Council backs bigger fines, swifter response on code violations

After-the-fact permitting assailed

Allegations that a large stand of old growth trees was illegally harvested during a recent logging operation on Orcas Island may well prove to be false.

But with photographs in hand, the San Juan County Council cited that operation on Sept. 16 in renewing its call for stiffer penalties and a swifter response when land-use regulations and building codes are flouted or ignored. Councilman Gene Knapp, Orcas East, said the county has itself to blame for creating a climate in which would-be violators have little to fear.

“We’re sitting on a jewel here and we’re not protecting it,” he said. “We need a system that operates like the sheriff, with tickets and court, and fines.”

Knapp added that the “word on the street” is the county is reluctant to enforce its rules and the price to pay if it does is small.

Councilman Alan Lichter, Orcas West, said the lack of enforcement has spawned a “culture of permissiveness.”

In January, council members tasked its legal team and the Community Development and Planning Department, which oversees code compliance, with authoring a set of rules in which tickets could be issued more easily if a violation occurs. That so-called “ticketing ordinance” remains in the works.

In addition to the logging operation, Knapp noted that a recent San Juan Initiative study concluded nearly half of the 19 docks it reviewed – all on San Juan Island’s Mitchell Bay – ended up, on average, having floats that are 50 percent larger than their respective permits allowed. He cited both as examples of shortcomings in the county’s enforcement system.

Ushered in a decade ago, that system and its enforcement procedures, according to Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord, were designed from the vantage point of a homeowner and, as such, are intended to be forgiving. Most investigations are triggered by complaints and the emphasis of enforcement is on education and in allowing missteps or violations to be corrected. He said that fines and penalties serve as a last resort.

“It’s a system that assumes violations are in large part unintentional,” he said.

Of particular concern, Gaylord noted, the cost of obtaining a so-called “after-the-fact” permit is negligible. Though it’s double the price, for some, he said, it’s a green light to build first and get a permit later.

“There should be a penalty for getting a permit after the fact,” he said. “It’s about double now. It should be maybe five times as much.”

Administrator Pete Rose cautioned that an after-the-fact permit, in some instances, is more about timing and necessity than an intentional disregard for the rules. In addition, he added, the council should weigh the time it takes for permits to processed when considering how high to raise penalties for getting one after the fact.

Councilman Rich Peterson, San Juan North, cited the logging operation in lobbying for a system of code enforcement wherein complaints about possible land-use violations are responded to more rapidly and that the project in question can be put on hold pending outcome of an investigation. However, Peterson also noted the concerns raised by Rose in arguing for a thorough review of the activities — like installation of a refrigerator — which require a permit. 

“I think part of what we need to be doing is reviewing what requires a permit,” he said.