BY MARGIE DOYLE

Editor

Staff from the County Development and Planning Department (CDPD) met with San Juan Builders’ Association members on Feb. 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Eastsound Senior Center.

CDPD Director Ron Henrickson announced new procedures and plans for the department to deal with processing permits. The permit backlog is nearly gone, due to having a full staff.

About 40 attendees representing the construction, real estate and associated trades, asked questions and offered comments about the department’s procedures and attitude.

CDPD will soon require partial payment (40 percent) up front to cover plan review cost of building permits. That 40 percent equals the amount of work generally performed in the first phase of processing permits, the so-called plan review, CDPD Deputy Director Rene Beliveau said earlier this month.

Beliveau said the pending change in the way the department collects permit fees was approved by County Council in December to better enable the department to be compensated for the work it does and avoid performing work for which it is not. Historically, permits have been paid for in their entirety after they’re complete and when they’re picked up.

Occasionally, however, Beliveau said there are applications that don’t qualify for a permit and once in awhile permits that are approved are never picked up and paid for. Either way, he said, the department loses money for the work that went into the plan review.

Planning and land use offices within CDPD will shortly begin simultaneous review of land use and building plans.

The stormwater ordinance is being revised to be in compliance with state regulations. Stormwater plans and inspections are being revised to provide timely quality service, Henrickson said.

John Evans, President of the SJ Builders’ ASsociation spoke of his concerns regarding home affordability and construction costs, and the bureaucratic restrictions that affect them. He cited rainwater catchment regulations, the delineation of bedrooms for septic system size, stormwater mitigation costs for small areas, re-engineering for modular homes, and the limits of over-the-counter permits.

Stormwater has been reviewed by the Public Works department, but beginning Feb. 25, Shannon Hoffman will be handling stormwater concerns within the CDPD office, Henrickson said.

Henrickson stated that when he came to county government two years ago, there was frequently a two-months lag between permit application and CDPD response. As the problems were created over a period of time, he said that improvement will continue over a period of time. He hopes to institute a postcard feedback system later this year so that applicants can give feedback on CDPD service.

Chris Thompson spoke of efforts to develop the Orcas Island Golf Course property and delays in getting permits and compliance information, and asked “Where do we go right now for answers? How do we do this?” Henrickson advised her to call Shannon Hoffman right

away, or him next week, when stormwater is incorporated into the CDPD.

Gulliver Rankin asked about the strategy for “permits in limbo.” Henrickson replied that there are about 2,000 permits going back to 1982, and said, “It will take a year or two to work through them and try to get those out of the way.”

Beliveau cited cases where final inspections were never written up, but approval was given over the phone. “Those were the good old days,” he joked.

Henrickson said, “It sounds good at the time, but a verbal is not going to work for mortgages and insurance.”

Con Russell brought up the subject of guesthouses or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The next call-in to acquire ADU permits will be Thursday, March 6 at 10 a.m. The number of permits available is a function of the number of single family residence permits issued the previous year. This year 12 new ADU permits and three conversion units will be allowed.

When asked if all the ADU permits issued last year were used, CDPD staff answered that as about 50 percent of those who applied for the initial permits did not apply for the final permit. They went to the next people on the waiting list until all 15 new ADU permits and three conversion permits were issued. “Almost all of the people who wanted [ADU permits] have gotten them in the last two years,” said Henrickson.

The group discussed what can be built without a permit, and Beliveau replied, “General location permitting requirements allow a 400 square foot of projected roof area per lot without requiring an exemption.” Exemptions are such building as toolsheds or pumphouses, but not garages. Beliveau said, “Thing are sometimes not as black-and-white as they seem,” and advised builders to check with CDPD on any project.

Evans recommended that county code that requires the water system for an ADU be shared with the main residence be changed, so that rainwater catchment systems can be implemented.

Henrickson advised all who would request code changes to send him a letter with their request by the end of the month so it can be put into the docket.

Henrickson commented that stormwater is an issue because the impact of growth within the last 25 years “has had a cumulative effect on the environment. It gets down to the little bitty minutinae that winds up in a state mandate that we have to work with.”

He also said that work continues on the Critical Areas Ordinance(CAO), and that it should be completed by the end of the year, with the CAO committee offering their work in sections, the first to be announced in June. “There will be significant changes coming out of that,” he said.

Chris Laws of CDPD said that before beginning the permit process with a Land Use coordinator two simple things could help. The first is “a simple three-minute call could help the customer with issues down the road related to that tax parcel to avoid issues most people don’t like to deal with,” said Laws. The second is filling out the parcel completely.

Evans addressed the county staff, saying that complying with regulation combined with the lack of buildable land makes “this county … largely unaffordable for working people.

“This is a serious and emotional issue for me personally and for members of the association,” Evans said, making it hard for truck drivers and plumbers, as well as county employees, to obtain housing. “The system is not working for the future of our community – including diversity like young people… we’ve got to make some changes, and it can’t just come from carping from the public section. Your leadership is necessary to help as advocates to reduce fees and streamline the process.”

In reply, Henrickson said that he considers affordable housing to be the number one problem facing the county. He added that analysis of Eastsound’s buildable land indicates that while the cost of land is one factor to consider, Eastsound also has “a preponderance of unbuildable critical areas.”

Evans noted that the analysis lacks an economic component of cost per square foot and said, “if that’s left out, it’s not doing the job.”

Henrickson suggested that the Friday Harbor UGSA plan be read, as “it’s a step toward the solution.”

“This is the kind of dialogue that will help us move forward,” said Henrickson.

He concluded the meeting by saying that when CDPD staff does a good job, “take a minute to tell them. The tough times we’ve all been going through are not of their making.”

Another meeting with the public and the SJ Builders Association will be held Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Key Bank in Friday Harbor.