Stanwood City Council addresses damaged dike, historic preservation

The Stanwood City Council moved closer to repairing the Skagit Bay Dike, which was damaged during king tides and storms this past winter, during its Thursday, May 28 meeting.

The council unanimously voted to pass an emergency declaration, which will launch repairs to a .75-mile stretch of the dike, costing about $1.75 million.

The dike, located west of Stanwood, separates the city and its surrounding farmland from Skagit Bay and Puget Sound.

According to a May 29 news release from the City of Stanwood, the levee has "long required improvements."

"Over the past five years, the City of Stanwood, alongside the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians and local, state and federal partners, has secured more than $8 million in funding to reinforce the 4-mile-long structure over the next three years," the release states.

Repairs will help secure the area in the event of another winter storm. Further repairs will likely begin next summer once permitting processes are complete, according to city staff.

"This declaration is about being proactive and doing everything we can to move repairs forward before conditions worsen," said Mayor Sid Roberts. "By repairing the areas with the most damage now, we can keep the levee functional and our community safe while we work on longer-term improvements to the entire system."

The project will be funded through Snohomish County grant dollars.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE

The council unanimously voted Thursday to adopt a historic preservation ordinance, intended to allow for the designation of eligible historic properties in Stanwood.

Community Development Director Patricia Love presented an update of the ordinance, which was slightly revised after the council's May 14 meeting to remove the requirement to list inventoried properties on a zoning map.

Historic preservation will be voluntary for homes and businesses that choose to participate.

To be on the register, a property needs to be "significantly associated with the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or cultural heritage of the community," according to the ordinance. Properties must also be at least 50 years old.

"It really is an honorary designation," Love said at the meeting.

She also spoke to the council about how the historic register would benefit both the city and property owners.

The city would be able to apply for grants to improve properties on the register, and homeowners would be eligible for tax relief on home improvements.

Love said there would be no requirement to have or keep properties on the register, and that the city can apply for grant funding even if no properties opt in initially.

Now that the ordinance has been adopted, the five-person Stanwood Historic Commission will be seated, and work can begin to advocate for historic preservation in the city.

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