CREEKSIDE CHRONOLOGY

7/3/25 LETTER TO COUNTY AND CITY:

Chronology of Events
Alex Wenger, in his capacity as Blaine Community Development Services (CDS) Director, ignored or actively circumvented public comments and concerns regarding the Creekside Planned Unit Development (PUD) and its application completeness determination. This pattern of conduct is highlighted through various communications and formal objections. Here is a chronology of events related to Alex Wenger's actions concerning public comment and the completeness of the Creekside PUD application:[Creekside PUD is within the Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA) for the City of Blaine's municipal drinking water.]
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May 30, 2024: The City of Blaine's Community Development Services (CDS) Department issues a "Determination of Complete Application" for the Creekside at the Ridge PUD (Permits # 2024027, 2024028, 2024030, 2024029). This letter is signed by Senior Planner Mike Beck, with Alex Wenger copied. This determination was made just two days after the application's submission on May 28, 2024.
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June 5, 2024: The City issues the Notice of Application for Creekside at the Ridge, which confirms the May 30, 2024, completeness determination.
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June 19, 2024: The public comment period on the notice of application closes. This means the City's "completeness" determination on May 30, 2024, preceded the closure of the public comment period and any SEPA threshold determination, a point of contention in later objections.
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May 7, 2025: Cascade Engineering Group, the applicant, sends an extension request letter to Alex Wenger, explicitly stating their understanding that the "Creekside project continues to await a SEPA decision" and the drafting of the staff report. This communication to Alex directly highlights that a key SEPA requirement was still incomplete after the application had been declared "complete."
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June 20, 2025: Otto Pointer, on behalf of the Blaine Water Coalition, sends a formal objection letter addressed to Alex Wenger and City Council Members. This letter formally objects to the City's completeness determination and its eligibility for extension. Key arguments presented in this objection, which Alex Wenger received, include:
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"No current SEPA checklist or threshold determination was prepared, issued, or made available for appeal.".
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"No public hearing was held, violating due process and state law.".
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"The City’s own correspondence admits the SEPA process is not complete.".
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It also states that "numerous public comments were submitted through June 2025" raising significant concerns (including water quality, stormwater, wetland impacts, and protection of Spooner Creek), and these comments "have not been addressed or incorporated into the staff report or project record".
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June 23, 2025: Community Development Director Alex Wenger communicates a "complete" finding for the Creekside PUD to the City Council for their approval of an ordinance. During this communication, he "failed to disclose that (a) no valid, current SEPA threshold determination had been issued; and (b) the project site lies wholly within the City’s Critical Aquifer Recharge Area and Well 9 five-year capture zone". This act is described as a misrepresentation and concealment, as important technical studies supporting these facts were publicly available on the City's webpage but were not included or referenced in the Council packet.
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July 2, 2025: Alex Wenger responds to Otto Pointer's email from June 20, 2025, explicitly stating: "A threshold SEPA determination has not been issued at this time. Thank you for your comments.". This response from Alex confirms the key deficiency (lack of SEPA determination) even while acknowledging the application was deemed complete earlier.
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July 2, 2025 (Second formal letter): The Blaine Water Coalition sends a comprehensive formal objection letter to various state and federal agencies (with Alex Wenger and the City Council copied), stating that their two previous letters sent to "Mr. Alex Wenger" regarding the completeness determination were "ignored". This letter further elaborates that "City emails reveal that the CDS Director [Alex Wenger] cut off citizen comments after the hearing record closed, openly defying hearing rules," and that comments submitted timely were threatened to be "omitted from [the] Hearing Examiner’s consideration". This directly implicates Alex Wenger in the suppression or disregard of public input.

This chronology clearly illustrates a pattern where Alex Wenger's office declared the PUD application "complete" despite critical missing information (like SEPA determination), received explicit public objections highlighting these deficiencies and other concerns (e.g., public hearing, stormwater rules, critical areas), and subsequently either ignored these comments or actively prevented their full consideration by the City Council. 

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