April
Published 2:23 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
North Bend design standards to change
The North Bend City Council and Planning Commission unveiled
the new version of the city’s design standards document.
The standards are regulations that set criteria for development and
will affect the future look of North Bend, including residential and
commercial buildings, streets, open spaces and signs.
This new document will replace the 1992 version which spurred
controversy over its vagueness.
Planning Commission wraps up Falls Crossing report
The Snoqualmie Planning Commission received the draft that will
be the basis for their final report on the proposed Falls Crossing
mixed-use development.
The commission held a special meeting March 29 to review
questions raised by the public during a written comment period.
Fire damages Snoqualmie home
A fire started by a lit candle that ignited a can of hairspray in a
residential home caused $25,000 in damage.
Three family members and their pets escaped without harm. The
manufactured home was located in the 37200 block of Southeast 80th
Street in Snoqualmie.
Three Forks plan rebuffed
Nearly 80 Valley residents attended a meeting outside the QFC
in North Bend to protest the expansion of the Three Forks Natural Area.
The meeting was held by the Three Forks Natural Area Preservation
Committee. Metropolitan King County Councilman David Irons, District
12, attended the meeting to hear neighbors’ concerns that spending
almost $5 million on improvements to the natural area would hardly make
it “natural” any more.
Winery property turned over
The old Snoqualmie Winery property sale to the U.S. Forest Service
was finalized.
The 119 acres will be developed as a trail-head area, complete
with restrooms, parking and incredible views.
The transaction leaves the city of Snoqualmie with 10 acres of the
land that includes the area where the amphitheater stands. A public park
and view site will be established there, and the amphitheater may be used as
a wedding and event site.
The land once held the Snoqualmie Winery building,
which burned down in Feb. of 1999. The property narrowly escaped being
developed into a business park when several groups took an interest in
preserving the property, including Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, a
non-profit conservation organization.
Residents blast comprehensive plan
The King County Comprehensive Plan 2000 went through another
round of public hearings, including an April 17 meeting at Chief Kanim
Middle School.
Approximately two dozen residents testified on King County
Executive Ron Sims’s proposed plan that covers issues such as
down-zoning, flood problems and curbing development.
The majority of the community members expressed their concern
over the county’s plans to rezone areas in Snoqualmie from RA-5 and
RA-10 (one dwelling unit per five or 10 acres) to RA-10 or RA-20 (one dwelling
unit per 10 or 20 acres).
Residents said the action would prevent property owners from
subdividing land they would want to sell or will to their children. The
county’s goal with down-zoning is to protect land adjacent to forest
production-zoned land by allowing fewer houses to be built.
VRA pulls plug on Lower Valley pool
The decades-long effort to bring a swimming pool to the Lower
Valley ended when board members of the Valley Recreation Association
(VRA) unanimously voted to disband the organization.
The board members based their decision on a marketing study
that showed it would cost at least $800,000 a year to run the proposed pool
facility.
The group, previously known as the Eastman-Rush Memorial
Foundation, had been fighting to bring safer swimming options to Valley
children after two local children drowned in the early 1970s.
The VRA’s funding was donated to other Lower Valley groups.
