Residents urge preservation around Cumberland and warn of traffic, water and noise impacts from proposed mine and asphalt plant

During public comment at the July 13 Eden Plus City Council meeting, three speakers raised land-use and public-safety concerns connected to projects near Enumclaw.

Julius Stevens, who said he lives in unincorporated King County outside Enumclaw, urged council to review King County materials and to submit comments before the county’s comment deadline. He said the proposed Cumberland aggregate mine and asphalt plant could operate for "25 to 35 years," would run 24 hours a day and could introduce substantial truck traffic through town. Stevens also said the operation would likely require significant water, giving a range of "175,000 to 250,000 gallons a day" for running the asphalt plant, and warned of regional impacts to roads and emergency services.

Because a phrase in the transcript about truck counts is unclear, the transcript quote is preserved verbatim where cited. Stevens said the project may put "2.98 to 6 68 heavy trucks per day" through the area; the precise count should be verified against King County project materials. He told the council that King County’s written materials are open for comment through Aug. 7 and that copies were left with the city clerk.

Linda Stevens said she has long used the Lizard Mountain area north of Cumberland for hiking, horseback riding and river access and urged the city and county to preserve roughly 990 acres of that land. She said local wells and water resources are a concern if a large-scale extraction project proceeds and that county and state entities have expressed at least preliminary interest in conservation.

Separately, Jan Malinaro warned the council that a proposal to convert the former Moose Lodge into either a nightclub or event center could reproduce past issues with noise, alcohol and calls for police response in residential areas. He recommended council and staff review the municipal noise-control code (chapter 8) when evaluating any liquor-license or land-use applications.

Council did not take formal action on these public comments during the meeting; staff and council members acknowledged the comments and the city attorney and clerk were given materials by commenters.

The transcript includes detailed claims and numerical estimates from the speakers; those claims represent commenters’ views and should be verified with King County planning documents or the applicants’ materials for accuracy before being treated as factual findings.