12-105613 IL
` CITY OF CITY HALLEth
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Federal Way8th Aven
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Federal Way,WA 98003-6325
(253)835-7000
www.cityoffederalway..car►
January 30,2013
Twin Lakes HOA Email to:maynard55@gmailcom
Gary A Darcey
32205 40th Place SW
Federal Way, WA 98023
RE: FILE#12-105613-00-AD;RESPONSE TO INQUIRY
Lake Ponce De Leon Alteration,SW 323n1 Street,Federal Way
Dear Mr. Darcey:
The Community and Economic Development Department has received your inquiry regarding the
necessary permits needed for filling Lake Ponce de Leon and constructing a park in its location.In
addition to the list of city permits I have listed below,your proposal will also require additional
permitting and approval from other state and federal agencies and any permitting requirements from such
agencies should be requested through their respective offices.
PLAT ALTERATION
The Twin Lakes No. 1 subdivision identifies Lake Ponce de Leon as Tract A.Any change of use of Tract
A from the lake feature shown on the subdivision document would require a Plat Alteration.The
application for the alteration requires the signatures of a majority of the property owners of the 127 lots
within the subdivision.The process for a plat alteration will require a recommendation from the city's
Hearing Examiner followed by a public hearing and decision by City Council.
WETLAND MITIGATION
Historical aerial photos provided by the King County iMap service indicate Lake Ponce de Leon was a
wetland feature prior to development of the area. Additionally, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service's
National Wetland Inventory shows the lake as a palustrine freshwater pond wetland. Due to these
circumstances,any filling of the lake would require permitting from the United States Army Corps of
Engineers and Washington State Department of Ecology. Please contact the Army Corps Seattle field
office at 206-764-3742 for information regarding a Section 404 permit and the Department of Ecology at
425-649-4447 regarding 401 Water Quality Certification.
Filling the wetland fringe areas around the lake would also require permitting and mitigation from the
city.A Process IV Master Land Use application and wetland mitigation plan would be required.
Mitigation is restricted to restoration,creation,or enhancement and is typically meant to improve the
function and values of the impacted wetland,but as you have proposed to fill and construct a park over
the pond you are able to provide mitigation to another offsite wetland within the same basin. Wetland
mitigation plan approval is issued by the city Hearing Examiner following a public hearing.
Be advised that staff would not currently support such a proposal as Lake Ponce de Leon provides
upstream storage capacity to Lakota Creek. Removing the storage capacity could cause downstream
erosion and detriment to the salmon bearing reach near the Puget Sound outfall.
Mr.Darcy
January 30,2013
Page 2
Dredging and filling waterward of the ordinary high watermark is also regulated by Federal Way Revised
Code 19.170.030. Mitigation of such impacts will also be considered under the required Use Process III
application for the proposed park type use you have suggested.
STATE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT(SEPA)
The proposal is not categorically exempt from environmental review due to the proposed action taking
place on lands covered by water.An environmental checklist must be completed and submitted with the
Process IV Master Land Use application. You are strongly encouraged to identify how you propose to
mitigate the downstream impacts of filling the lake within the checklist.
ENGINEERING APPROVAL
Filling the lake will trigger a requirement to design a stormwater facility that meets currently adopted
codes.As of the date of this letter,the city requires a design in accordance with the 2009 King County
Surface Water Design Manual. It is likely the current functions of Lake Ponce de Leon do not meet the
required flow control and water quality standards of the current manual.These standards slow the rate at
which stormwater is released into the downstream system and treats pollution generated flows from
streets and parking area.
CLOSING
If you decide to move forward with your proposal,I would encourage you to contact the Washington
State Governor's Office of Regulatory Assistance at 1-800-917-0043.The office can provide you
additional guidance regarding inter-agency permitting.Please be advised that due to complexity of the
permit process a formal preapplication conference with city staff will be required prior to submitting a
Master Land Use application. Please feel free to contact me at 253-835-2638 or
matt.herrera@ciryoffederalway.com with any questions regarding this letter.
Sincerely,
Matthew Herrera
Associate Planner
c: Will Appleton,SWM Manager
12-105613 Doc.ID 62847
12 — IOSQ. (?
st-
* Isaac Conlen
To: Gary Darcey
Cc: William Appleton; Bob Hill; Ginelle Holyoak; Sandy Duvall
Subject: RE: Lake Ponce de Leon
Good morning Mr. Darcey,
Although (I believe) this was an artificially created lake, it is now regulated as a critical area (both as a regulated lake and
also a wetland). Based on these designations it is not clear if the lake can simply be filled. I'm assigning one of my staff
to look into the issue. We'll follow up when we've had a chance to do so.
Regards,
Isaac
253 835 2643
From: Gary Darcey [mailto:maynard55@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 8:19 AM
To: Isaac Conlen
Cc: William Appleton; Bob Hill; Ginelle Holyoak; Sandy Duvall
Subject: Re: Lake Ponce de Leon
Good morning Mr Conlen
We (Twin Lakes HOA) are contemplating filling in our Lake Ponce de Leon for the purpose
of eliminating the lake and constructing a park. This effort would require us to hard pipe the
storm drain inlet to the lake to the outlet point, a distance of about 500 feet.
What type of permits would this require?
gd
On Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 4:08 PM. William Appleton <William.Appleton cityoffederalway.com> wrote:
Mr. Darcey,
I have cc'd Isaac Conlen,the planning manager on this response, as it is his group that handles grade and fil'
permits. We are unable to recommend contractors, but I believe that there are many of them out there capable of
performing the work that you are contemplating. My suggestion would be to find multiple earthwork contractors and
ask for references.
Regards,
Appleton
i
f
From: Gary Darcey [mailto:maynard55Cagmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 12:54 PM
To: William Appleton
Subject: Re: Lake Ponce de Leon
Mr Appleton
We continue to kick this around. I need to come up with some financial numbers.
Do you know or can you direct me to the person that handles permitting? I'm assuming some
kind of permit will be required.
Do you have a listing of contractors that the city has worked with that you could recommend?
9
On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 9:01 AM, Gary Darcey <mavnard55@gmail.com>wrote:
Mr Appleton,
Thanks for getting back to me and the Twin Lakes HOA.
I am relatively new to this problem. I have lived in Twin Lakes for about 4 years and my time on
the HOA board is less than 2 years. Once on the board, I was assigned the duties of managing
the lakes. As far as the history of Ponce, all I have to go by are saved emails and other pieces
of correspondence that the previous "lakes" person saved.
I understand your position on this stormwater facility. I have reviewed several saved emails
from discussions over the last 10 years. I know Mr Jeff Wolf's name was on several and I think
your name was on a few also. It seems every email from the city on this subject has the same
tone... it's your lake, it's your problem. Since I didn't agree with that position, I emailed the
Mayor. I met the mayor a couple years ago while dealing with some criminal activity at one of
our parks.
2
During my investigation into why Ponce currently looks like a swamp, I interviewed a couple of
the homeowners that have lived on Lake Ponce for several years. They would definitely not
agree with your statement .... "however it is highly unlikely that any significant amount of sediments
have been transported into the facility in the last 5 to 10 years".
Like I stated, I do not have the personal history. I will get a committee of Ponce homeowners
together and gather all of the facts. We will provide a rebuttal when complete.
Again, thanks
{
On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 3:02 PM, William Appleton<William.Appleton@cityoffederalway.com> wrote:
Mr. Darcey,
I am writing to you in response to your email to Mayor Priest concerning sediment buildup in Lake
Ponce. Since the Surface Water Management Division of Public works is responsible for operating
and maintaining all public stormwater infrastructure within the City, I would like to address the
concerns you pointed out.
Lake Ponce was constructed to provide both flow control and water quality for the Twin Lakes No. 1
development and is a private stormwater facility that functions to serve the stormwater needs of
approximately 100 residents with the HOA and the associated streets. The facility also has been
used as an aesthetic water feature for a private park. As such, the HOA is and has been responsible
for the maintenance and upkeep of the facility since its completion in 1965, as planned for in the
original development.
Flows from the drainage area upstream of the Twin Lakes No. 1 development are routed through
Lake Ponce as a result of the original design; however it is highly unlikely that any significant amount
of sediments have been transported into the facility in the last 5 to 10 years for several reasons:
firstly, the drainage basin (attached) has been fully built out for more than 30-years and more than
half the contributing area flows to the SW 340th Street Regional Infiltration Facility which significantly
reduces the amount of stormwater being conveyed downstream; and secondly, Surface Water
Management implements a catchbasin cleaning program annually to remove sediment and/or debris
from the conveyance system (The system upstream of Lake Ponce was cleaned as recently as
2011). Additionally, in 2007, the City installed a stormwater vault to provide pretreatment upstream of
Lake Ponce, further enhancing the removal of sediments and floatables. In summary, the City has
and continues to maintain our system as required by our National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination
System (NPDES) Permit.
With respect to the stormwater outfall and inflow elements of Lake Ponce, in 2003, SWM replaced a
section of the inlet trunk at the outfall of Lake Ponce and removed loose rock and some sediments
3
from the channel to facilitate th .ork. Additional channel/outlet wo 'as performed in 2005 and
2006 primarily to remove rock that had fallen into the channel. In 2007, the City replaced a section ':
of stormwater trunk line up to and including the outfall pipe into Lake Ponce. As part of this work, it
was documented that sediment was removed from the Lake to help facilitate the work, but only
enough to facilitate the completion of the replacement project. In all cases where maintenance work
on City owned infrastructure was performed, material (including some sediment) was removed, and
not left behind.
It is clear that Lake Ponce has experienced sediment buildup over the last 40+ years, and that a lack
of sediment management over that time period has gotten the facility to this point. The City has been
and will continue to be diligent with respect to maintaining the public stormwater system; however, the
use of SWM fees for the maintenance of private facilities is prohibited, as it would constitute a gift of
public funds. SWM will continue to provide technical guidance in support of the HOA's efforts to
maintain the stormwater facility, but the responsibility to perform the work lies with the HOA.
If I can be of any further assistance or if you wish to meet onsite, please do not hesitate to email or
call me at (253) 835-2750.
Respectfully,
William Appleton
Surface Water Manager
4
City of Federal Way
Wetland Inventory Field Form
Wetland Number /3-2/' a 3—/2- 1/4 Sect/Twn/RngA e g/ 3
Location (address/cross-streets) ZG q&e SW 323`14ST
Team Members inn'? /14 F Date Field Check: /D.ZG•'1
Base Map#: D-- Windshield Access/Site Access�)Site Not Accessed
FIELD DATA
Cowardin Class Dominant Spp % total WL
Pfi 7o� . � A
pow 9570 4-
Notable Wildlife Features /Jo
Snags:#'s 26" Z12" Z24" Heights:
Ida to?
Inlet present:® N;width-4" flow:Y N/ Outlet present:0N;width 6 flow:Y I�
None Observed None Observed 75- s i q pr�
Water Sources Y/N .,
stream ulvert: diam 2 /, sheet flow floodplain seeps
Human Disturbances: /Qwh 0.4 /v. Fr+ At/Lay tut tie-- L ei'i, lac F, itaS-
Buffer Conditions: (9446.1,fl `I"`35 '1" 5.,as'7 rack) /Q,'' 4))Gc'''Le 1
OFFICE DATA
NRCS Soil Unit: 444 WL Rating - '
Shit Gut- 1144,,uk_
Approximate Size: pA.a 00 io soo - 1 -12o>e Z/6
500 tos 2,500 sq.ft - e s 2 acre
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