PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s three commissioners Tuesday extended interim zoning rules on the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area and 21,926 acres of moderately dense rural lands after the first of two public hearings on the multi-faceted Growth Management Act compliance strategies.
The unanimous vote to extend rural downzoning for up to six months came just days after the county won a legal dispute in one area of a state hearings board decision.
Invalid, noncompliant
That decision deemed the county’s comprehensive plan for the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area and rural moderate zones invalid and noncompliant with the Growth Management Act.
Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams on Friday reversed the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board’s April 2008 on GMA noncompliance.
In 2007, the Seattle-based growth management advocate Futurewise challenged Clallam County’s comprehensive plan.
But the county wasn’t alone. Futurewise challenged 18 other counties on their development practices.
“We’re not the worst of those that are into litigation,” Commissioner Mike Doherty said in a three-hour meeting Tuesday.
Since last year’s ruling of the state hearings board, Clallam County officials have been fighting on two fronts.
On one hand, the county instituted interim zoning controls so planners can come into compliance with the Growth Management Act.
On the other hand, the county disputed a portion of the state hearings decision in court.
To that end, Futurewise may very well appeal the recent Superior Court ruling, so the county had extended interim controls to stay on the compliance track.
“The hearings board decision stands,” said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Jensen, who compared Friday’s Superior Court ruling to a home run for Clallam County.
“We’re still on a holding pattern on the appellate track, but we’re off to a very good start,” Jensen said.
In part, the interim controls downzone the county’s rural moderate — lands with one home permitted for every 2.4 acres — to rural low. Rural low means one house per 5 acres.
Sewer service
For Carlsborg, interim controls add text to the comprehensive plan, saying developers must have sewer service or confirmation of future sewer availability.
A Class A wastewater treatment plant for the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area has been jointly proposed by Clallam County and the Clallam County Public Utilities District No.1. Once built, the PUD would operate the $14.97 million system.
Two weeks ago, Seattle-based BHC Consultants presented a preliminary draft of a sewer facilities plan that targeted mid-2012 for its opening.
The extended interim controls are good for a maximum of six months.
“That doesn’t mean we have to sustain them for the next six months,” Commissioner Steve Tharinger said.
With majority approval of the electorate, the county could change the boundaries of the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area or do away with it altogether, Tharinger said.
A good argument for extending interim controls is to give the public more opportunity to comment, Tharinger added.
Tharinger, Doherty and Commissioner Mike Chapman took action to extend the interim controls after the first public hearing.
A second public hearing addressed a proposed ordinance amending rural zones and the county’s official comprehensive land use and zoning map.
No action was taken after the second hearing.
Written public comment is being accepted on the proposals until July 10.
To see a draft of the proposals, click on www.clallam.net/Board/html/drafts.htm.
Comment can be e-mailed to jjones@co.clallam.wa.us or mailed to 223 E. Fourth St., suite 5, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
Detailed information on the compliance proceedings and interim zoning rules is available at www.clallam.net.
Public testimony
All told, eight speakers gave public testimony in the two hearings, which included reports and analysis from county staff.
Cory Startup said he wants to develop his commercial lots in Carlsborg, but he can’t under the interim rules.
He wondered “why we’re in this mess right now” and said he can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s a can of worms,” Startup said.
“It appears, from our point of view, we are getting zero compromise from the commercial aspect of it.”
In a down economy, new jobs and new business should be encouraged, not discouraged, he said.
“None of this lends itself to logic, but that’s simply the law,” Jensen said.
“For the time being, it’s the status quo.”
Tharinger said the county is guided by state statute and would become subject to lawsuits if it allowed developers to build against the law.
“You could basically sue us for allowing you to move forward,” Tharinger said.
“We’re trying to manage our risk here and our exposure.”
Tharinger said the board hopes to have a resolution on the Carlsborg issue in the “next several months.”
Joe White, also of Carlsborg, said he and others cannot develop, yet their property tax remains the same.
“It’s useless to sell,” White said.
Meanwhile, in the second Growth Management Act compliance matter, planners have proposed what they’re calling “innovative techniques” for the interim rural low, which was previously zoned rural moderate.
With the exception of lands that qualify as a Limited Area of More Intensive Rural Development, public or commercial forest, landowners in a newly formed rural neighborhood conservation zone would have these options:
• An overlay option for 11 acres or less. If the land within 500 feet of the property boundary is at least 70 percent developed, the overlay can have a maximum density of rural moderate, or one home per 2.4 acres or land.
• A cluster option for 11 acres or more. If locked into 70 percent rural open space, the land could be cluster divided at the rural moderate density.
Daniel Green owns 124 acres in an undeveloped region west of Forks called the Western Center 2 Neighborhood.
He bought the land as an investment when it was zoned rural moderate. The land has been downzoned to rural low under the interim controls and could become more restrictive commercial forest.
“I felt like I was jumping through all the hoops I needed to develop this property,” Green told the board.
“If it’s turned to commercial forest, it will preclude me to get my invest back from my property.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
