Building bans extended at Oso slide site, North Fork Stilly

EVERETT — An extended moratorium will prevent anyone from building — or rebuilding — in the mile-square area directly hit by the Oso mudslide, at least until mid-2015.

A separate building ban for the same period covers an area with increased flood risk along the North Fork Stillaguamish River, east of the disaster zone.

The County Council approved both measures unanimously on Wednesday. The action updated six-month emergency bans imposed in June.

“The important thing about the moratorium we passed is we’ll be able to go through the winter season,” council chairman Dave Somers said. “The slide area will likely be unstable for some time. The river will have to find a new channel. This will give us a time out so people won’t be put in harm’s way.”

The March 22 landslide killed 43 people in the Steelhead Haven neighborhood and destroyed about 40 homes.

It also altered the path of the North Fork Stilly. Experts aren’t yet sure how the changed landscape will alter the river’s flow.

The moratoriums are set to expire in June, and could be renewed again.

In the meantime, county planners are revisiting some rules for building near steep slopes. They are including what they learned from the mudslide.

The county also wants to buy out property, including former home sites, in the area hit by slide debris. They hope to hear from the Federal Emergency Management Agency this spring about grants for the buyouts, Deputy County Executive Mark Ericks said.

The pause on building activity also should give the state time to start work on more detailed hazards maps of the Stillaguamish Valley and elsewhere in Washington. That was a major recommendation from a report released this week by an expert commission formed to identify public safety lessons from the Oso disaster.

County Councilman Ken Klein, whose district includes Oso, opposed the building ban in the flood area back in June. He supports it now.

“My concern was that would overlay this gigantic area where we’d say there would be no building at all,” Klein said. “I was worried more that we would be overstepping our bounds. That’s why I supported the immediate (slide) impact area, but not the flood overlay area.”

Only one request has come in to rebuild a home in the flood zone, Klein said. A permit was issued before the moratorium took effect in June.

Most county leaders, with Somers a notable exception, have shied away from considering more controversial land-use measures. A proposal to disclose landslide hazards on property titles faces opposition from many real estate agents. Builders also are concerned about possibly being required to perform more thorough geological studies as a condition of receiving building permits near steep slopes.

The Legislature may address some new landslide-related building restrictions when it meets next year.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.