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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRD Letters / Memos - 2/10/1999 STgTFO GARY YANDO,DIRECTOR yON. o A 0 N DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT u r o T i PLANNING - SOLID WASTE - UTILITIES 2� N Y y BLDG. I * 411 N. 5TH ST. • P.O. BOX 578 �° 1864 SHELTON, WA 98584 • (360) 427-9670 February 10, 1999 Ted Ahlstrom 151 E South Coulter Creek Rd. Belfair WA 98528 RE: DRAINAGE FROM YOUR PROPERTY ADJACENT TO STATE ROUTE 302 Dear Mr. Ahlstrom: Recently while passing your property on the way to site visits along North Bay, Mason County Department of Community Development staff have noted that you have made alterations to your land that have collected and concentrated runoff flows off of your property. In addition to the pond in the east part of the property, you have graded the land, enhanced ditches, and created berms and ditches that direct all of the runoff and subsurface water to one location, where a 12-inch culvert conveys the waters beneath an access route to ditches to the south. Your actions have greatly increased the natural rate of water runoff across and off your property and have transferred the problems caused by the presence of the water and saturated soils on your land to those property owners lying next to your property. These nearby properties are subject to the raised water table due to the local high tides, and your actions to route concentrated runoff to these properties will worsen their situation to face saturated soils, ponding and daily high tides on their own land. Having brought this concern to your attention, staff would encourage you to resolve the present and potential problems that you have caused to adjacent properties. A way of resolving your runoff problems is to work with the State Department of Transportation to route some of the runoff that you receive on your property to the state highway ditch that heads to the bridge crossing of Coulter Creek. The Department of Transportation may permit you to extend the ditch on your property that heads north towards the fish hatchery, so that it connects with the road ditch and conveys surface runoff to the north and west of your properties. With this action you can reduce the runoff heading directly south in the ditches that you created during 1998. This suggestion will allow you to come up with a plan of action to address the problems created when you directed all flows through the new culvert. This winter of high rainfall and higher high tides have serve to illuminate the effects of your land modifications over the past years. Impacts on your neighbors will be felt for a long time, unless you step forward to resolve the problems starting to occur. Some plan of actions to be undertaken when the soils are more workable (summer 1999) is encouraged; some coordination with your neighbors on your strategy to address runoff and saturated soils without adversely affecting the use of their land could lead to an effective solution. Recycied You may contact Allan Borden at Mason County Department of Community Development to discuss what plan of action steps will be taken to resolve the effects to adjacent properties caused by your grading, ditching and culvert placement. In order to cooperatively proceed with steps to address your past actions, Mr. Borden would like to receive a response about this concern (a plan of action or what shall be done) by March 15, 1999. For further clarification on this matter, you may respond by telephone [(360)275-4467 ext 365] or in writing to P.O. Box 578, Shelton WA 98584. Sincerely, AA11anorden Senior Planner March 10 1999 C E l V E r) MAR 12 1999 Allan Borden MASON CO.PLAWNG DEPT Mason County Department of Community Development RE: DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STAFF'S GOOD EYE SIGHT WH[LE PASSING MY PROPERTY ALONG SR 302 Dear Mr.Borden: This letter is in response to your letter"DRAINAGE FROM YOU PROPERTY ADJACENT TO STATE ROUTE 302"dated 10 February 1999 as requested. I have not made alterations to my property because the natural flow of the water is to drain from upland properties through my property and through the properties down land(south adjacent to me)to North Bay. Some of the water comes to my property from a 12 inch culvert under SR 302 which the State DOT says is the natural flow of the water,and some coshes fronn the increasing number of underground streams coming up on my property caused by the development of property above me. I believe my property has more water and saturated soil on it than the property south of me because of the existing open ditches on those properties to remove it. The culvert I put in on my new property was put into an already existrrig open ditch as needed to redevelop the land and fnsnner house site. The property owners long before I moved here 15 years ago had made open drainage ditches to control the flow of water through their properties;in fact their use to be irrigation ditches from Coulter creek that went through these properties in the past. The past property owner of the property adjacent down-land south of me used this water flow that flows through my property to fill and maintain the pond on that property as the water flowed on to another open drainage ditch that flows across the south end of his property from SR 302 . The logging in the past damaged the land and open ditches of the new property I own;and the neglect of the past property owner to maintain the existing open ditches on his property next to North Bay have contributed to the problem we have here today. I did not create any ditches in 1998,in fact I have for the past few years been trying to manage and improve the control and safety of the water that flows through my property and my neighbors properties. I have in the past opened up the existing ditches on my new property to make it easier for me to maintain them_ I also have for the past seven years been maintaining the existing ditches on the adjacent property down-land south of me because the past owe could not do it. My new neighbor will not allow me to keep maintaining the existing ditch on his newly purchased property adjacent to me or about the southern half of my new property because of the Adverse Possession law suit he has filed. Yes this winter we have had a lot of rain because my backyard and fields have been saturated and flooded a lot. This is the new property owner first winter here on his flood plain property that is adjacent down-land south of my property. I believe with all the rain we have had it should show my adjacent new property owner the importance of maintain_inng the existing ditches on his newly purchased property to prevent its flooding. We have not had high tides yet this year because if we had it would have flooded around the new property owners house. If we do get high tides this year,it will show the new property owner that he will also have to do maintenance work on the dike around his newly purchased property because it does not keep the high tides out. In conclusion I would like to say that no corrective action steps are needed by me at this time. I don't know how I would move the surface water upland through the existing house site with power,phone,and existing septic tank with drain field at the north end of my property. If you would like I could remove my pond and have the water from the states culvert run directly across my property to and through my culvert and the existing open ditches as it has in the past. But what I plan to do is to direct the states drainage water to a second pond in the middle area of my property and then let it naturally flow south because this will give the water more time to sink into my property before it moves through my new property and my down land neighbors property. If you do not like my plan,please let me know because I would welcome a visit by staff to come and be able to see and walk the land with me. Thank you, Ted E. Alstrorn 28 year Masan County property owner