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SEP22-0032_ChehalisBreenUGA_Comments1 Preston Pinkston From:Mary Verner <mary@maryverner.com> Sent:Wednesday, August 31, 2022 6:34 AM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:lindsey.pollock@lewiscounty.wa.gov Subject:objection to MDNS 259 Hamilton Rd Chehalis UGA expansion Dear Mr. Pinkston. I happened to see the small notice posted yesterday by the driveway of 259 Hamilton Rd. There should be a full environmental assessment of the City of Chehalis proposal to incorporate this property into the city’s UGA for expansion of commercial and multi-family residential uses. A mitigated determination of non-significance (MDNS) is not appropriate for this property that is adjacent is traversed by the Newaukum River and usually flooded during the wet season. The parcel is currently zoned Agricultural (per the County’s parcel search) and should not be planned for high-density residential. The proposed Chehalis UGA expansion and future uses were the subject of a Planning Commission hearing in which public testimony brought out significant concerns about flooding, impacts on other properties downstream on the river, and other impacts on the environment, traffic, noise, lights, public safety, and degradation of adjacent and nearby property values. I am one of those very nearby property owners and I strongly object to the UGA expansion, as do my neighbors. The Planning Commission recommended the Chehalis UGA expansion proposal be denied. I have not yet been notified of a Board of County Commissioners hearing on this proposal. As soon as time allows, my neighbors and I plan to submit additional information confirming the significant impacts of this UGA expansion proposal. The MDNS should be withdrawn. If this proposal continues to be considered, a full Environmental Impact Statement should be compiled and there should be adequate opportunity for public input. This email is for the purpose of submitting comments in objection to the MDNS during the very quick 14-day deadline indicated on the posted notice. Mary Bagley Verner 423 Newaukum Valley Rd, Chehalis, WA 98532 mary@maryverner.com 509-994-7206 External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. SEPA Comments Memo File Number: SEP22-0032 Date Printed: September 14, 2022 BUILDING DEPARTMENT  Portions of this property are located in the mapped floodplain any proposed development in these areas will require floodplain development permits through Lewis County PUBLIC WORKS  No comments ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH  The proposed change in the property zoning will create potential opportunities for development that will require public water. Relying on groundwater wells in that area is not recommended due to the shallowness of the formation, minimal flows and poor water quality. Prior to the change the source of potable water to serve the changed use should be addressed and reserved to assure successful usage of the land for the intended change. It should include utilizing the existing Group A water supplies within the area and assuring the land is included in the approved service area. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Scott's Games <scottswoodgames@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, September 5, 2022 9:00 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion Attachments:Scan_20220905.png I am a life time friend of the Breens (Tammy Baker and Kodie Baker). My dad (Wayne F Anderson) and Tammy grew up as well. Virgina Breen who I always called “Grandma”, I have not ever called her by her name. She had welcomed me in to her life just like I was a family member. Virginia and Sterling Sr. (Bud) were friends with my grandparents, Francis (Andy) Anderson and Ella (Bea) Beatrice Anderson. Our family history goes back aways. I helped hay the fields at the farm for many years, worked on tractors and such, played out by the pond. Chase down broken water pipes outside. I even built grandma a ramp the went from the kitchen to the hallway so she wouldn’t trip going to her bedroom. Now that ramp was a door width but only 1” high. My dad told me stories about going swimming ovr there in their indoor pool. Kodie and I have our own memories from swiming there too. I do not want to see this development to go in, not due to my memories, ok a little bit. The traffic is already a disaster from the truck stop going in. Driving over to Kodie’s and Tammy’s is a nightmare. Just imagine all the housing going in. There also will be a headache trying to find more farmland to cut hay. The Bakers have a farm that depends on the hay from those fields. Its just a way of life. I strongly am against the 456 homes wanting to go there. Thank you, Scott F Anderson Sent from Mail for Windows External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Maureen Anderson <shakespeareandcompanylc@gmail.com> Sent:Friday, September 9, 2022 2:23 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Breen UGA Dear Mr. Pinkston, Please add my name to the list of folks who OPPOSE the city of Chehalis Breen UGA expansion. Sincerely, Maureen Anderson, Co-owner Shakespeare and Company: Used Books 553 North Market Blvd Chehalis, Wa 98532 (360)748-4652 External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Jenny Baker <bakerkodie@aol.com> Sent:Monday, September 5, 2022 3:40 PM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:Jenny Baker Subject:City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion / SEP22-0032 Please put this in the file for the City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion / SEP22-0032. It was turned in at the public meeting in July, but I do not see it in the records. Thank you, Kodie and Jenny Baker -----Original Message----- From: Kodie Baker via Adobe Acrobat <message@adobe.com> To: bakerkodie@aol.com Sent: Mon, Sep 5, 2022 3:36 pm Subject: 2022-07-25 to whom it may concern regarding farm property Kodie Baker (kodie.kb@gmail.com) has shared 2022-07-25 to whom it may concern regarding farm property.pdf. You can also comment on it. Open SENT BY Kodie Baker (kodie.kb@gmail.com) SHARED ON 05-September-2022 03:36 PM PDT Manage Your Account | Customer Support | Forums | Terms of Use | Report Abuse 2 Adobe, the Adobe logo, the Adobe PDF logo, and Acrobat are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Adobe, 345 Park Ave., San Jose, CA 95110 USA External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Baker, Jenny <Jennifer.Baker@providence.org> Sent:Tuesday, September 13, 2022 3:43 PM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:bakerkodie Subject:Letter for City of Chehalis Breen UGA/Sep22-032 Importance:High Preston – please include the below letter in the public comments. Re: City of Chehalis Breen UGA / Sep22-032 I am Virginia Breen’s grandson, and I am writing this letter to oppose the Breen UGA expansion. I am going to take this time to write this letter not about what every other person is writing about and talk about flooding or traffic which is a very big reason for not wanting this to go through but the most important thing to me is doing what is right. My great grandma was very well-known person around the community and there was not one person who met her or had a conversation with her that could tell you that she was not the most loving and down to earth person. My grandma would never have wanted this to go through not only for the fact of everything else like traffic or flooding but because of the memories that were made! I remember as a young kid sitting there listing to all her stories about what they used to do on the farm like play basketball in the barn with all the neighbor kids or when they would go fishing out back. The smile she had on her face when she would tell these stories was priceless. This property was not just a farm that was used for me and my family. I have many friends who didn’t grow up with the opportunity to live on a farm and when they would come over it was like a vacation to get to come out and ride quads or fish. The number of smiles and “first” fishes that we caught on the lake is unbelievable. I have many pictures of friends that never caught a fish before, that had the best time and without the pond and farm it wouldn’t be possible. Not every kid wants to be born and raised in a paved housing development locked inside playing video games all day long. These are just some of the small things that happen on a farm that not many people get to experience anymore and the fact that my grandma allowed me to share that with many of my friends and myself is a gift that I would never be able to repay. Yes all the other things that are talked about in everyone else’s letter is very important but I think this is the biggest thing my grandma would want and I know that emotional attachment isn’t a good reason in your guys eyes to make a difference but all I want is what my great grandma would want and that is that this property is used as a farm for my family or another family to enjoy as much as we did! Colton Baker 592 Newaukum Valley Road 2 Chehalis WA 98532 This message is intended for the sole use of the addressee, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the addressee you are hereby notified that you may not use, copy, disclose, or distribute to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received this message in error, please immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete this message. External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Alwynd Mcbride <alwyndz23@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 8, 2022 4:10 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Proposed Breen UGA Expansion. As a local property and business owner, I would like to officially express my hearty opposition to the proposed Chehalis expansion. Chehalis is a charming small town, and the overdeveloped wetlands along the I-5 (Walmart, et al.) have already had a negative impact on the environment and quality of life here. As water levels drop, it makes no sense to vastly increase demands on the Newaukum River and local aquifers. To be honest, it sounds like a way for a already wealthy and powerful land owner to futher his own profits at a cost to the rest of us. I say NO. Sincerely, Karen Betts External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Natosha Burnett <gypsyspirit0921@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 8, 2022 9:14 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:[Spam?] Breen UGA Expansion Importance:Low Preston Pinkston, I am writing this letter to OPPOSE to the city of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion. I cannot help but assume you do not live near the area you are developing. As a homeowner and resident of Lewis County who does, I am proud of where I live. Before moving to Chehalis from Longview, I did not have the privilege of saying that. Why did I move here? Because I can still see wide open fields and big sunsets because I can sit on my porch, smell the trees, and hear the birds. The thought of a housing development built near my home immediately gave me a reason to sell and move somewhere else. If I feel that way, are there others that share that same feeling? What will that do to this close-knit community? It is not just me who has moved here to get away from the overpopulated towns and cities along I-5. I understand that there has been a need for better housing in our area, but this is nothing close to a solution when you have multiple families at a greater risk of flooding. Please consider what you are doing without the dollar signs. Life during flood season is already terrible and this is going to make my home an island. Traffic- This property is accessed via Exit 72. This exit already cannot manage the amount of traffic that currently flows through there each day. Potentially adding new homes or a big commercial development would cause the traffic problem to grow immensely. Flooding- This property is in a designated flood plain. It borders the Newaukum River, and floodwaters have come within inches of the home and barns in previous floods. Filling the flood plain or adding homes or commercial buildings to this property will cause floodwaters to be diverted down the river. Farmland- This property is used for farmland and has been for over years. It has been designated as Agriculture land since 1977. Environment- There is a bald eagle nest on this property that has been there for many years. Deer, ducks, geese, salmon, and other fish would be impacted as they currently live on this property. Per the Lewis County Agriculture and Farmland Enhancement Plan April 2021- Lewis County's overall vision is that agriculture will continue to thrive and play an essential role as the most important industry in the region's economy; that farms will be environmentally and economically sustainable; that a local food system will mature to support the health and security of our residents; and that farmland will remain available for farming activities. Please consider this letter as my opposition to this expansion 2 Natosha Burnett Virus-free.www.avg.com External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Devon Burnett <dburnett1504@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 8, 2022 9:19 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Breen UGA Expansion Preston Pinkston, I am writing this letter to OPPOSE to the city of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion. As a homeowner and resident of Lewis County, I am proud of where I live. Before moving to Chehalis from Longview, I did not have the privilege of saying that. Why did I move here? Because I can still see wide open fields and big sunsets because I can sit on my porch, smell the trees, and hear the birds. The thought of a housing development built near my home immediately gave me a reason to sell and move somewhere else. If I feel that way, are there others that share that same feeling? What will that do to this close-knit community? It is not just me who has moved here to get away from the overpopulated towns and cities along I-5. I understand that there has been a need for better housing in our area, this is nothing close to a solution when you people multiple homes at a greater risk of flooding. Traffic- This property is accessed via Exit 72. This exit already cannot manage the amount of traffic that currently flows through there each day. Potentially adding new homes or a big commercial development would cause the traffic problem to grow immensely. Flooding- This property is in a designated flood plain. It borders the Newaukum River, and floodwaters have come within inches of the home and barns in previous floods. Filling the flood plain or adding homes or commercial buildings to this property will cause floodwaters to be diverted down the river. Farmland- This property is used for farmland and has been for over years. It has been designated as Agriculture land since 1977. Environment- There is a bald eagle nest on this property that has been there for many years. Deer, ducks, geese, salmon, and other fish would be impacted as they currently live on this property. Per the Lewis County Agriculture and Farmland Enhancement Plan April 2021- Lewis County's overall vision is that agriculture will continue to thrive and play an essential role as the most important industry in the region's economy; that farms will be environmentally and economically sustainable; that a local food system will mature to support the health and security of our residents; and that farmland will remain available for farming activities. Please consider this letter as my opposition to this expansion Devon Burnett External Email - Remember to think before you click! 2 This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Baker, Jenny <Jennifer.Baker@providence.org> Sent:Tuesday, September 13, 2022 8:53 AM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:bakerkodie Subject:City of Chehalis UGA Expansion / SEP22-032 Attachments:HPSCAN_20220913125625311_2022-09-13_125730293.pdf Importance:High Hi Preston – Please add this letter to the file – City of Chehalis UGA Expansion/SEP22-032 Thank you!! Jenny Jenny Baker Administrative Assistant Providence St. Peter Hospital | Providence Centralia Hospital Puget Sound Region Rehabilitation Services | Orthopedic Service Line | Neuroscience Service Line Mailstop: O1B03 413 Lilly Road NE, Olympia, WA 98506 Phone: 360.493.4320 This message is intended for the sole use of the addressee, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the addressee you are hereby notified that you may not use, copy, disclose, or distribute to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received this message in error, please immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete this message. External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Brandy Fay <drfaydvm@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 7, 2022 9:41 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Opposition to City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion//SEP22-0032 To: Lewis County Community Development Attn. Preston Pinkston preston.pinkston@lewiscountywa.gov I am writing this letter to adamantly OPPOSE to the City of Chehalis the Breen UGA Expansion. I own and operate a boarding facility, River Bend Pet Center that sits at 311 Hamilton Rd. The facility is named after the li hundred years. I have lived (and currently reside) on Hamilton Road for over 25 years of my life and named my veterinary practice after the beautiful Newaukum attending my wedding that also happened on Hamilton Rd. To say I have a vested interest in the future of Hamilton Rd is an understatement. The proposed development has me fearful for River Bend Pet Center’s future. We have been open since late 2017 and have been a services to our community. The property line of this proposed development comes right up next to the backyard of our facility came up higher than it ever has and ended up coming up right next to our main building, threatening to flood a building that was supposed to and to the south of us will undoubtedly push more water onto my facility and not only put animals in my care at risk but also risk our business. Another major flooding issue that has also really hurt us financially this year, is we lost a significant amount (100 + feet! almost $100,000 to go through the permitting process and to hire contractors to fix the river bank. If that river bank had no permanently changed the course of direction of the flood waters of the river. That course change would then have put the floo happen to be my parents and the house happens to be my childhood home. That barn is where they keep their livestock safe during floods We are in a floodplain where flooding is getting worse every time the water rises. Hamilton Road is one of the first roads to that I drive past every day. I hold my breath and pray every time the water comes up that we can handle it. A development lit In addition to the major flooding concerns I have, I am also very concerned about that many houses being right next to my pet ce Lewis County but this is not the location to do it. Over 65% of US homes have a pet now. You would think that I would be excited to have that many homes that are t am not. That many homes brings 1.) Stray and roaming animals and 2.) The potential for disease transmission to both my boarding guests and the livestock that are right next door. I have an extensive epidemiology and worry about the countless parasites and viruses that could contaminate our soil. I have also experienced first hand in my veterinary practice the risks of having stray or uncontrolled animals roam around livestock (vicious attacks) and this is a major cause for concern. It is my veterinary practice motto that I will continue to reinvest in a community that has invested in me. I am a Lewis County native through and through and CHOSE to come back to Lewis County to practice this neighborhood to live. When I bought the 311 Hamilton Rd property in 2016, my original intention was to build a long well that feeds both Jesters Auto Museum and us is only 30’ deep (water supply issues and potential bacterial contamination f potential of major flooding issues with development of my own land then and instead chose to preserve it as farm land and pro because of a development that is not good for Hamilton Road. Any development of that area needs to consider the potential consequences to the surrounding businesses and landowners. Respectfully, Dr. Brandy Fay, DVM Owner, Newaukum Valley Veterinary Services & River Bend Pet Center 2 311 Hamilton Rd Chehalis, WA 98532 360.748.3121 External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. Tamara Lau 1 Preston Pinkston From:Meredith Lyons <mlirishdance@yahoo.com> Sent:Wednesday, September 7, 2022 9:54 AM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Opposition letter 2 3 Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:K M <thesoupison@gmail.com> Sent:Friday, September 9, 2022 2:19 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Breen UGA Dear Mr. Pinkston, I am writing to voice my opposition to the City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion. I believe the preservation of farmland and open spaces is more important than a giant housing development. Please don’t take away the very things that make Lewis County a paradise for its current residents, and a beautiful destination for tourists. Sincerely, Karen McSwain, Co-owner Shakespeare and Company: Used Books 553 North Market Blvd Chehalis, Wa 98532 (360) 748-4652 External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Jenny Baker <bakerkodie@aol.com> Sent:Monday, September 5, 2022 6:59 PM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:Jenny Baker Subject:[Spam?] City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion / SEP22-0032 Attachments:HPSCAN_20220906000721086_2022-09-06_000809144.pdf Importance:Low Please add this letter to the file - City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion / SEP22-0032 Thank you. External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Jenny Baker <bakerkodie@aol.com> Sent:Thursday, September 8, 2022 6:21 PM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:Jenny Baker Subject:[Spam?] City of Chehalis Breen UGA / SEP22-0032 Attachments:HPSCAN_20220909010542145_2022-09-09_011022699.pdf Importance:Low Hi Preston, Please add these letters to the file - City of Chehalis Breen UGA / SEP22-0032. There are 14 letters/signatures attached. Thank you, Jenny Baker -----Original Message----- From: eprintcenter@hp8.us To: bakerkodie@aol.com Sent: Thu, Sep 8, 2022 6:10 pm Subject: Scanned document from HP ePrint user This email and attachment are sent on behalf of bakerkodie@aol.com. If you do not want to receive this email in future, you may contact bakerkodie@aol.com directly or you may consult your email application for spam or junk email filtering options. Regards, HP Team External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Jenny Baker <bakerkodie@aol.com> Sent:Sunday, September 11, 2022 9:10 PM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:Jenny Baker Subject:[Spam?] City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion/SEP22-023 Attachments:HPSCAN_20220912040032312_2022-09-12_040251774.pdf Importance:Low Hi Preston, Please add these 5 letters to the file for public comment. Thanks!! Jenny -----Original Message----- From: eprintcenter@hp8.us To: bakerkodie@aol.com Sent: Sun, Sep 11, 2022 9:02 pm Subject: Scanned document from HP ePrint user This email and attachment are sent on behalf of bakerkodie@aol.com. If you do not want to receive this email in future, you may contact bakerkodie@aol.com directly or you may consult your email application for spam or junk email filtering options. Regards, HP Team External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Jenny Baker <bakerkodie@aol.com> Sent:Monday, September 12, 2022 8:52 PM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:Jenny Baker Subject:[Spam?] City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion/SEP22-023 Attachments:HPSCAN_20220913032925192_2022-09-13_033159846.pdf Importance:Low Preston, Please include all the attached letters in the file - City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion/SEP22- 023 Thanks!! Jenny -----Original Message----- From: eprintcenter@hp8.us To: bakerkodie@aol.com Sent: Mon, Sep 12, 2022 8:32 pm Subject: Scanned document from HP ePrint user This email and attachment are sent on behalf of bakerkodie@aol.com. If you do not want to receive this email in future, you may contact bakerkodie@aol.com directly or you may consult your email application for spam or junk email filtering options. Regards, HP Team External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Krystal Navarrete <krystal.navarrete12@gmail.com> Sent:Thursday, September 8, 2022 10:31 AM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion//SEP22-0032 Attachments:PXL_20220907_144849851.MP.jpg; PXL_20220907_144907061.MP.jpg; PXL_20220907_ 144856037.MP.jpg To whom this may concern, My family has been in the city limits of Napavine since the early 90's. People choose to stay in a small town because it's a small town. I personally think it would be a horrible idea for this expansion to be passed. Exit 72 area is already a disaster traffic wise as it is without all those new houses being there. There's not much more that can be done to that area as it is to help with traffic due to the freeways being right there. On top of the traffic, that area is straight up flood land. Whoever chose that area to be the area for this expansion clearly wasn't using their brain. If this expansion is passed, what are you all thinking about for schools? Napavine school district is already small as it is. Where would you build new schools? Where are these kids going to be going to school? There are so many flaws with this proposal. Attached are signed forms opposing this proposal. Sincerely concerned citizens of Napavine, The Navarrete Family External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Raeleene Rodriguez <rraeleene@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, September 13, 2022 8:52 AM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion Sep22-0032 I am writing this letter to express my OPPOSITION to the City of Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion. Reasons Being As Follows: The amount of Traffic/Congestion. The decreased safety and increased inconvenience. The increased flooding dangers. Climate change is already having a negative impact on Lewis county and this will only add to the problem. The horrific forest fires are an example of the increased pressure that our wildlife as well as humans are experiencing due to extreme weather and environmental conditions. Taking this area away and adding more construction and a bigger carbon footprint are poorly thought out. There are so many more negative outcomes and impacts but my point being that although it "may" bring about a financial windfall for some, it will bring about a compromised and lower quality of life for many more. Respectfully, Raeleene Rodriguez 4042 Jackson HWY Chehalis WA 98532 External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:shannon333@aol.com Sent:Monday, September 12, 2022 6:58 AM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Opposition Letter to the Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion SEP22-0032 (Opposition Letter to the Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion SEP22-0032) Good Morning, My husband and I are both retired and have been seriously considering moving to Chehalis to spend our retirement in your lovely, peaceful little farm town. We have traveled to Chehalis over these past many years, as we have close friends who live there, and every time we visit your city we are impressed by how friendly and close-knit your community is - a feature that is getting harder-and- harder to find. Our beach town used to be similar to Chehalis, a safe, close-knit, quiet community filled with people who knew and cared about one another. Unfortunately, our city has lost its charm over the years. Wealthy contractors began buying up land (which, at one time, was reasonably priced) and they began to build apartments, condos and new housing projects all over our small city. Our once quiet town now has roads filled with traffic, day-or-night, our congested community is riddled with crime, drugs abuse is rampant, there are homeless encampments in our parks and people barely even know their neighbors. My husband and I were shocked when our friends told us about a company's plans to build a thousand condos, new home tracts and three-story apartment buildings in your city. We asked ourselves why? We've been looking at homes for sale in Chehalis and the city has a glut of properties available for purchase which makes us wonder, who would be buying all of the new homes this builder intends to erect in your city? Has there suddenly been a tremendous influx of people desiring to move into Chehalis? It makes me wonder if these builders care about Chehalis, are any of them planning to live in your beautiful city or are they simply looking to make a quick profit at the expense of your community's wellbeing? Well, this is just my two cents on the subject and maybe the wheels have already been "greased" and it's a done deal...but, I hope that's not the case. I'd hate to see this charming city become yet another victim of corporate (and perhaps personal) greed. By the way, we were going to put in an offer for a house on Newaukum Valley but found out about a contractor's plans to build 456 multi-family homes on Breen, so, for good reason, we changed our mind. Kindest regards, N. Shannon Huntington Beach, California External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. Subject: Opposition letter to the Chehalis Breen UGA expansion To Whom it May Concern, I could write this letter one hundred different ways from one hundred different perspectives. From the bald eagles and blue herons, hawks, deer, squirrels, raccoons, lampreys, salmon and countless other wildlife who call this land their home. From the family being torn apart from the middle, grieving the passing of their beloved mother and grandmother Virginia Breen while fighting to keep her wishes to keep this land family land and farmland. From the neighbors many of whom including myself, moved to Lewis County to attempt to escape the ever-widening destruction of developers. From the farmers and farmers’ children who can no longer afford to farm full time and now cannot even afford farmland at all. From the citizens who feel powerless to shape their own town. And from the very trees, grasses, rivers and the soils themselves, begging us to recognize their gifts and their value. So, I write it from all those perspectives and on behalf of all the above-mentioned parties, and in the spirit of personal responsibility to stand up and be not only grateful for the beautiful county in which we live, but to commit here and now to caring for it and preserving a way of life quickly dying in our country. A way of life many seem to think is antiquated and outdated. A way of life people feel would be a good trade to be a stone’s throw away from not a river but a Target, a Fred Meyer, a Burger King, or one of many countless corporations just waiting for us to head their shiny call and trade all we have, trade our food security and local access to rivers, and land so that we are forced to buy it back packaged and trucked in from the corporate supply chain. So that we one day forget we were sovereign. Free to dictate our own lives and futures and not slaves to our tiny backyards and the corporations, pollution, and traffic that will someday surround us, if we do not take our power and our responsibility to shape these things purposefully and personally. I come from the land of abundance not an abundance of nature nor of natural resources, but of Starbucks, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and corporate owned grocery stores on every corner. You can buy a hundred different types of burgers but not one of the cows your burger is made from is able to be raised locally. Not one of the fruits or vegetables you find in the store is gown within one hundred miles of that store. It is the land of supply chains, the land of corporations, and developers. It is a land that once had rivers running through it and now has concrete water slides to the ocean. That’s right. The land where the people literally poured concrete into the rivers from their headwaters down to the mouths where they meet the ocean, eliminating all floodplains and natural lands with them (see figures 1 and 2). They carved it all up, and they sold it all off and it is now a drought ridden land full of traffic, trash, crime, pollution, and over population. When viewed from above, it is like a scar upon the earth and a shrine to what happens when you worship money and forget the value of community family, and nature itself. Even the so-called preserves they made are a joke, as they have surrounded them by oil fields (see figure 3). Figure 1 Up-close view of the Santa Ana River taken from Google maps Figure 2 Southern California, Santa Ana River concrete channels and population density taken from Google maps Figure 3 Bolsa Chica Wetlands Setback surrounded by oilfields taken from Google maps In many places in Southern California, the freeways are eighteen lines wide, nine on either side and still packed to the brim with traffic such that you shutter when you are forced to take them, limit all travel if possible, and travel at a whopping speed of five miles per hour, as it takes you eons to reach your intended destination. The only “open space” left is planned parks and the over-crowded beaches. Almost ten years ago now, my husband and I ran from all of this. We left our entire family behind, left our sunny weather and our friends, hoping against hope that we could find something different, something better for our children. My husband took an almost fifty-percent pay cut, and I left my job as a Special Education teacher entirely so that we could escape the constant traffic, overdevelopment, crime, and pollution. When we got to Washington, we were amazed. Amazed that one could breathe, could relax, could stretch out, could find beauty and nature all around, could find community and people who did view other people simply as objects in their way. Yet not two years later we found our new home in Vancouver, WA beginning to be carved up. We watched developers swallow up much of the beautiful land in Camas and destroy countless family farms, replacing them with endless housing tracks, traffic, and crime. We watched them tout the progress of developing the riverside and proceed to create high- rise living all along it. We watched as they even turned the small bit of forest land between our peaceful housing track and the track next to us into yet another housing track, cramming in all the homes they could fit with smaller and smaller lot sizes and destroying all that was left of the peace and open land in the process. When we drive down there today, just five years later, we barley recognize the place. The developers came for it and they made their mark and they will not stop until they have swallowed up Washougal, Salmon Creek, LaCenter, Battle Ground, and Ridgefield. Until they have moved on to Woodland and worked their way up past Longview. Until they are right at our very backdoor. If they have their way, they will work down form Olympia and up from Vancouver until there is nothing left and they will do it faster than you think, if left unchecked and even faster if enabled by commissioners such as yourselves. Don’t believe me. Take a look at Southern California (see figure 4). Much of this land was farmland just fifty years ago. It started small in the 70’s and then ballooned out of control and by the 80’s, just ten years after they began in earnest, it had almost all been carved up and paved over. All in the name of population growth. All in the name of an easy buck to be had. And it will never, never be returned to what it was. It will forevermore be a drought-filled monument to “progress” and development for developments sake. Figure 4 Los Angeles and Orange County, CA take from Google maps When we saw what happening to our new home we began to look farther out. Even though we had new friends and new community we knew that if we stayed, we find ourselves in a recreated Washington version of Southern California. When we found our piece of land off of the Newaukum river here in Chehalis, we almost did not buy it for fear it was too good to be true. Could we really be privileged enough to buy affordable farmland on a river? My husband and I lost sleep over questioning how and why this property was on the market and how we could be so very lucky to have found it. We thanked God that we had found a piece of land that flooded, I know that sounds silly to many who have seen the devastation of the ever-increasing flooding in this area, but we knew the over one-hundred-year-old house did not flood, and we thought that being in a floodplain would hopefully insulate us and we would finally be safe from developers. But our peace only lasted a few short years. It seems the developers have found us again and the city, with dollar signs in their eyes, is signing the praises of setbacks, and building “model communities” around the river, and of reclassifying the farmland to multi-family housing land, of filling in those floodplains and selling it off to the highest bidder. Does all this sound familiar? Does it spark something in you? An anger from long ago? An outrage you felt as a child when you read or listened to the simple yet incredibly complex lessons in the story of the Lorax. As children, we felt outraged when they cut down every last tree. When progress turned their oasis into a wasteland. We all had a natural moral compass back then. One we were born with; placed in us by God to guide our lives and protect our families, communities, and his irreplaceable creation of the very land itself. As we grow, many of us allow that moral compass to become “shifty,” whether consciously or unconsciously. Once we no longer know where true north is, once we redefine north as it best suits us and the situations at hand, we lose an important and indeed invaluable piece of ourselves. We channelize the river from our hearts and our compassion and integrity flows out of us diluting into the ocean of thoughtless decisions that can come to define our lives, if we are not careful. On the surface we understand we need to eat, breath, and thrive, yet we have disconnected ourselves from the source of these things. We stand quietly by while much of the rain forest is carved up and replaced with palm trees so we can harvest that cheapest of oils now used to make our processed snack goods. Many of us want to care, but have allowed ourselves to become cynical and in doing so have killed our hope and our understanding that we are not powerless to act. Today I ask you to renew your hope and ours, by standing up for families, for farmers and farmland, for the value and importance of open space, and for our community itself. I am the Lorax, and I speak for the trees. I ask you to do the same. To take personal responsibility for the incredibly powerful position in which you find yourself. How many of these developments have you passed without giving them a second thought, without considering their cumulative impact? Will you recognize your town in ten years, if you continue on this route? Will you yourself complain about the traffic you are forced to sit in? Will you move, stating that Chehalis and Lewis County have changed! Will you take responsibility for how you enabled those changes? What will you say to my children and the other farmers’ children when it comes time for them to continue their family values and purchase their own land to tend, but there is none left? As you make your decision, I ask and those that I write this letter on behalf of ask, that you please take your responsibility very seriously. You have an incredible ability to develop our beautiful city with thought and careful planning where our culture and open space can be preserved. I ask you to please remember that our land is not just a thing to be purchased, classified, and “improved.” It is a living breathing member of our community. One that provides us with a place to nurture and sustain our bodies through the production of food and oxygen and also the ability to simply clear our minds, be at peace, and reprioritize with a quiet moment spent by the riverbank. It is a part of the culture of Lewis County, and I ask you to think carefully before you give permission to carve up and forever alter that culture. You have one of the most important jobs in our county. You will determine the history and culture of our land. You will decide if we become just another carved up suburb of Olympia, or we remain one of the few places in the country where farming and people are more important than filling the pockets of those who travel all over carving up communities for their personal gain. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you for serving in your position, and thank you for respecting the incredible power and responsibility you have been trusted with to shape the land and the future of my family and indeed all the families in Lewis County. You are a steward of the land and the people and they are counting on you to serve with honor and integrity. Sincerely, Recoverable Signature X Stacy Smith Signed by: afd06cd3-a062-4fe0-ae28-385cb74d9f9c Stacy Smith 347 Newaukum Valley Road Chehalis, WA 98532 SEATTLE VANCOUVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHEHALIS 1 Preston Pinkston From:Stacy Smith <writergirlca@aol.com> Sent:Tuesday, September 13, 2022 12:16 AM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Chehalis Breen UGA expansion opposition letter Attachments:StacySmith Chehalis Breen Opposition letter.pdf Dear Preston, Please find the attached pdf containing my letter of opposition to the Chehalis-Breen UGA Expansion. Thank you, Stacy Smith 347 Newaukum Valley Road Chehalis, Wa 98532 714-717-1738 Sent from my iPhone External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Amy Vance <amys.vance@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, September 4, 2022 11:21 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:City of chehalis Breen uga expansion Attachments:Screenshot_20220904-231542_Facebook.jpg See attached letter of opposition. Thanks Amy Vance External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. 1 Preston Pinkston From:Mary Verner <mary@maryverner.com> Sent:Wednesday, August 31, 2022 6:34 AM To:Preston Pinkston Cc:lindsey.pollock@lewiscounty.wa.gov Subject:objection to MDNS 259 Hamilton Rd Chehalis UGA expansion Dear Mr. Pinkston. I happened to see the small notice posted yesterday by the driveway of 259 Hamilton Rd. There should be a full environmental assessment of the City of Chehalis proposal to incorporate this property into the city’s UGA for expansion of commercial and multi-family residential uses. A mitigated determination of non-significance (MDNS) is not appropriate for this property that is adjacent is traversed by the Newaukum River and usually flooded during the wet season. The parcel is currently zoned Agricultural (per the County’s parcel search) and should not be planned for high-density residential. The proposed Chehalis UGA expansion and future uses were the subject of a Planning Commission hearing in which public testimony brought out significant concerns about flooding, impacts on other properties downstream on the river, and other impacts on the environment, traffic, noise, lights, public safety, and degradation of adjacent and nearby property values. I am one of those very nearby property owners and I strongly object to the UGA expansion, as do my neighbors. The Planning Commission recommended the Chehalis UGA expansion proposal be denied. I have not yet been notified of a Board of County Commissioners hearing on this proposal. As soon as time allows, my neighbors and I plan to submit additional information confirming the significant impacts of this UGA expansion proposal. The MDNS should be withdrawn. If this proposal continues to be considered, a full Environmental Impact Statement should be compiled and there should be adequate opportunity for public input. This email is for the purpose of submitting comments in objection to the MDNS during the very quick 14-day deadline indicated on the posted notice. Mary Bagley Verner 423 Newaukum Valley Rd, Chehalis, WA 98532 mary@maryverner.com 509-994-7206 External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it. State of Washington DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE 5525 South 11th St Ridgefield, WA 98642 Telephone: (360) 696-6211 Fax: (360) 906-6776 September 13, 2022 Preston Pinkston Lewis County Community Development Department 2025 NE Kresky Ave Chehalis, WA 98532 RE: WDFW Comments on the proposed expansion of the UGA for City of Chehalis Dear Mr. Pinkston: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Chehalis Westlund-Enbody and Chehalis Breen UGA Expansion Proposals. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has reviewed this proposal and offers the following comments for your consideration. applying a Conservation Easement to the floodplain portion of the properties in these proposals, should the proposals be approved. Based on experience over the past two decades, we know that damages to infrastructure, residences and businesses in the floodplain are inevitable, and can be avoided by preventing development of that kind in those habitats. In addition, avoiding development in floodplain habitats protects the riparian buffer and maintains a critical corridor for wildlife that migrate between the Cascades and the coast. However, we would encourage the City of Chehalis to step back from an expansion of the UGA at this time. WDFW encourages compact development strategies and the maintenance of open space. Expansion of urban development leads to the fragmentation of wildlife habitat and negative effects on fish life and water quality through impacts to our wetlands, rivers and streams. Habitat fragmentation negatively impacts species by creating small, isolated habitat patches of reduced quality for wildlife. While fragmentation happens on a site-by-site basis, its effect on wildlife is felt at the landscape scale. Creating fragmented habitat results in: a loss of habitat connectivity for species migration and dispersal, increased predation and harassment of wildlife by household pets, increased interactions with humans, increased opportunities for invasive species to penetrate important habitat areas Preston Pinkston September 13, 2022 Page 2 of 2 The best way to deal with impacts of fragmentation is to minimize and avoid them through careful planning. Maintaining large blocks of undeveloped habitat and protecting natural corridors such as forested riparian zones and ridgetops minimizes the effects of habitat loss. Allowing for large blocks of undeveloped land, and corridors between them, provides space for migrating animals to move across the environment with minimal interactions with humans and infrastructure. It also protects aquatic habitats by maintaining adequate forested buffers to provide shade and cooler water, filtering runoff before it reaches the stream, protecting aquifer recharge areas, and providing a self-sustaining source of large wood that is critical for habitat forming processes and the benefit of fish. In closing, WDFW encourages the City of Chehalis to work toward compact development, fully realizing a need for expansion by developing the area already within the existing UGA. When expansion is necessary, we recommend focusing on adding space closer to the city limits. Developing within the existing boundaries of the current UGA will prevent irreparable impacts to fish and wildlife habitat, and to the natural resources that support a healthy community and their relationship to the outdoors in the Chehalis basin. Again, we thank you for the opportunity to provide input. Please contact me should you have any questions or need additional information. Sincerely, Karen Adams, Habitat Biologist Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Habitat Program Karen.adams@wdfw.wa.gov, 360-906-6731 cc: Madeline Nolan, WDFW Region 5 Assistant Habitat Program Manager 1 Preston Pinkston From:Stephanie Williams <turtlechick@gmail.com> Sent:Friday, September 9, 2022 4:30 PM To:Preston Pinkston Subject:Breen UGA Expansion Preston, I am writing to voice my opposition to the Chehalis UGA expansion onto the property owned by the Breen family trust. This action is in direct violation of the late Virginia Breen’s wishes, as well as those of the majority of her surviving family. We need to preserve farmland in this area, and we also need to provide buffer for flood zones. Traffic and commercial development is exploding in the Napavine and Rush Road area, and the existing freeway access cannot handle the additional traffic from the estimated 456 new houses. We also lack adequate fire and EMS service for this many homes. This is a money grab on the part of the city, the county, and most importantly, the single family member who stands to make millions from splitting up his family’s property and selling it off to developers. I urge you to encourage the family to make an agreement that they can all live with in honor of their deceased mother’s wishes. Sincerely, Stephanie Williams Lifelong resident of Lewis County Property owner in Onalaska, WA External Email - Remember to think before you click! This message may contain links with malware, viruses, etc. Please ensure the message is legitimate before opening it.