare find. It has a value even greater than just a bit of green space in a ever more developed suburban neighborhood. What people most often miss when looking at this farm is that this bit of land is a truly unique and rare ecosystem known as a fen. A fen is an ecosystem similar to a bog; but what makes a fen different from a bog is that it is feed by a natural water source, not simply by rainwater. An official definition describes "The fen is a phase in the development of the natural succession from open lake, through reedbed, fen and carr, to woodland as the peat develops and its surface rises."

A naturally occurring fen is a rare treasure to come across, and without protection this fen could soon be only a memory. If this farm were to be developed intensely, the loss of this complex and remarkable natural wonder would be truly unfathomable. And even if it is not developed, the rate of development nearby may alter the fen's microclimate so much that is damaged and loss anyhow.

City stormwater retention laws would require that some land be set aside, to serve as a retaining pond to mimic the natural function of a wetlands ability to slowly recharge ground water sources and filter clean water back into the ground. But the small effort of a retaining pond could never truly recover the ability of a natural wetland, 1 acre of wetland 1 foot deep can hold up to 330,000 gallons of water. The complex nature of any ecosystem cannot be remade (even with the best of intentions) since there is so many layers of perfectly balanced life. From the obvious flora and fauna down to the bugs and algae and even down to the unseen but just as important bacteria within the hydrological soil all work in perfect harmony that we are simply unable to recreate just anywhere.

Any bit of green space within our ever developing Highlands is a rarity, and should be considered for conservation for us and future generations. And this small blueberry farm tucked in amongst many homes is easy to overlook, but it is not just a blueberry farm... it is a FEN that is worth saving.


Sarah Leingang grew up in Renton Highlands and graduated from Hazen in 2003. She has recently obtained her degree in Architecture.

Bird watching at the foundation dig across from the blueberry farm....

The excavation site across the street from the blueberry farm continues to fill with groundwater. It appears that the water table must be just a few inches below the level of the soil. (I think the pond shwon below is approximately two feet deep.)

I have to admit, I don't really understand the motivation. If you have a 3.5 acre piece of property in an urban area, with willow trees, ponds, creeks, and acres of naturally watered blueberries....why would you want to give that up to put in one more home lot. A building lot in Renton is worth maybe $150,000, and there are potentially tens of thousands of them. The 3.5 acre U-Pick Blueberry farm, with it's charming farm house, beautiful grounds, and loyal customer base is probably worth closer to a million dollars, and is entirely unique. (In order to build the new house, the property will have to be subdivided and a long private road will have to be built to reach the only dry upland section suitable for building.)

While I do not share the property owner's enthusiasm for replacing a blueberry farm with one new home lot, I actually voted against this rezone because we do not have a good understanding of the underlying wetland. We had been told that the new R4 zoning will allow the blueberry farm wetlands to be protected, but I have several reasons to be concerned this may not happen. For instance, the property across the street from the blueberry farm is being legally excavated, and it is filling with ground water faster than it can be pumped out...leaving many wondering exactly when the wetland protections apply. And there appears to be risk of differing opinions as to whether a centuries-old peat bog qualifies for a wetland where it is not actually under water. City staff believe it is a wetland, but they are not legally qualified to make the determination...so we may have skirmishes over this issue in the future.

We also received a petition tonight, signed by 75 residents, asking us to get a wetland delineation before taking any action. I gave this weight in my decision.

In addition, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wrote to council a few days ago, asking us not to rezone the property without a wetland delineation. Our city attorney says we don't have to follow their suggestion, but I have seen this department demand attention elsewhere, such as when they added extensive fish mitigation to the billion dollar I-405 expansion project. And even if we can bully our way past Washington Fish and Wildlife, I don't understand why we would burn bridges with this important department in an unpopular effort to turn a blueberry farm into a house, when we will need State Fish and Wildlife support for projects like our lake boardwalk trail in front of Boeing (the Sam Chastain Trail), toxic cleanup efforts at a polluted lakefront site, the rebuilding of Coulon park boardwalks and boat ramps, and on-going dredging of the Cedar River.

Finally, even with the R4 zoning, I am not sure if the required wetland buffers will even let one additional house be built. So if the property is sold, and the new buyer expects to subdivide, they could be very disappointed; they would likely be asking the question...why would council rezone property for four units to the acre if it won't support anymore homes. A wetland delineation, prior to the rezone, would have eliminated this uncertainty.

We simply should have obtained more information on the wetland before proceeding.

Even though I voted against the rezone, it still passed. Not the first time (and probably not the last time) that I vote in the council minority. I hope the city is successful in providing good stewardship of the wetlands, and if possible, the blueberries.

The owner of the Kennydale Blueberry farm has applied for a rezone from RC to medium density R8, to allow additional homes to be built on the 3.5 acre site.

Council is considering allowing the property to instead be zoned to low density R4, which would allow one or two new homes, and would require that a biologist survey the wetland and put it into a protected status at the time of development.









Many members of the public have expressed concern that waiting to survey the wetland until the development may be too late; they have specifically pointed to the site shown below, which is directly across the street from the blueberry farm. Some have speculated that the wetland peat bog may extend from the blueberry farm right under 20th street, to this site. ( I snapped the picture below last weekend)







And above and below is how the site looks today, now that some digging is occuring. A neighbor told me that ducks have been flying in and out.











Whether council zones the bluberry farm property RC or R4, we need to make sure that the wetlands are not built on. And we should have a biologist survey them out as soon as possible.

While R4 would require wetland protection, we've been told that RC zoning would not require wetland protection, and that dog kennel runs or horse paddocks could be built on the low lying areas.

Personally, I would like to see the 2.25 acre damp area remain a blueberry farm, regardless of whether an additional home is built on the uplands. We have many homes in Renton Highlands, but only one U-Pick Blueberry farm.

Time for another Blueberry Bog Blog :-)







We had a lengthy and interesting discussion at Monday night's council meeting concerning the Kennydale Blueberry Farm rezone. The owner of the decades-old 3.5 acre farm is ready for retirement, and desires to rezone the property to an R4 or R8 (four to eight units per acre), from its current RC (resource conservation). She also says that the Blueberry plants are dying as a result of the dramatic development all around her farm, and the de-watering of the farm's natural basin thanks to the city's new storm-water drainage system.

The city staff, the Planning Commission, and the council's Planning and Development subcommittee have all recommended R4 zoning for the property, which allows up to four homes per acre on the dry, buildable portion of the property (estimated to be 1.25 acres). Much of the past citizen testimony, however, has been in favor of keeping the zoning at RC, which would not allow subdivision but would allow the existing home, one accessory home, and (as we learned on Monday) several other rural type uses including professional dog kennels, professional stables, and other rural businesses.

But it turns out that the RC zoning would not ever require that the owner delineate the most delicate feature of the property, the peat bog (fen) fed by underground springs, which appears to be thousands of years old and forms the headwaters for Kennydale Creek. In a worst case type scenario, it sounds like RC zoning would allow for a future owner to bulldoze the blueberry plants, and put kennel runs on this peat bog if they were so inclined.

R4 zoning would require wetland delineation, but not until the property owner applied for subdivision. At that time, the wetland peat bog (estimated at 2.25 acres) would be delineated and documented by biologists in a wetland report, marked as a nature zone, and protected against building or any active uses. The remaining dry upland property would accommodate one to three new homes, in addition to the existing home.

Several citizens expressed concern that if the wetland delineation is not done before rezoning, then the character of the property may be altered before the biologists have a chance to survey the wetland. So the council asked the Mayor and the administration to contact the property owners, and see if the city could obtain permission to perform the wetland delineation now, in order to know specifically what the impact of the rezone will be. The report could then be provided to the property owner, and she in turn could share it with potential buyers, to eliminate all unknowns about the wetland when the property changes hands. In addition, council asked the administration to explore whether the owner would be interested in selling the wetland section back to the city, to protect it in perpetuity. ( This is a very common action along creeks and other bodies of water.)

The council has agreed to take up this issue again at Committee of the Whole, in two weeks.

One of the most controversial rezones that has been proposed this year is the up-zone of the Kennydale Blueberry Farm from 'RC- Resource Conservation' to 'R8-Residential-8 units per acre.' Citizens have been appealing to council not to allow this, as it would likely usher in the end of the beautiful 3.5 acre, 50-year-old U-Pick blueberry farm in Kennydale.

All sides of this dispute make solid arguments. The owner of the farm points out that the property was zoned R8 until about thirteen years ago, at a time when the city suggested she should have the new RC zoning to help her better mange and protect the farm. But she never received any benefit for making this change, and has instead watched as more and more restrictions were placed in the RC zones. At this point, the owner is ready for retirement, and ready to move on.

The city staff and the Planning Commission have been inclined to agree with the property owner, and are recommending that the Council make the upzone to R8.

Meanwhile, Kennydale residents are speaking overwhelmingly against the rezone, as they love the Blueberry Farm and they understandably don't want to see it go away. They know that the upzone will make it viable for development, and that it will be sold for such. They also make strong environmental arguments for keeping it zoned RC.

Like all the other outspoken residents, I too want to see the Blueberry Farm stay. In addition to providing the community with a bountiful supply of inexpensive fresh blueberries, it sits on an ancient peat bog, probably thousands of years old. The blueberry bushes receive natural irrigation from underground springs...these springs bubble up to the surface through the peat moss and form the headwaters for Kennydale Creek. State biologists have confirmed that this formation is a rare environmental feature (known scientifically as a 'fen'), and to me it seems a shame to see it simply be divided into back-yards of new homes.

But all is not lost for blueberry farm lovers. At the last council meeting, we received the latest figures on it's full development potential. It turns out, even with R-8 zoning, the 3.5 acre property could only be subdivided into two or three building lots due to the substantial wet-land setbacks mandated by state law. Since it is can only be three buildable lots, not twenty-four like we often see on 3.5 acres, it could theoretically be in a price range where the public could chose to purchase it for a park, open-space, or to run it as a blueberry farm (the way Bellevue does with their blueberry farm.)

So, I did what I often do when I calculate that there may be a solution that will satisfy all parties...I suggested it. In this case, I proposed we openly and publicly consider a possible purchase of the Kennydale Blueberry Farm for a park. I even made a motion that we study/discuss this option at an upcoming committee of the whole meeting (which I chair), and my motion was swiftly seconded by my brilliant colleague Marcie Palmer. Thanks Marcie! But then, like we have seen too often on the council this year, rather than openly debating the merits of my motion, those that were against my motion (including a certain lawyer-councilman and the mayor) tried to convince me that my motion was illegal! The mayor even went as far as to ask me to withdraw it! Their logic seemed to go like this... we can never discuss purchasing sensitive lands for parks or open-space in an open public meeting, because then if we decide to buy the land the owner may raise the price.

Ummm...I am pretty sure that the owner would eventually find out we want to buy it...like when we make an offer to her. Furthermore, we should not be deciding what we are going to do with large amounts of taxpayer money in secret...it is always right to have such discussions in open public meetings. And ironically, ensuring we pay fair market value would be an honest and fair use of the eminent domain power (unlike using it to take property from one private owner and give it to another private owner as I fought in the Highlands).

So where did we end up? With certain people frowning at me for not withdrawing my motion, I instead moved to table it until next week to allow our city attorney to study the issue. And Councilwoman Palmer seconded my motion to table. (Thanks again Marcie!). Since a motion to table is not debatable, it passed with no more squabbling.

This item will be picked back up off the table next week, so stay tuned and be prepared to weigh in on this during audience comment if you are so inclined. Personally, I don't know if we could afford to purchase the blueberry farm for a park. But what I do know is that before we see it gone forever we owe it to the citizens of Renton to at least talk about our options.

Council received an interesting letter on the Kennydale Blueberry Farm, suggesting some possible new uses and identifying how we have extrapolated an initial request for a rezone into an area-wide rezone request. The letter is shown below. (Please click on it to enlarge it). I would sure like to find a way for the city to purchase this property, at fair value for the owner of course, for a park, a pea patch, or open space.

Biologists have identified this property as a special kind of Peat Bog, known as a Fen. CLICK HERE for the Wikipedia definition of a Fen. A fen differs from a bog, in that it is fed by underground springs instead of surface streams.

While I am not a biologist, and I may not have this exactly precise, it appears that the Blueberry Farm is a fen which maybe for centuries has collected underground water from the local surrounding basin (roughly bounded by Jones Road and Edmonds Ave), and enabled this water to bubble up to the surface through the living peat mass and form the headwaters for Kennydale Creek. I'm personally wondering if our installation of a major new storm drain system for this entire basin a few years ago has led to the multi-year drought at the blueberry farm. If so, perhaps we could find alternate ways to restore some of the flow of water back to the farm, if appropriate.

In any case, if the city has in any way harmed the owners of the Blueberry farm, we need to be sure we make them whole again. (It is possible that we have done the worst thing, which is making the property not work as a blueberry farm or for development.) And if the farm contains some unique geology, we should look for ways that the community can celebrate, enjoy, and protect that.

Since I am not a biologist, I will look forward to hearing from some experts in this field for their recommendations on this property.




  



Click on Letter to Enlarge