After reading the article in the June 22 edition of the Valley [Record]

paper, how could I not write a letter in response? Falls Crossing

reluctantly approved by our planning commission. My first response, and I’m

sure I am not alone is, boy, Puget Western Inc. must have offered them a

huge pile of cash and a bigger pile of empty promises. Why else would they do

it? Maybe Dale Sherman being a tile contractor is anticipating the tile

contract on the 380-some homes to be built.

There is no benefit to the community and there is no sane or logical

way to justify it. If their reluctance is not a good enough reason for them not

to approve, then why are they there? If they cannot find a way to preserve

the one consistent tourist attraction and in turn a consistent moneymaker for

this town, then why have a planning commission at all?

I know that is silly to say, but what’s even sillier is that they say,

and I quote Matt Stone, “I don’t see anything to provide a basis for

denial.” Maybe the fact that we haven’t yet begun to experience all of the

repercussions of the Ridge? Maybe because it is said to be sacred Indian

ground, which is impossible to come by these days. Maybe because not a single

soul who lives in this town (and I purposely am not including the Ridge’s

opinion) wants this to be built.

We see the big picture. Destroy the one thing that puts this town on

the map and you single-handedly destroy this town. All the land up on that

hill that could be developed without being seen from the Falls and that’s

still not enough. Where does it end?

Why is a historic logging town allowing itself to be pushed around

by a power company? I understand being pushed around by

Weyerhaeuser. Hasn’t that always been going on? Have we become so passive as to

allow these newcomers (Ridge residents) to come into our town and

push, no, excuse me, demand that we turn this town into the next

Redmond, Bellevue, or even Issaquah? Slap up cheaply built homes, strip malls,

shopping centers, gas stations, and, well, who needs roads to

accommodate that?

Who cares about flooding, the deer, the elk, the spotted owl,

the woodpeckers, the salmon? They’ll leave when the bulldozers show

up. Won’t they?

We deserve answers to these questions and a lot more. We deserve

to have a say in the future of this town. When the idea of the Ridge was

put before us, our voices were not heard. If those of us who have supported

this community, those of us who know that growth is inevitable but must be

controlled if our voices are not heard and are not represented by the people

appointed to represent us, then the only solution is to clean house.

LAURIE BAKER

Snoqualmie