Man concerned with bushes becoming refuge for criminal activity

MOSES LAKE — Attorney Harold Moberg informed Moses Lake City Council of an area near his law office he says has become a refuge for the homeless and sex offenders.

The area is next to his law office on East Riviera Avenue. It’s comprised of thick Russian olive trees and other shrubs. Vagrants have made a home out of the brush complete with an entrance door and pathways. The area is covered in garbage and a broken chair.

The area is designated as a protected wetland.

Moberg showed council pictures of the area to demonstrate how close it is to his office and the living conditions of the area. He said he is worried for the health and safety of his employees.

“This fall we were notified that a sex offender was living in the bushes,” he said. “I have some employees who are very concerned.”

Moberg explained he has permission from the property owner, Greg Zaser, to remove the Russian olive trees to prevent the area from becoming a refuge to criminal activity.

“I want to spend about $100,000 remodeling my office,” he said. “We’ve got to get control of that. You’ve got a terrible drug problem during the summer months. You certainly have a vagrant problem.”

He said the trees in the area are not indigenous.

“We’re willing to take them out,” Moberg said. “We’re just having difficulty getting whatever it takes from the city.”

He said he’s met with city representatives and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife in an effort to try to remove the trees to prevent criminal activity in the bushes but because the area is deemed a wetland, he is having difficulty achieving his goal.

Community Development Director Gilbert Alvarado said the city’s been working with Moberg on the issue.

On Dec. 14, the city sent him a letter explaining the process for altering a wetland, he said. People have tried to do something with the land in the past but were blocked by issues related to it being a wetland from the Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Our rules say that we have to regulate activities within those wetlands,” Alvarado said. “These aren’t rules that we came up with. The legislature passed a bill called the Growth Management Act. It required us to establish rules to protect critical areas. Wetlands are one of them.”

The rules state alterations of wetlands may be allowed when all significant adverse impacts to the wetland functions are mitigated.

Fish and wildlife advised if someone wants to remove vegetation from the wetland, it must be mitigated and compensated. Their formula is, if one tree is removed, it must be replaced with three trees. Fish and Wildlife requires one tree be replaced with seven trees at that property site.

There are seven trees to be removed, Moberg said. They are dead or decaying trees.

He explained the corps of engineers will allow the trees be trimmed without any compensation or mitigation, otherwise a permit is required.

“I know this sounds like a lot of over-regulation but we’re kind of the stewards of the code and we must make sure that we follow it,” Alvarado said. “I know it’s frustrating for Harold because in the meantime he has that to contend with. I don’t know if there is anything we can do with our current provisions that would simply allow someone to go in and remove vegetation without some sort of mitigation.”

Councilmember Richard Pearce said someone living in the bushes on the wetland appears to be a violation by itself.

“I think at this juncture the easiest thing to do would be to limb up and clean up and see if that doesn’t solve the problem,” he said.

By eliminating limbs and shrubbery it may make the area more visible and prevent criminal activity.

“Fish and Wildlife would like to see that go, but you get sideways with the army corps and their permitting,” Alvarado said.

Councilmember Dick Deane asked what the police department has done about the criminal activity.

“We are aware of it,” police Chief Dean Mitchell said. “Most of these people we are dealing with are vagrants. They move from one place to another. We have made a number of arrests. We continue to patrol that area because we do receive complaints on a regular basis, but a long term solution, I don’t have a long term solution. When we get complaints, we respond.”

Moberg said the police department has helped.

“I think it is a revolving door,” he said. “I have a permit in front of you now to put up a fence with barbed wire but to do that you need to be able to have it where they can’t hide. If those trees are gone, you’re … going to eliminate what’s going on because it’s a place to hide. I plan on fencing it. There’s no point putting a fence in until I can get rid of the Russian olives.”

He explained there are several issues to still be dealt with concerning several agencies before he can alleviate the problem.

“I think you understand our predicament pretty well, you deal with the law all the time,” Mayor Jon Lane said. “Is this a piece of property that ever will be built on?”

Alvarado said it could be built on even though it is a wetland. There is also a permitting process to endure to build with agreement from each participating agency.

Lane asked if it could be developed as a park.

Alvarado said it could be a park but the corps of engineers needs to see a complete plan for any future construction on the property and they must approve it.

If the plan were to move forward, Moberg must have a mitigation plan complete with what he wants to remove and how he will enhance the area.

“That’s what we don’t have,” he said.

Alvarado said there have been similar problems with the area in the past.

“We’ve had more than one ‘tent city’ back there,” he said. “A couple years back, we’ve had one that was just as bad.”

Pearce said he encourages trimming the tree limbs and shrubs in the meantime as a temporary plan to see if it alleviates the problem and because it is allowable.

“It would be a start to solve the problem,” he said. “If we can do that, do it.”

If trimming does not solve the problem, then Moberg should continue with the permitting process, Pearce added.

Lane thanked Moberg for planning to improve his own building and for making efforts to improve the surrounding area.