In the summer of 2021 land was sold to a developer who had no respect for the hazardous area in which it was located, the neighbors around his land, or county and state rules and regulations. Lucky for him, the county staff didn't care about state or county laws either. Unfortunately for the neighbors, we have been left spending numerous hours and resources trying to protect land and private property from damage the developer has already done and damage from what he plans to do. We are merely trying to get the county to enforce state and local laws and are raising funds to do so. Any contributions will go 100% towards lawyer and expert witness fees and encouraging a neighborhood that they are not alone in their fight.

If you are interested in the longer version of the story:

What started as a simple land sale has become a nightmare for those in Chelan County's Number 1 Canyon. The developer began moving dirt, with no permits or reports, which is required for a geologically hazardous area in Washington state such as canyon walls with steep sides. Although the county was notified, they said nothing illegal was occurring. The developer continued creating his plateau, pulling down the canyon walls and pushing dirt onto the property of an elderly gentleman. According to police at the time, it wasn't a trespass because no one was getting hurt.

As machinery moved in and dirt moving ramped up in the spring, neighbors attended county commissioner meetings expressing their concerns. Although labeled as “bullies” by the developer, they continued pushing for accountability. Finally, the commissioners issued a stop work order until things could be further evaluated. The developer told the issuing officer that he would not stop and continued working for 16 days (although the newspapers only report 14). During this time, code enforcement visited, but never attempted to stop the continual destruction of the shrubs, wildlife habitats and canyon walls. Finally, the bull-dozers and ditch diggers stopped, but only after they had created their building plateaus.

In June of 2022, a typical canyon rainstorm hit the area. For 45 minutes water poured from the sky, washing down dirt and rocks from the developer's land for miles down the canyon and into town. It goes without saying that erosion controls should have been established before development happened.

For two years, the stop work order remained, although the developer still worked off and on. At first, the county requested that the neighbors send the county lawyer and code enforcement all the video evidence and they would add it to the case (not stopping the developer, just adding evidence by the continual disregard of the order). Then the county said that the neighbors would have to send their evidence to a lawyer (i.e. spend their own money to provide evidence on the county's behalf) and then the neighborhood lawyer could contact their lawyer. Evidence continued to be sent in the form of emails, pictures and videos. Although two neighbors were asked to sign and send in an affidavit, nothing ever become of it.

During this time, the developer was supposed to be working on paperwork required by county and state law to develop the land. One of the reports handed in was redone by the community development director. Although N/A was not an acceptable answer on the report, there were many and the development director wrote in the correct answer on the sidelines. When the time came for public comment on the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) paperwork, there was no identifiable information included in the newspaper announcement. There were no plat numbers, developer names, location, etc. nor any signs posted by the land. Even though the county knew very well that a whole neighborhood was interested in the situation. At the last minute, the neighborhood received word through their lawyer about what had happened and rushed to respond (within the last 48 hours of the appeal period). Although the county at first refused to republish the ad and extend the comment period, they backed down and republished the notifying ad with fully identifiable information and started a second two-week comment period.

Ultimately, they said his developing had no detrimental effects to the land and wasn't a big deal, even though damage had already occurred. Wildlife habitat had been destroyed. Neighboring properties had been destroyed. The neighborhood appealed this decision.

When the developer made it to court to address his continual disregard of the stop work order, he was held in contempt, fined a few hundred dollars and told "the neighbors are watching."

So here we are in court, appealing the SEPA determination that this development qualifies as “non-significant” (with a few issues to mitigate) and having to provide evidence as to why the developer's plans aren't viable and why state and local laws matter. Also having to prove that impact to current properties is directly due to his ruining natural drainage, and that we need the county to hold him accountable for this before proceeding. Our neighborhood lawyer has had far more to say than the county lawyer in regards to environmental laws and requirements.

None of this even addresses the developer yelling at minors, veering off the road to hit a neighbor filming his destruction of property, destroying access to Land Trust property, blocking an easement with pickup trucks so a pregnant mom with young kids has to walk the driveway to her house, driving over a neighbor's bench on the side of the road, intimidating a woman walking the shared access road to the neighbors while he and his significant other were in a car (police believed his side of the story), the late night loud music and fully lit bulldozer shining into people's homes (he said it wasn't him, but no one checked for trespassers....), the train horn, and the numerous other things that he has done to bully and scare the neighbors into keeping quiet.

A county commissioner told a neighbor to just be quiet and let him (the developer) do his thing. In spite of multiple neighbor appeals for the county commissioners and community development director to come see what we are talking about, not one has come per our request. However, according to public record emails and texts, they have come per the developer's request – as well have engaged in private email and text correspondence with him.

We are not against development. We aren't asking the developer not to develop, but to do it appropriately and according to the laws so no other properties are damaged. We want the same protection as he has and for him to be held to the same requirements that we are. We want our county to stand up for us and enforce their laws. Unfortunately, a right that we wouldn't expect to have to fight for (equal treatment), is now costing a community their time and resources. Those resources have become less and less and we are now looking for investors who believe that developers and counties should be held accountable and not allowed to just "do their thing." If the commissioners get to pick and choose what to enforce, and turn a blind eye to poor development, your neighborhood or property may be next. We love it here and welcome newcomers, and want to share the gift of this place with people who develop in a way that respects private property and the unique location in which they live.

WIN OR LOSE IT IS GOOD TO FIGHT WELL, AND TO FIGHT TOGETHER!