Category Archives: Land Use

May Valley is surrounded by the relatively steep hillsides of Cougar, Tiger, and Squak Mountains, much of which is park or natural resource lands.

The 109 acre DeLeo farm, located on a hillside next to western May Valley, was purchased for conservation by King County Natural Resources and Parks in 2018. Neighboring the property is 30 acres locally called “the DeLeo Wall, which butts up against the Cougar Mountain Regional Park.

The DeLeo Wall is owned by Dalpay and Associates, a real estate company.  They applied for a permit to clear cut the property.

As part of their forest management authority, the WA Department of Natural Resources (DNP) granted Dalpay permission to clear cut the property. The City of Newcastle sued Dalpay, Erickson Logging, and the WA DNR claiming DNR ignored city and county codes and findings. The case will be heard by the Pollution Control Hearing Board (PCHB). The hearing is scheduled for October 18-20, 2022 at 9AM.

Links

Save the DeLeo Wall

Drone movie showing the potential clear cut area

How Washington allows clear cutting when cities don’t want it

King County conserves 109 acres in the May Valley area

In December 2018, the Parks Division of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks purchased 109 acres of undeveloped, forested land adjacent to the SE corner of Cougar Mtn Regional Wildland Park, with the intent of conserving the land to enhance habitat, while allowing for low-impact recreational use (e.g. soft-surface trails).

The contiguous open space across Cougar Mountain, Squak Mountain and Tiger Mountain, often referred to as the Issaquah Alps, provides habitat for a variety of wildlife species including cougar, black bear, bobcat and deer.  The acquisition has high quality second growth Douglas fir forest that would be a valuable contribution of habitat values within this section of the park.  More from the application for funding…

FCUAC Mountains subarea map here…

Starting in 1970, Washington State provides annual funding for conservation via the Conservation Futures Tax (CFT).  King County used CFT funds for the purchase.  More on CFT…

The King County Council made land conservation a priority in 2018 by allowing a larger percentage of CFT funding to be “pulled forward” in time (i.e. allowing future funding to be spent in earlier years).  In the current market of rising land prices, being able to purchase properties earlier can be desirable. (See King County Land Conservation Initiative)

Winterbrook Action Committee

Winterbrook Action Committee: Meeting Monday Feb. 13th at Firestation 78  20720 SE May Valley Rd Issaquah, WA 98027. Meeting starts at 7 pm. Homeowners from Sunset Valley Farms who formed a group that is working to save Winterbrook Farm from Development. For more information email Chad at chadrichardson107@gmail.com or Jana at janahadley@msn.com