Save Coal Creek
Written by Andy McCormick
Andy McCormick, Volunteer and Former Board President of Eastside Audubon
The trail along Coal Creek at the entrance to the Coal Creek Natural Area felt a bit precipitous as we walked along the steep slope from the former Swanson property to our right as Sally Lawrence guided us into the park.
Sally is the chairperson of the Save Coal Creek coalition and a water quality specialist. Because of her work with Save Coal Creek, Eastside Audubon named her the 2021 Environmentalist of the Year. I met Sally on a Friday in late April to walk the trail and see the 12-acre property comprised of two large lots abutting the Coal Creek Natural Area. The land is now owned by Isola Homes, which wants to obtain permits for developing 35 clustered homes on approximately six acres of the property. Pete Marshall of the Eastside Audubon Conservation Committee and a Save Coal Creek board member, and Hilary Barnes, a volunteer with Save Coal Creek joined us for the walk.
Save Coal Creek is a non-profit organization formed with the goal of finding a way to intervene in the permitting process so that the land could be purchased and preserved as a connecting link between the two public park areas described below.
PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR JUNE
The City of Bellevue will review the development plan at a public hearing in June and public comments will be accepted. However, a date for the hearing has not been set. Representatives of Save Coal Creek and Eastside Audubon plan to testify at the hearing and submit written comments. At issue is the value of the land to wildlife and history, and a perspective that the area is an inappropriate location for a housing development.
There has been little to no change to the land in the nearly 60 years since coal mining ended in the Cougar Mountain area in 1963. The two properties lie along 960 feet of frontage on Lakemont Boulevard NE roughly one-third mile from its intersection with Newcastle Golf Club Road. The Bellevue city-owned Coal Creek Natural Area surrounds the two adjoining parcels on three sides. The property is located across Lakemont Boulevard NE from the Red Town Trailhead of the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. The proposed development area has served as a wildlife land bridge between these two preserved areas. Development of the property would reduce the wildlife corridor that currently exists to a narrow strip along Coal Creek.
The Issaquah Alps Trails is supporting the Save Coal Creek effort and the coalition has posted an online petition. Eastside Audubon Society has written in support of Save Coal Creek and the chapter urges its members to get more information and sign the petition by accessing the Save Coal Creek website at www.savecoalcreek.org.
NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Save Coal Creek’s immediate goal at the hearing will be to present its case for having the City of Bellevue require the developer to provide a full environmental impact statement (EIS) describing impacts the development will have on stormwater runoff; construction on a steep slope; wildlife access for songbirds, raptors, woodpeckers, and owls; mammals including bear, cougar, and coyote; and anadromous fish including recently-recovering salmon downstream of the development site.
The Save Coal Creek group will also advocate that a full EIS expand coverage of impacts to cultural and historic resources, water and sewer lines, traffic, noise, and visual and functional compatibility with the open space uses afforded by the two adjacent public parks. The review should also include an assessment of how wildlife uses the corridor between the wildland park and the natural area and how animals negotiate crossing Lakemont Boulevard NE now that the Isola group has fenced the property. The limited environmental review done so far has not evaluated the effect of these obstacles to access by wildlife.
COAL MINING AND BIRDING HISTORY
The site for Isola’s proposed housing development has a history of use for coal mining and part of the property cannot be used for housing, because of the possibility of voids (openings) underground. The late Milt Swanson, who was employed as a mechanic for the Baima & Rubitino Coal Company, owned one of the two properties. He was an expert on local mining history and a founder of the Newcastle Historical Society, and he conducted informal educational events on his property. It seems probable that a full environmental review will disclose important historical and cultural features which should be conserved in some fashion, potentially by incorporation into a public park space if the site is publicly acquired and used for education on the history of coal mining in the area.
This area is also known to birders in Eastside Audubon because it is within the Count Circle for the Eastside Audubon Christmas Bird Count. As we walked the trail, we experienced the majesty of bigleaf maple and black cottonwood trees and enjoyed the songs of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Song Sparrows. In the area near the existing building we encountered Downy Woodpecker, Spotted Towhee, and Bewick’s Wren. Other bird watchers have reported Northern Pygmy-Owl, Cooper’s Hawk, and Red-tailed Hawk in the park.
The mature trees on the properties are a valuable resource for birds and Audubon is committed to preserving older forests to maintain them for forest-nesting birds and prevent further fragmentation of our existing forested land. The development plan reviewed 96 trees and has slated 76 for removal. Most of these trees are labled in “good condition and health, young and vigorous.” The loss of these trees and construction of houses will fundamentally change the nature of the area.
For more information visit the Save Coal Creek website at www.savecoalcreek.org.
Photo by Andrew E. Larsen.