Developer Fined $8,000 Over Permit; Battle Ground Land Cleared Improperly, State Agency Says
Posted on: Wednesday, 3 August 2005, 18:00 CDT
A developer in Battle Ground has been fined $8,000 by the state Department of Ecology for failing to acquire a stormwater- prevention permit before clearing land for the 133-lot Tuxedo Junction development.
Sun Country Homes Inc. has appealed the fine, which was issued June 7.
Sun Country and Bloomquist Properties had been ordered by the Department of Ecology in July 2003 to cease all construction activity until they obtained a National Pollution Discharge Elimination Permit, according to a notice of penalty. The permit specifies measures to reduce muddy or polluted stormwater from getting into area waterways.
The development is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Northeast Grace Avenue and 11th Street in Battle Ground.
John Mattila, land development supervisor for Sun Country Homes, said the company had worked with the Army Corps of Engineers, which regulates wetlands, and didn't realize it needed the stormwater permit at such an early stage of the development.
"We were thinking that we had talked to the proper authorities and got authorization for the work last summer," Mattila said.
A penalty notice signed by state water quality engineer Kelly Susewind said the Department of Ecology ordered Sun Country to stop all construction until it obtained the stormwater permit. In June 2004, an agency official verified an allegation that road construction and land clearing was under way at the site without the permit.
Mattila said Bloomquist Properties is simply the landowner and is not involved in developing the new subdivision.
Work at the 32-acre subdivision, which was designed to have a small store, 12 duplexes and 121 homes targeting middle-income families, has been suspended for the past year.
Mattila said that wetlands on the site will limit the number of buildable lots.
Source: Columbian
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