20120523104044759.pdfThornquist,ndJ
From: Thornquist, Linda
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 3:00 PM
To: 'Valerie Stewart'
Subject: RE: re 919 Cedar Street BLD2010-0345
Valerie,
I'm sorry to hear that you will not building your Single Family Horne.
Thank you for the email and your positive suggestions for future green building.
Would you like your set of plans? If so, please let nee know, as we recycle single family building plans and appfications
and plans that have expired or been wpt drawn.
Thank you again, Linda
Linda Vzo-rnquiSt
Pet,mit Spr cicr.list
From: Valerie Stewart [mailto:valstewfitness@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 3:27 PM
To: Thornquist, Linda
Cc: Clugston, Michael; Bullis, Ann; Shuster, Jerry; McConnell, Jeanie; Machuga, Jen; Earling, Dave; Lawler, Patrick;
craigw@pistolcreek.com
Subject: re 919 Cedar Street BLD2010-0345
May 18. 2012
Dear Linda,
We regret to inform you that we will not be building the single family residence at 919 Cedar Street, application #BLD2010-0345. This
decision was a very difficult one for us, especially for me since I poured my heart and soul into designing it with the hopes that it would
become a demonstration project for the City to model green building. My husband Craig and I feel strongly that there are great
opportunities for green and sustainably designed residential and commercial development in the City which would certainly contribute to
the economic well-being and attractiveness of the City to other like-minded citizens, particularly the younger generation.
There are a number of factors that played into our decision. The timeline for this project to meet the approval of the City stretched from
the pre -application meeting December 17, 2009 to initial permit submittal May 21, 2010, to permit approval February 17, 2011. The
length of time it took to work through the system along with the diminishing market conditions wreaked havoc on our ability to keep this
project moving forward. We did ask for and received an extension on our permit until May 21, 2012. Conditions have only worsened
since then. We recently did market analyses of our property and the proposed project and compared that to the reality of building
costs which did not decline so much as did the real estate market. It was pretty discouraging.
In addition we became increasingly concerned over escalating and unforeseen costs from the City that came up during the design
process and beyond. Ultimately the fees to get the permit issued ended up being considerably more than we anticipated. Then there
were considerable increases in water and sewer connection fees on top of that.
We were pleased from the start that the City was interested in making this a demonstration project. To quote our LEED architect Lydia
Marshall:
"the purpose of this project is to construct a single family residence that showcases many of the sustainable strategies available today
for storm water management, energy efficiency, green materials use and efficient living...... and make it available to citizens of Edmonds
for tours and educational opportunities centered on these strategies to forward Edmonds' commitment to a sustainable future."
We were so encouraged by the enthusiasm of staff when our green team presented our project at the pre -application meeting. The
excitement continued throughout the project planning stages along with an abundance of cooperation and eagerness to make this
work. I have only praises to sing of the staff we worked with over those several months. Your City was taking on a cutting edge 5 star
built green home project but it became abundantly clear that there was a lot of learning that had to take place and adjustments to be
made along the way in order to incorporate an integrated design approach into a system that is primarily designed to deal with
conventional building. You were all willing to accommodate us and we muddled along while our design costs mounted.
At this juncture it is our hope that something positive will come of all this effort and expense. Having journeyed through this process
and drawing from my sustainable building design studies, I would like to offer a few suggestions so that future projects can succeed:
• make the code easier to navigate and incentivize green building
• train and develop a "green team" that can take a project like this and move it forward in a systems/integrated
design approach rather than departments doing their parts piecemeal
• assign a point person to be available for questions at all times on green projects seeking to push the envelope
• expedite the permitting process for green building (other jurisdictions are doing this)
• reduce fees to reflect reduced loads on the City's systems
• make it easier and cost effective to integrate green storm water infrastructure
We hired a select group of green building professionals who are at the cutting edge in the industry. My deepest gratitude goes to my
"green team" for sticking with us through the approval process and a huge thank you to all of the dedicated staff that worked on this
project. Our hope is that Edmonds will embrace sustainably designed projects in the future and get on board like other jurisdictions to
make that happen. It will be a better future for the next generation when it does!
Sincerely,
Val and Craig Stewart
Valerie Stewart
Certified Sustainable Building Adviser
Certified Interpretive Guide
American College of Sports Medicine Health Fitness Specialist
425-420-8816