Business Community Government
Opponents allege Kensington Gardens owner sent threatening letter
Located in rural Gig Harbor on Olson Drive, elder care business Kensington Gardens has been the center of community controversy for several years. Kelly Watson and her husband, Mark, co-own the business.
In March, Kensington neighbors Erika and Dana Zimmerman filed an appeal against the Watsons’ proposed subdivision platting for the multi-acre property where the business is located. A few months later, following a complaint, the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) investigated one of the facilities at Kensington Gardens, and found it was operating as an unlicensed adult family home. DSHS sent Kelly Watson a cease-and-desist letter that included a $5,000 civil fine.
After this, the Zimmermans received what they said was a threatening letter from Kelly Watson.
While the Zimmermans originally thought Watson was just angry about their appeal against the Kensington Gardens development, they have since learned that she believed they were behind the complaint to DSHS, which they believe may have prompted her to send what they felt was a threatening letter.
Opposed to project for five years
The Zimmermans had been appealing the project since March, but have been writing letters about the proposed development and organizing the community around the issue since 2020.
This was the first letter they had gotten from Watson.
Watson opens the letter by “formally” requesting that the Zimmermans withdraw their appeal, which she claims was “unfounded and will be refuted with documented evidence and expert testimony.”
Related story
Neighbors battle to stop a proposed expansion at the Kensington Gardens campus, as the state issues a cease-and-desist letter ordering closure of an alleged unlicensed adult family home. Read more.
Watson then warns that “[c]ontinuing this appeal will not change the outcome but will result in unnecessary legal expenses and increased scrutiny on all properties involved.
“In the course of preparing for this extended hearing, I have become aware of significant unpermitted work on your property that appears to have bypassed county requirements for engineering, structural modifications, and inspections,” Watson writes. “I am obligated to inform you that this information may come under public and official review as this matter progresses.”
“I would much prefer to avoid further conflict and community disruption. However, if this appeal continues, it is likely that these compliance issues will be raised during or following the Proceedings,” Watson continues. “I strongly encourage you to reconsider your position and avoid unnecessary consequences for everyone involved.”
Entered in record
In DSHS’ case report, the investigator included a March 24 interview with Watson, who stated: “I know this all came from the neighbor. Neighbor complained of obstructed views, posting on Facebook post. I’m on 27 acres, good stewards of the land. They are upset about clear cut of land.”
Erika Zimmerman shared the letter with Gig Harbor Now and said that she asked Tony Kantas, the project’s lead county planner, what she should do with it. The following morning, Kantas told Zimmerman that he had spoken with a county attorney, and that she should enter the letter into the record for their appeal. The Zimmermans’ attorney emailed it to Planning & Public Works, which entered the letter into the permit files.
Watson denied that the letter was threatening, and said that she even passed it by her attorney to make sure it wasn’t.
However, she claimed the Zimmermans had done un-permitted septic work and basement reconstruction on their property. Watson told Gig Harbor Now that one of the people working on the Hawksworth Villa told her foreman that the Zimmermans had extended the basement, and provided pictures to Gig Harbor Now.
Watson said the letter would become relevant in the hearing, because one of the Zimmermans’ stated concerns in their appeal is how the Kensington development’s septic hookup could affect the environment.
Denial that work was un-permitted
Both Dana Zimmerman and Watson touched on the letter in the hearing. Watson didn’t repeat the entire claim she had made to Gig Harbor Now, but stated that the Zimmermans had “carried out an extensive remodel, including septic and plumbing modifications without permits or inspections,” and that the letter was simply meant to warn the Zimmermans that this information would come out.
But Erika Zimmerman told Gig Harbor Now that the allegation of un-permitted septic work was not true. The septic permitting and inspection were all done through the county, and the septic work was approved.
Zimmerman said that they did have work done on the basement, because they had historically had challenges with water intrusion, due to the perched water table in the area. This was one of the reasons they are concerned about septic drainage from the Kensington Garden development.
“We had such an ordeal situating the updated septic due to this issue of the ground being saturated at less than two feet below the surface, [w]hich I think is the minimum depth for septic infiltration,” Zimmerman explained in a text message. “Which is why I spoke about our concerns for groundwater contamination — I think we tried 5 test pits until we found a feasible spot, about 400 feet north of the house.”