The Snohomish County Council is now looking into the Granite Falls motocross project, focused on whether project developer Gary Strode proceeded legally during the review process.
Perhaps the council should go back further to review Strode’s entire track construction history. Years ago he opened a track near Monroe on land zoned for agriculture with no attempt to obtain a permit. Nearby residents, never informed of the operation, were suddenly living with its noise and pollution. They blamed themselves for assuming the track had been legally approved. It wasn’t. Eventually county authorities got wind of the illegal operation and closed it down.
Strode sought another site in Maltby, but nearby neighbors learned of the plan and opposed it. Strode then wrote the language for an ordinance that would permit the huge Granite Falls project, without naming the specific location or informing nearby residents. Helping him craft the language was Gary Reiersgard, a former head of the county’s Planning and Development Services Department. Councilman John Koster then officially introduced Ordinance 06-137, which was passed by the council in 2006.
In 2010 the planning department approved the project, determining no need for an environmental impact statement. When the Mountain Loop Conservancy filed an appeal, the planning department quickly withdrew it, citing lack of sufficient information from Strode, who delayed supplying it within required year deadlines. The department never explained how it reached its determination without sufficient information.
In 2013, the department again approved the project. The conservancy (with the North Cascades Conservation Council and Pilchuck Audubon Society) again appealed. Initial hearings were held in February 2014, with more in November and December. A conditional use permit was granted. It is that decision that is being appealed by the three appellants plus two individuals.
The initial land rezone application (from “Forestry” to “Forestry and Recreation”) appears to be illegal, lacking the owner’s permission. Just as I cannot rezone your property without your permission, and you cannot rezone my property without my permission, Strode cannot rezone the property of owner Bascom Pacific (an Oregon-based timber company) without its permission. While Strode has testified that Ed Stransky had power of attorney to sign for Bascom Pacific, in eight years he has failed to produce any written evidence of that claim.
Furthermore, Strode failed to meet deadlines for turning in information to the planning department. County law is clear: Failure to meet deadlines kills a project. Strode acknowledged the lapse in needed traffic studies, blaming the closure of the dirt road portion of the Mountain Loop Highway for five years. But required traffic studies were for impacts on Highway 92 and Highway 9, west of the project, not the little-traveled dirt road segment of the loop 25 miles to the east. While the planning department testified that Strode supplied “ample” information for it to continue analyzing the project, it inexplicably “purged the files,” destroying all evidence of what Strode actually supplied.
The council may be wise to review Strode’s motocross history together with the planning department’s questionable behavior.
Bruce Barnbaum is a Granite Falls resident.
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