Letter to the Editor - Kirkland needs to better deal with storm water run off
Dear Editor:
For decades, the City of Kirkland has been using a city “intersection” of privately owned, commercially zoned properties, now described as “sensitive wetlands”, for the detention and filtration of highly polluted storm water creating the most disgusting, sorrowful eyesore in the entire City of Kirkland. This intersection, this eyesore, is at the crossroads of 120th Ave NE and NE 90th in the North Rose Hill neighborhood.
Shortly after Kirkland annexed the North Rose Hill neighborhood from King County in 1988, it stopped maintaining a system of ditches that had been in place and maintained by King County for near a century or more. An infrastructure that had been considered necessary to control and guide storm water for the protection of private and public property for a century was now no longer going to be maintained by its new stewards.
25 years ago, this intersection’s neighbors were active family homes and family gardens. Now this intersection is Kirkland’s epicenter of uncontrolled polluted storm water run-off. City streets and massive parking lots both far and near now keeps many of this intersection’s neighbors awash with polluted storm water. Now, its neighbors are Costco, Rose Hill Presbyterian Church, Digeo and all of the car dealerships on NE 85th St. All with their massive parking lots and inadequate storm water detention. But these neighbors have done nothing illegal. That is not to say that they have been good neighbors and it is obvious that they care little of how their neighborhood looks. But they have followed the rules. They have built to code.
The real culprit is the City of Kirkland. Not so much the succession of council members and mayoral leaders that have come and gone through the years. No, the real culprits are the entrenched civil servants, the managers and engineers of the Planning and Public Works Departments. These are the people who through poor decision making, personal ideology and/or lack of foresight have truly impacted Kirkland’s infrastructure and future. The uncontrolled storm water trespassing and pollution at this intersection has been a point of contention at endless Public Works meetings, Planning Department meetings, City Council meetings and neighborhood meetings for 20 years. The decision not to maintain a century old storm water control system was arbitrary and contrived and has resulted in the destruction of valuable privately owned, commercially zoned properties.
This intersection is the “poster child” of what can go wrong when there is little or no oversight, when city employees feel no accountability to the citizenry. For as long as no political toes are injured they have carte blanc in determining what grievances will be brought to the attention of City Council and what will be relegated to endless “go-no-where” meetings hoping to drive the complaining, injured property owner away with the feeling of hopelessness resign. That is unless you are Costco.
Costco wants something. The City is all ears. Costco wants to expand and open a very profitable gas station. Good, the City could use the tax revenue. Costco wants special treatment and consideration. OK. However, the City can not allow more expansion, more asphalt, more polluted storm water run-off, and more injury to private property without addressing the problems that has plagued this intersection, this neighborhood for 20 years. How can the city placate one 800lb. gorilla, Costco and ignore the other 800lb. gorilla, storm water damage to properties that will continue to get worse and grow. This is a rare opportunity for the City to redress the mistakes of the past and to work with all of the neighbors to resolve not just what Costco wants but what all of the neighbors and the City should also want, a clean, active and productive intersection and neighborhood. I have been told that this is what is called a “win win win” opportunity for all. I believe that.
Sincerely,
Rick Glaser
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Hello Kirkland.
I am visiting your conversation but I have a few things to say about OUR Costco because my kids and I shop there lots. I want a gas station there too if they can do it.
Rose Hill and 85th are commercial zones and I have an observation to make about the corridor connecting our cities. 85th is a major street with old strip malls being torn down and new buildings coming up. It has the potential to be a spectacular retail street if done right. Learn lessons from Seattle and keep it from turning into another Aurora. The location is the best for those of us in Redmond who use 85th daily to get to the freeway and much of Kirkland doesn’t want to cross the freeway to get to park place if you let that get built.
You should allow for taller buildings. Tall buildings here would have million $ views too and not block anyone eleses views if they were along 85th. This is ultimately what the future should be there if you take a big picture view of the area. I studied the map above and it looks like most of the surrounding two blocks both north and south of 85th are low density residential. This area is prime for rezoning.
I know there will be some who think no way but this makes perfect sense to me. Make the right choice for this area and let it become an asset. It is already as busy as Aurora and traffic will only increase over time. Both Kirkland and Redmond might as well benefit from newer nearby shops that aren’t falling apart.
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Costco is the only worthwhile business within blocks. Everything else is run down or has had trouble keeping businesses open. The high rise next to Costco was built as a car dealership in the 80s and then it was Ballard Computer, then a dozen other things. I don’t even know what it is now. Let Costco grow on it’s success. People should let success breed and reap the rewards but instead it is always complain and get in the way of progress.
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Dear Mr. Glaser:
You are right on! Great presentation of the facts. Your family has probably suffered the most from this grave injustice managed by the bureaucrats on the city staff. I remember fondly the beautiful orchard and gardens in what is now a “stormwater lake”.
I do suspect too that there are a few elected officials that have declared themselves the “stewards of the city”. Their influence on the underlings at city hall is obvious. It is politically wise and good for your career in city government when you obey the big shots, even when it walks all over the tax payers.
Thanks again for a great letter.
Upward and onward.
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Dear Mr.Glaser:
Excellent letter. Keep up the pressure on the elected city officials.
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Mr. Glaser,
Having been here awhile myself I concur fully with what you state. I have been following the stormwater fiasco in Kirland for years. I have witnessed family members properties deluged with stormwater that overran the stream beds and caused thousands of dollars of damage. One family member who bought property with some culvert installed to control upstream water was told that it would have to be removed if they ever wanted to redevelop. Of course the City wanted indemnification from any damage that would occur!
I always watch for this issue to come up on the Council agenda. Besides the issue of control is the issue of polution. I was watching one night when the Staff stormwater manager presented a report on what the federal regulations require. In short it was many years of paperwork at some great expense. I have heard council member Sternoff repeatedly say that this is not acceptable. The waste of money on a report or plan should be used to install oil water separaters and do something now to reduce the pollution. Like many other issues he can’t get support from the so called environmental stewards. What is wrong with these people?
As you point out with the storm water, the City of Kirkland is also the largest polluter. The water and dirt from the roads contain petroleum. The dirt that is swept up in the streets is considered hazardous waste and is shipped to a special facility.
The fact that the lands you identify were once dry or relatively dry is very important. You should be made whole and the City should fix the problem or buy your property at a value equal to what it would be worth dry. Then they can do what they want with it.
In the end it is the City Council’s responsiblity. They can direct Staff and they can budget the money.
Al Czervik
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mike nienaber Reply:
August 27th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Mr. Czervik:
Thanks for your observations / comments regarding Kirkland’s gross neglect of private tax-payer’s land. Per your final sentence, let’s hope the City Council/Staffwakes up, especially in light of the law suit just filed against the City. What’s the saying? “A word to the wise is sufficient.”
Thanks again for your support….
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You’re absolutely right, Rick. The City has failed miserably with respect to maintaining a vital public service, the long-established drainage system it inherited from the County. As a result, the City has in effect inversely condemned an otherwise productive and valuable piece of property to the detriment of its several owners. The so-called “wetlands” found in the area is by any reasonable standard little more than a sewer of runoff water and related detritus flowing from the surrounding area. It is undeniably a direct result of the poor stewardship and general inanity of a lap-dog City Council concerned more with pleasing and pandering to big business than fulfilling its responsibility to protect the interests of all its constituents; not simply those with deep pockets.
Your defense of Costco and its contribution to the community is admirable given the circumstances; however, it occurs to me that Costco could likely do significantly more to salvage the interests of those owners adversely affected in large part by its continuing development. As you’ve suggested, when Costco speaks, the City Council and its staff respond. It would be nice to see Costco demonstrate that its pretensions of being a good neighbor is more than just talk.
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In any event, your letter is right on the mark. I’d suggest that there might be a place for you in city government, but that would be an insult. Still, Kirkland could benefit from some representation by a real person who might be the “yin” to the current “yang” represented by the existing batch of automatons and glad-handers bumping into one another all day down at the City. Lose a couple of IQ points and get yourself on the next ballot. You might be surprised.
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mike nienaber Reply:
August 28th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Thank you Randy….
We appreciate your thinking and suggestions. Interestingly enough, Costco is thinking seriously about doing what you have suggested. Even though they built the store and parking lots legally at the time. They too have observed the tremendous amount of harm that has come to the neighbors through the city’s neglect in managing their stormwater. Costco’s attorney doesn’t feel that the amount of dollars necessary to fix the problem is in any way unreasonable, considering the potential for return to them, the city’s park,tax revenue and we private land owners. All it will take is a wide track back-hoe to keep from sinking in the artificial quicksand, a couple days of hard work and the Forbes Lake Creek, entering the lake, will be restored. Our environmental consultants tell us that within a season or two, the land will be restored to it’s original condition with Rick’s family farmed the land, we had a delightful yard and the corner of 120th and 90th had a home with accompanying retail garden center. Take a look at the North Rose Hill Neighborhood Association’s website. There is an interesting photo display of the historic and present day landscape.
Thanks again for your imput and support.
Enthusiastically,
mike nienaber
P.S. We are currently in mediation with Costco, their attorneys, city staff and our attorneys. We’re all trying to come up with a win/win/win solution.
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mike nienaber Reply:
August 28th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
For your convenience…the webside is:
http://www.north-rosehill.org and the item to click is the Rose HIll drainage problems….very interesting.
mike
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