The deal's genesis began when Puget Western, the real-estate subsidiary of Puget Sound Energy, submitted plans for Falls Crossing, 280-home development across the river from Snoqualmie Falls. Plans showed construction within 300 feet of the sensitive falls area on Snoqualmie River, however, and public outcry over the development brought to the table the Cascade Land Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that ultimately brokered the multi-party deal.
The CLC aims to purchase all 145 acres of the forested Falls Crossing property for conservation. To make it happen, in lieu of Falls Crossing's, Weyerhaeuser is covering the CLC's cost of purchasing the Falls Crossing Property in exchange for the right to add 268 homes to Snoqualmie Ridge, its 2,000-home planned community on 700 acres along Interstate 90. Completion of the entire development, which also will include retail and office space, is scheduled for 2007.
The land for the additional homes, however, is presently outside the county's urban-growth boundary. To get around that, King County executive Ron Simms has said the county will propose that the restriction be removed on the 200 acres to accommodate the deal.
The nuts and bolts of the solution, part of a larger plan known as the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, has Weyerhaeuser paying $11.65 million for the conservancy's purchase of the Falls Crossing land. As part of the deal, Weyerhaeuser also has agreed to refrain from developing a total of 3,500 acres of its property: 2,900 acres contiguous to the Raging River and Highway 18, and 650 acres north of Snoqualmie Falls. The agreement will allow Weyerhaeuser to harvest trees in the protected areas, subject to a King County agreement for forest management.
The City of Snoqualmie also will pay Puget Western $1.65 million for a portion of the acreage not purchased by the conservancy. The size of land the city will acquire, to be used for a municipal building, was not immediately available.
"From our perspective we're promoting the visibility of the Snoqualmie area both through development and environmental conservancy," says Weyerhaeuser's Mendazabel. "We feel very positive about the arrangement."
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