Rare, 1964 photos of flooding along what is now Bear Creek Shopping Center.

"I was at the King County archives last March looking for photos of the Cadman Gravel pit and found these photos of flooding along Bear Creek dated January 2, 1964. For reference, Redmond Way and the railroad tracks run parallel through the photos and cross Bear Creek just south of what is now the Bear Creek Shopping Center. The original photos were sharper -- I'm not a very good photographer so these are slightly out of focus. Let me know if these photos arrive.

--Susan Wilkins, geologist
Education Hill - PTSA volunteer
Redmond, WA.

by Susan Wilkins

* With Ms. Wilkins permission, these photos were shared with the Redmond Historical Society and Steve Hitch, C.O.R. Stormwater Engineer.

LWSD is not saving money by cutting bus stops and combining routes on Education Hill

NO MONEY SAVED BY CUTTING REDMOND JUNIOR HIGH BUS STOPS AND COMBINING ROUTES ON EAST EDUCATION HILL

Contributed by Susan Wilkins

Lake Washington School District needs to act quickly and restore timely and efficient bus service to east Education Hill.  They should look at other bus routes whose stops have been reduced “for efficiency” and make sure that those routes aren’t being abandoned by students and parents in favor of driving. (Hint: Eastlake High School bus routes are too early to be usable.) The district has a new automated phone dialing system that can quickly call parents to inform them about important updates – like new bus routes. I hope to hear from them.

The really bad news is that the Lake Washington School District will not be receiving very much money from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction since bus transportation reimbursement is based on the number of students who ride the bus each morning. During the month of October, all bus drivers in the state will count the number of students on their buses each morning for 5 consecutive days and the annual compensation that the district receives will be determined by the counts multiplied by the distance that each student lives from the school. This year, nearly 40 seats will be empty and the Lake Washington School District will receive no compensation from the state for the empty seats. What a waste. And the new route was supposed to save money.

UPDATE: Restoration funding for Lower Bear Creek keeps getting closer! Rep. Ross Hunter indicates his "okay" at recent Town Hall Meeting.

UPDATE: At the 5/20 Town Hall Meeting in City Hall, Rep. Ross Hunter alluded to Endangered salmon and $50M in damages attributed to state road flooding last year. He indicated his okay for a "culvert funding transfer" to pay for mitigating SR 520. Ross deferred us back to Mayor Marchione for the formal announcement.

The impacts of the proposed SR 520 widening to Redmond are huge. Over 14 stories on the subject are recorded in this blog. (search "520").

In short, 4 lanes will be added to SR 520 between Redmond Way and E. Lake Samm. Pkwy. Economic and safety issues from severe flooding and threat to federally Endangered salmon are at stake. $10 million is needed to alter the creek's path away from SR520 and restore the flood plain and salmon habitat. The city can budget only $2M.

GREAT NEWS! According to Terry Lavander, member of the Sammamish-Cedar River "WRIA-8 Salmon Recovery Council", the City of Redmond may soon have the money needed to restore Lower Bear Creek and mitigate flooding. Negotiations are moving forward.

During the May 15, WRIA-8 Salmon Recovery Council meeting, Mayor Marchione told the council-at-large he expected to be able to announce $8 million in funding from the State for restoration within the next two weeks. Coincidentally, State Representative Finance Chair Ross Hunter along with Rep. Deborah Eddy and Senator Rodney Tom held a TOWN HALL MEETING tonight, May 20, 6 PM at Redmond City Hall.

In addtion to the $8 million request for funding from the State, the City of Redmond requested $227,000 from the King County Conservation District. According to Ms. Terry Lavander, $220,000 was awarded by the district for the restoration. Ms. Lavander is also an original member of Water Tenders.

The WRIA-8 Salmon Recovery Council played an important role in facilitating these funding requests. I've attended a couple of their meetings; the council is impressive. Jon Spangler, Redmond Stormwater engineer, is playing a key role implimenting plans. The WRIA-8 council is comprised of mayors, city council members, county council members and 3-4 citizens-at-large from over 20 cities in King County. Under the administration of Jean White, the Council wrote a strong letter to Governor Gregoire to urge funding.

Ms. White alluded to the flood pictures and video clips Redmond citizens took of the severe December 3, 2008 floods. She said citizen flood documentation was important. Citizen Gary Smith's short video clip of the flooding along SR520 is amazing and entertaining.

A photo "linked here" by Citizen Susan Wilkins depicting the 100-year flood plain encroaching Redmond Town Center is somewhat frightful.

OPINION: THE SR520 EXPANSION BETWEEN THE SAMMAMISH RIVER BRIDGE AND REDMOND WAY - From 4 lanes in 1992 to 8 lanes in 2008. But at what cost?

How many people remember what traffic was like on 520 in Redmond in 1992 when the freeway expansion and improvements were first approved? Back then, the eastbound lanes of 520 ended at the stoplight on Redmond Way and cars waited in line to cross onto Avondale Road or turn left or right onto Redmond Way. A trip from Overlake in Bellevue to UPS on Union Hill Road in the afternoon could take an hour or more. The addition of the flyover so that cars didn’t have to stop at the light on Redmond Way was such an improvement (although everyone was dismayed when it only had one lane in each direction.) In the past year, an additional flyover was built to allow traffic from westbound Redmond Way to flow directly onto 520 without stopping at the traffic lights on Redmond Way. This summer the Department of Transportation plans to start adding four additional lanes to 520 so that there will be four lanes in each direction. The new lanes are to be built on the north side of the freeway in the area now occupied by the Bear Creek floodway. click picture to enlarge


In 1992, the Redmond Town Center site was an empty field that had been a golf course and before that, a farm. The land was part of the Bear Creek 100-year flood plain so when a major storm occurred, storm water from Bear Creek could flood north towards the railroad tracks where the main parking garage, REI and Macy’s are now located. The whole area could flood to a depth of 2 to 3 feet for a day or two and then the floodwater would recede. When Redmond Town Center was constructed, most of the site was filled in with millions of cubic feet of trucked-in dirt and the elevation of the entire site was raised about 5 feet. Stores, offices, parking lots, roads and sidewalks have been built and the empty fields that once stored floodwater from Bear Creek now contribute to the run-off that flows into the creek. Even more of the flood plain was filled when the Bear Creek Parkway was built around the perimeter of the mall.

Upstream along Bear Creek and Evans Creek, new developments have dumped their overflow runoff into tributaries and storm channels that drain directly to the creeks. The creeks now overflow their banks when the valley gets more than 2 inches of rain in a day. The Keller Farm fields between Avondale and Union Hill Roads regularly flood with storm water from upstream. With the extra floodwater from upstream and the flood plain north of Bear Creek filled and built up, the floodwaters from Bear Creek fill the entire channel between the Bear Creek Parkway and SR520. During the December 3, 2007 storm, the floodwater was within 3 feet of the shoulder of the westbound lanes of 520!

There is way too much water flowing through a channel that has been narrowed by the Town Center development on the north side of the creek. And the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT)wants to reduce the channel and floodway on the south side of the creek even more by adding four more lanes to 520. The new lanes will extend 40 feet north of the westbound shoulder where floodwaters gush whenever we get a major storm. Untreated run-off from the new lanes will be washed directly into Bear Creek during major storm events. Salmon depend on this channel to get to their highly productive spawning beds upstream in Bear Creek, Evans Creek and Cottage Lake Creek. Narrowing the floodway with the new lanes could also cause severe flooding upstream especially near the Bear Creek Shopping Center and along Redmond Way.

The SR520 expansion plan was approved in 1992. Since then, a lot has changed in Redmond and the Department of Transportation’s plans for 520 and Bear Creek have become obsolete. Maybe it’s time for a new plan – for the sake of the salmon and the city.

[Historic Bear Creek flood plain boundary drawn from the 1992 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for SR520, Figure 3-8: FLOOD PLAIN AND FLOODWAY BOUNDARIES, p. 3-47 and from the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Parcel 390 of 1725, Map #53033C0390G, March 30, 1998.]

Bob Yoder
Susan Wilkins, co-author

Clip: "Slow Down - Curves Ahead" on WSDOT's proposed 520 widening project

Credit / Bob Yoder

Bear Creek flooding behind Safeway Bear Creek Shopping Center on 12/4/08. Yes, that is a park bench.

PLEASE WATCH THIS 1-MINUTE VIDEO FIRST. Click HERE . You will be taking a drive with "Citizen Gary Smith" westward on 520. While looking toward Redmond Town Center you will see Bear Creek flood waters encroaching only 20 feet from the SR520 freeway. Enjoy the music on the way.

When WSDOT builds four more lanes on top of the Bear Creek flood plain you are watching, where will the water go? Local geologist Susan Wilkins is HERE to tell you.

"SLOW DOWN - CURVES AHEAD!"
In response to WSDOT’s proposal to widen SR-520 between the new Redmond Way flyover and Sammamish River, citizen leaders, activists, and staff say “Fine, but do it in an environmentally responsible way.” We urge everyone in Redmond to carefully consider the unintended consequences of proposed 520 widening to our safety and welfare; flood hazards are a central issue. The project would fill & build 4 additional lanes into the flood plain – this, at a time with Olympia is recognizing “climate change” impacts to highway flooding. Potential life threatening flood hazards combined with destruction of endangered, listed species habitat creates critical concerns about the WSDOT plan. However, all parties agree to the value of a road widening to 8-lanes.

On January 8, 2008 our Redmond city attorney gave notice to Ben Brown at WSDOT regarding WSDOT’s refusal to apply for a “buffer variance”. WSDOT plans to encroach up to 100 feet into Redmond’s Critical Area buffer breaking our city land use laws.

The City’s solution is to meander Bear Creek to the north and away from SR 520; but that’s $10M WSDOT doesn’t have. Mayor Marchione, Councilmembers Cole and Allen, and Staff Managers Beam, Spangler, and Cairns. have been outspoken and supportive of alternatives. Spangler indicates $2.5M could be funded through city grants. Cole and Allen traveled to Olympia. Citizens and students are writing letters to their State Representatives.

NEWS FLASH: State Representative Ross Hunter corresponded on 1/27/08: “ We are working on trying to fix this”. Rep. Hunter is the Finance Committee Chairperson. There is hope!

You can help by writing your State representatives or State Transportation Committee Chairperson: Representative Judy Clibborn of Mercer Island.

Stay tuned....

Thanks to Gary Smith, past Trails Commissioner, for creating and producing the the 520 flood video clip and organizing citizenry participation. 

UPDATE: The lanes were later widened with embankments to keep 520 from flooding and protect the Bear Creek riparian and stream.   BY, 12/13/19

OPINION: 520 widening: "No place for water to go!" - Susan Wilkins

Photo is taken of Bear Creek behind Safeway during the December '07 storm; not a good day to sit on the park bench!

OPINION about how the proposed state 520 widening project will impact our safety & welfare.

"It appears that the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) never updated their flood maps and calculations to reflect the build-out of Redmond Town Center! The maps do show the Redmond Town Center (RTC) buildings and Bear Creek Parkway, but the flood maps are not updated to reflect that most of the 100-year floodplain that used to cover the RTC site is now filled in.

Bear Creek is now confined to the small channel area between the Bear Creek Parkway and 520 and of course it floods during a major storm event -- there is almost no place left for the water to go. And the WDOT wants to reduce this channel by another 30 feet! (Oddly, their document shows the new flyover bridge in a 100-year floodplain that doesn't appear in the 1998 map. Did anyone even look at this document before signing off on it?!)

It seems to me that the WDOT is using hopelessly outdated maps and data to justify their claim that the 520 widening will have no adverse effects on the stream, flooding and salmon habitat. "

Susan Wilkins, Redmond citizen geologist

How do you feel? Any thoughts?

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WSDOT's flawed SR 520 freeway widening design

Washington Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) flawed environmental plan for widening SR520.

The NW Regional Administrator for WSDOT states "WSDOT is accountable during 520 widening to several local, State and Federal agencies for permits...to ensure the project can be completed with practical environmental impact.

FACT: WSDOT is not complying to the City of Redmond Critical Area Ordinance on sustaining 150 foot Creek buffers.

FACT: WSDOT is not accountable to the Washington State Dept. Ecology for "no net loss" during wetland mitigation sequencing.

FACT: WSDOT is not accountable to the Federal/State Endangered Species Act for Bear Creek Listed Chinook salmon.

The WSDOT design does not ensure environmental measures are practical to anyone but themselves.

Read the next blog for a solution.

Click HERE for a short video clip of Bear Creek flooding its southern banks during a car ride to within 20 feet of SR 520.

Bear Creek floods 20 feet from SR520 into the WSDOT widening project.

Recent quotes on Central Washington flooding from "The Seattle Times"

Andy McMillan, long-time wetlands manager for the state Department of Ecology: “It’s kind of sad, we keep repeating the same mistakes even when we know better.”

David Montgomery, UW scientist and author of the salmon book and more recently, Dirt: “The more stuff you put in a floodplain, the higher the water will rise.”

--contributed by citizen G. Smith

This photo shows Bear Creek flooding only 20 feet from SR 520 highway. The new road widening will pave over all the land and floodwaters you see in the picture.

SR 520 is planned for widening by WSDOT to within 50 -60 feet of Bear Creek where Listed Chinook salmon live and rear their offspring. This picture was taken by Steve Hitch, Stormwater Public Works engineer for the City of Redmond. His comments to the Citizen Advisory Committee on flood hazard management plans are, as follows:

The WSDOT SR 520 project map website is HERE: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520/WLakeSamPk_SR202/Map.htm.

The information on the graphic posted on the WSDOT website: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/10092E37-16F0-4A50-8BE9-C4B9016552B1/0/

"520 Section map shows that the widening will be exactly where this picture was taken, and will extend 64 feet towards Bear Creek. (All the widening is towards Bear Creek, none of it is toward Marymoor Park.) That means that in the future, there will be cars driving on a road where the water was flowing today. That means reduced flood capacity, not to mention loss of buffer habitat for the creek.

You will recall that the City and its Citizen Advisory Committee have been working on a Comprehensive Flood Hazard Management Plan of which you are a part.(http://redmond.gov/insidecityhall/publicworks/stormwater/floodplan/default.asp). We are finalizing the final draft, planned for adoption in 2008, and it will likely address the needs Bear Creek has related to the SR520 widening."

- Steve Hitch, Public Works, C.O.R.

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Send your comments to city planner Cathy Beam cbeam@redmond.gov as soon as possible to influence the outcome of this neglectful WSDOT plan. Your input (and from your friends) is critical. Originally, WSDOT planned to re-locate Bear Creek to the north and away from 520. It appears they don't want to spend the money to do the job right. As is, Redmond's Shoreline Ordinance will be violated and our required 150 foot Bear Creek buffer will be reduced to 50 feet in places. Bear Creek habitat will be destroyed by this project. It is important to write Redmond city council and mayor with your comments to: mayorcouncil@redmond.gov

UPDATED: Almost EVERYONE WINS! - Redevelopment of the Keller Farm, 9/3/07

UPDATED on 4/18/13.   It's my understanding the wetland bank program has been delayed for 5 years.  I don't know the details, but you could contact the city council ombudsman at council@redmond.gov for an explanation. 

OPINION:  My friend and neighbor, Richard Morris, wrote a "guest" blog a few months ago about new developments at historic Keller Farm near Avondale and Union Hill road. Recently, the planning commission has been holding public meetings on the project. The commission graciously left their meeting open for "comment". If you have something to say for the record, you may still comment (as of 8/5/07) to the planningcommission@redmond.gov

If ever there was a WIN-WIN land-use & re-zone project in Redmond THIS is it!
Below is an assessment of community needs that will be satisfied by the Aegis Living - Keller Farm development.

1. Mr. Keller, owner of historic Keller Dairy Farm and now pumpkin farm has agreed to sell his land to a developer, but the low density residential zoning and Critical Area characteristics impeded progress and land values.
2. The City classified much of Keller's land as protected, "critical areas" -- 1) recharge zone for maintaining our well water supply, 2) and hazardous flood zone, 3) riparian and fish & wildlife Protection Area; and wetland making re-zoning and development difficult.
3. Aegis Living retirement company sought a premium location to attract and service their retirement clientele and obtain a location close to their corporate headquarters.
4. The long-time landowners with grandfathered 25 foot buffers on Evans Creek want to increase the value of their land so that SE Redmond can be redeveloped. Evans Creek is a salmon bearing, straight channel with little or no riparian habitat or buffers.
5. Perrigo Creek is taking on higher concentrations of stormwater run-off from new developments (Perrigo Heights, 180 Ave, and SR 520) presenting negative impacts to priority Bear Creek habitat.
6. Environmentalists (Muckelshoot Indian Tribe, WaterTenders, community activists) want to protect priority open space, habitat, and species.
7. Redmond Historical Society and residents want to preserve our heritage and our view corridors.
8. Congested traffic needs to be mitigated on Avondale Road during redevelopment of the corridor.
9. 5000 senior citizens 65 years and older live within a 3 mile radius of Keller Farm and will need retirement accommodations and care.
10. Affordable housing is scarce for residents and workers in Redmond.
11. Wetland mitigation banks are needed in Redmond to facilitate growth.

How the above needs will be satisfied (in sequence):

1. The residential and agricultural zoning of Keller Farm will be amended to "Bear Creek District" allowing Mr. Keller to sell his 126 acre farm for a good return to Aegis Health Care (8.8 acres) and a "wetland bank" entrepreneur ((117 acres).
2. A "wetland bank" is created in partnership with the the city and Aegis. The bank allows the city to protect their valuable recharge wellhead protection zone, protected riparian habitat and species, priority flood zone & wetlands. Susan Wilkins stated our 1998 FEMA Flood Map was dated. Kim Richardson had concerns about pesticides.
3. Aegis Living, website here, will build a state-of-art retirement complex next to their corporate headquarters. Assisted living with focus on memory care will be provided. Alzheimer's is expected to grow by 10-fold by 2050. 1 in 5 citizens will be over 65 by 2030, according to Brain Poge of Aegis.
4. An easement is created in the wetland bank to allow for re-routing & meandering of Evans Creek away from SE Redmond businesses. Riparian habitat will be restored and creekside resident land value will increase stimulating redevelopment of SE Redmond.
5. Perrigo Creek currently runs underground 1000 feet in a pipe along Avondale. It will be "daylighted" to a swale (grassed ditch), the stream water -- oxygenated, filtered and re-routed away from Avondale wastewater before draining into Bear Creek - improving stormwater treatment and Bear Creek water quality.
6. The wetland bank will be used mostly for wetlands paved over by roads, high schools, and trails and will not replace on-site mitigation. Victor Woodlasnd, wetland banker partner, has a 10 year commitment to restore banked units. Within 20-years the wetland bank will be endowed in perpetuity to the Cascade Land Conservancy. The wetland bank will be restored with trees and shrubs native to wetlands. Man-made ditches will be removed. Trails should be pervious (Dick Schaetzel) and secondary to the flow of the creeks (Ed Schein). Bear Creek is a channel. Off channel rearing of fish is superior and more likely after restoration. (Bill Shields).
7. Aegis Living residents do most of their driving during off-peak hours so they are a good business for busy Avondale Road.
8. 10% of the units will be set aside for affordable housing for workers and possibly residents.

What appears to be "unfinished business" or issues of concern are, as follows:

• "Avondale Green Homeowners Association" is not opposed but they want a 2nd exit onto Avondale and a U-turn for safety.
• a small triangular neighborhood next to Aegis is unhappy with the Aegis Road going next to their neighborhood.
• Susan Wilkins duly noted concerns about our dated 1998 FEMA Flood map. Staffers agreed that mapping work needed to be done. Susan presented photos of the proposed Aegis tennis courts in the 1998 flood plain.
• Jill Richardson had duly noted concerns about pesticides.

The wetland bank is highly regulated, but the City of Redmond has final say via permitting and the debit side of banking. The Dept. of Ecology and Army Corps of Engineers are next in line. The EPA has some jurisdiction, as well. City Environmental planner, Cathy Beam, and Planner Jeff Churchill worked hard on this project and did a great job.

Project review and rezone are almost finalized. The Department of Ecology will consider a Public Hearing - by request only.

** The photograph above is of cow pasture along Bear Creek. It may be Keller Farm. This photo is on the front cover of Redmond Historical Society's new soft-cover titled "Redmond Reflections - from settlers to software", written by Naomi Hardy. To order write redmondhistory@hotmail.com.
Redmond City Technical Report of the Aegis project is HERE

FACTOIDS - a 225 acre wetland in Duval was the first wetland banking site in WA. Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) owns 5 wetland banks. Two banks are in Skagit county and one in Eastern Washington. >> wetland banks are booming across the country but are limited in Washington State by stronger regulations.

Planning commission's final recommendations to Council of 9/28/07: http://www.redmond.gov/insidecityhall/citycouncil/CurrentAgenda.asp

05/2007 - Active landslide on Perrigo Heights

2007 was the year I started my blog

"Landslides Threaten Big Trees, Sewer Alignment at Perrigo Heights" - by Susan Wilkins, Redmond, WA.

Preface: The initial geotechnical engineering report on Perrigo Heights was done in 1997. It's possible that the slope along the access road where the slides are now occurring was much more stable back then. At that time, the report stated that the whole property was stable. That was 10 years ago. Since then, time, gravity and severe weather have destabilized the north side of the property and it is sliding and unstable. This article and photograph are simply pointing this out.

A series of landslides along the access road on the south side of Perrigo Creek has toppled a number of trees and has left a majestic big-leaf maple precariously leaning with its roots exposed on the steep hillside. The tree sits on what is called a bench slide, a whole piece of the hill that is moving down-slope as a unit. It’s an historic slide that has been occurring slowly for years. It probably started years ago when the City of Redmond cut into the hillside when it built the access road that runs along the south side of the creek. The effects of gravity and the heavy rains this past year has caused the soil under the roots to break up and collapse. The landslide begins at the top of the slope where caving with the classic “scooped out” appearance can be seen on the relatively horizontal section of the hill where the proposed sewer line for the planned Camwest Perrigo Heights Development will run. In some places, the sewer line boundary will be within 15 feet of the top of the collapse.

OPINION: 4/19/07, Avondale Crest "death trap"



Orange tape marks 104th location and width of Avondale Villa Road



184th Ave Ne dumps heavy neighborhood traffic from 184th AVE NE onto 104th.  Avondale Crest "Road" is just down thec hill on the left curve.  It's faintly marked by orange tape.  The speed monitor is up hill from 184th.

OPINION:  "Avondale Crest" plat was changed to "Avondale Villas" after the 9-lot plat was changed to 8-lots.

4/19/2007:  Last night, council made a decision to approve the proposed 9-home Avondale Crest project near the NW corner of 104th St. & Avondale. This is a nightmare. After much discussion, Council voted 4-3 to deny resident Susan Wilkins, appeal. [I can't give councilmember names for the vote because the names were garbled when announced by the Council President]

The Avondale Crest project is a loser. A loser for the developer, a loser for the neighborhood, a loser for the city, and a loser for the people buying into it. Why? The access to the project is a "death trap" and just "won't work".

Traffic on the steep, curvy collector road to the project is both dangerous and congested. I'm talking about NE 104th Street. Congestion will worsen as nearby developments like Tyler Creek ( 92 homes) are built out and start flooding onto 104th. The final blow to congestion will occur when homeowners move into the Avondale Crest development. This project will be a juggernaut.

Avondale Crest (AC) cars turning left into their development will have to wait for cars coming up hill from Avondale. At the same time cars going down hill (if they don't crash) will be leaning on their horns "to persuade" that darn AC to by-pass their forced turn. The AC car will feel the heat and head down to Avondale and look for a turn around, so it can make an unobstructed right-hand entrance into their AC home. The same forced left-hand turn (with associated hazards) will occur for AC cars leaving their homes for Avondale.

Susan Wilkins appealed for "right-in, right-out turns only." She lost. The "laws of congestion" will show she was right. As it is now, free lance driving is allowed. And, so more forced turns will be made by AC cars resulting in more accidents and I hope not, even deaths. Recently, a neighbor told me (not in the police report I requested) that a propane truck jack-knifed and turned over on 104th. Consider it a rumor, but we can expect the worst, now.

This development is a mistake. .. an example of "forced planning" at it's worst. In this case, the preservation of a landowner's constitutional right not to have his land taken without compensation has taken precedence over preserving the safety and welfare of citizens. Council...what does it ever take?? The appellant will be asking council next week. ( council@redmond.gov for anyone interested.)

Susan Wilkins states: "The council's decision opens the City to an astronomical legal and financial obligation when someone is injured at the new intersection. I don't think that they realize this." Yes, I may be an alarmist and prognosticator. Yes, my language is extreme about the safety issues -- but traveler beware.

I just pray the Realtors and their buyers considering purchasing an Avondale Crest house read up on what they are "getting into" so they "find a way out", pun intended.

Professional Realtors owe their buyers full disclosure on this one!! [ I plan to send an alert to all the major brokers in the area to open their eyes to disclosure.] If I were I buyer, and I wouldn't be, I'd low-ball my offer, low ball it again, and then accept the concept of living in fear of bodily harm and frustration ...until I could find a new buyer.

As the Vice Chair of the Planning Commission stated this week -- the free market will decide how and IF this development gets built. The plat has been on sale for many months and no one wants to buy it. On the plus side, the applicant will have an option of selling TDR's (Transfer Development Rights") to recoup costs, if he can't find a buyer.

One last quote from the appellant Susan Wilkins "the whole process was confusing and frustrating. If I had had the Technical Report on the PRD before the Dec. 11 hearing, my whole approach would have been different and I'm sure the outcome would have been different." The Development and Review Department replaced long standing City Code traffic standards with new National Standards to accommodate Avondale Crest - the exception was approved by the Technical Committee.

These changes were improperly recorded in the PRD permit rather than the Plat file. When the appellant Susan Wilkins asked for the PRD permit file it wasn't available. Councilmember Kimberly Allen voted against the PRD permit, in part, out of protest.

Last and not least, THANK YOU  Susan Wilkins, for speaking up for all of us in your appeal. You represented us with sacrifice to your personal life and outstanding commitment to our community. Thank you.

OPINON BY BOB YODER
PHOTOS BY YODER