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News Dec 29 2011
MAPLE VALLEY REPORTER: Growth board ruling on YarrowBay developments reversed by Court of Appeals

Dec 13 2011
MAPLE VALLEY REPORTER: Three City Council members approve YarrowBay development agreements

Environmental Stewardship

Black Diamond’s natural surroundings are a treasured resource of the community that help make Black Diamond a wonderful place to work and live. Protecting this natural beauty is crucial to all of our development plans because it means preserving a high quality of life for residents of Black Diamond, both present and future.

Environmental stewardship is a strong component of smart growth principles. Our plans incorporate the natural environment into the community by weaving neighborhood clusters between hundreds of acres of undisturbed open space. By preserving this open space along with providing numerous community parks, residents can take in the natural beauty of Black Diamond and enjoy living at the foot of Mt. Rainier.

In addition, open spaces will protect sensitive wetlands and steep slope areas. Natural wildlife corridors remain to allow deer, elk and other wildlife access to their natural habitat. Local food production will be encouraged through use of community gardens and working closely with local farmers to bring locally grown products to local stores.

In keeping with our efforts to be good stewards of the environment, YarrowBay has committed to no net increase of phosphorus runoff from the developed portions of The Villages and Lawson Hills MPDs into Lake Sawyer.

By adopting the Department of Ecology’s 2005 Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington, the City of Black Diamond requires a 50% reduction in total phosphorus in stormwater that drains from new development sites when that stormwater flows to phosphorus-sensitive Lake Sawyer. Unlike most master planned developments in Washington, and unlike all other development sites in the City of Black Diamond, YarrowBay is self-imposing a “no net increase” standard for its phosphorus runoff mitigation.

This means that YarrowBay is imposing a 100% reduction standard for the “new” phosphorus generated by development, by assuring that the amount of total phosphorus from the MPD areas remains the same as the amount of phosphorus that flows from those undeveloped lands to Lake Sawyer today.

This goes above and beyond the standards put in place by the Lake Sawyer Management Plan, as well as the standards provided in the Department of Ecology’s Lake Sawyer Total Phosphorus TMDL Water Quality Implementation Plan, and all other existing state and local requirements.

Furthermore, Low Impact Development practices will be put in place to assure rain water runoff will be treated by natural systems to remove pollutants from the water as it returns slowly and naturally to the local aquifers. These measures include:

  • Rain gardens, green roofs and other low impact development features that will further treat runoff at the point of origin.
  • The removal of topsoil during construction to be saved for reuse in final landscaping.
  • Recycling and reuse programs during construction that will greatly reduce pressure on local landfills.

The use of native and drought tolerant plantings for landscaping and amending soils with natural materials, which will work long into the future, maintaining and even improving the quality of the environment.

All new homes and commercial buildings will be required to meet a high standard of sustainability, emphasizing the use of environmentally-friendly building products and building practices, as well as meeting enhanced targets for energy and water savings.