A hearty “thank you” goes to the dozen-plus citizens organized

by Brenda Carignan to clean up State Route 202 from downtown Fall

City out to the intersection with 324th. These volunteers packed up over

34 big sacks of garbage that lay strewn along the highway and along the

river access. Many felt that this amount of trash, plus the junk tires and

other larger items, was appalling.

Are locals littering Fall City, or is our town just a little dump for

commuters passing through? Let’s pay attention and find out. Let’s take

pride in our town, and see that others do, too. Aside from being obnoxious

and irresponsible, littering is also against the law.

PPP

For months there has been a fairly large but moderately

inaccessible white sign along S.R. 202 on the hillside across from what used to be

the Boeing’s Aldarra Farm (now being developed as the Club at Aldarra

golf course). Recently a much more instructive, though smaller, bright

orange sign appeared beside the official information. The new sign

simply states “Treemont: 194 houses.”

Does this help you visualize the change? A little mini-Klahanie just out of town?

Will there be forested hillsides along State Route 202 across from

the Duthie Hill Road intersection? Or will there be 40 or 50 homes? Or will

Port Blakely be allowed to build the sprawling subdivision of 194 homes,

plus roads, driveways, lawns and all that goes with another bedroom

community in our supposedly rural midst. This begs the question, “Do you

care?” followed by “What can I do about it?”

If you care, there is something you can do right away. Concerned

citizens have filed a formal appeal to try to stop this subdivision. The next step in

this process was a hearing before the King County Council on Monday, April 24,

where the citizens and the developer had a chance to tell their sides of

the story. You can add your voice by calling the County Council at (206)

296-1000 and leave a message for all councilmembers. Tell them loud

and clear to vote no on Treemont. Please do it today.

County loopholes hurt the Snoqualmie Valley. Don’t put up

with it, another clear-cut hillside making way for nearly 200 suburban

mansions, an additional 2000+ car trips a day, more flooding and the ruin of

a stream that still nurtures salmon. That’s the burden of Treemont to

our hillsides, our roads and to Patterson Creek. A gigantic logging

conglomerate innocently named Port Blakely Communities asked King County

to approve this travesty at the hearing on Monday. It is up to us, to this

community, to stop it.

The battle isn’t about property rights. It’s about a loophole in the

law that allows projects to “vest,” or go

forward, regardless of new circumstances or changes in policy and law (such

as GMA), that would not allow approval if the project were conceived now.

It’s about King County’s willingness to issue questionable variances to

allow big companies to skirt the law. It’s about developers who make

misleading or even false statements on applications. It’s about regulations that

are supposed to protect our waters, but which are full of exemptions and

lack enforcement. It’s about environmental impact statements that omit

critical issues so that projects that shouldn’t see the light of day get

the “green light.”

Neighbors are standing up against the Treemont Development

because opposing Treemont is the right thing to do. Jobs and families keep us

all busy, but we know that we must fight to defend our incredible Valley.

Call (425) 222-6311 to stay informed.

News Notes items may be

submitted to Janna Treisman

at Box 1329, Fall City, WA 98024; or phone (425) 222-5594 or

e-mail treismaj@hotmail.com.