Author: HOA board members

On December 29th 2023, the board members of Regatta Estates (REHOA) met to review 2023, discuss the needs of our subdivision, and to budget plan for 2024.

The board worked on and approved a budget plan which resulted in voting to increase the dues for 2024 by $25 per year from $350.00 to $375.00 per household.

The board feels this is a very modest increase given the inflationary pressures of the current economy and allows the REHOA to operate within budget with a precautionary spending outlook in 2024 to hedge any additional increases in operational costs of the HOA.

Please pay by April 30, 2023.

Send a check, personal or bank, or a money order to the HOA PO box address:

Regatta Estates Homeowner’s Association

11700 Mukilteo Speedway, Suite 201

PMB 1102

Mukilteo, WA 98275

The board does its best to be diligent of everyone’s needs and concerns. It is important to keep the trees trimmed, and the grass cut, and to keep the “lights on” so to speak, but it is our neighbors who make this place a welcoming community. The board wants to thank all of you who take pride in our neighborhood.

Regatta Estates learned on Friday February 10th that Superior Court Judge, Millie Judge, denied Regatta Estates HOA’s LUPA lawsuit/appeal and affirmed PDS’s decision to delete 200 trees that were originally required to have been planted on the 60-foot-high, 10-foot-wide terraced retaining per the Hearing Examiner’s decision in 2017. The change to the retaining wall, as we contended, was a material change the retaining wall design to a type that we believe cannot be vegetated as originally specified (or vegetated at all to nothing more than a few 10s of percent of plant coverage). We believe likely this change was implemented to substantially reduce developer building costs with what we predict will be long-term issues that Regatta Estates will be responsible for.

The decision is 27-pages long, but at its core, the judge simply dismissed REHOA’s declaration as being “summary” and “conclusive,” and from there rules on pretty much all counts that our lawsuit did not submit evidence substantiating our claims of increased negative stormwater runoff issues. In other words, the county wanted to see the appellant Regatta Estates to prove there will be an issue in the future versus the developer Lennar to prove there won’t be an issue. This effectively switches the burden of proof from the developer to Regatta Estates that there will not be problems moving forward from the redesign of the retaining wall. Effectively, this forces Regatta Estates to shoulder some of the design work for Lennar and PDS even though PDS never considered stormwater runoff when they approved this “minor revision” in the first place.

Obviously, this view of the Regatta Estates claim is perplexing; We don’t know how one can rationally think that a rock-faced wall will not have more stormwater runoff than a forested, terraced wall. We believe the County achieved their ruling by imposing an unreasonably high standard—that because Regatta Estates did not provide actual calculations of runoff rates etc., the case should just be dismissed. Notably, the ruling doesn’t mention the runoff rates that Regatta Estates cited and indeed revealed during the oral argument in December when the judge first brought this specific issue to light.

It is in our opinion, and our opinion only, that this ruling shows that under current Snohomish County Code, PDS can set aside a Hearing Examiner ruling or other EIS requirement as a minor revision, so long as the revision does not add more than 10-lots to the development, with no notification to parties on record or the public.  And it is resultantly up the public and appellants to do design work to show there will be no material or environmental impact versus require the developers to show changes to be negative in nature to other parties. Again, we believe this a burden-of-proof switch.

What constitutes a minor revision?  We believe it is somewhat undefined and arbitrary, but virtually anything that changes, even without justification, can constitute a minor revision under SCC 30.70.210, so long as it does not add 10-lots or so to the development.

Please take a moment to reflect and if you feel action is needed to prevent further events similar to this, contact the County Council at contact.council@co.snohomish.wa.us and urge them to change the SCC 30.70.210 code to require PDS to enforce the Hearing Examiner’s conditions of approval and/or at the very least notify the public and parties of record when the Hearing Examiner’s conditions are changed after permit issuance.  Otherwise the SEPA process can look like a charade since we believe Snohomish County can simply set aside a Hearing Examiner’s condition on developer’s whim to cut their costs at the expense of the environment, and residents of the neighborhood, cities, and County.

Our deepest gratitude goes to the Sno-king watershed council https://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/ and the numerous Picnic Point neighbors that contributed to the attorney costs to see us through to the end, as well as Bill Lider’s endless time as our Environmental Engineer Extraordinaire on call to guide us through with his extensive knowledge on county code and his deep passion for environmental conservatism.

Please email Regatta Estates if you would like to see the official Court ruling document or have any questions that we might be able to answer, such as a referral to the most-excellent environmental engineering consultant: William (Bill) Lider, PE, CESCL, or the Environmental and Land Use Attorney Regatta Estates used for our very well-argued case, Bryan Telegin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-telegin-2375a57a/

Finally, consider donating to the SnoKing Watershed Council for their non-profit environmentalism in protecting nature in our area: https://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/donations/

On December 13, 2022, the homeowners of Regatta Estates met to review 2022, discuss the needs of our community, and to plan for 2023. The members approved the budget and the 2023 REHOA dues were set at $350.00 per household.

Please pay by April 30, 2023.

Send a check, personal or bank, or a money order to the HOA PO box address:

Regatta Estates Homeowner’s Association

11700 Mukilteo Speedway, Suite 201

PMB 1102

Mukilteo, WA 98275

The board does its best to be diligent of everyone’s needs and concerns. It is important to keep the trees trimmed, and the grass cut, and to keep the “lights on” so to speak, but it is our neighbors who make this place a welcoming community. The board wants to thank all of you who take pride in our neighborhood.

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Bexley Ridge LUPA Appeal in Snohomish County Superior Court, Dec. 20, 2022 at 9:30am

The hearing will be in Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Tuesday, December 20^th, at 9:30 am.  If you can attend, please plan to arrive at the Snohomish County Courthouse in Everett at least 1/2-hour early to get through the airport style security.  Ask for Judge Millie Judge’s hearing room for the Bexley Ridge appeal.  You will not be allowed to speak, but having many “butts in the seats” will send a message to Snohomish County and the judge that there is great public interest in this decision.  This hearing will be in person and also on Zoom.

This case will set a very important precedent.  Snohomish County Planning and Development Services (PDS) has taken a position that so long as a developer does not add lots to the subdivision, it is a “minor change”.  Under PDS Director Mike McCrary’s administration, PDS can set aside any conditions in a Hearing Examiner’s decision, or any requirement or commitment made in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), all without any notification to the public or parties of record, just so long as no more than 10-lots or so are added to the subdivision.  This policy makes a mockery out of the SEPA and Hearing Examiner process, and a joke out of public participation.

In the Bexley Ridge case, 200-trees were deleted with absolutely no intention of replacing them, so that developer Lennar could build a cheaper retaining wall to improve its profit margin because it paid too much for land.  At $214,000 per undeveloped lot, Lennar paid the highest price ever for residential land in Snohomish County.  Planning Commissioner Merle Ash, who firm Land Technologies was paid to make the wall change, was complicit in facilitating the tree deletion with no intention of tree replacement.

I know many of you have fought and worked on this appeal over the past 17-years, so I would like to encourage you to attend the hearing, if at all possible.  Just your presence could help make a difference!

Or join online via Zoom:

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Regatta Estates filed its opening brief today in the Bexley Ridge Land Use Petition Act (LUPA) appeal.  The calendar of events is:

• December 6, 2022—The County and Lennar must file their responses to our opening brief;
• December 15, 2022—Regatta Estates must file their reply to the County’s and Lennar’s brief;
• December 20, 2022, 9:30 am—Oral arguments will be heard by Mille Judge in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Snohomish County has essentially thumbed its nose at all those who provided input on the ill-advised Bexley Ridge project (formally known as Frognal Estates), when it secretly allowed the new developer Lennar to delete over 200-trees and construct a much cheaper wall that cannot sustain landscaping, let alone the evergreen trees that had been promised as a part of the Environmental Impact Statements (EIS’s).

We believe that we have a very strong case, hopefully the Judge will agree.

We are still looking for donations to help defray our legal costs.  A big thank you to all of you who donated, but we still need more to continue the fight.  If you have not already donated, please consider donating now.  Donations to support the Bexley Ridge legal expenses can be made through the Sno-King Watershed Council at:  https://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/donations/

100% of all donations received will go to help with legal expenses.

As before, Lider Engineering is providing its professional services pro bono.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

William (Bill) Lider, PE, CESCL

Lider Engineering, PLLC

2526 – 205^th Place SW

Lynnwood, WA 98036

425-776-0671 (W)

206-661-0787 (C)

On Monday we filed our additional exhibits, the ones that Snohomish County did not want to see judge to see, as well as our sworn declarations from Zsofia Pasztor, Farmer Frog, David Pelke, Regatta Estates HOA President, and myself.

Snohomish County feels that it can make radical design changes to any project, totally disregarding the commitments made during the EIS and Hearing Examiner reviews, even design drawings it had previously approved.  This case has the potential to force significant changes in how Snohomish County administers development projects in the future.  If we prevail, it will be much more difficult for the County to ignore its commitments to the public, simply to increase a developer’s profit margin.

On November 15^th we must file our opening brief and our case will be heard in Snohomish County Superior Court on December 22^nd.  We are almost out of money and need your help to raise $3,000 more.  Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to the SKWC’s legal defense fund at https://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/donations/ to help support the cause.

Thank you!

William (Bill) Lider, PE, CESCL

Lider Engineering, PLLC

2526 – 205^th Place SW

Lynnwood, WA 98036

425-776-0671 (W)

206-661-0787 (C)

The Regatta Estates appeal before SNOCO Hearing Examiner Peter Camp of the 200 deleted screening trees required for the 60-foot-high retaining wall at Frognal/Bexley Ridge has been dismissed.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.

We anticipated this appeal would be dismissed because of lack of jurisdiction by the Hearing Examiner; however, had we not filed this appeal, SNOCO and developer Lennar would have argued for dismissal of Regatta’s Superior Court appeal, for not having exhausted our administrative appeal options before going to court.  The stipulated order signed by Camp prevents SNOCO and Lennar from raising this issue against Regatta and requires the Hearing Examiner to refund Regatta’s $1,500 filing fee.  So we are just out the attorney costs to go through the motions of having to file before the Hearing Examiner.  Regatta’s appeal is still pending in Snohomish County Superior Court, a preliminary hearing date has yet to be determined.

In other news, PDS has returned review comments to Lennar on their recent proposal to delete the 200 screening trees.  Lennar contends that this is a “minor change” a term in the County code that allows PDS Director Mike McCrary to approve this change without public notice or comment.  Lennar now proposes to spatter the site with the 200 deleted trees, where they will not provide any screening of the 60-foot-high ugly wall.  Lennar proposes to plant ferns and low growing shrubs that will not grow on the rock-faced, geotextile-wrapped retaining wall as replacement landscaping for the trees.  Lennar claims that this will meet the requirements of the Hearing Examiner to plant the trees on the terraced, landscaped wall that was approved by PDS in 2018.  We anticipate that PDS will approve Lennar’s faulty landscape design in the next week or two.

Regatta contends that not only does the current landscape proposal not meet the requirements for the tree-landscaped retaining wall that was discussed in two Environmental Impact Statements, approved by the Hearing Examiner, and by PDS, but that it is also illegal for PDS to continue issuing building permits to Lennar under the County’s own code, without an approved landscape design.  Regatta contends that Lennar never intended to landscape the 60-foot-high retaining wall as evidenced by the rock facing construction and their failure to even address this problem, until after Regatta’s appeal.  Regatta contends that this is a “major change” that requires a SEPA review and public comment.

The Regatta Estates appeal will continue in Superior Court.

What can you do?

• Please take a moment to contact Councilpersons Megan Dunn and Stephanie Wright, in whose districts the Bexley Ridge and Regatta Estates are located.  Ask them to act on the proposed legislation SCC 30.63B.135 (attached) to limit the height of these monster retaining walls in residential neighborhoods.  While this legislation will not affect the current Bexley Ridge appeal, it would prevent this situation from occurring in the future at other sites around Snohomish County; and

• Please consider making a generous donation to the Sno-King Watershed Council’s legal defense fund to support this appeal at https://snokingwatershedcouncil.org/donations/.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail to other concerned citizens and neighbors.

Thank you for your support!

William (Bill) Lider, PE, CESCL

Lider Engineering, PLLC

2526 – 205^th Place SW

Lynnwood, WA 98036

425-776-0671 (W)

206-661-0787 (C)