1 2 J 4 5 6 7 SHORELINES HEARINGS BOARD 8 STATE OF V/ASHINGTON 9 DR. DONALD DAVIDSON, GEOFFREY l0 BIDWELL, BUILDING A BETTER BELLEVUE and KEMPER No DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, A W ll corporation, PETITION FOR REVIEV/ 12 Petitioners, 13 VS. 14 THE CITY OF BELLEVUE, through its l5 DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, Decision Maker; and TRANSIT ANd ELLIE ZIEGLER t6 SOLIND FOR SOUND TRANSIT, Applicanl, I7 DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY, l8 I. PETITIONERS 19 The Petitioners are Dr. Donald Davidson, Geoffrey Bidwell, Building A Better 20 Bellevue and Kemper Development Company, Petitioners are represented by: 21 22 Keith W. Dearborn Alison Moss 23 Troy D. Greenf,reld Schwabe, Williamson & V/yatt 24 1420 5Th Avenue, Suite 3400 Seattle, V/A 981 0l -401 0 25 Telephone: 206-407 -1581 26 Facsimile: 206-292-0460 SCHWABE, WILLIAMSON & WYATT, P C PETITION FOR REVIEW - 1 Attorneys al Law Pacwesl Center 121 1 SW sth Ave , Suite 1900 Portland, OR 97204 Telephone: 5O3 222 9981 PDX\t 27954\200497\KDA\l 5 138887. I I Email : [email protected] [email protected] 2 tgreenfi eld@schwabe. com J II. DESCRIPTION OF PETITIONERS 4 Petitioner Dr. Donald Davidson is a resident of the City of Bellevue with a strong 5 history of public service to Bellevue. He sat on the City Council for more than25 years and 6 was the mayor of Bellevue for four years. During his time on the City Council, Dr. Davidson 7 served as Environmental Services Commission Liaison, served on the Metropolitan Water 8 Pollution Abatement Advisory Committee and on the Regional V/ater Quality Committee, 9 chaired the V/atershed Resource Inventory Area 8 Forum, served on the Cascade l0 Water Alliance Board and its Resource Planning Committee, co-chaired the Puget Sound 11 Salmon Recovery Council, and served on the Shared Salmon Strategy I2 Development Committee. Dr. Davidson's passions are fly-fishing, bagpiping, and cleaning l3 up Puget Sound. He has used the Mercer Slough Nature Park shoreline for recreation t4 frequently and he intends to continue to do so. l5 Petitioner Geoffrey Bidwell-a retired rocket engineer-has resided in Bellevue for t6 the past 38 years. He is the founder of the Save the Mercer Slough Committee formed t7 in 1986. The organizationwas instrumental in petitioning the City of Bellevue to prevent l8 commercial development in the Mercer Slough wetlands and in forming the Mercer Slough 19 Nature Park. Mr. Bidwell has worked to protect the land and its vegetation and wildlife, and 20 the waters adjacent to the Mercer Slough and their aquatic life. He also personally frequently 2t avails himself of the public's opportunity to enjoy the physical and aesthetic qualities of 22 natural shorelines within Mercer Slough and he intends to continue to do so. 23 Petitioner Building a Better Bellevue ("BBB") is a nonprofit association comprised 24 of Bellevue homeowners, residents, businesses, and neighborhood groups concerned with 25 protecting Bellevue's neighborhoods, parks, and historic resources. Members created BBB in 26 June, 2010 in order to give a voice to the views and positions of its members and to represent P c' PETITION FOR REVIEV/ - 2 SoHWABE' il,:Ìlåy"9tf-*Arr' Pacwest Center "]:',:"Ïåiliå,'iilff - PD)Or 279s4U00497\KDA\l 5 l 38887. I to political and governmental leaders of the City of Bellevue, and other local, regional, and federal government agencies, the strong concerns of its members regarding implementation and operation of light rail services. It advocates in order to obtain assurances that the City of Bellevue does not damage their neighborhoods, nearby parks, and natural environment during the planning, implementation, and operation of light rail services. Its members avail themselves of the public's opportunity to enjoy the physical and aesthetic qualities of natural shorelines within Mercer Slough and they intend to continue to do so. Petitioner Kemper Development Company ("KDC") is a fourth-generation, family- owned company whose growth has mirrored the astounding boom of the Eastside of Puget Sound and is at the epicenter of one of the country's most sophisticated, fastest- growing markets. KDC is proudly the largest contributor of tax revenue to the City of Bellevue. KDC has a green initiative, with leading practices to control waste while significantly reducing water and energy consumption. KDC believes the Mercer Slough Nature Park includes some of the most valuable and fragile natural resources in the State of Washington and is dedicated to its preservation. Specifically, KDC recognizes the unique importance of a320 acre natural arca in an urban setting. KDC and its founding family have repeatedly contributed to the historic legacy of the Eastside. Almost all of the users of the KDC Bellevue Collection (Bellevue Square, Bellevue Place and Lincoln Square) travel on Bellevue Way SE for access from the south, east, and west. Increasingly, due to congestion, I-405 is no longer the route of choice to Downtown Bellevue. In addition, maintaining the travel capacity of Bellevue Way is critical to the livelihood and viability of the KDC Bellevue Collection and its many commercial partners. The Petitioners collectively exercised many opportunities to provide public comment and have their voices heard regarding the proposed project and its impacts to the shoreline. For instance, the Petitioners commented upon the Shoreline Substantial Development Permit, the Shoreline Variance, the draft EIS ("DEIS") andlor draft Supplemental EIS ("DSEIS"). PETITION FOR REVIEV/ - 3 S.HWABE' TLt"!låy,t9t***o"'t' Pacwest Center ";:r:"i'ii!.tå,åigá:i' PDX\l 27954U00497\KDA\l 5 | 38887 I 1 The following is a non-exclusive list of the substantive topics addressed rn 2 the comments: J l. The inability to fully compare the impacts of segment alternatives on the natural 4 environment; 5 2, Construction, visual, wetland, traff,rc and transportation, private property, 6 pedestrian safety, and social impacts; 7 3. Impacts to the Mercer Slough; 8 4. Impacts to the historic Winters House, businesses, residents and other property 9 owners from traff,rc congestion, construction, noise and vibrations; l0 5. Conflicts with Land Use Plans, Goals and Policies; and ll 6. Identification of alternative B-7 as the B segment with the least environmental I2 impacts and/or the benefits of an alternative alignment, namely B-7R (the Segment B 13 Alternatives are shown on Exhibit A). T4 Each Petitioner has standing under both the Shorelines Management Act ("SMA") l5 and the State Environmental Policy Act ("SEPA"), as they each will suffer injury if the 16 shoreline of the Mercer Slough Nature Park is adversely impacted by the project. As used in I7 this Petition the reference to the "Project" is to the B Segment of the East Link light rail 18 project. They each have an interest in the public use of the Mercer Slough and the Nature t9 Park, their own usage of Mercer Slough and the Nature Park, and environmental stewardship 20 within the City of Bellevue. 2t ilI. LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR \ilHOSE DECISION PETITIONERS SEEK REVIEW 22 This Petition seeks review of the Shoreline Substantial Development Permit ("SDP") 23 and Shoreline Variance ("Variance") (collectively the "Permits" or the "Decision")1, issued 24 by the City of Bellevue ( "City"), through its Development Services Department, to Sound 25 I 26 Attached as Exhibit B. SCHWABE, WILLIAMSON A WIATT, P C PETITION FOR REVIEV/ - 4 Attorneys at Law Pailest Center 1211 SW sth Ave , Suite 1900 Portland, OR 97204 ïelêphone: 503 222 9981 PDX\127954U00497\KDA\l 5 1 38887. I Transit for construction of the East Link light rail extension through the City. The 2 Department of Ecology also approved the Variance. The SDP authorizes development of a J new regional light rail transit ("RLRT") facility. The Variance authorizes construction of the 4 light rail facility 10 feet higher than the 35-foot shoreline height limit within the B Segment 5 of the Project alignment north of the South Bellevue Park-and-Ride and south of the historic 'Winters 6 House. Sound Transit's application is included as a CD and referenced as Exhibit 7 C. 8 ry. ISSUES PRESENTED FOR REVIE\il 9 A. Sound transit and the City staff misrepresented City Council actions so that the 10 SDP and the Variance were treated as afait accompli. ll B. Sound Transit and the City staff did not consider the environmental impacts of the Issaquah extension on the Mercer Slough Nature Park. 12 C. Review of the Project has been improperly piecemealed. 13 D. The SDP does not comply with the City's Shoreline Master Program ("SMP"). t4 E. Sound Transit has not demonstrated that the criteria for the granting of a Shoreline 15 variance have been met. t6 F. New information shows the Project will have more significant environmental impacts on the historic Winters House than was disclosed in the environmental documents. l7 G. Shoreline impacts have been ignored or discounted because the City staff treated 18 the Project as having been approved by the City Council. 19 H. Changes in the Project will have significant adverse environmental impacts that have not been adequately evaluated or mitigated, 20 L New information shows the Project will have signiflcant adverse environmental 2l impacts that have not been adequately evdluated or mitigaled.2 22 J. Alternative B-7R or a tunnel are reasonable and feasible alternatives with lesser environmental impacts than the chosen alternative B-2M. 23 K Construction and operational impacts of the Project have not been adequately 24 disclosed, evaluated, andl or mitigated. 25 L. Tree removal proposed for the Mercer Slough Nature Park does not comply with 26 'For ease of discussion, the Petitioners address Issues G-I together in $ VIII.G SCHWABE, WILLIAMSON & WYATT, P C.