Sultan Code, circa 2004 (resident on our website)
Note: For an updated copy of Sultan codes, contact the city for a CD and place a Pub. Info Request (here's how to do that) for all effecting ordinances since June of 2004.
Craig Bruner, City of Sultan Building Official, REQUESTS AND SEEKS COMMENT & INPUT on this code. Please contact him at the city as follows:
Phone: 360-793-2231
Email: craig.bruner@ci.sultan.wa.us
Drop-off comments at city hall: 319 Main Street
Send via snail mail: c/o City Hall, P. O. Box 1199, Sultan, WA 98294
We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Mr. Bruner for giving us an electronic copy of this file on CD (at no charge) during the 10/3 Planning Board Meeting so we could share it with the community. Mr. Bruner is REQUESTING INPUT on this code. Ours is as follows:
When one considers the current city financial situation and (apparent) staff labor shortages, how (and why) did this code jump to the top of the City's "to do" list?
Although it's a no-brainer that code oversight and enforcement in Sultan is now, as it has always been, desperately needed, it is virtually transparent (i.e., non-existent) from recent and ongoing new construction sites, especially related to the use of BMPs (Best Management Practices) and BAS (Best Available Science) during construction, not to mention violations of their DOE-issued NPDES stormwater management permits, which has caused runoff into the sensitive Wagley Creek. Other significant negative effects from construction have been experienced by local homeowners living on either side of SBR, as they try to second-guess, dodge-and-weave and/or wait endlessly for the never-ending parade of gravel trucks and behemoth heavy equipment and machinery to complete their maneuvers while blocking egress to Sultan Basin Road. [Note: SBR will be closed beginning October 16, 2006 for an estimated two-week period.]
All one need do is drive up Sultan Basin Road once a week to view the three new under-construction developments: Timber Ridge, future site of 85 new Single Family (S.F.) homes: look for the "scorched earth" critical slope on the east side of SBR and the heavy construction occurring at the southernmost treeline, which is just above, and quite close, to Wagley Creek. Drive a couple hundred feet to the crest of the Sultan Basin Road and travel approx. 1/4 mile northward find Steen Park (across from Eagle Ridge), the future site of 18 S.F. new homes. Check out the southwest corner's ravine and the southeast-bound runoff from the slope and stormwater culvert at the ravine's bottom which will feed into Wagley Creek's tributaries. To complete your tour, drive to just north of the new Sky Harbor community to view Denali Ridge, future site of 15 new S.F. homes, also located on SBR's east side. This one is easy to find: just look for the large, manmade rectangular-shaped "crater" which locals jokingly referred to last winter as the "swimming hole."
I will, however, give kudos to the city's code enforcement (or whomever) for red-tagging and stopping the Denali Ridge construction because of illegal drainage of its wetland.
Generally, code enforcement and oversight during construction projects this past summer has been absent. It's not only the muddy runoff into Wagley Creek that's been a concern. Current resident's quality of life has been deeply affected, as they pay the price for time delays, emotional frustration, wear and tear on their vehicles (windshield chips, enamal dents, flat tires from punctures) and other issues related to current residents' lives, convenience and unnecessary wear and tear on cars. Roadways, too, experience long-term damage and wear and tear, which will have to be replaced at taxpayer expense, because the city has not increased traffic (development) impact fees for at least eight years.
All of these effects could have and should have been alleviated by OVERSIGHT & ENFORCEMENT, but have not been.
Thus, my comment on the time and effort taken to write this code to address "all existing residential and nonresidential structures..." while ignoring the urgent current need for oversight and enforcement of construction violations, is: "Why wasn't that time and expense put into oversight and enforcement of "all existing developer & contractor activities"?