Flood wall in permit review as winter tides approach

Snee-oosh Beach offers a beautiful waterside view, but also carries a lingering threat of occasional flooding.

In March 2016, a section of Chilberg Avenue on the Swinomish Reservation was overtaken by Skagit Bay’s tidal waters. The water flowed onto several homeowners’ yards on McGlinn Drive, damaging the properties.

Five homeowners decided to build a 250- to 300-foot-long “garden wall,” spanning across their yards in hopes of preventing a repeat occurrence. However, the project has not gone smoothly.

After a third of the wall had been completed, a “Stop Work Order” from the Swinomish Departme...