Wetlands law could hamper ML's Hallett school additions

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

The Medical Lake School District may have to compromise on where six new classrooms will be built onto Hallett Elementary School in order to bypass city regulations limiting construction near designated wetlands areas.

Recent updates to the Medical Lake municipal code require a 200-foot buffer zone between any high-intensity land use, such as a school, and category 2 wetlands, or those the Washington state Department of Ecology has deemed difficult to replace.

Medical Lake city planner Glenn Scholten said wetlands classification has changed dramatically since H...