BELLEVUE, Wash. — After more than six years of battling against a proposed 35-home development in Bellevue - an advocacy group's attorney will present during a hearing for an appeal of the land use on Monday.
Save Coal Creek - launched by Issaquah Alps Trails Club - is comprised of advocates, hikers, historians, and environmentalists, who say building houses, and adding more human noise and traffic, too close to Coal Creek Natural Area will be disruptive to a wildlife corridor and erase historical aspects on the property.
Isola Homes purchased the 12 acres of land about seven years ago with two lot purchases totaling $3.7 million. It's located adjacent to the Coal Creek Natural Area off Lakemont Boulevard Southeast.
The project is called Park Pointe.
The permit application has been "rigorous" over the years, and the City of Bellevue told KING 5, "The city’s parks planning process is thoughtful, collaborative and considers the mix of parks and open space throughout Bellevue. Our long-term parks and open space strategy is informed by community input and developed with a future focus."
Save Coal Creek advocates have gathered more than 5,400 signatures on its online petition to stop the project.
“This is a very precious spot that we are trying to save," said Sally Lawrence, chair of the Save Coal Creek steering committee. "It has history, a wildlife corridor and the community uses the greater region uses it for trails, for open recreation, for enjoying nature.”
Lawrence along with other advocates said the appeal process is one strategy while they continue to work with local elected officials in exploring the possibility of having the City of Bellevue purchase the land from Isola.
Former Issaquah City Councilmember Paul Winterstein, a Save Coal Creek member, said he has been a part of a similar situation in the past. Ultimately, Winterstein said he and other councilmembers were "educated by citizens" in looking into the possibility of purchasing land in question to preserve it.
"It would be totally inappropriate to drop some houses in that place," Winterstein said. "This should be preserved. I'm not against people wanting to live here but this is not the place for those houses. You've entered a park."
Of the 12.2 acres of land off Lakemont Boulevard Southeast, about six acres of it will be developed.
In-house counsel for Isola told KING 5 it is voluntarily dedicating the remaining forested areas, streams and other natural features to the Bellevue Parks system.
"As part of the development process, our team will be restoring or enhancing three acres of critical wetland areas and their buffers, to promote the health and longevity of the waterways in the Coal Creek system and dedicating a total of six acres of the parcel to the City of Bellevue," said Stephen DeShazo, Isola's in-house counsel. "These restored features will be subject to ongoing monitoring and maintenance to ensure that the areas have been successfully restored and enhanced. While not required, the project has committed to being a Salmon-Safe community and received certification as such in 2022."
When it comes to selling the land to the city and scrapping the 35-home project, DeShazo said there was discussion of this based on an inquiry from the city in January of this year.
"The mayor reached out to discuss a possible sale," DeShazo said. "We hadn’t heard from anyone previously about buying the properties. Our interest in doing so is not based on traffic or environmental concerns. Both of those things are addressed directly and exhaustively in our permit applications and plans."
The City of Bellevue told KING 5, "We are always open to considering available, affordable properties that are suitable for preservation and align with our long-term strategy and our vision for equitable access to parks and open space for all."
Isola said the proposed project is tailored specifically to this site, so he does not think it would be possible to move it to a different location.
"If they can’t buy the property from Isola, we would be open to a like-kind exchange of properties where homes would be allowed without upsetting any neighbors," DeShazo said.
The appeal hearing, which is not a public hearing, begins in the evening of Monday and is scheduled to last a few days. Save Coal Creek expects a decision in a week or two.
"We’re trying to get a win there," said Sally Lawrence, chair of the Save Coal Creek steering committee. “It’s a whole eco-system that needs to be protected.”
Isola currently has seven projects in Seattle that it's currently selling. Those projects vary in size from five to 22 homes each.
History on site
According to the Newcastle Historical Society (NHS), from 1864 to 1963, Newcastle, was the center of a busy coal mining industry producing nearly 11 million tons of coal from a crisscross of tunnels under present-day Cougar Mountain, Coal Creek Natural Area and The Golf Club at Newcastle.
On the property stands the last coal mining house of a town of more than 1,000 people during WWI, according to Steve Williams - vice president of the Newcastle Historical Society and a member of Save Coal Creek. The home was occupied by three generations of the Swanson family.
"What parts are irreplaceable...and the more I think about it, the answer is. all of it," Williams said. "The whole package."
Milt Swanson, the founder and first president of the historical society collected many coal mining era artifacts throughout his life, and donated them to the NHS upon his death in 2014.
Williams said the Park Pointe project is proposed on land that has one of the last barns and agricultural areas in south Bellevue. He said it's a reminder of "our need for animals and farms during the pioneer days - and even now."
A road constructed in 1883 - currently a driveway - and a railroad that connected Seattle to its first major industry, according to Williams, are at stake.
"There are tunnels and hollowed out rooms from three different coal mines under this property," Williams said. "Even the road out front [Lakemont Boulevard] has had collapses into mine workings that had to be repaired. So bulldozing the land flat and putting 35 houses and a 94,000 gallon storm-water vault on top of all these unknowns seems like a very bad idea."
The Wildlife
Save Coal Creek members said their primary push to preserve this land is to protect "a critical wildlife corridor."
"Squeezing this private development between two nature parks will block a critical wildlife corridor, and ruin the rural wildland experience that thousands of hikers come here to enjoy," Williams said.
Sally Lawrence, chair of the Save Coal Creek steering committee, said a variety of animals and birds call Coal Creek Natural Area home, or they cross Lakemont Boulevard Boulevard Southeast to get to it.
Lawrence said black bears, coyotes, cougars, and hawks, frequent the pasture, trail, and creek.
There are also concerns, according to Williams, over cutting down dozens of trees and replacing them with homes that will have heat-generating rooftops and cars for each of the 35 residences.
"Enclave is totally against Bellevue's climate and tree canopy goals, and its policy of saving greenbelts and open space," Williams said.