By Marianne Lincoln

Spanaway is watching. There is already a high level of concern about how the Tiny Home Village project was dropped on our community. There are lawyers being paid to defend the interests of people living on the lake self-taxing to improve water quality. Then this project comes along and threatens to make it even harder.

Now, just yesterday, Monday, November 6, 2023, a contractor was out on the former Mosier property demolishing the house. (17320 Spanaway Loop Road) Neighbors stopped for photos. I was forwarded the photos, then went there myself to see and take a few. There was definitely no sign of a silt fence to protect the Spanaway Creek (Coffee Creek) from any stray material falling into it.

I was on a Zoom meeting with a member of Surface Water Management and a committee from the Chambers Clover Creek Watershed Committee. I told them what I saw and was given the directive to contact Code Enforcement. I called, but had to leave a message. So, I went online to submit the photos, but the SUBMIT button gave an error message. Then I sent photos to Councilmembers, Hitchen, Cruver and Mello and explained that I could not get the Code Enforcement site to work properly.

This morning, Nov. 7, I heard from Code Enforcement that they are on it. They gave the development permit number and said they are required to periodically inspect the work. I suggested they do so immediately. The person photographing the work noted a strong stench, indicating the decommissioning of the septic tank was exposing the air for sure, if not more.

I had a discussion over the FEMA flood maps and we noticed there is a section of the creek that is missing the overlay. No idea why, but you would think the whole creek deserves the wetland overlay, including that Mosier parcel. Here is the map:

Here are some photos of the work on the demolition. I want them out in the public space so no one has any question what was happening. There is no protective silt fence to keep material from spilling intot he creek. If they want us to trust that they are doing something good for our community, this was certainly a bad way to start.