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Growth Board approves heritage plan

posted 06/12/02
The moratorium on land division imposed on San Juan Valley property owners almost three years ago was lifted June 6, 2002. The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board accepted the county's San Juan Valley Heritage Plan which allows density bonuses and lifted the order of invalidity. A telephonic compliance hearing was held June 4, 2002. There was no opposition filed.

Allowed density for San Juan Valley doubles
under approved heritage plan

posted 03/06/02
San Juan County Commissioners approved the San Juan Valley Heritage Plan Tuesday, March 5, 2002. The plan allows for density bonuses in exchange for new design standards. The 1,225 acres eligible for the density bonuses can have 227 housing units under the plan compared to 105 potential units under the 2000 Comp Plan.

The commissioners approved the plan as presented except for one sentence which had been the subject of considerable debate by the committee which drew up the plan and by the county's planning commission which reviewed the plan. It said: The open space area should include the most productive or potentially productive agricultural land and the most sensitive open space features. The planning commission changed the "should" to "shall." The commissioners resolved the issue by deleting the sentence. County Planning Director Laura Arnold said, "Existing design standards already required retain most open space features."

The Heritage Plan will be presented to the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board for approval.

Heritage plan approved by planning commission

posted 02/20/02
San Juan County Planning Commission approved the San Juan Valley Heritage Plan after changing one "should" to a "shall." The next step in the process is a hearing before the Board of County Commissioners at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5.

The plan allows optional, area-specific land division requirements for portions of the San Juan Valley. The area was downzoned under the 2000 Comprehensive Plan. A committee of landowners, county staff, representatives from the Land Bank, Friends of San Juans and others worked with a consultant for the past year to craft the plan. The county paid the consultant $50,000.

The commission heard emotional testimony from Lynnette Guard and her daughter Rhynnie Wilson at a public hearing Feb. 15, 2002. They thanked Planning Director Laura Arnold for her work on the project and agreed it was probably the best they could hope for. Fighting back tears, Wilson said, "Us landowners are the minority... It saddens me that someone else can make the choice of what we can pass down."

Guard said: "This is something like having a home and people coming in saying, 'I'll take that bedroom. You have enough room.'"

Planning Commissioner Barbara Thomas said there were two issues at work. One involved tax issues and the other involved the issues addressed in the Heritage Plan. She noted property owners can gift five acres of land or more to a family member. The recipient is prohibited from reselling it for five years.

The change the commissioners made requires landowners to preserve the most productive part of the land when using the bonus density option. "If we use 'should' there is no requirement," said Commissioner Bob Sundquist. "'Shall' means there has to be a determination." The adopted wording reads: "The open space shall include the most productive or potentially productive agricultural land and the most sensitive open space features."

Concerned about the density in the valley, Thomas moved to add language not allowing guesthouses in the area. Guesthouses are currently not allowed in resource land but Thomas wanted to ensure they would not be in the future.

Commissioner Jim Nelson objected, "I can't think of a reason in the world to single these people out and treat them differently from anyone else," he said.

Thomas replied: "The whole thing is singling out."

The commissioners acknowledged the creation of the plan opened the door for other areas to request similar treatment.

"I feel this plan sets precedent although others say no other area has same qualifications," said Fred Croydon said. "Crow Valley has the same if landowners decide to do this. The BOCC needs to know, this really does fit other areas of the county and does set a precedent."

Thomas agreed it was a "chink in the armor" but noted it cannot apply without "a considerable planning effort."

"The Comp Plan says it can be done but it requires another process. You can't just cross out San Juan Valley and put in Crow Valley," Commissioner Mark Kendziorek said.

Heritage plan crafted for San Juan Valley

By Sharon Kivisto

Matt Pranger photo
The Guard family farm is one of the San Juan Valley properties.

posted 01/22/02
San Juan Valley property owners worked for a year with county staff to devise a plan which would allow higher density on their land. The result, the San Juan Valley Heritage Area Conservation Overlay District, was presented to the county Commissioners at a Jan. 15, 2002 workshop. If approved, property on the perimeter of the valley would be eligible for density bonuses.

TIMELINE:

PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING:
8:45 a.m.
Feb. 15, 2002

BOCC PUBLIC HEARING:
1:30 p.m.
March 5, 2002

If the Heritage Plan is approved by the BOCC, the county would then make a motion to the Growth Management Hearings Board to issues an order lifting its invalidity ruling as it applied to the former 5-acre/unit area of the valley.

The plan attempts to preserve the agricultural viability of the land while allowing property owners to maximize their options. Density bonuses would be allowed if property owners provided a greater level of open space than otherwise required. For example: the density bonus would allow two dwelling units on an 11-acre piece of land. Under this scenario the homes would be clustered on half-acre lots with the remaining 10 acres set aside for conservation. Currently most of the property in the valley is zoned one unit per 10 acres.

The committee members included property owners Greg Black, Dodie Gann, Rex Guard, Steve Hudson and Mike Sundstrom. Planning Director Laura Arnold, Planning Commission member Lovel Pratt, San Juan Preservation Trust Executive Director Bob Myhr (who served on the committee as a private citizen), Friends of the San Juans former director Kevin Ranker, and Land Bank Director Dennis Schaffer were also on the committee.

The property was affected by the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board Order of Invalidity issued July 21, 1999. As a result of that ruling, agricultural land was rezoned one unit per 10 acres.

San Juan Valley property owners protested to the commissioners. They argued that their families had worked to preserve the land and now they would not be able to divide it up. By downzoning to one unit per 10 acres, the buildout for the valley was reduced by 100 dwelling units.

At the Jan. 15 workshop on, Commissioner Rhea Miller wanted to know the number of homes allowed under the Heritage Plan. Arnold and the consultant from M.L. Stearns said that figure was not available. They noted some lots could be recombined which would make them eligible for the bonuses. Arnold said she would have a figure before the public hearing.

Property owner Steve Hudson prefers an 8-acre conservation tract size rather than the 10-acre one under the plan.

Commissioner John Evans asked how many 10-acre parcels exist in the valley now. Hudson said there is one and it is covered by a conservation easement which makes it ineligible for a density bonus. But he said his family is ready to divide his late father's estate into 10 acre parcels. If the rule was changed. His siblings could build two houses on a ten acre property and leave an 8-acre conservation tract.

County Civil Deputy Prosecutor Alan Marriner said an 8-acre tract size would not pass muster with the hearings board. The Heritage Plan is modeled after a Mason County plan which has been approved by the hearings board. The plan is defensible as presented according to Marriner. In a letter to the Arnold, he wrote: "In our opinion changing the minimum conservation tract size to below 10 acres significantly increases the risk that the Growth Board will find the San Juan Valley Heritage Plan fails to comply with the GMA, and the Plan substantially interferes with the goals of the Act."

TEXT OF DRAFT ORDINANCE:

San Juan Valley Heritage Plan Overlay District Conservation Incentive Bonus. Division of parcels in the San Juan Valley Heritage Plan Overlay District located within that portion of the Agricultural Resource Land area designated on the official maps at densities of 10 acres per unit shall be eligible for a density of up to 5 acres per unit if the following standards are met in addition to the requirements of subsection j, Conservation Design Requirements.

i. The required open space area shall include at least 75 percent of the parcel to be divided and in no case shall the required open space area be smaller thatn ten acres.

ii. The maximum lot size for residential use shall be 1.5 acres and the minimum lot size for residential use shall be one-half acre.

iii. The open space area should include the most productive or potentially productive agricultural land and the most sensitive open space features.

iv. Building lots may be grouped on the parcel to be divided provided that no individual group of building lots shall include more than six lots and groups of lots shall be separated by at least 100 feet.

v. Building lots shown on the plat shall be presumed to be residential building locations.

vi. Existing parcels may be recombined for redivision according to subsection g.

The next step is a public hearing before the Planning Commission at 8:45 a.m. Feb. 15, 2002. Then a public hearing before the BOCC will be held at 1:30 p.m. March 5, 2002.