Snow - Did you say SNOW - I gotta SUV

This morning, 7:30 AM, March 22, 2013 -  the snow scene in Wellington Hills.

But I want to trip back a few winters and show Wellington Hills Park and 240th St. during a typical "Convergent Zone" snow.

71st Dr. SE

Golf Course, South side of 240th

240th St. view to the west

Going downhill, first curve 240th St.

Stuck cars seen from first curve 240th St.

Cars cannot overcome snowy/icy 240th St.

Walking past cars, view of last 240th curve before Rt.9

240th St. curve uphill of Primus Bldg.

Looking back up hill, note steepness

240th St. curve

Where road grooming stopped

Drivers attempting going up or down 240th St.- same results

Waiting for a tow truck

Waiting for a tow truck

Looking back uphill

Ignored "Traffic Control Sign"

Slow moving traffic on Rt. 9 & plenty of stuck cars

I suggest those reviewing the pile of SEPA documents take note of winter conditions in Wellington Hills Park.

UPDATED. TV news, Park Rangers, Backhoe, Q and A's - It's been a busy day at the park

Today, Channel 5 (King 5) visited Wellington Hills Park to do a story - to be aired Tuesday (tomorrow) March 20 … so I grabbed my camera and headed to the Park.

I got there early and decided to take photos of my favorite Landmark Green Space … 
this time I wanted to take pictures of nice trees scheduled for removal.
 

Wow. I mean I've haven't seen that much action at the Park since Snohomish County's Department of Parks & Rec. demolished all the golf course buildings.

First discovery. A Snohomish Park Ranger got his truck stuck in the water saturated ground ... followed by another Ranger attempting to rescue the stuck truck. 

Park Ranger "B" attempting to tow Park Ranger "A"

Then even more excitement.  The Big Backhoe (which demolished all the golf course buildings) was loaded onto a flatbed and driven away.  

That rig certainly has a large turning radius. 
(I wonder how they fared on the steep part of 240th St.?)  

Lots of rigs similar to the one with the Big Backhoe bottom-out on the road and then need a Big Tow Truck so they can escape 240th St..

 
What can I say? The Channel 5 (King 5) cameraman has a way cool camera and tripod.

This photo also has a decent landmark.  
He's in the area of potential sport complex activity fields.

Please note - the houses seen in the top left corner are located in King County. 
Bummer for them - not because they're in King Co. … it's just they're so exposed to future sports complex crowds, noise, stadium lights and, of course, wandering looky-loos.

Cameraman and his way cool camera easily records King 5 reporter Jake Whittenberg, and another person, as they walk towards the camera.

King 5 News Crew, Jake Whittenberg & Ken Jones

Finally, a concerned citizen stopped by and asked, "Why does Snohomish County's Department of Parks & Rec. need to cut down so many beautiful old trees?"

Good question.

Costco shoppers, expect fender benders and delays

The COSTCO intersection - Route 9 & 240th St. - will look something like this ...

… IF the proposed Snohomish County's Dept. of Parks & Rec. 
                                                      Commercial Sports Complex Plan is approved.
   
Why you may ask?

Snohomish County's Dept. of Parks & Rec. estimates 90% of the traffic going in and out of the proposed Sports Complex will be via Route 9 at 240th St.

I repeat: 
90% of the park's traffic will be at the COSTCO intersection.

                          
                Costco shoppers, be patient, eventually you'll get into their parking lot.

Slacktivism and Clicktivists

Slacktivism (sometimes slactivism or slackervism) is a portmanteau of the words slacker and activism.   

The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel some amount of satisfaction. 

The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist. The underlying assumption being promoted by the term is that these low cost efforts substitute for more substantive actions rather than supplementing them, although this assumption has not been borne out by research.

Slacktivist activities include signing Internet petitions, joining a community organization without contributing to the organization's efforts, copying and pasting o Social Network statuses or messages or altering one's personal data or avatar on social network services. 

Research is beginning to explore the connection between the concept and modern activism/advocacy, as groups are increasingly using social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS  describes the term "slacktivist", saying it "posits that people who support a cause by performing simple measures are not truly engaged or devoted to making a change.

See also:

• Armchair warrior

• Armchair revolutionary

• Cause marketing………..(a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and                    a nonprofit for mutual benefit)

• Clicktivist ……… (a form of internet internet-based activism which includes signing online petitions)

• Sheeple  ………………….(a term in which people are likened to sheep, a herd animal)

• Virtual volunteering …..(also known as online volunteering, cyber service, telementoring and teletutoring)

Misc.
• hashtag
• meme
• metadata
• tagging

Information from Wiki

Now you know all the techie terms … so, get in touch with NSWP and talk to real people dealing with a real issue.

You will indeed feel real if you step-up and help us deflect the Alien Invader, aka, Snoco's Parks & Rec's Mega Commercial Sports Complex.

Think of it this way:  Do you really want something with the footprint size of Clink Field dropped onto Wellington Hills Park?

Call us.

5-4-3-2-1 SEPA this week NOW UPDATED

UPDATE:
Go HERE for the just released SEPA Checklist and other related documents.

Well, this is it, Showtime is here, the Department of Parks and Recreation is ready to release the SEPA checklist for their schemed-up sports complex.

I know some of you think this SEPA thing is just an extension of the dog and pony show we've been witnessing since May 2012.  For now, curb that thought because SEPA is an important process. 

SEPA exists as a safeguard against poorly planned projects. A significant part of SEPA is that each and every citizen can review and comment on whatever is being proposed. In this case, certain people want to build a mega sports complex in a rural neighborhood – one that's outside the Urban Growth Boundary.

The caveat is - once the SEPA checklist is released, there are only 14 days for making comments.

If you understand what a boondoggle the proposed mega sports complex is, then, please get a copy of the SEPA checklist and tear into it. (see other stuff in this blog)

If you sit back and do nothing (and simply "trust" the bureaucrats and their buddies), I know you won't like the ultimate results.

 (what was done at 228th and 39th in Bothell … with Brightwater mitigation funds)

For additional Information go here

Important information alert.

An additional Neighbors to Save Wellington Park (NSWP) blog has been created - this site provides specific information pertinent to what the average person can do to tell the County, "You need to rethink the Department of Parks and Recreation's plans for a mega sports complex".  

There's also info on becoming a Person of Record so you can be informed of what Snohomish County's Department of Parks and Recreation is up to.

SEPA is a very big deal for all of us and it will be released very soon. The new site provides information about SEPA and how you can help with it.   Hint: You don't have to be an expert to make comments on the SEPA document.

Additionally, there's a FAQ page.  We've answered some of the most frequently asked questions concerning the proposed mega sports complex.

Click here for the blog, "Save Wellington Park!"





"Bureaucrats, while part of our democratic process, are not above that process or are they meant to be unchecked agents of change."

Makes no sense - UPDATED

UPDATE: 
March 7, 2013
SEE PHOTO AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

Despite the FACT the Snohomish County Council has not been presented the proposed sports complex plan … and that certainly means they haven't voted on it … Yes, despite those sort of important steps, The Department of Parks and Rec has brought in a work crew with their big backhoe and big truck … and, this morning, they demolished the old house, commonly referred to as "the log cabin on the golf course".

Just as with the club house and golf office building - the log cabin is now history.

                               ……………………………………………………….


Another item on the list of, "Building A Sports Complex In The Wrong Place"

The justification for demolishing the golf course buildings?  

A quote from Tom Teigen, Director, Snohomish County Parks & Recreation:

"It was determined that the most prudent, safe and cost effective option was to demolish the buildings. … The buildings represent a public safety hazard, attractive nuisance and have been targeted by vandals. As a result we believe the best  course of action is to continue with the abatement and demolition as planned and permitted. "

 Yet the golf course building and club house were both in use until the end of September 2012.  

If the buildings were that unsafe, why did the County allow them to be used for all these years?

Who speaks

Each time I walk through Wellington Hills Park, I consider this question:

"Who speaks for the Land?"

County bureaucracy?  
Private sports clubs?
Developers? 

Or, is there a different Voice to be heard?

There is real natural beauty within Wellington Hills Park.

Sadly, all of the photographed places will be devastated IF the proposed sports complex is allowed.

Trees will be cut down, the Land leveled and a jewel-like Green Space will be no more.

In their place, there will be parking lots, stadium lights and other artificial stuff.

(as always, click on photo to view larger version)

photos by Bill Stankus

March 3, 2013

Wellington Hills Park-Woodinville-Snohomish County - What's going on?

Here's a map of the counties in the State of Washington.

Snohomish County is the one darkened on the map and enlarged in the second image.

Pertinent stuff.

• Note the location of Marysville and Everett because those are Snohomish County's largest cities.

• Outside the county map's southern boundary is Woodinville, a King County city.

• Click on the map to enlarge it and you’ll see a tiny red dot (above the "i" in Woodinville) … that's the approximate location of Wellington Hills Park.

•  Snoco residents near the existing park have Woodinville WA 98072 as their mailing address.  As I stated, Woodinville is a King County city.

•  The Dept. of Parks & Recs says the Wellington Hills sports complex will be a magnet for all of Snohomish County.  Really?

• Did you know the soccer fields in Woodinville are under-utilized? It's true.

• According to The Dept. of Parks & Recs own Comprehensive Plan, there's call for developing active use parks in the Marysville area.  That seems reasonable because of the area's sizable population.  Take another look at Marysville's location, it's centered in a dynamic north-south corridor.

Hmmm.

Drive the streets near the Wellington Hills Parks and you'll find old, narrow roads through and next to the park and heavy traffic on Route 9 and Hwy 522 … plus there's always plenty of traffic at the Costco intersection … which would also be the main entrance to the Teigen sports complex.

Have you been to the public meetings held at Brightwater and in local people’s homes? Audiences have heard plenty of rationalizations and justifications and sermonized assertions (aka, "the sales pitch"). The public meetings have been all about selling one-sided sizzle.  And if valid issues were raised by local people, great effort was made to convince them, whatever it was, it won't be a problem.

That fishy smell wasn’t Brightwater; something else is going on here.

If you reverse their "logic" about countywide use of the Wellington Hills sports complex, then people near Wellington Hills Park should be traveling to other Snohomish cities, perhaps even cities located near Snohomish County's northern border.

How many people living in Woodinville drive 38 miles to Kayak Point Regional County Park?
Or will they drive 7 miles to Willows Run Golf Club?

Mileage references.

Woodinville to Arlington:  38 miles, approximately 45 minutes driving time
Woodinville to Stanwood:  44 miles, approximately 1 hour driving time
Woodinville to Darrington: 65 miles, approximately 1 hour 20 minutes driving time

For comparison:

Woodinville to Redmond:  6 miles, approximately 15 minute driving time
Woodinville to Bellevue: 12 miles, approximately 20 minute driving time
Woodinville to Seattle:     20 miles, approximately 30 minutes driving time

NOTE: ALL TIME AND DISTANCE FIGURES ARE FROM GOOGLE MAPS


The people numbers.
Populations in Snohomish County unless otherwise noted.

• Everett………….......104,295
• Marysville…………....60,785
• Edmonds.…………….40,215
• Lynwood………….....36,291
• Bothell……………….34,055  (in both King & Snohomish Counties)
• Mountlake Terrace ….20,165
• Mill Creek…………...18,480
• Arlington………….....18,154
• Monroe…………....…17,493
• Woodinville………….11,157 (King County)
• Stanwood……………...6,311


Here's the game: 

Can you guess why the Dept. of Parks & Recs is hard selling and fast-tracking their plan to develop a huge urban styled sport complex next to King County?

Something else to consider:
Wellington Hills Park is on the rural side of the UGB* (Urban Growth Boundary), outside the UGA line.

*For the state's definition of the UGA go here

Also, check out the definition of Urban Growth Management - here.

The players.

• The sport complex master planner, Tom Teigen, Director of Snoco Dept. of Parks & Recreation

• Tom's boss, Aaron Reardon, County Executive (until May 2013)

• The Snoco County Council - they manage County funds and vote yea or nay on budget issues

• People living next to Wellington Hills Park

• Residents of Woodinville (King County)

What's next.

• A full Environmental Impact Study (EIS) should be done but who in the County will step-up and start that ball rolling?

• Tom Teigen will submit a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist - in March 2013.

• That's followed by a 14-day comment period during which the public can comment/question specific parts of the SEPA checklist. 

• Also in March, Teigen's Master Plan will be submitted to the County Council and the 5 members will vote yea or nay on it.

Possible winners.

• The County gets revenue
• Private sports clubs and organizations
• Urban developers
• Private retailers
• Tom Teigen and his resume

Bottom line

• Sports complexes are good when built in appropriate locations.

• Building a sports complex in a rural neighborhood is flat out wrong.

• Brightwater mitigation money was meant to make things better, not worse.