Site and Environment

Critical Areas Designation (CADS25-0076)

King County completed a Critical Areas Designation for the primary parcel (3624079039) on July 18, 2025. The full report is not available through King County’s online permit portal — download it here. Here’s what they found:

King County classified the project as high-impact under KCC 21A.24.325A.2.a — the designation that triggers the widest buffers.

Why this matters

Fisher Creek is a Type F stream — it has fish. It runs through the northwest portion of the parcel, and the elevation difference between its ordinary high water mark and the proposed development area is less than 10 feet. If there’s a fire, runoff contaminated with heavy metals and fluoride compounds goes straight into the creek and from there into the Snoqualmie River watershed.

Jupiter Power also has to file a separate Floodplain Development Application before they can even apply for a development permit. That’s a gating requirement they haven’t started yet.

Between the steep slopes on the east, the wetland buffer on the northeast, and Fisher Creek on the northwest, the buildable footprint is a lot smaller than “45 acres” makes it sound.

The wildlife picture may also be incomplete. The CAD report identified two large hollow trees or snags where Vaux’s swifts could nest, and noted that western toad may use the site. But Jupiter Power isn’t the property owner, so they couldn’t get the full sensitive species PHS report from WDFW. The ecologists worked with partial data.

Visual screening

Critical area buffers will preserve vegetation on the north and east sides. But the west side — facing the backyards of homes on Bracken Place SE and SE Center Street — has no buffer protection at all. There’s nothing in any public document committing Jupiter Power to keeping the existing trees or adding screening on that side.

Parcels

Adjacent: Snoqualmie Indian Tribe (~15.8 ac, parcel 3624079104), PSE transmission corridor (~14.5 ac).