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SAN JUAN COUNTY PROSECUTOR |
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Email this page to a friend Related StoriesList of stories about Growth Management Act in San Juan County |
EPRC recommends UGAposted 11/25/02
Gaylord explained the history of the county's Growth Management planning process and the steps that must still be done. The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board found the county's plans not in compliance with GMA. The overall capital facilities plan was not adequate. The water plan passed muster, but the wastewater and stormwater drainage plans needed more work. "They were critical of the wastewater system," Gaylord said. "We argued expansion would be dealt with on project by project basis. The hearings board said that was not planning under GMA." EPRC member Mike Stolmeir said the sewer district has a 20-year plan and the board found it inadequate. County Senior Planner Pat Mann disagreed the board ruled the plan inadequate, he said it just needed more details about how expansion would be financed. He believed the data was available and could be compiled into an adequate report in one meeting scheduled for the first week in December. He will meet with the sewer district board to help write the report. Mann said the county provided the analysis of Eastsound's capital facility needs but hadn't provided a plan. The county will be able to pull together a stormwater plan within the next three to four months, he said. EPRC Fred Munder argued it would cost more for individuals to purchase the necessary utilities from service providers than if they just drilled their own wells and built their own septic systems. Others believed the costs were lower through service providers. Mann agreed figures needed to be presented which broke the costs out district wide and individually. At the end of the meeting, the committee members were polled to ask if they preferred a UGA or LAMIRD (limited area of more intense rural development) for Eastsound. They all agreed the UGA was the better of the two options. Two members suggested the county try to convince the legislature to let the county get out of the GMA. EPRC member Jim Nelson said, "We probably have to do the best we can to comply. I want people to come together and ask for help from state representatives to get out of growth management." EPRC Chair Lisa Byers agreed with the UGA designation and shared the members' concerns. She said, "My only question is whether the Board of County Commissioners can get planning staff to get to work to comply, so we can get to work on bigger issues." Commissioner John Evans attended the meeting. He expressed concerns about the cost of utilities. He noted the monthly costs for services in Friday Harbor, which is the county's only UGA, are high. He proposed, at the Nov. 19, 2002 BOCC meeting, a motion to try to remove the county from the GMA planning process. The motion died for a lack of a second. At the EPRC meeting, he said, "Eastsound, as we see it right now, in 10 or 15 years will totally disappear. It will not be anything like it is now. Buildings will be higher, infrastructure will be there. It may be absolutely right that it may be more important to have density, rather than the Eastsound we have now." Gaylord, BOCC argue over representationposted 11/21/02
"I read what Randy wrote online," Commissioner Rhea Miller said. "I am impressed with his leadership, he is responding to a job he was elected to do. I didn’t find anything offensive or inaccurate about it." Evans said, "I think the best analogy is what if Microsoft opened up the pages of the New York Times and read an opinion from its lawyers that said it looks like the Department of Justice case is pretty good and we should go along with what they are requesting,. What response would Microsoft have. Our situation is similar. It seems to me there is confusion about client/attorney relationship." Commissioner Darcie Nielsen said, "I have some concerns. I was immediately alarmed about the title. The article was not as bad as it sounded in the title. (Editor's note; the title was: Prosecutor says state growth board doing its job). She wanted to have outside attorneys help the county with the Growth Management Hearings Board. She had spoken to some in Seattle. "They are willing, free of charge, to come up here and work with us on some of these issues about Eastsound and Lopez Village. I want to take them up on the offer. It is an outstanding opportunity. I believe we should do it in executive session." Gaylord responded to the commissioners concerns. "The ability of judges or prosecuting attorneys to respond to criticism is a hot issue. There is no right or wrong to this," he said. "I believe it is appropriate when the growth board is criticized in the community, for the prosecuting attorney to speak out and give the facts. It is not helpful to our community if a one-sided presentation of the facts is made. The community expects me as a person of knowledge to speak out. I understand there is a line here and I struggle with the line. I believe I did so correctly. I believe given the knowledge that I have, if I was silent, in face of statements that were made that were inaccurate and incomplete, it would be perceived as acquiescence." He reminded the commissioners of state statutes that state the office of the prosecuting attorney is the attorney for the BOCC. The board can have another person serve if Gaylord was disabled. "I don’t get to chose the client, and you don’t get to chose the lawyer. That is our system. It has its faults and it has its benefits." Miller agreed there was a system of checks and balances. She noted the case of a former president that fired the prosecutor when he didn't like what he heard. "The prosecuting attorney has to speak up," she said. "I respect our prosecuting attorney for doing that. In the past he has done that on issues that I have been on the other side. I did not say I want another attorney." Nielsen wanted to focus on the idea of bringing in other attorneys. "These people are willing to talk to us,"she said. "They bring a wealth of experience. I don’t think it is as black and white as our planning staff and prosecuting attorney are saying. This is an opportunity we shouldn’t pass up. I'm hearing a lot of concern. I don't think we are getting a lot of straight answers." Evans said the BOCC was the only hope the citizens had. "If the board is not able to have its decision aggressively presented we are out of the loop. The position we put forward should be aggressivley supported by staff and prosecuting attorney. The difficulty is the planners are off doing their thing, the prosecuting attorney's office is off doing their thing." Miller said, "These planners and attorneys have very good reputations. (This type of talk) destroys citizens confidence in government. This entire discussion is terribly embarrassing. I don’t understand what the fuzz is about. My experience with citizens is vastly different. What I heard was heard we want strong planning, we want rural lands protected. I haven't heard rampant anti-GMA statements." Gaylord said he welcomed the opportunity to work with attorneys from Buck and Gordon. He noted care had to be taken because some of them represent clients who have applications pending before the county. He said he would arrange for a worksession. Regarding representing the BOCC's positions, he said the prosecuting office has always taken an agressive stand when representing the county. "You can count on that," he said. "What you cannot count on is that we will put forward positions that are frivolous or without merit. We have ethical obligations. There are limits to what we will pursue." Prosecutor says state growth board doing its jobBy Randall K. Gaylord posted 11/14/02
The legislature enacted the Growth Management Act to keep rural areas rural, protect the forest, agriculture and mineral resources and direct development toward cities, towns and villages. The GMA imposes basic guidelines and rules to achieve the 13 goals of the Act. Planning is done by local governments. The Growth Management Hearings Board only rules on appeals that are filed and then only on those portions of the plan that are challenged. San Juan County has chosen to plan under the GMA for ten years. We cannot "opt out." The first appeals to the Growth Management Hearings Board were filed by citizen groups in 1999. Throughout the appeals process, the Growth Management Hearings Board has time and again complimented the County at hearings, and in its opinions, on the outstanding work done by its planners and the Prosecutor's Office. The Growth Board has recognized the limitations of our small, rural county. And, the Growth Board has confirmed, against challenges, many unique approaches to planning that the citizens of this County have brought forth, such as the Waldron Subarea Plan, the variety of rural densities, and the regulations to preserve our rural character. When we look back and see all that we have accomplished in the past ten years, it is quite impressive. Notwithstanding challenges from all quarters, the Growth Board has approved your Vision Statement, the Official Maps, the text of the Comprehensive Plan and the development regulations. The County has been overruled by the Growth Board only when the County completely omitted a plan element required by law (capital facilities planning in Lopez Village and wastewater planning in Eastsound), persisted with a feature that is contrary to the law (suburban lots in rural lands), or failed to fully explain and describe its decision (accessory dwelling units). Our commissioners made a fundamental decision two years ago that Orcas, Lopez and San Juan Island would each have their "fair share" of land for housing and business opportunities to accommodate growth. This led to the establishment of unincorporated growth areas of Eastsound and Lopez Village. The Growth Board has complimented the County on undertaking this difficult task of planning for capital facilities and allowing compact, affordable housing in Eastsound and Lopez Village, stating, "the concept of establishing two unincorporated [growth areas] not only complies with the GMA, but it appears from this record to be the only viable alternative available to the County." The Growth Board also warned that the "sticker shock" of capital facilities construction would compel us to adjust the boundaries of Eastsound and Lopez Village. San Juan County will succeed in planning for Eastsound and Lopez Village under the GMA. Because Lopez Village and Eastsound are unincorporated communities, without their own local governments, the obligation for coordinating this planning falls on San Juan County. The County cannot assign it to others. Historically, the leaders of towns, villages, and cities - not counties - take on responsibility for capital facilities planning for water, sewer, and drainage systems. But on Orcas and Lopez Island, we have no one other than the County to do this work. The tension being felt by the Board of County Commissioners when the Growth Board orders the County to go back to the drawing board to resolve and fine tune these difficult issues is common to other counties around the state. The Growth Management Act contains compromises between political viewpoints. Some of the controversies were deferred to another forum and another time. This is why we feel the tension today. As long as the County does its homework, its choices are only limited by the bounds of the Growth Management Act. But, the County cannot forsake one goal, such as housing for all income levels - for another goal, such as rural character. The County must balance all the goals, follow the structure provided by the Act and the process that the law provides. Ten years ago, our leaders chose to plan because planning had a price, and we wanted to take advantage of the money and guidance provided by the state. We have learned that planning has a price today, and if we don't plan, a higher price for our children. While $1.3 million over the course of ten years may seem like a lot of money, we have leveraged this money with grants to bank great value. Other rural counties have spent far more than that, especially when using private attorneys instead of local prosecutors. At the County's budget meetings last week, Commissioner Chair John B. Evans expressed a desire to conclude the first round of GMA planning in the year 2003. This may be possible, but not if we debate issues that have already been decided by the legislature, the precedents of the Growth Board, and the courts. As a member of the faculty on Growth Management training for planners and lawyers, your prosecuting attorney has taught the principles of the GMA to attorneys throughout the state. Your County attorneys give serious consideration to all approaches and will continue to advise on the best and most prudent course of action. The Growth Management Hearings Board of Washington State is doing its job. And, San Juan County can accomplish its goals if we work together, and if our Commissioners listen to their citizens; listen to their planners; listen to their attorneys, and act promptly in a manner consistent with the law and the vision for our County's future. |
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