Less growth in Lopez
equals more in Eastsound and Friday Harbor
By Sharon Kivisto
posted 11/26/02
If growth is limited in Lopez Village, Friday Harbor and Eastsound will have to make up the difference. The county's Comprehensive Plan calls for 600 housing units to be built on Lopez Island in the next 20 years. "Three hundred are low or moderate income, half of which need to go into Lopez Village," San Juan County Senior Planner Pat Mann said. "If we don’t do that. Lopez will be exclusionary for income, and the county will have to meet the needs in Eastsound and Friday Harbor.
Mann made his comments during community meetings on Lopez Island Monday, November 25, 2002. Community members have been debating whether Lopez Village should be an Urban Growth Area (UGA), a Limited Area of More Intense Rural Development (LAMIRD) or a Rural Village.
Former chair of the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board Bill Nielsen was on Lopez Island to share information about growth management with citizens. He was asked after the meeting if not accommodating the allotted growth in Lopez Village could lead to invalidation of parts of the Comprehensive Plan relating to Friday Harbor and Eastsound. He said it was possible.
Former growth board chair explains Lopez Village options
By Sharon Kivisto
posted 11/26/02
Counties have the ability to tailor their plans to fit their communities under the Growth Management Act according to Bill Nielsen, former chair of the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. "The act has that beauty to it and a lot of tough questions that need to be answered," he said at a community meeting on Lopez Island yesterday, (November 25, 2002).
A capital facilities plan which shows how the water and sewer services will be provided and paid for is the essential step in establishing the boundary of an Urban Growth Area, he said. "The stuff ain’t cheap. It it can't be afforded, none of the good parts, are going to happen," he said.
Nielsen came to Lopez Island to help clarify the options for designation of Lopez Village. He served two terms on the growth board before retiring September 1, 2002. Most of the decisions affecting San Juan County were written by him as chair of the board. Before he was appointed to the board by Governor Booth Gardner, Nielsen was a prosecuting attorney. He graduated from University of Washington Law School in 1969 - the same school that won the last five Apple Cups.
The role of the county regarding infrastructure was explained. Nielsen said, "The county, under the GMA, has the responsbility to solve the problems. They have a lot of options, but they can’t just walk away."
The driving force in deciding whether to designate Lopez Village as a UGA, LAMIRD or Rural Village relates to population projections according to Nielsen. Under the county's Comprehensive Plan 600 housing units are expected to be added to Lopez Island in the next 20 years.
Nielsen explained the options:
Option 1: Urban Growth Area (UGA)
The UGA should be sized big enough to accommodate projected urban growth. The whole purpose of urbanizing is to make more efficient use of taxpayers money to provide infrastructure. It is the role of the county to decide the level of urban services to be provided. Garbage collection and streetsweeping were two examples Nielsen gave of types of services that most likely wouldn't be considered for Lopez Village. Controls over what the UGA looks like can be addressed through zoning and use regulations.
Option 2: Limited Area of More Intense Rural Development
A LAMIRD is based on what was built or in the ground as of July 1, 1990. The boundary is based on the analysis of what was there in 1990 and physical features. There can be no expansion of the outer boundary of a LAMIRD once it is established. One of the main features of LAMIRDs is the requirement to contain the area and the uses based on what was there 12 years ago. It doesn't allow for establishment of boundaries or allowance of uses which have come into play since 1990. The use doesn't have to be exactly the same, but can't be dramatically different. Nielsen said a site that had a gas station could be converted to a small grocery store for example.
Growth is limited to infill which is based on the 1990 buildings. A nursing home in Lopez Village would most likely not be able to be built under a LAMIRD since a similar type of facility was not there 12 years ago. Expansion of infrastructure in LAMIRDs is limited to what is neccessary to support what was in existence in 1990. A state Supreme Court ruling last week affirmed that counties cannot expand urban services into rural areas. A LAMIRD is a rural area. Nielsen said, "It may well be that you can repair your existing system, but can’t expand or extend your system."
3. Rural Village
The rural village is a very stagnant concept, according to Nielsen. Development can have no water lines or sewer lines period, unless the county can prove there were public health problems, which is difficult to do, he said. Under the Rural Village concept the ability to do anything other than what there is already is very restricted. There is virtually no growth in the Rural Village Concept according to Nielsen.
4. Doing nothing
The county could leave Lopez Village designated as rural land. Property which was not already divided would be limited to one unit per five acres.
Nielsen explained the ins and outs of the GMA to three different groups on Monday - two subcommittees and a meeting open to the general public. Nielsen noted growth boards don't review Comprehensive Plans as a matter of course. "Remember," he said. "Growth boards never get involved unless someone appeals."
Urban has different meanings under SWAC and GMA
posted 11/19/02
The confusion about urban designations and required curbside collection was cleared up at the county's Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) meeting yesterday (Nov. 18, 2002). County Commissioner Darcie Nielsen has argued that designating Lopez and Eastsound as Urban Growth Areas under the Growth Management Act (GMA) means curbside collection would have to be provided. County planning department staff has said that is not true. According to SWAC consultant Kathy Robertson, the planning staff is right.
The confusion stems from a state regulation which says SWACs can designate densely populated residential areas as urban in their solid waste plans. Once that designation is made, curbside collection must be provided. Robertson said, "If an area is designated a Urban Growth Area in a Comprehensive Plan under GMA, that does not mean it is urban in regard to Solid Waste." It is only the areas that SWAC designates as urban that require curbside collection.
Solid Waste Manager Jon Shannon said the legislation was written to address densely populated residential areas in unincorporated areas. "They wanted to make sure multi-family dwellings had recycling services available without driving," he said.
The committee is working on an update of the county's Solid Waste Management Plan. They decided not to designate any areas except Friday Harbor as urban.
Lopez Village planning continues
By Sharon Kivisto
posted 11/12/02
Planning for Lopez Village is being bogged down in a false conflict over whether it will be a UGA or a LAMIRD, County Senior Planner Pat Mann told the BOCC. "There has been a lot of misinformation and disinformation by people trying to sidetrack the process," he said.
According to Mann, designating Lopez Village as an Urban Growth Area does not mean it must have sidewalks, curbside recycling or three-story buildings with commercial on the ground floor and residences above.
Misinformation about what options are available concerned county staff. County Commissioner Darcie Nielsen has suggested the county could develop a Rural Village plan like Skagit County did rather than a Limited Area of More Intense Rural Development or UGA. According to Deputy Civil Prosecutor Alan Marriner Skagit County's plan is the same as a LAMIRD. It was adopted in 1997 prior to the concept of LAMIRDs being added to the GMA. LAMIRDS are limited to what existed as of July 1, 1990. Only infill would be allowed.
Nielsen said she interprets the RCWs differently and "I feel like what I have told people is accurate." She expressed frustration with the whole GMA process. "I am ashamed, I feel like we’ve moved so far away from what planning is about. What we have come up with has nothing to do with the real intent of the act. I was assured the islands would be treated differently."
Both commissioner John Evans and Nielsen have said they do not believe Lopez Village should be a UGA. The BOCC designated it as a UGA in 2000. Marriner pointed out an excerpt from a May 7, 2001 Growth Management Hearings Board ruling which stated: "the concept of establishing the two unincorporated UGAs not only complies with the GMA but it appears from this record to be the only viable alternative available to the County."
Marriner said, "If they were redesignated to LAMIRDs, it will raise whole other sets of issues. We'd need to redo population projections, where we would put people.(Because the boundaries would be based on what was on the ground as of July 1, 1990) there would be downzoning and loss of density in those areas," he said.
Commissioner Rhea Miller wants the work that has been done by the citizens of Lopez to be respected and allowed to move forward. She said, "I am sick and tired of not being able to get these problems on the table. We can’t stop people from coming, they will come one way or another. It is important to keep our rural character. I am so proud of Lopez Island, but we are being torn apart right now in ways that aren’t helpful."
The planning staff is scheduled to meet with residents about Lopez Village planning on:
- Nov. 19, 2002 at 6 p.m. at Lopez Center
- Dec. 3, 2002, at 6 p.m. Lopez School multi-purpose room
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