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Home My WebLink AboutC_Comments_Walter_1902211 Clark Close From:Karen Walter <KWalter@muckleshoot.nsn.us> Sent:Thursday, February 21, 2019 2:17 PM To:Clark Close Subject:May Creek Trail Extension Project; LUA19-000015, SM, ECF, Notice of Application/Proposed MDNS Attachments:NOA_Notice_of_Application_DNSM_MayCreekTrailExtension_190207.pdf; P_30% Plans_ 181018_v1.pdf; ECF_SEPA Checklist_100705_v1.pdf; May Creek Trail, LUA12-037, ECF, SM, SMV, Notice of Application and Proposed Determination of Non-Significance, Mitigated; May Creek Trail Tree Removal SME Approval.pdf Clark, We have reviewed the SEPA documents and other available information for the City of Renton’s May Creek trail extension project referenced above. We offer the following comments: 1. Please clarify how many, which species and their sizes of trees that will be removed for this project. The checklist notes that no trees will be removed; however, the plan sheets and the extent of the clearing area suggest otherwise. 2. The trail spur and benches should be far enough from trees to avoid creating a hazardous situation where trees have to be removed to protect the trail and the benches. We were quite surprised when tree removal work occurred without sufficient mitigation along the section of trail west of I-405 when we specifically discussed trail locations and management of any hazard trees during the permitting for that section of trail with City Parks’ staff (see our attached comments). The City issued a Shoreline exemption for this work with no review opportunity. (see attachment) 3. On a related point, the project needs a long term tree and invasive plant management strategy that should be developed now and sent out for our review in light of comment 2. 4. The trail is proposed within and/or near to WSDOT’s stream mitigation areas for the I-405 Renton to Bellevue ETL project. To date, there has been no discussion or details about the overlap between these two projects actions which could result in unmitigated impacts to the May Creek and its buffer. We intend to resolve this concern via WSDOT’s pending Corps permit. We appreciate the opportunity to review this proposal and look forward to the City of Renton’s responses. Best regards, Karen Walter Watersheds and Land Use Team Leader Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Fisheries Division Habitat Program 39015-A 172nd Ave SE Auburn, WA 98092 253-876-3116 From: Kyle Wunderlin [mailto:KWunderlin@Rentonwa.gov] Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2019 10:09 AM To: Karen Walter; Laura Murphy; 'separegister@ecy.wa.gov'; 'sepaunit@ecy.wa.gov'; 'misty.blair@ecy.wa.gov'; 'Sepadesk@dfw.wa.gov'; 'sepacenter@dnr.wa.gov'; 'Minnie.Dhaliwal@TukwilaWA.gov'; 'jgreene@kingcounty.gov'; 'steveo@newcastlewa.gov'; 'andy.swayne@pse.com'; 'SEPA@dahp.wa.gov'; 'dperwebinquiries@kingcounty.gov' Cc: Clark Close Subject: City of Renton LUA Acceptance: May Creek Trail Extension Project; LUA19-000015, SM, ECF 2 Hello, Please see attached documents for City of Renton Land Use Application acceptance for the following project: May Creek Trail Extension Project; LUA19-000015, SM, ECF. Attached are the Notice of Application, the Site Plan, and the Environmental Checklist. As the project progresses, more information will be available by request and through our online Public Notice of Land Use Applications Map. Thank you, Kyle Wunderlin | Planning Technician | she/her/hers City of Renton | CED | Planning Division 1055 South Grady Way | 6th Floor | Renton, WA 98057 Phone: (425) 430-6583 | Fax: (425) 430-7300 | kwunderlin@rentonwa.gov 1 Clark Close From:Karen Walter <KWalter@muckleshoot.nsn.us> Sent:Monday, June 04, 2012 12:45 PM To:Vanessa Dolbee Cc:Leslie A Betlach; Todd Black Subject:May Creek Trail, LUA12-037, ECF, SM, SMV, Notice of Application and Proposed Determination of Non-Significance, Mitigated Vanessa, We have reviewed the proposed May Creek Trail project to construct a 0.27 mile long trail along the northern edge of May Creek, east of Lake Washington Boulevard. This is a site that I recently visited (May 17) with Leslie and Todd from the City’s Park department. As we discussed in the field, I recommended that the trail be located as far away from May Creek as possible, with the allowance for a viewing platform so people can see the stream but avoids direct access and disturbance to salmon in May Creek. The basis for this recommendation is to create and maintain a vegetated buffer that preserves existing trees and allows for native trees/shrub/understory vegetation restoration to the fullest extent possible. This approach protects two key riparian functions: shade and wood recruitment by allowing for trees to be recruited naturally to May Creek without impacting the trail or requiring their removal due to trail maintenance and pedestrian safety concerns. As noted in the Critical Areas Report and apparent on our field visit, May Creek currently is lacking large woody debris; therefore, it is essential that trees that could recruit to the stream be allowed to do so without being cut into smaller pieces as often occurs during maintenance activities. Smaller sized wood is more mobile and can provide less habitat in the long run due to its inability to retain other pieces of wood and form jams that create large pools with cover for salmon. It is not apparent if the trail can be located farther north to meet these objectives and still avoid harvesting existing trees, which is another consideration, but if the trail can be moved north, it should. Per the Critical Areas Report, the trail construction impacts are proposed to be mitigated by avoiding all trees at least 6 inches in diameter and planting a minimum of 320 trees over a minimum of 0.98 acres which will mitigate for construction impacts. There is no discussion about trail operations and the possibility that trail operations will cause additional trees to be removed over time for maintenance and safety reasons as noted above. The concern is that the majority of the trail (0.26 miles of the 0.27 mile trail) is within 200 feet of May Creek, the area where we would expect tree recruitment based on the site’s potential to grow a tree such as a Douglas Fir or Western Red Cedar up to 200 feet in height. Further, 0.20 miles of the trail is proposed to be within 100 feet of May Creek with most of the trail being 30-40 feet away from May Creek’s Ordinary High Water Mark. This means that the trail location and future trail maintenance will remove trees that could otherwise fall into May Creek unencumbered and provide fish habitat. The trail project should be required to have an operations plan that preserves existing and mitigation trees to their fullest extent. The operations plan should also include a provision that if any trees that are 4 inches in diameter and greater within 200 feet of May Creek need to be removed, then they should be placed within May Creek. Another element to be considered is the potential for salmon in May Creek to be disturbed or harassed by trail users where the trail provides stream/gravel bar access. This location should at a minimum include signage to remind people to avoid adult salmon, resting, spawning or migrating in May Creek and to avoid accessing the stream during spawning to avoid stepping on salmon redds. If human disturbance becomes a problem, then the City may need to close off the river access during the salmon spawning season to avoid this impact. We appreciate the opportunity to review this proposal. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you, Karen Walter Watersheds and Land Use Team Leader Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Fisheries Division Habitat Program 39015 172nd Ave SE Auburn, WA 98092 253-876-3116 ANDECONOMICDEVELOPMENT—“Rentonc:PLANNINGDIVISIONCERTIFICATEOFEXEMPTIONFROMSHORELINESUBSTANTIALDEVELOPMENTDATE:June16,2016PROJECTNUMBER:LUA16-000442,SMEPROJECTNAME:MayCreekTrailTreeRemovalShorelineExemptionPROJECTMANAGER:AngeleaWeihs,AssistantPlannerAPPLICANT:TerryFlatley1055SGradyWayRenton,WA98057-3232PROJECTLOCATION:Abuttingparceltothesouthof4350LakeWashingtonBlvd.PROJECTDESCRIPTION:TheapplicantisrequestingaShorelineExemptiontoremove3redaldertreeslocatedwithin620feeteastofLakeWashingtonBLVDN,onthenorthbankofMayCreekalongMayCreekTrail(parcelnumber3224059109).Theproperty(SeeExhibit2)is134,531squarefeet,zonedResidential-6(R-6),andislocatedinMayCreekReachB,designationUrbanConservancy.Theproposedtreesforremovalarelocatedinwetland,stream,andshorelinebuffers.Allthreetreesarelocatedwithin80feetoftheordinaryhighwatermark.TheCity’sUrbanForester,TerryFlatleyhasassessedthetreeshealthandhasconcludedthatallthetreesexhibitsignsofdeclineorhavebeenundercutbythecreekandrepresentsafetyconcernstousersofMayCreekTrailarea.MayCreekTrailisusedregularlybythepublicsinceitsoriginalconstructionwascompletedin2012.Thetrailhastwointerpretivesiteswithbenchesandsignsdescribingthevalueofthesite.Mr.Flatleystatesthatonetreeisclosetooneoftheselocationsandallthetreeshangoverthetrail.AccordingtotheInternationalSocietyofArboriculture,TreeRiskAssessmentManual,theriskratingforthesetreesis“High”,duetolikelihoodoffailureandimpactcombinedwithsevereconsequencestopeople.Thetreestumpsshallberetainedandthetreesleftaslargewoodydebrisonthesite.SEC-TWN-R:NW32-24-5LEGALDESCRIPTION:(KingCountyAssessor)LOTARENTONSP#LUA41O37SHPLREC#20110726900006SDSPDAF-LOT2RENTONLLA#LUA-0S-069-LLAREC#20051012900009BEINGPORGL1LYWOFSTHWY&WLYOFLKWASHBLVDNWATERBODY:AnexemptionfromaShorelineManagementSubstantialDevelopmentPermitisherebyApprovedwithConditions*ontheproposedprojectinaccordancewithRMC4.9.190C‘ExemptionfromPermitSystem’andPagelof2 CityofRentonDepartmentofCommunity&EconomicDevelopmentCertificateofExemptionfromShorelineSubstantialDevelopmentMayCreekTrailTreeRemovalShorelineExemptionLUA16000442,SMEforthefollowingreasons:TheprojectmeetstherequirementsofanemergencyasthetreesareclassifiedasanExtremeHazardthreateningpublicheathandsafety.Theproposeddevelopmentis:ConsistentwiththepoliciesoftheShorelineManagementAct.ConsistentwiththeguidelinesoftheDepartmentofEcologywherenoMasterProgramhasbeenfinallyapprovedoradoptedbytheDepartment.ConsistentwiththeCityofRentonShorelineMasterProgram.CONDITIONS:PLN-AdministrativeDecisionCondition1.Thetreestumpsshallberetainedandthetreesleftaslargewoodydebrisonthesite.SIGNATURE&DATEOFDECISION:Q&AdjAAAkt—//z&tienniHenning,PlanningDirectorDateTheadministrativelandusedecisionwillbecomefinalifnotappealedinwritingtogetherwiththerequiredfeeto:HearingExaminer,CityofRenton,1055SouthGradyWay,Renton,WA98057onorbefore5:00pm,onJune30,2016.AdditionalinformationregardingtheappealprocessmaybeobtainedfromtheRentonCityClerk’soffice,RentonCityHall-7thFloor,(425)430-6510.Attachments:ProjectNarrative,SitePlancc:ParksDepartment-CityofRentonTerryFlatley-ApplicantPage2of2 EXHIBIT1ApplicationMaterials1.LegalDescriptionforMayCreekTrailEmergencyTreeRemovalProjectThetreesinthisprojectarelocatedadjacenttotherightbank(northbank)ofMayCreek.TheKingCountyAssessor’sMapshowsaParcelNumberas3224059109andlegaldescriptionistheNWQuarter-Section32-Township24North-Range5East.Innarrowingadescriptionfortheprojectsite,itcanbeadditionallydescribedas:Theprojectsiteisonthenorth(right)bankofMayCreek,eastofLakeWashingtonBoulevardNorthandwestofInterstate405,southof4350LakeWashingtonBoulevardNorthandnorthofthe4100LakeWashingtonBoulevardNorth.Thetreesarewithin620feeteastofLakeWashingtonBoulevardNorth.2.ProjectNarrative:•MayCreekTrailEmergencyTreeRemovalProject•Theremovalofnomorethan3redaldertreesthatareindeclineorhavebeenundercutbythecreekandrepresentasafetyconcerntousersoftheMayCreekTrailarea.Thetreesarelocatedwithin620feeteastofLakeWashingtonBoulevardNorthandfoundalongtherightbankofMayCreek.TrelstadTreeServicewillbecontractedtoprovidetreeremovalservicesbyfellingthetreesbutretainingboththecutwoodinlongloglengthsorleavingasasnagandretainingthecutstump.Therewillbenoreplacementplantingsbecausethesitebelowthetreeswasrecentlyplantedwithacombinationoftreesandshrubs.Replacementplantingmayoccurwhereremovaloperationsdamageexistingshrubsandsaplings.TheMayCreekTrailisusedregularlybythepublicsinceitsoriginalconstructionwascompletedin2012.Theconstructedtrailseesmanyvisitorsthroughoutthedayandhastwointerpretivesiteswithbenchesandsignsdescribingthevalueofthesite.Onetreeisclosetooneoftheseinterpretivelocationsandtheyallhangoverthetrail.AccordingtotheInternationalSocietyofArboriculture,TreeRiskAssessmentManual,theriskratingforthesetreesis“High,”thelikelihoodoffailureandimpactcombinedwithsevereconsequencestopeopleyieldstheratingduetoabovefactorsofconditionandhealthofthetrees.•Thecontractforthisworkispendinganypermitrequirements.•Nootherpermitsarerequiredforthisproject.Mostorallwoodydebriswillremainwithintheareaforthepurposeofprovidinghabitat.•Thesiteusewillnotchangeandwillberestoredusingnativeplantsandtreesifdamageoccurstorecentplantings.•Therearenospecialsitefeaturesotherthanthosedescribedabove.•SoiltypeislistedbytheNaturalResourcesConservationServiceasKitsapSeriessiltloam(KpB).Kitsapseriesissoilthatiswell-drainedandhasaprofileof60inchesormore.ShorelineExemption—ApplicationMaterialsMayCreekTrailTreeMaintenanceProjectPage1 Erosionhazardforthisclassificationislistedslighttomoderate;thereislittleornoslope.Thetreesectionswillberemovedmanuallyfromabovetheforestfloorwithouttheuseofmotorizedequipmentsotherewillbenoimpacttothesoil.Thisprojectwillretainothertreecoverandathickherbaceousandscrub-shrubgroundcovers.Drainagewillnotbeimpeded.•Thevalueofthisprojectisapproximately$4,000.•Noexcavationsorfillingwilloccur.•Therearethreetreesanticipatedtoberemoved:i.Toberemoved—3redalders(Alnusrubra)withanaveragediameterat54inchesof18inches.•TheOrdinaryHighWaterMarkisimmediatelyadjacenttooneofthetrees;theothertwoarewithin80feet.•Thereisnoconstructionordevelopmentoccurringinthisprojectandthebankwillremaininitsnaturalexistingcondition.3.NeighborhoodDetailMap—attached.4.WaiverForm—attached.ShorelineExemption—ApplicationMaterialsMayCreekTrailTreeMaintenanceProjectPage2 May Creek Tree Removal Shoreline Exemption Wednesday,May 25,2016 %1I K x I-I -I