Seventh and Gilman project not an easy one

Concerned residents filled a conference room March 4 for a Shoreline public meeting about the proposed Seventh and Gilman project, the first major project to be proposed under the new Central Issaquah Plan.

By Linda Ball • March 11, 2014 4:35 pm

Water can be sneaky, as anyone who has ever had a leak in their home knows.

Lennar Multifamily Communities, the nation’s third largest home builder, wants to build three buildings with a total of 343 apartments, 460 parking spaces, outdoor recreational spaces and a community garden adjacent to Issaquah Creek. The property at Seventh Avenue and Gilman Boulevard in Issaquah, is still owned by Gilman Square LLC. It is in the 100-year flood zone, but it has flooded more often than that.

Lennar Development Director Tom Bartholomew conceded it’s a “tricky site,” but the company is confident it can develop it responsibly. The active word for those at the meeting was “skeptical.”

There have been four floods since 1990, with water spilling onto the parcel and flooding businesses there and on Gilman Boulevard more than once. The last flood was in 2009. Kerry Ritland, surface water manager with the city, said the floods have all been very similar, with the same depth, with water spilling onto Seventh Avenue then down Gilman Boulevard.

Bartholomew said the buildings and entrances to the underground garages are above the highest flood level of 67-feet. But many old-time residents don’t think Lennar’s plans take into account the severity of the flooding that can occur, and the fact that the property is basically in a hole. According to Chuck Olson, a long-time Issaquah resident, Lakeside Industries once used the property as a dump site. He said when he was a kid it was a swamp where he used to hunt ducks.

Ritland said the key is to replicate flood paths with swales, marshy depression between ridges. Lennar is planning for a long swale throughout the parcel, which it says will accommodate any flood waters. Bartholomew said the frequency of flooding now is eight years, but with their plan it would be 14 years.

Also, a berm will be raised along the creek, and the plan is to plant natural vegetation and walking paths. The model also takes ground saturation into account, he said.

Gary Folkman, who has his dental practice nearby, said during a flood the water always goes over to Seventh Avenue, and that it would still flood that area. And as far as planting native vegetation by the creek, Folkman said he’s spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to make his property suitable for the city, including native vegetation, which all washed downstream and into Lake Sammamish in the last flood, and now he just fights off noxious weeds.

Many were concerned about the underground parking. Even though the entrances would be above flood level, what if water did get into the garages potentially trapping residents? Business owner Connie Marsh suggested raising the buildings up on pilings so water could flow under the garages, but the developer said the math proves that its plan is safe. Folkman said he raised his building onto pilings.

“Water does some incredible things,” Folkman said.

The process for Lennar still includes an environmental review, SEPA review, a site development permit, a flood hazard permit and building permits. An old dry cleaning business that once was on Seventh Avenue left Trichloroethylene, a chemical compound used in industrial solvents, in the ground, so that will have to be remediated.

“The flooding is a big issue, (on this parcel) obviously,” Ritland said.

Christopher Wright, project oversight manager for Issaquah, said the city is about halfway through the site development permit, and the SEPA study is underway. Wright said the city is confident Lennar is meeting the flooding concerns.

There will be more pubic meetings as the project progresses.