PORT ANGELES — Two Clallam County commissioners on Tuesday upheld a hearing examiner’s ruling that restricts domestic water use for an approved Sequim-area cluster development to 5,000 gallons per day.
The decision, which stems from state Department of Ecology, prevents a Sequim developer from dividing the cluster into the 19 lots he says he was promised.
Commissioners Mike Doherty and Mike Chapman said they don’t have the judicial authority to overrule Ecology, but said they would work with applicant Dave LeRoux in a legislative capacity to help him develop the zoning “cluster” at Discovery Trail Farm.
Affects number of lots to sell
“All this does is affect the number of lots I can sell,” said LeRoux, adding that he plans to continue with the second phase of his project.
The cluster is intended to preserve the rural characteristic of the area by keeping three-fourths of the 65-acre parcel as a working farm.
Discovery Trail Farm is located south of Old Olympic Highway and east of Kitchen-Dick Road.
Rather than splitting the land into five-acre parcels, which would have allowed more than 10 times the water rights, LeRoux and his business partner, Walter Johnson of Sequim, proposed in 2005 a cluster of homes for the middle of the farmland.
Two of the smaller lots have been already been developed.
Cluster development
The Clallam County Department of Community Development has supported the cluster to preserve open space, agriculture and water.
“The department will continue the dialogue with the state to encourage developments served by community or public wells as opposed to individual wells, which is exactly what Mr. LeRoux’s development is doing,” Clallam County Planning Manager Steve Gray said.
Hearing Examiner Christopher Melly last month approved five additional lots for the development, but upheld an Ecology requirement that the 14 lots and one adjacent farmhouse and its separate well must collectively stay under the 5,000-gallon-per-day threshold for domestic uses.
Under the Ecology requirement, each lot would have access to about 325 gallons per day.
LeRoux contends that the farmland surrounding the cluster of small lots should be exempt from the 5,000-per-day limit.
County commissioners, who serve in a quasi-judicial capacity in land-use appeals, upheld Melly’s ruling because they said they don’t have the jurisdiction to challenge state water law.
“I see no other option, based on what I heard from the prosecutor,” Chapman said.
Find another way
After the 90-minute closed record appeal hearing, LeRoux met with county officials to plan another course of action.
“If a net savings of water can be demonstrated by not using platted land, it meets two statewide goals — save water and save ag land,” Doherty said near the end of the hearing.
“It is a tough deal because I think everyone agrees with what you’re trying to do,” Chapman told LeRoux.
Gray said he would follow up on a letter he wrote to Ecology in June seeking clarification of how the agency came to its conclusion.
“The bottom line is we’re sending a follow-up letter to Ecology to ask for a more definitive response in regards to why the farm parcel is tied into the overall project,” Gray explained.
“We recommended support for this development, and tried to paint another picture for Ecology to consider.”
First of its kind
Discovery Trail Farm, which is named for the nearby Olympic Discovery Trial, is the first cluster development attempted on the agricultural county land.
LeRoux argued that the Clallam County supported the cluster, but Ecology “has thrown a wrench into it.”
“When I signed on to do this, I didn’t see any fine print that said ‘We’ve got this cluster ordinance but it doesn’t work,'” LeRoux said in his plea to the commissioners.
“This cluster ordinance is broken, and I think it’s incumbent upon the county to fix it,” LeRoux said.
“Part of this process involves standing up to Department of Ecology,” he added.
“Department of Ecology is a very overbearing, myopic agency, and they’re working in a vacuum. And they think they’re saving water but they’re not, because they’re working in a vacuum.
“So I think the county needs to argue with them.”
LeRoux said his development would be eligible for 65,000 gallons of water per day had he opted to divide his land into the five-acre parcels common in Clallam County.
“Everybody knows it’s unfair, but nobody wants to do anything about it because it would require fixing something,” LeRoux said at the hearing.
LeRoux said his meeting with county officials was “a start.”
“It’s what I wanted the county to do,” he said.
“The county is interested in seeing clusters more viable than they are. I’ve got a feeling they [commissioners] will both work to get the Department of Ecology to understand their policies are preventing them from preserving farmland and preserving water.”
Commissioner Steve Tharinger recused himself from the hearing because he and LeRoux have a longtime friendship.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
