Residents, local and state agencies raise concerns over proposed Skookumchuck Commerce Center in Centralia

Area residents and local and state agencies are raising concerns over a proposed development in Centralia.

The Skookumchuck Commerce Center is a proposed industrial warehouse development on land annexed by the City of Centralia in February off of Reynolds Avenue. Panattoni Development Company, Inc., is the land owner. If built, the commerce center will be located just east of Interstate 5 and the Puget Sound & Pacific railroad along Reynolds Avenue. 

Engineering consulting for the project is being conducted by AHBL Inc. out of Tacoma. 

Should it be constructed, the development will cover nearly 57 acres of land and include two warehouses, one 295,365 square feet and the second 483,276 square feet. Both warehouses will be raised on top of fill to meet flood mitigation standards. 

The project is currently awaiting State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) approval. 

While the developers have submitted their final plans and SEPA application, residents along Reynolds Avenue and the surrounding neighborhoods have raised concerns about the Skookumchuck Commerce Center. 

A petition has already been circulated and signed by 78 home and business owners along Reynolds Avenue and the surrounding neighborhoods opposing the center’s construction. One of those residents is Jeremy Ashbeck, who has a number of concerns about the proposed development. 

One fear for Ashbeck and others is the potential increase in flood risk from the adjacent Skookumchuck River. 

“It’s all a flood zone, all of it. And it’s the drainage when it floods, and it’s the confluence zone where Coffee Creek meets up with the Skookumchuck,” Ashbeck said.  

With the development in the floodplain, Ashbeck is worried he and his neighbors will be at a significantly increased flood risk with the commerce center constructed. Given its size and the amount of land that will be covered in fill, concrete or asphalt, residents believe if a major flood occurs, flood waters will be pushed into the surrounding communities and destroy their homes. 

As experts predict catastrophic 100-year flood events like the 2007 flood will happen more frequently, residents in the area lament the prospect of even more floodwaters being pushed their way. 

While flooding is a major concern, Ashbeck said he feels an even bigger issue is the possible impact to the area’s aquifer the commerce center could have if built. Since the area is a known floodplain, it is vital in helping recharge the local aquifer beneath, he said. 

Traffic and the noise are also concerns. A traffic study was conducted, but only between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday and Wednesday in February. 

“It didn’t account for summer or weekend traffic and it didn’t account for the fact this is a tourist town,” Ashbeck said.  

The Skookumchuck Commerce Center could also displace several local businesses, potentially leaving the owners with no place to relocate, Ashbeck said. 

Aside from asking questions to city staff, Ashbeck has written several letters to the editor that have already been published in The Chronicle and brought his concerns to Centralia City Council during the public comment portion of council’s Tuesday night meeting earlier this week.

Talks surrounding the proposed development have been ongoing among city staff and developers for nearly a year, according to documents obtained by The Chronicle. 

Staff raised concerns throughout the process, including about the potential for displaced flood waters. Current city code dictates developments must have a 1-to-1 fill to excavation ratio.  

The developers have been pushing back, claiming they are providing adequate compensatory storage in the form of stormwater ponds and sunken parking lots, among other mitigation efforts. 

“Our floodplain development permit will include all of the data and science to show how this works on our site,” Bart Brynestad, engineer for AHBL in Tacoma, wrote in a Feb. 20 email. 

As for the threat of 100-year flood events, Brynestad argued the development would act no different than the existing land. 

“While the soils in the existing condition do likely soak up some rainwater during a typical storm, during a 100-year storm, the soils would already be completely saturated and would have no ability to soak up extra water,” Brynestad said in a Feb. 20 email. “Therefore, during a 100-year rain, the existing site would generate the same volume of stormwater as the developed site.”

One city official responded with confusion to the claim. 

“Maybe it’s just me but I don’t understand how a filled, fully developed site where contours are changed and hard surfaces added, can be considered as functioning the same as an underdeveloped, dirt/grass site,” Assistant Planning Director Hillary Hoke wrote in a Feb. 22 email. “The code says 1to-1 ratio. If he doesn’t want to do a 1-to-1 fill/excavation ratio, then my recommendation would be to require a (hydrologic and hydraulic) study that shows no adverse impact to up/down streams properties.” 

While the project is still awaiting SEPA approval, city staff have also asked for additional updates on flooding and transportation studies, Community Development Director Emil Pierson said in an email to The Chronicle. 

Additionally, City Councilor Mark Westley, a former resident of Reynolds Avenue, raised flooding concerns during the February city council meeting during which the land for the development was annexed. 

“At the bottom of my driveway, 1505 Reynolds at the time, when the ‘07 flood hit I had hip waders on and it was above my knees with about 3 and a half feet of water. Tried to go across the field to see how deep it got, and I know most of that field was covered by 5 or 6 feet of water,” Westley said during the February meeting. 

Westley added he’s currently discussing potential impacts to the aquifer with city staff in an email to The Chronicle. 

Brynestad and Darren Peugh, of Panattoni, haven’t responded to requests for comment.

Concerned residents, business owners and city staff aren’t the only ones raising concerns, though. 

The June 12 letters

On June 12, five letters were sent to city staff from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the Washington state Department of Ecology, the Lewis County Community Development department, and the Port of Centralia. 

All five entities raised various concerns or requested further studies and requirements before giving the project their seal of approval. 

In WSDOT’s letter, WSDOT Development Review Planner Dylan Bass noted multiple discrepancies in the traffic study conducted. 

“Tenant-provided data for building A appears to significantly under-report daily vehicle trips when compared to Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual data for the warehousing land use code,” Bass said in the June 12 letter. 

Bass went on to say as the project progresses, additional traffic studies may be required by WSDOT for review. 

A multitude of requirements were raised by Ecology as well in the letter from the department’s Southwest Regional Office. Hazardous waste and toxic reduction efforts will be required for paints, lead-acid batteries and mercury-containing lamps, which could be used in the warehouses. 

For any demolition needed, asbestos and other contaminants must be managed before demolition begins.  

Ecology stated a dam safety construction permit might be required for the stormwater ponds and erosion control measures must be in place prior to construction to prevent river contamination from occurring. 

The ability of the aquifer to recharge was also brought up, as the development is located in a critical aquifer recharge area.

WDFW Habitat Biologist Karen Adams detailed the agency’s concerns. 

“This property is highly constrained by floodplain habitat and as proposed, will have significant negative impacts on the natural resources on site,” Adams said in the June 12 letter. 

The threat of more frequent 100-year flood events is prevalent in her mind, too, especially with the additional fill the site will need to raise the two warehouses, even with the additional stormwater ponds. 

“WDFW is concerned that these ponds would be unable to adequately accommodate the floodwater coming from the river,” Adams said. 

Like Ecology, WDFW had concerns about the aquifer. Potential danger to salmon populations were also brought up, along with other aquatic species. Adams said developers had not clarified how it could avoid or mitigate potential negative wildlife impacts. 

Lewis County officials wanted a pre-elevation certificate and flood development permit to be completed and for the developers to verify no survey monuments would be disturbed during construction and underground utility work. 

Survey monuments are permanent markers set by surveyors to reference certain points on a property. 

Should monuments exist, they will need to be properly removed and recorded with the Public Land Survey Office. 

In the letter from the Port of Centralia, Executive Director Kyle Heaton laid out his concerns about the traffic study conducted by the developers and how the Skookumchuck Commerce Center could affect traffic for port tenants.  

“Despite providing analysis for thirteen existing intersections in proximity to the project, the traffic impact analysis does not analyze the intersection of West Reynolds Avenue/Galvin Road and Harrison Avenue … It is reasonable to imagine that the construction of 800,000 square feet of warehousing uses will add at least some peak p.m. trips to the intersection of West Reynolds Avenue/Galvin Road and Harrison Avenue,” Heaton wrote in the June 12 letter. 

As the intersection is already facing congestion issues from port tenant traffic on top of city traffic, Heaton wants a new traffic study completed including that intersection.