UPDATE FOR SWONA ON “WELLINGTON HEIGHTS”
On June 6th and 13th, 2019, Alex Vo purchased two, mandatory advertizements in the Yelm and Nisqually Newspaper seeking public comment on his request for a Construction Storm Water General Permit (CSWGP) from the Department of Ecology for his “Wellington Heights” project. This permit was required before Alex Vo could begin bulldozing the 9.4 acres of woodland located in the SW corner of our neighborhood bordered by the Honda and Chrysler Jeep dealerships.
It is legal for Alex Vo to purchase the required advertizement in the Yelm newspaper even though the affected population is located in SW Olympia. While the City staff knew about this purchase, they did not inform the 147 parties of record that their views were being solicited.
On July 1, 2019, Alex Vo failed to purchase the 9.4 acres from Dean Willie. Mr. Willie canceled the purchase and sales agreement and kept the earnest money. The City staff did not inform the 147 parties of record of this failure, even though numerous parties had indicated for over two years that neither Alex Vo nor his fictitious LLCs had the financial capacity to make the purchase.
On August 1, 2019, Dean Willie sold the 9.4 acres to a Delaware corporation known as Lennar Northwest, Inc. with an office in Federal Way, Washington. No notice from City staff to the 147 parties of record with regard to this change of ownership. Jeff Fant, the City's Engineering Plans Examiner, did write to Lennar Northwest stating it was “nice to see the development move to construction” and “looking forward to working with your group.”
On August 12, 2019, the Department of Ecology issued a Construction Storm Water General Permit, WAR308267, to Lennar Northwest, Inc for a project titled, “Wellington Lennar.”
Between August 23rd and August 30th at least 30 neighbors in SW Olympia, most of whom are associated with the Decatur Raiders, sent emails to the Department of Ecology. They pointed out that “Wellington Lennar” is not “Wellington Heights” and therefore the public notice requirement had not been implemented. They requested Ecology to revoke the permit.
On August 30th, Mindi English, Construction Stormwater General Permit Writer for the Department of Ecology sent an email to those 30 neighbors stating, “We are moving forward with revoking coverage for WAR308267” and added these neighbors to its “interested parties list” who will be notified “when significant actions occur for this permit coverage.
If other neighbors wish to be on the “interested parties list,” they could ask Ms. English. (MINE461@ecy.wa.gov).
If neighbors wish to learn how Lennar Northwest “will work directly with community members and direct (sic) neighbors to alleviate any concerns and to coordinate construction activities” for the new “Wellington Lennar”, they can write to Lennar's Brian Nguyen, the man that made this statement to Jeff Fant, City Engineer. Brian.nguyen@lennar.com
If neighbors wish to ask the City staff or City Council to keep them informed of Lennar Northwest's plans for our neighborhood, they could.
Dan Leahy, with a special thanks to Robert Shirley.
9/1/2019