Significant changes proposed in Critical Areas Ordinance general sections | Letter
Published 2:41 pm Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The county planning commission is conducting a hearing and accepting public testimony regarding the “General Sections” of the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) next Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 8:30 a.m., at the Friday Harbor Grange, 152 N. First Street.
[Sounder note: The Orcas Island town hall meeting will be on Aug. 5 at the Eastsound fire hall, from 4 to 5:45 p.m.]
The proposed rules and related materials are available at: http://www.sanjuanco.com/cao/documents.aspx.
While “General Sections” may sound harmless, the proposal actually includes:
– Requirements for Reasonable Use Exceptions (“RUEs”)” that unless amended, will not allow any RUEs to be approved. RUEs are necessary to avoid unconstitutional takings by allowing at least some use of property that otherwise would be unusable because of CAO rules and expanded buffers.
– Substantial reduction in the development that would be allowed under RUEs.
– Onerous application requirements that may effectively eliminate the availability of RUEs, and mitigation and monitoring plans.
– Requiring avoidance or mitigation of any critical area impacts, as opposed to ensuring “no net loss of critical area functions and values,” as the law requires.
– Financial guarantees (115% of estimated cost) for mitigation and monitoring requirements in addition to the cost of the actual mitigation and monitoring.
– Requiring owners subject to mitigation requirements to agree to allow periodic inspections of their land by the county.
– Further restrictions on repair and replacement of existing structures — without discussing existing provisions governing “nonconforming” uses and structures. Since the CAO provisions being recommended will almost certainly render many, and possibly most, existing legal structures and uses “nonconforming,” the current rules for nonconforming uses and structures should be reviewed BEFORE the CAO is adopted, but that is not currently the plan.
It is important to recognize that the congested calendar of meetings on the CAO (and the related Shoreline Master Program update) makes it very difficult for most folks who will be affected by these provisions (unlike Planning Department staff and paid interest group representatives) to participate in person because of work and obligations. If you are unable to attend the hearings, please contact Planning Department (ShireeneH@sanjuanco.com), Planning Commission (LyndaG@sanjuanco.com) and County Council (council@sanjuanco.com) members by telephone, e-mail, letter, or any way you can so that your voice will not go unheard regarding these important issues.
Tim Blanchard, Orcas
Vice President, Common Sense Alliance
