Nutria on the rise around Lake Washington

Nutria, the beaver-like rodents from South America, are on the rise again in some Portage Bay and Lake Washington areas. They were introduced to Washington and Oregon in the 1930s for fur production, but like many such experiments they got wild and "went wild" breeding and multiplying outside of fur trappers' control. Considering that their natural predators include alligators and caiman, no wonder they do fairly well here!

Nutria can be trapped and exterminated, which some folks are doing since they can act like moles and tear up valuable shoreline. Some government agencies are looking to get more involved in a wider and more coordinated program to rid the area of this non-native species, but those plans are in the early formative stages.

For a good overview of nutria in our area, check out this Seattle PI article.

Waterfront Homes More Affordable

As part of the larger market trends, waterfront homes have become more affordable and with higher selection. In some communities, the prices have held up very well due to continued demand by a general group of buyers insulated from the broader market issues of credit, income, mortgage options, and such. However, there are also an increasing number of good options in quality second tier waterfront locations, and supply and demand is gradually catching up with market realities.

The upside for sellers though is that the relative valuation and appreciation of waterfront continues to be stronger in relationship to the rest of the market. It's always good to have a valuable, in demand type of property where they aren't making any more shoreline, but they sure can make more inland subdivisions and condos.

An article appeared in today's Seattle Times about this topic. Although the specific anecdotes in the article are not locally based, the general concepts can still apply.

Reduce Goose on the Loose

Geese can be a troublesome part of local lakefront living for some. Geese love wide open manicured grass that comes to the water's edge, like many home owners have. Lawns provide them with foraging spots and open sight lines with no hiding places for predators. The main downside for many waterfront owners: what the geese leave behind...

The easiest way to get rid of geese on your lawn is to create a native vegetation buffer between your lawn and the water. This blocks the sight lines and access routes that geese prefer, and they will move on to open lawns elsewhere. Choose native vegetation of varying heights so that you can frame and enhance your views, with a majority of low lying bushes and native ground cover so that your views are maintained at your eye level but not at the geese's eye level.

This also provides other benefits to your property. Native vegetation buffers such as this help filter pollutants from your lawn before they enter the lake, and they provide insects for fish and birds. Also, in the rare event of severe wind that creates a lot of high wave action, the larger vegetation will protect your soil and landscaping from erosion far better than grass.

What To Do About Noxious Aquatic Weeds

"Noxious" aquatic weeds are defined as non-native plants that, once established, are destructive to the local ecosystem, competitive with other plants, or difficult to control. You want to avoid these, but they get into our waterways through a thousand different avenues: bottoms of unclean boats, wind and wave movement, natural spreading, animals, etc. Common weeds in King County lakes include Eurasion water milfoil, fragrant water lily, purple loose-strife, and yellow iris.

So, what to do if you start noticing aquatic weeds taking over your lakefront shallow waters? A very good resource is the King County Noxious Weed Control Program. You can contact them for information, ask questions, and get advice on how to get your particular situation under control.

Catching an infestation early is important since large scale infestations can be expensive and time consuming to treat, plus may require a number of permits. So, preventive medicine is good. And cooperation among neighbors is also important... Weeds don't stop at invisible property lines.

King County Shoreline Master Program recent results

Here's the latest update from King County on the public input process to proposed changes of our local Shoreline Master Program:

Preliminary King County responses to public comments received on the draft Shoreline Master Program update from October – December 2007 are now available. Phone message comments were received until September 2007; due to a technical error phone messages after that period were not recorded.

King County plans to release a third public review draft in late summer 2008 and hold a series of public meetings in fall 2008 before transmitting the Proposed Shoreline Master Program to King County Council in November, 2008.

Shoreline Fact Sheets
Draft Shoreline Master Program (September 2007)

King County commissioned a phone survey in winter 2007 to help understand public goals and priorities for managing shorelines. Results are available from the Shorelines Public Survey Findings page.

King County will release a third public review draft in late summer 2008 and hold a series of public meetings in fall 2008 before transmitting the Proposed Shoreline Master Program to King County Council in November, 2008.

Please send an email to shorelines@kingcounty.gov if you have any questions.

Best Puget Sound Beaches

In addition to your own private beachfront, there are many terrific long expanses of public beachfront around the Seattle area of Puget Sound. Here some of the best beaches close in to the city. Be sure to explore further out for many others as well, including terrific parks in Tacoma, Vashon Island, and much more.

Best Sand Beaches

• Marina Beach - Edmonds


• Meadowdale Park - Edmonds


• Richmond Beach - Shoreline


• Carkeek Park - North Seattle


• Golden Gardens - North Seattle


• Discovery Park - Magnolia


• Alki Beach - West Seattle


• Dash Point State Park - Federal Way

Best Beach Walks

With a stroller:

• Alki Beach - West Seattle


• Lincoln Park - West Seattle

With a day-pack:

• Meadowdale Park - Edmonds


• Discovery Park - Magnolia

Best Beach Picnics

• Kayak Point Regional Park - Marysville


• Richmond Beach - Shoreline


• Seahurst Park - Burien


• Saltwater State Park - Des Moines


• Dash Point State Park - Federal Way

Best for Sea Creatures

• Howarth Park - Everett


• Brackett's Landing - Edmonds


• Seahurst Park - Burien

Best Beaches with Playgrounds

• Marina Beach - Edmonds


• Richmond Beach - Shoreline


• Golden Gardens - North Seattle


• Seahurst Park - Burien


• Saltwater State Park - Des Moines

Best Beaches for Fires

(in designated fire pits only)

• Golden Gardens - North Seattle


• Alki Beach - West Seattle

New Puget Sound Radio Show

People for Puget Sound, in conjunction with KSVR 91.7 FM, is beginning a new radio talk show centered around Puget Sound and its environment, people, history, and current topics of interest. The program will air Tuesdays at 5:00 pm on the community based radio station that transmits from Skagit Valley College in Mt Vernon.

Upcoming topics for the next 5 weeks include: Puget Sound Partnership, how to prevent a major oil spill and the related importance of tug boats, Hood Canal update, interview with Governor Gregoire regarding plans for restoring the health of Puget Sound, awareness of toxins in personal care products, and early maritime explorers of the Sound.

The programs will also be archived for online listening any time at either the radio station website or on People for Puget Sound's web page devoted to the show.

King County Shoreline Management Program updates

As I wrote about before, King County is now in its second phase of updating local Shoreline Management Program designations, policies, and regulations. This is a good opportunity for you to learn about existing and proposed regulations, as well as contribute your thoughts and opinions on the topic.

The county provided a good overview of their upcoming events, which I'll quote here for your info:

Learn more.
· Visit the King County Shorelines Web site to review the first draft of the updated Shoreline Master Program. Hard copies of the draft will also be made available in public libraries and community service centers in October 2007.
· Schedule a special presentation for your organization by contacting Mary Rabourn at 206-296-1977. (Meetings will be scheduled based on staff availability.)
· Attend an upcoming Open House near you (dates below) to learn about what is new in the draft Shoreline Master Program and the King County Comprehensive Plan, ask staff questions and provide your comments:

Public Meetings - Draft Shoreline Master Program and Comprehensive Plan
· Oct. 11, 2007: Cascade View Elem. School / Snoqualmie, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
· Oct. 15, 2007: Vashon-Maury Island UAC meeting / Vashon, 7:30 - 9 p.m.
· Oct. 16, 2007: Kentridge High School / Kent, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
· Oct. 18, 2007: White Center Heights Elem. School / Seattle, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

How to submit comments.
1. Online: Visit the New King County Shorelines Web site to submit comments, sign up to receive e-mail updates or look up information about a shoreline area: www.metrokc.gov/shorelines/
2. Email comments: CompPlanAndShorelines@kingcounty.gov
3. Mail written comments:Attn: Shoreline TeamKing County Department of Natural Resources and Parks201 S. Jackson St., Ste. 600Seattle, WA 98104

What's next?
· Fall/Winter 2007 – Public meetings for review and comment on the revised draft program.
· December 28, 2007 – Deadline for public comments
· March 2008 – King County Executive will transmit a proposed Shoreline Master Program Update to the Metropolitan King County Council for review, public hearings and adoption.

National Flood Insurance Program up for Vote

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is up for a vote again, and this insurance provides important affordable coverage for people in many areas of the Seattle / Puget Sound region. Most home owner insurance policies do not cover flood damage, and many home owners are not even aware that they have no coverage in this area. The NFIP covers obvious areas such as rivers overflowing their banks into property, yet many people also don't know that it includes high tidal/wave action on the Sound, land movement due to heavy rains, mudslides, and related catastrophes that could potentially destroy a home and yet not be covered by the home's regular insurance. With our area's huge expanses of Sound and lake coastline, and our steep terrain with homes perched on fragile hillsides to maximize views, this can be important insurance for many home owners in many different locations.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Mitigation Division manages the program, and it is federally subsidized so the rates are lower than would otherwise be available through private insurance (though of course there is the hidden generalized cost in our taxes to pay for the subsidy). Private insurers have been steering away from flood insurance over the years. Many high risk areas do not even have realistic private flood insurance options, and NFIP fills the void.

The legislation under consideration this week is HR 3121 Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007. This resolution extends the program for 5 years, increases coverage limits and inclusions, adds optional wind coverage, and other items. If this is of interest to you and your community, I recommend calling your Congressperson and expressing support. Later this year the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will be creating its own NFIP reform bill as well.

Personal Use of 1031 Exchange Vacation Homes

1031 tax deferred exchanges, which allow the owner of an investment property to roll over gains into another "similar" investment property without paying taxes on the gains, can include personal vacation homes. However, the personal use of a vacation home must officially be restricted, usually keeping personal use to under 14 days a year or less than 10% of the time it is rented out.

There have been recent court cases clarifying the allowable personal usage of vacation homes, and what distinguishes between allowable and non-allowable properties for making a 1031 exchange at time of sale. A recent sale and 1031 exchange of a lakefront second home for another larger waterfront home tested some of these boundaries, and clarified some rules on the matter.

In general, there are several important aspects that a vacation home owner can do to demonstrate both intent and actual practice of maintaining a property for investment purposes. This includes: renting the property out and claiming the income, tracking expenses, depreciating the asset, deducting mortgage interest as an investment expense instead of a second home tax deduction, type of tax filings, and number of days of personal usage. Also, a property that is initially used mostly for personal use may be transitioned gradually over more to investment/rental use for a period prior to sale, and this could help justify a case that it was an investment property eligible for a 1031 tax deferred exchange. This is somewhat untested in the courts but some experts feel it could work if an exchange were questioned by the IRS.

There is likely an unexplored gray area between "personal usage" and "onsite maintaining of the property to uphold the investment value". If you are onsite for the purpose of maintaining and inspecting the property, then likely it would be beneficial to document this with receipts (from the hardware store or such) and a simple log of activities.

It is important to note that the IRS does not accept just market value appreciation of the property to be a valid justification for establishing a vacation home as an investment property. The IRS recognizes that a property can be left on its own for appreciation, but if it is used for personal purposes then it must be treated as investment property via intent and practice as discussed above, even if part of that does not include rental income.

There are a lot of options out there for people who already have a vacation home - or else want to purchase a second/vacation home - and would like to enjoy the benefits of rolling up their gains via a 1031 tax deferred exchange. This is especially the case for people who don't visit the property frequently and who also do advance accounting and tax planning practices in line with investment property approaches. Lots there to talk to your tax and legal advisors about, but very intriguing...