| A lawsuit in Kitsap County, recently moved to Federal Court, has spawned a motion before the City of Bainbridge Island to recuse Hearing Examiner, Meredith Getches. The examiner has been hearing an appeal on a Notice of Violation issued by the City of Bainbridge Island to property owner, Jeffrey Sneller, for the permitted clearing of a wetland.
Hearings held in mid May with respect to the wetland violation notice are presently being continued. The Notice of Violation was issued for clearing the neighboring wetland, after the City had issued a clearing permit for this purpose. “We offered to restore this site a year ago,” said Adam Sneller, who handles business affairs for his father, Jeff. “But the City wanted us to say we had broken the law. And that’s not true.”
According to the suit, when the Snellers refused to acquiesce, City officials contacted the Army Corp of Engineers and Washington State Department of Ecology, claiming the Snellers were ‘code violators’ who refused to bring their properties into compliance. “It just snowballed from there,” said Adam Sneller. “Three different agencies were sending us demand letters. The City and the DOE issued illegal Stop Work orders on our Battle Point rebuild and the Army Corp. is still claiming jurisdiction over the wetland property, even though the Supreme Court ruled they can’t do that.”
The suit names the following officials with the City of Bainbridge Island and Department of Ecology:
- Meghan McKnight, Bainbridge Island Code Enforcement Officer
- Bob Earl, Bainbridge Island City Engineer
- Darlene Kordonowy, Bainbridge Island Mayor
- Kevin Fitzpatrick, DOE Water Quality Section Supervisor
- Megan Wisdom, DOE Stormwater Inspector
- Richard Robohm, DOE Wetland Specialist, and
- Jay Manning, DOE Director
According to plaintiffs, the proposed plan was submitted by Tree Solutions Inc. on June 12 at the City of Bainbridge Island (COBI) Planning Counter to Associate Planner, Steve Morse. Shortly after starting work on the Sneller’s restoration plan, Tree Solutions had been approached by the City on an unrelated project. “We were glad to have Tree Solutions’ help,” said Adam Sneller. “The fact that they would also be working for the City only added to their credibility. It never occurred to us that City Planners could use this to try and strong-arm us on the restoration.”
According to plaintiff’s attorney, Dennis Reynolds, during a status conference, with the Examiner and COBI attorney, Jeff Weber of Gordon Derr LLP, Reynolds was surprised to hear the Examiner reading out of the Restoration Plan and parroting back Morse’s own position. “I was shocked,” said Reynolds. “This hasn’t happened to me in 35 years of practice”. Later, plaintiffs would learn that the plan was sent Ex Parte by City code enforcement officer, Meghan McKnight, to Getches’ assistant, Dianne Sawyer.
While plaintiff’s attorneys are presently considering a complaint to the State Bar Association, business manager Adam Sneller, is not entirely optimistic. “This is a mess,” said Adam Sneller. “This hearing alone has cost us over $40,000 dollars, not counting what the tax-payers have to come up with. Now we may have to start all over again because the City has coerced the Examiner into such a severe breach of ethics.”
The Snellers are being represented by attorney Dennis Reynolds of Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, Seattle. |
