Borough, resident at odds over neighbor’s septic tank

WASILLA — Disagreement is flowing along the banks of a seasonal creek near a developing subdivision in the Wasilla Fishhook area.

Linda Fisch has lived on the shores of 22-acre Paradise Lake for about 20 years. When she moved there, the neighborhood was largely composed of old homesteading properties completely surrounding the lake off of Wasilla Fishhook Road. In 2006, residents and neighbors became concerned the local watershed was potentially threatened when the borough platting board approved a 33-lot, 40-acre subdivision named Paradise Park. When local residents protested to the platting commission, the developers threatened to pull the application and build condominiums instead, according to a May 12, 2006 article in the Frontiersman.

Now two property owners have begun building on one of the lots, and have installed a septic system for their home south of the route of the creek. The construction was a nuisance at first, Fisch said.

“I had privacy here for 18 years and they cut down all the trees,” she said.

Fisch lives in an adjacent property and became concerned that the septic system Tom and Deborah Rolston were installing was too close to a seasonal creek that feeds into the west end of the lake. The creek is important, residents say, because it replenishes the waters of the lake, which are otherwise at risk of becoming weed-choked. During heavy snow years, the creek swells and fills the lake, which can rise or sink as much as 10 feet depending on the amount of inflow. Even this year’s lackluster snowfall moved the water level in the creek to within 50 feet of the septic system at one point in March, Fisch claims.

For her, the possible flooding of the creek and inundation of the septic system is a threat to the local environment. Numerous frogs and fish live in the lake, and bald eagles regularly show up on the shores. Their habitat is threatened by rapid development, Fisch said.

“I’m trying to stop a catastrophe,” she said.

Fisch reached out to officials at the Mat-Su Borough to ask them to enforce sections of borough code that might force the septic tank to be relocated further away from the creek. In particular, borough code requires that any septic systems be 100 feet from any body of water.

Borough officials told Fisch the septic tank met the setback requirements. They also questioned whether the creek was even a creek. EPA documents and correspondence from borough officials refer to the area as a drainage swale, or marshy wet spot between two ridges. The Army Corps of Engineers has determined the swale is not wetlands and doesn’t fall under its jurisdiction and a borough code enforcement officer checked and found the septic plant was 100 feet back from the swale, thus meeting the setback requirements, according to an email from development services director Alex Strawn.

A subsequent letter from planning director Eileen Probasco said the borough isn’t responsible for enforcing plats, which sometimes include setbacks or other documents required by other agencies.

“Nowhere does this (platting) certification indicate that, by signing the plat, the borough will be responsible for enforcement of all of the notes, easements, or other requirements on the plat, only that it has been found to comply with the land subdivision regulations, and has been approved by the appropriate authority,” Probasco wrote. “In fact, many of the notes, easements or other comments on plats are required by utilities or other state or federal agencies, and in some cases, by the developer themselves.”

Strawn declined to comment for this story, saying only that the borough is investigating the matter. The Rolstons did not return a phone call seeking comment in time for this article.

State officials declined to pursue enforcement of the matter, but said part of the question has been referred to the Alaska Attorney General’s office for review. Specifically, the application filed for the septic system contained no reference to a creek. Generally, the state only maintains the applications as a matter of record, said Gene McCabe, an environmental program manager for the Department of Environmental Conservation. An assistant attorney general is reviewing whether the submission of a septic application can be subject to an appeal or not, McCabe said.

Since the matter doesn’t directly involve health and safety, it fell under borough jurisdiction.

“Our focus is always on the protection of human health and the environment,” he said. “We’re not focused about who owns the land.”

The DEC would get involved in the event that Fisch’s fears are realized, McCabe said.

The way Fisch sees it, she’s spent about $5,000 and hired her own attorney to try and fight the septic system.

“There are some serious ecological issues here, and it all starts with this little stream,” she said.

Wallis Hoff has lived on lakefront property since 1994, and said she worries that alterations to the waterway could affect her property values and view. In 2012, heavy flooding flushed out the lake, leaving the water crystal clear.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “There’s a good reason why it’s Paradise Lake.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.