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About the Greater Maple Valley Area Council

The Greater Maple Valley Area Council (GMVAC) is an all-volunteer, locally elected advisory body to the King County Council. All members reside in the unincorporated portion of Tahoma School District #409 (see Service Area Map). The Area Council represents and advocates with King County state officials and other organizations for our unincorporated area's citizens' interests. Regular meetings occur on the first Monday of each month. (Read more ....)

Announcements

May Meeting
The Greater Maple Valley Unincorporated Area Council will hold its regular monthly meeting on Monday, May 7, from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM at the Maple Valley fire station (NE corner of intersection of SE 231st St & SR-169). 

All members of the public are invited to attend. During the Public Comment period at the start of each meeting, members of the public can address the Area Council on any local issue. Your Area Council is locally elected and represents all unincorporated area residents living in the Tahoma School District.

Area Council Vacancies
The Area Council has five vacancies to fill. If you live in the Tahoma School District outside the City of Maple Valley, you are eligible to become a member of the Area Council. Rural Area citizens interested in applying can contact the Area Council by mailing a brief letter of interest to: GMVAC. PO Box 101. Maple Valley WA 98038.

Current News

King County Unincorporated Area Roads
King County Department of Transportation (KCDOT) has proposed a new “Tiered Level of Service” that would be implemented beginning in 2012, pending King County Council approval. With revenues projected to be insufficient to sustain the preservation and maintenance of the entire county road system, KCDOT has prioritized which roadways will be serviced to keep them in working order, while allowing other roadways to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance and preservation. As a result, a Tiered Level of Service has been established which consists of:
Tier 1 — the “spine” of the County road system (e.g., Issaquah-Hobart Rd.), totals 105 mi (7%);
Tier 2 — connectors and backup for Tier 1 roads (e.g., Cedar Grove Rd.), totals 166 mi (11%);
Tier 3— highly used “local” roads (e.g., Sweeney Rd. SE), totals 193 mi (12%);
Tier 4 — residential “dead-end” roads, totals 510 mi (32%); and
Tier 5— local roads that have alternate access, totals 590 mi (38%).

All five Tiers will be addressed when it comes to regulatory compliance and safety, but only the highest tiers for preservation and maintenance. In the greater Maple Valley area about 60% of the unincorporated roads are Tier 4 and 5. To see a Map of the Tier classifications for all Unincorporated Area roads, click here.

GMVAC Committees Review of King County Code
The Area Council's Growth Management Committee and Transportation Committee conducted a thorough review of the King County Code (KCC) to address potential Rural Area impacts from large urban developments. This was precipitated by the Yarrow Bay-proposed 6,000-home Master Planned Developments in Black Diamond. Recommended KCC changes were provided to the King County Executive and County Council to protect the Rural Area from massive urban development. In general, while many KCC provisions protect Rural Area citizens from the impacts of adjacent urban development, in many cases, meaningful or timely enforcement is lacking.

Master-Planned Developments in Black Diamond
On September 20, 2010, the Black Diamond City Council voted 5-0 to pass an Ordinance approving with conditions two Master Planned Development (MPD) applications submitted by Yarrow Bay in and around the City of Black Diamond. The MPDs total 4,530 single-family and 1,520 multi-family units, for a total of 6,050 dwelling units on 691 acres, and 1,165,000 sq. ft. of commercial and offrice space, all on the rural/suburban fringe of our southeast corner of King County.

Hearings before the city's Hearings Examiner were held in July 2011 on Development Agreements which provide more detail by phase. These development agreement hearings included oral testimony by many members of the public, organizations, local jurisdictions, and King County government agencies. The Hearing Examiner recommended approval of the development agreements but with 24 "Implementing" conditions added, many of which were proposed by the Public and supported by the Area Council.

Using the Hearing Examiner's recommendations as a basis, the Black Diamond City Council started their development agreement Hearings with Public Testimony in October 2011. The Area Council testified on Rural Area issues. The Public requested many "Supplementary" conditions be added to the MPD Ordinance. The Development Agreements were approved in December 2011 and are currently the subject of litigation.

Fire Sprinkler Requirements
King County DDES has submitted their adopting ordinance for new building codes to the King County Council for approval. This ordinance does not include any new sprinkler requirements for residences. There had been concern that new residences would have to install sprinkler systems as part of construction. The National Board has voted to adopt International Fire Code Section R 313 - Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems - that would require new residences to install such systems. The State of Washington also has adopted the new code, but has left it up to each jurisdiction (e.g. county, city) to decide whether to adopt the new code locally. The King County Council will make a final decision by July 1, 2010. These codes are reviewed every three years. More information on King County code related to sprinkler systems can be found here. Go to Sprinkler Systems and click on the pdf file.

Local Groups

Maple Valley Farmers Market
The Area Council supports the establishment of a Maple Valley Farmers Market, which enhances our community, facilitates strong local ties, and promotes locally owned businesses. (Visit the Maple Valley Farmers Market website.)

Items of Interest

Ravensdale Park



The Area Council and local stakeholder groups have actively participated with King County Parks to achieve a neighborhood friendly plan. The group has successfully designed a park that maintains a connection to the rural community while adding two fields and upgrading others to meet the need of sports groups with rural players.

Funding for Phase I was approved and construction started in mid August. Ohno construction and Sprinturf did a marvelous job and in spite of a few weather delays will finish construction by mid December of 2011. The project was managed by a local group that formed the Ravensdale Park Foundation which consisted of the local baseball and soccer groups. We can all be very proud of the contribution to a productive and working neighborhood park. See photos of the finished project.

Landsburg Rd. Speed Limits
The Area Council has requested a speed limit change posting on the Landsburg Rd. in Ravensdale. There recently has been a 45-mph speed limit sign posted on Landsburg Rd. We question this, considering the history of the "Landsburg Curve," where there have been a number of accidents.

Ravensdale Ridge
Erickson Logging, owner of the 1,200-acre property on Ravensdale Ridge between Ravensdale Park and Black Diamond, has applied to King County Dept. of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) to truck in clean fill from highway construction projects around Puget Sound to fill in five old mine trenches on Ravensdale Ridge. They anticipate handling approximately 390,000 cubic yards of fill material. This project is anticipated to require between 20 and 100 truck/trailer trips per day (averaging 60 trips per day), and the application requests that they be allowed to haul and fill 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This project is anticipated to require approximately two years to complete.

Reserve Silica Corp. (the "sandworks" just west of Ravensdale) has also applied to DDES to extend their permitted hours of operation for hauling and filling on their property from the current Mon-Fri 7 AM - 7 PM / Sat 9 AM - 6 PM to 24 hours a day seven days a week. The DDES file number for this application is L70G1122. If both the Erickson and the Reserve Silica projects are approved, Ravensdale Way could be handling truck/trailer traffic from both projects simultaneously, 24/7.

The primary access route for this truck/trailer traffic will be on Kent-Kangley Rd. to Ravensdale, then out the Black Diamond-Ravensdale Rd. (Ravensdale Way) past Gracie Hansen and Ravensdale Park, crossing the Burlington Northern railway crossing just west of old Ravensdale, then up onto Ravensdale Ridge on the new Erickson Logging access road just before the Reserve Silica Sandworks operation.

The Area Council has submitted a Letter of Comment to King County DDES with copies to other county officials, as well as WA DOE and the cities of Maple Valley and Black Diamond.

Landsburg Mine Cleanup
The Landsburg Mine is a former underground coal mine located just northwest of Ravensdale. The WA Dept. of Ecology Clean-Up Action Plan is being finalized. It will undergo a public comment period so that all interested parties will be able to provide input, especially local area residents who might possibly be affected by remedial actions.

County-wide Community Forums
Any King County citizen can register as Citizen Councilor to participate in Countywide Community Forums. Citizens will meet informally in small groups a few times each year to consider important issues, listen to the opinions of other Citizen Councilors, and provide their anonymous opinions on issues to King County Council members.

Area Council Elections and Citizens' Advisory Survey

In odd-numbered years, the Area Council conducts an Advisory Issues Citizens Survey on topics of importance to the rural community. (To see survey results, choose Citizen Surveys from the left-side menu.) The Area Council will again mail ballots to all rural unincorporated registered voters in early 2012. The Area Council wishes to thank all citizens in advance for filling out their surveys; results will again be shared with King County and state elected officials.