I was disappointed to read that The Reporter, describing the angst felt by the neighbors of the proposed development on Ingelwood Hill Road, failed to give the reason why.

After seeing the variances the city is granting developers on parcels that the county had deemed “unbuildable” or “sensitive area,” many old time environmentalists on the Plateau are being reawakened to the need for vigilance to protect our beautiful area.

One example is a parcel at the top of Northeast 211th that the county had designated too steep to build on. The city granted a variance, the builder removed all the trees and vegetation and now three homes hang off the steep slope which, in my opinion, puts the existing homeowner at the bottom of the hill in peril.

The developer of the proposed Benham Ridge Development mentioned in the article has every right to develop it, we just want to make sure he does it in an environmentally responsible way and we don’t trust the city and the developer to do this without due diligence and oversight on the part of those who love our beautiful Plateau.

Barbara Raabe, Sammamish