Seattle Press on Line - Judge Shuts Down Aegis Construction on Thornton Creek

Judge Shuts Down Aegis Construction on Thornton Creek

Jun 22, 2001 -- "It's a shutdown!" declared Superior Court Judge John Erlick June 19, blocking Aegis corporation from any further work on a three-story, 100,000-square-foot assisted living facility on the banks of Thornton Creek in Shoreline.

Erlick blasted the City of Shoreline and the Hearing Examiner who had earlier rejected an appeal of the variances by neighbors Jim and Patty Crawford. Shoreline officials and Aegis both knew that spawning Coho salmon had been found upstream of the building site, according to the Crawfords.

Aegis had obtained variances from the city declaring the creek to be a wetland, which requires only a 50-foot buffer. Some driveways and paved parking areas were being built within 10 feet of the creek, a designated salmon stream. The building site is next to Peverly Pond, which the creek flows through on its way to Lake Washington. The City of Shoreline apparently found that the Creek didn't exist after it flowed into Peverly Pond until it flowed out again, and declared the pond to be a wetland. But Judge Erlick said, "Peverly Pond is not the terminus of Thornton Creek! The creek flows into and out of the pond. The only reasonable conclusion is that it flows through Peverly Pond, and it requires a 100 foot buffer!"

Erlick ordered the Hearing Examiner "to determine the exact boundaries of Thornton Creek.

Aegis had pleaded hardship in requesting the variances that permitted them to build so close to the creek. But Judge Erlich said scant evidence of a hardship had been presented. "It's not a hardship just because the building you want to build on a particular site doesn't pencil out unless you change the zoning laws," Erlick said. "Any property owner can make this claim about any zoning law."

He suggested the building could have been designed differently or built elsewhere. "It could be 6 stories instead of three. It could have a parking structure instead of a parking lot," Erlick said.

Erlick said the Hearing Examiner who had rejected the Crawfords' appeal "failed to apply the law correctly and used erroneous interpretations of law, and lacked substantial evidence" in upholding the issuance of the variances. The decision "is in clear error in applying the necessary law to the facts," Erlick said.

Erlick also noted that Aegis had presented no evidence as to why a variation in the design was not considered.

The Crawfords, who live about 1/2 mile from Peverly Pond, spent as much as $40,000 out of their own pockets to hire attorney Claudia Newman to appeal the variances and then to take the case to Superior Court.

The judge ordered a immediate stop to all construction activity on the site and suggested removal of a construction trailer and any other construction equipment from within the disputed buffer zone. Up to 15 cement trucks made deliveries to the site on Monday, June 18, according to Patty Crawford.

Erlick encouraged the developer to figure out a way to build its project without violating the 100-foot stream buffer. "Then we'll have happy salmon, happy neighbors and a happy court," he said.

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