Anacortes American 11/20/02
BY NANCY WALBECK
A longtime family property on March Point is proposed for industrial and office development, but the current owner has pledged to retain more than four acres as a forest habitat.
Sanderson Industrial Park, largely owned by Terry Sanderson of Mount Vernon, will be located 100 feet west of the integration of East and South March Point roads. Sanderson has applied to the city for a fill and grade permit for the 22-acre parcel. But 4.4 acres along the south boundary, nearly a quarter of the site, will remain as is, according to Sanderson and the city.
“The trees are wonderful,” Sanderson said, adding that his grandfather bought the property 82 years ago.
The city’s planning department issued a Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance for site development. City Planning Director Ian Munce said Sanderson’ property is far enough away from a heronry and an eagle nest that those environmental issues won’t be a concern.
However, Sanderson has included the heronry study by Pacific International Engineering, done for the Port of Anacortes, and a traffic analysis by Perteet Engineering, commissioned by T Bailey, an adjacent site being readied for development.
Munce said no heron eggs were seen on Sanderson’s property according to Grette Associates LLC of Tacoma.
“They did a biological assessment and there were no herons at the site. And the eagle nest is farther away,” Munce added.
Sanderson plans to level the parcel not in forest land, and rework the drainage so stormwater is treated on the site, which is 400 feet from Padilla Bay. The city’s MDNS calls for limited construction periods, especially related to the nearby herons and eagle as well as other impacts to the nearby bay, a national aquatic preserve.
Schemmer Engineering is handling the project, including a drainage report. Sanderson will need a number of permits, including the state Department of Ecology and Fish and Wildlife. No construction will take place until all the permits are in place, Munce said.
The current clearing and grading permits calls for removing 120,000 cubic yards of soil, largely to level the property. Sanderson, who owns Wirefab Manufacturing in Mount Vernon, said he plans on using the site for industrial development as well as offices.
Written comments on the Sanderson project can be submitted, before the Nov. 27 deadline, to: City Planning Director Ian Munce, P.O. Box 547, Anacortes, WA 98221; or call him, 299-1942.