Point Wells Update and Mitigation the topics of April Richmond Beach Community Association meeting

Point Wells Update and Mitigation

April Richmond Beach Community Association meeting

Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30pm

Location:  Richmond Beach Congregational Church

1512 North 195th St, Shoreline

Traci Shallbetter, the attorney hired by Richmond Beach Advocates (RBA) to represent Richmond Beach in the Point Wells SEPA process, will be back again at the April RBCA meeting to talk about steps she and RBA’s traffic engineer have  taken to date on behalf of the community.

These activities include research, communication with the City of Shoreline and Snohomish County and meetings with interested parties. Check out the Point Wells webpage of RBCA’s website to view copies of some of the documents Shallbetter will be referring to.

The second half of the meeting will focus on “mitigation.” Mitigation is a term you will be seeing and hearing if you are following the Point Wells project as part of the SEPA process that is now going on.

Mitigation is the avoidance, minimization, rectification, compensation, reduction or elimination of adverse impacts to built and natural elements of the environment. Mitigation may also involve monitoring and a contingency plan for correcting problems if they occur. 

Under Washington law, the lead agency should review the environmental checklist and other information available on the proposal, including consultations with other agencies to determine whether mitigation is required and if so what mitigation is needed. Mitigation required under existing local, state and federal rules may be sufficient to eliminate any adverse impacts.

In some situations, the adverse impacts are so great that mitigation is not possible, so the lead agency has the ability to stop the proposal if it chooses. In the environmental impact process, serious or severe impacts may be identified for which there is no mitigation possible, but the lead agency can approve the project proposed if the impacts are adequately mitigated or addressed. Mitigation conditions must be reasonable and capable of being accomplished. They must then be included in the permit or approval to allow enforcement.

In some situations, the project proponent can make changes to the proposal that reduce and eliminate the significant adverse impacts. Voluntary mitigation may sometimes exceed the level that could be required of the applicant under regulatory authority and produce a much improved and more desirable project.

The public may assist the lead agency in determining appropriate mitigation for a proposal.  One point at which this can be done is through comments received on the draft EIS.  The draft EIS for the Point Wells project will be issued in the near future by Snohomish County.

Your opportunity to make comments about the mitigation measures needed if the Point Wells project goes ahead are important. You should be thinking about what could be done to avoid, minimize, rectify, compensate, reduce or eliminate the adverse impacts that will be caused by the development at Point Wells. Write your ideas down and send them in when the comment period is announced.

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m., in the lower level of the Richmond Beach Congregational Church located at 1512 North 195th Street, to be part of this very important discussion.

Come to the April RBCA meeting to hear other’s ideas on mitigation and voice your own. Ideas that have been tossed around include underground wiring, walking trails connecting parks and a community center. What is your vision?