Hearing examiner dismisses five of six MAT appeals

SEQUIM — Hearing examiner Phil Olbrechts plans to dismiss all appeals of an application award for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s proposed medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic except for the one filed by the tribe.

The city-appointed hearing examiner told of his plan in an email late Tuesday to dismiss five of the six appeals that have been filed. A full report is expected in the coming days, Olbrechts said.

Olbrechts wrote that his ruling would dismiss appeals from Save Our Sequim, which was formed in opposition to the planned clinic; Jon Gibson, owner of Parkwood Manufactured Housing Community, LLC; and Sequim resident Robert Bilow due to a “lack of standing.” He did not elaborate on that statement in the preliminary email.

Save Our Sequim members wrote in a press release they were disappointed to learn their members “do not have ‘legal standing’ to challenge the Regional MAT project.”

“His preliminary ruling indicates that we, the citizens of Sequim, have NO voice, NO vote and NO involvement in a decision which will forever impact the future of our beloved town,” the press release said.

“Who represents the people of Sequim? Did we not vote for a City Council?”

City officials said they would not comment until Olbrechts issues his final determination.

The tribe plans to install a 16,806-square-foot medical facility on 3.3 acres off South Ninth Avenue where doctors would dispense daily doses of methadone, Suboxone and Vivitrol to clients with opioid-use disorder. The phased project would cost about $20 million.

Appellants oppose elements of the application’s classification (a city staff review versus city council review), the environmental Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, and the application as a whole.

Barry Berezowsky, Sequim director of community development, approved the tribe’s application in May.

Olbrechts will consider only the appeal from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe for stipulations enforced by the city in the application for the MDNS. He hopes to have a date set for the hearing on the tribe’s appeal by today.

Olbrechts added he would uphold the city’s A-2 process where city staff review and approve the process.

He said he will uphold the city’s update to its code from a Sept. 26 special meeting where A-1 and A-2 process appeals will all go to a hearing examiner.

City staff asked for the meeting to change the city code after Olbrechts wrote an email on Sept. 20 saying he lacked jurisdiction over consolidated permit hearings that include the MDNS appeal. He canceled a three-day hearing for the six appeals for Sept. 28-30, saying a hearing likely would be rescheduled if the city changed its code.

Council members voted 5-1 — with Mayor William Armacost opposed — on Sept. 26 to direct A-1 and A-2 permit appeals to a hearing examiner and appeals of those decisions to the Superior Court.

Appellants’ reactions

“The city staff is making land use decisions that contradict everything represented in the current Comprehensive Plan, which describes the official vision for the city of Sequim,” SOS said in its press release.

“If the city of Sequim is silencing our community on the first phase of this Opioid Treatment Program and facility, what makes us think we will have a voice regarding the second phase or other future expansions?”

SOS leaders said they await final written determination from Olbrechts before finalizing their plans, adding they will pursue every legal opportunity regarding the proposed clinic “that makes sense to protect our town.”

Gibson said he was shocked to learn of the decision.

“Things in the government sound very fishy,” he said. “There seems to be on the part of the staff (a) total disregard for the citizens of Sequim, and I believe if things continue it will virtually destroy the beautiful fabric of Sequim.

“The town will have feces on the sidewalk and needles everywhere.”

He said the project will line the pockets of the tribe.

“Is the city council awake?” Gibson asked.

Bilow was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Tribe’s response

W. Ron Allen, tribal chairman/CEO, said the tribe is pleased with Olbrechts’ decision.

“We have consistently said that we will build a first-class facility and provide the highest quality, innovative services for those suffering from opioid dependency,” he said in a press release.

“Our Tribe is firm on that commitment.”

Allen added that the city has been “fair, objective and professional” … and “it is time for the city and our community to move forward and work together.”

He added that “misperceptions born of fear need to stop.”

The new clinic is expected to add 70-plus jobs to Sequim, Allen said.

“We firmly believe that when we have completed our Healing Clinic, people will be surprised at the cultural elegance of the site, appreciate the success experienced by our clients, and recognize that we have added to the community’s health care infrastructure and economic status,” Allen said.

What’s next?

“… Given that public input on the proposal has been significantly reduced due to my rulings on the dispositive motions, my prior limitations on public comment on the Tribe’s SEPA appeal should be broadened to give reasonable time for presentation of expert testimony against the proposed modifications,” Olbrechts said.

In its appeal, the tribe’s attorneys state that some of the city’s conditions don’t fall under SEPA regulations, such as the clinic causing environmental impacts to public services, community concern is not an environmental impact, and the city’s land use authority doesn’t include clinic operations.

For more information on appeals and motions made, visit sequimwa.gov/964/MAT-Clinic-Appeals.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.