PORT ANGELES — Clallam County settled a lawsuit this week and also received an acre of beach-access property near the Strait of Juan de Fuca as part of the deal.
Clallam County commissioners agreed Tuesday to settle a land-use-related records lawsuit.
The settlement and land acquisition will cost the county $510,000, not including closing costs.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brian Wendt said Wednesday the settlement was unusual because the county got something out of it.
“In most cases, you only have money out the door to the individual requestor, rarely with any tangible result coming back to government,” he said.
“As far as my knowledge, this is a potential first of its kind.”
Under the agreement, the public will gain an acre of public access to state park land that connects with Clallam Bay Spit County Park on the Strait.
In three 2-1 votes Tuesday, commissioners agreed to settle the June 3, 2014, complaint filed in Kitsap County Superior Court by Clallam Bay property owners Scott and Elizabeth Lange of Sultan, which centered on the construction of a bulkhead by the Langes’ neighbor that the Langes said the county improperly approved.
Commissioners agreed to end litigation with the Langes and purchase two parcels owned by the Langes off Salt Air Street in Clallam Bay.
Thirdly, commissioners agreed to approve a quit-claim deed for a third parcel the county purchased from David and Krisanne Cebelak, neighbors of the Langes, that will restrict usage of the Cebelak property for public-access purposes only.
The property owned by the Cebelaks will be purchased for $300,000.
The Langes’ two waterfront lots cost the county $210,000.
“The cornerstone to being able to get to yes and solve the case was acquiring the Cebelak property,” Wendt said Wednesday.
County general funds to purchase the acreage will come from the county risk fund.
The county parks board will decide on parking and other usage issues after public hearings that have yet to be scheduled.
“This is really the first part of a long process,” Wendt said.
A $550,000 price tag cited for the agreement that was noted by Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols earlier this month was based on earlier estimates for the agreement, Nichols said Wednesday.
Commission Chairman Mike Chapman voted no Tuesday without comment.
In an interview Wednesday, he said the public should have had more chance to comment on the settlement.
He said unknown costs include developing a parking area or tearing down a house and an outbuilding on the property.
“Nobody can tell you how much more Clallam County will spend,” said Chapman, who is a candidate for a 24th District seat in the state House of Representatives.
“I understand the need to settle.
“We already have a county park out there.
“I just don’t think we should spend more money until we know what all the costs are.”
West End-area Commissioner Bill Peach said the objective of the settlement was resolving a lawsuit, not acquisition of property.
“We could settle the lawsuit by writing out a check and getting absolutely nothing for it,” Peach said.
“If we simply wrote a check, it would be very, very likely to be much higher than what we spend on the acquisition of property.
“We actually ended up with something that connects to our park.”
The costs to develop acreage, he added, “are very manageable.”
The public records lawsuit grew from an assertion by the Langes that the county had “improperly approved construction of a bulkhead and other improvements on property near the Langes’ property,” according to the lawsuit.
The Langes in 2009 submitted a request for public records concerning the county’s decision and created by county employees, according to the 2014 lawsuit.
They submitted a second public records request in January 2013 for documents related to the “drafting and legislative history, including any legal opinions rendered in connection therewith, and approval by the Clallam County Board of Commissioners with respect to” six ordinances adopted in April 2007.
The lawsuit claims the county violated the state Public Records Act “by failing to produce and/or disclose requested public records, including the [Steve] Gray-[Mark] Nichols email, the [Selinda] Barkhuis-Gray email, and public records responsive to Public Records Act 13-003, particularly records reflecting the substantial participation of the county prosecutor’s office in the development and adoption of Ordinance 12.”
The county prosecutor at the time was Deborah Kelly.
Planning Manager Steve Gray still holds that position, Nichols was a deputy prosecuting attorney and is now prosecuting attorney, and Barkhuis was a lead planner with the Department of Community Development and is now county treasurer.
The Gray-Nichols and Barkhuis-Gray emails, both produced in June 2007, were redacted based on attorney-client privilege, Nichols said Wednesday.
“We believe the law supports the redaction of the communication and attorney-client privilege,” he said.
A box containing 2,500 pages of records, many related to the Langes’ 2013 request, was discovered in a labeled box in a locked storage room in the basement of the Clallam County Courthouse earlier this year, Nichols said
The discover of the documents related to the public records request “fundamentally altered” the county’s connection with the lawsuit, Nichols said.
Penalties against the county could have been calculated by the page, Nichols said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
