SNOQUALMIE – A recent decision by the Shoreline Hearings Board could further delay the Northwest Railway Museum’s plans to build a conservation and restoration center (CRC) along Stoen Quarry Road, if a motion asking the board to reconsider is denied.

Richard Anderson, curator of operations for the museum, said the project was expected to have all the necessary city permits in hand by the summer of 2000, but it has been appealed three times by Frank and Pam McFadden of Snoqualmie and Louise Luce of Issaquah, all of whom own property along Stoen Quarry Road.

The latest suit was filed after the city issued a determination of non-significance and a shoreline substantial development permit for the project.

The museum owns the right of way along the former Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line that runs between Snoqualmie and North Bend. The right of way widens to 200 feet at the site of the proposed $1.5 million facility that would be built in phases. The CRC would have a total of 7,660 square feet of space and a 10-stall parking area.

The building, which would be a few hundred feet away from the McFaddens’ property, would be used for year-round restoration work on the museum’s collection of train engines and cars. It would also be open to tourists so they could watch museum volunteers restore the artifacts.

Anderson said the same restoration work that now occurs on the tracks near the Snoqualmie Depot would take place in the CRC. It would also allow the museum to run its steam locomotive, the upkeep of which, he said, is “incredibly labor-intensive.”

The McFaddens, who have lived on Stoen Quarry Road since 1971, believe the oil and hazardous materials that would be stored at the CRC do not belong in that area because they might pollute the surrounding land during a flood.

“We felt very strongly about our wells and the neighboring wells and the Snoqualmie River,” said Pam McFadden said. “The train is not the issue. It’s the environmental things that are the issue.”

In comments submitted to the city concerning the shoreline substantial development permit for the project, the McFaddens wrote that the development of the Honey Farm and Nintendo in North Bend has increased water runoff along Stoen Quarry Road, which magnifies the likelihood of flooding.

Frank McFadden thinks the facility should be built downtown, by the Log Pavilion. He also takes umbrage with the city for approving the permits, saying, “This just does not make any sense at all.”

“It should have been the city’s responsibility to look into these things,” Pam McFadden said of the possibility of the CRC harming the surrounding land.

The suit contended that the CRC could not be built because of zoning issues – the land is zoned parks and open space, but the plaintiffs said the CRC would be light industrial in nature – and a wetland that was not delineated in the museum’s environmental checklist that was submitted with its permit applications.

The Shoreline Hearings Board, which is part of the state Environmental Hearings Office, ruled against the McFaddens and Luce on the zoning issue, but agreed with them that the third wetland should have been included in the checklist, with provisions for mitigating impacts caused by development, before the city issued its determination of non-significance regarding the project.

In a written decision, the board also said it was “inappropriate” for the city to issue the shoreline substantial development permit because the museum failed to provide complete designs for the project.

Anderson said the museum followed the city’s requirements when submitting the permit applications.

“We have been complying with their requests and with the procedure that’s been laid down by the city,” he said.

The wetland, the third to be found at the site and located in a drainage area between Stoen Quarry Road and the train tracks, is important because according state regulations, a buffer must be placed around it to help limit impacts from development. If the board’s decision stands, the buffer around the wetland would cut through the proposed parking lot, forcing the museum to redesign its proposal.

But the Northwest Railway Museum is asking the board to reconsider its decision. In its appeal, the museum, citing Snoqualmie Municipal Code, said the drainage ditch did not meet the city’s definition of a wetland.

“The supposed ‘third wetland’ was artificial within the meaning of both the city ordinance and the state statute because it was intentionally created as a part of a drainage ditch,” the museum wrote. The board is expected to rule on the museum’s appeal before Oct. 31.

‘It isn’t the same as a naturally occurring wetland, and [the Shoreline Hearings Board is] saying there’s no distinction between the two. And we’re saying there is,” Anderson said.

He added if the board’s decision stands, “That would have tremendous implications for the entire city because many ditch lines throughout the city could potentially meet the definitions of a wetland.”

While the museum continues to offers its weekend series of train rides, and volunteers restore train cars in front of the Snoqualmie Depot, fund-raising for the CRC has slowed to a halt as the case makes it through the Shoreline Hearings Board process.

Anderson said Snoqualmie should address its permitting process so future projects like the CRC aren’t stalled by multiple appeals.

“It’s very disappointing to the museum that the city’s permitting process would allow a project to be delayed this long a time,” he said.

City Attorney Pat Anderson did not wish to comment on Anderson’s statement.