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Developer proposes placing pedestrian path on waterline easement to protect stream buffer
Summary
The applicant told the commission the ditch adjacent to the site was determined to be fish-bearing and proposed aligning the required paved pedestrian connection over an already-cleared 15-foot waterline easement to avoid additional disturbance inside a 200-foot critical-area buffer.
During the applicant’s presentation, Craig Steepe of JTM Holdings said the project team had consulted state and tribal biologists and planned the site around a 200-foot stream buffer after the roadside ditch was treated as fish habitat. Because the buffer runs much of the site’s length, Steepe argued the staff condition requiring the pedestrian connection to be located outside the buffer is infeasible.
To reconcile the requirement for a pedestrian connection with minimal additional vegetation removal, the applicant proposed placing a paved 5-foot pedestrian connection within a 15-foot waterline easement that will be cleared for installation of an 8-inch water main. "We would like to propose that the pedestrian connection that the city engineering department is asking for, that we build the paved trail right on top of that waterline," Steepe said, arguing the approach would "maximize protection of the buffer and minimize vegetation removal." The applicant said pedestrians would have both soft-surface trail and hard-surface options to reach the crosswalk.
Planning and engineering staff said the condition as written allows options to demonstrate feasibility during grading and construction design; engineering also noted the applicant may have to show how the paved alignment would avoid long-term root damage. Staff and the applicant agreed final alignment and construction details would be resolved during grading, arborist and construction-permit review.
