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SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT and PLANNING DEPARTMENT |
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Rosario Master Plan Hearing Continued to April 16posted 04/11/2007
Councilmember Bob Myhr has been on vacation and was absent from the public hearing which started at a special meeting held on March 30 on Orcas Island and was continued to April 10. In order to participate in the April 16 deliberations, he must listen to the tapes of the hearings. If all six council members are in attendance, the master plan needs four votes for approval. The plan has been approved by the county planning commmission with conditions. The master plan is a conceptual plan. Individual elements are subject to Planned Unit Development permits and will go through individual approval processes. Rosario Master Plan Hearing Continued to April 10posted 04/04/2007 Approval is neccessary in order for Rosario to become a profitable enterprise, according to Laurie Cameron, one of the current owners. Previous owners have operated at a loss and have sold off property to stay afloat. If the master plan is not approved - "We really have no choice but to close down the resort and sell to highest bidder. It is not a threat," she said. " It would mean the loss of 200 jobs, $7 million of goods and services. We will find a buyer who will most likely personally occupy the mansion and build condos by the water." The majority of the approximately 160 people in attendance appeared to be in favor of the plan. "I've lived here my entire live. I own or partly own three businesses. I can't tell you how important Rosario is. When Rosario does well, we all do well," said Tom Tillman. "It's a diamond that has lost its luster. I don't know why someone would want to come in and invest without a master plan." The current owner, Olympus, a private equity firm, is planning on selling the resort to a buyer who will develop the property using the plan. Cameron told the council she has a list of interested buyers. One, who was an islander, had to drop out because of all the delays. The private equity firm is paid a fee to create value on real estate on behalf of their clients. They are working for a public pension fund which includes Dallas fire and water employees, New York City bus drivers and teachers. About a fourth of the audience members were against the plan. They cited environmental concerns - water, noise, lights, pollution of the bay. Ruthie Newman read a letter into the record expressing concerns Richard Strathman the director of FH UW Labs had about the sewage treatment plan. He could not attend the meeting. It was pointed out that various elements of the plan will fall under additional permitting and scrutiny from other agencies. The Resort Master Plan is only the first step. County Senior Planner Shireene Hale said, "The county Planning Commission was concerned about potential effects of marina expansion, but after talking felt (the concerns) would be addressed during the approval process.": The same was true for development within 100 feet of the shoreline. " It would be addressed later on, once the overall vision was approved." The Planning Commision added other conditions regarding the employee housing to mitigate the appearance, noise and traffic. Another condition of approval was added regarding stormwater stormwater runoff and building heights in one area were lowered from 40 feet to 35 feet. Hale explained that the Environmental Impact Statement includes a whole list of mitigating actions. The Planning Commission wanted to make sure the actions took place and added another condition. They were concerned about the adequacy of sewer improvements and added another condition. Hale said there is still concern about existing water rights. Rosario has sufficient water rights for what they are proposing, she said. Talks between Rosario and Eastsound Water Users Association are on hold. Regarding road impacts, the county Dept of Public Works "seems comfortable with what they are proposing." she said. " I expect you will be hearing testimony about road impacts. Sewage discharge is a whole different process. Rosario will have to revise" permit from the state Dept. of Ecology. Renovation of the Moran Mansion is also included in the Master Plan. The planning commission wanted to add a condition of approval to ensure the renovation was completed. In order to do so the condition called for the owners to renovate the mansion before doing the rest of the project. Roger Pearce, the owner's attorney objected. "Requiring it before construction is unlawful," Pearce said. "It must be a workable condition. We believe it must be integrated. You can't spend several millions of dollars on non revenue producing resources. We propose a condition that gets you to same end but allows you to phase restoration." Hale reminded the county commissioners, "What you are doing here is just approving an overall vision. Other processes have separate public hearings." The public comment was creatively presented. Chris Peacock would have preferred to play the piano for his three minutes of allotted time. He sat down at the piano and played a few bars then said, "Approve the plan or we lose the music." Barbara Courtney of the Visitors Bureau spoke about endangered species - artists. "As a board member of VIB, I am interested in increasing cultural tourism which supports an endangered species and that is artists. I hope the Visitors Bureau is in support of the Master Plan. The VB collects a large percentage of lodging tax. Rosario is a large employer on the island and a supporter of tourism. Andrea Hendrick brought a model of thr proposed expansion to the meeting. She pointed out there is only one road into the community. "This brings our population up 20 percent more than occupied today," she said." SUMMARY OF PLAN:
The plan is available online at www.co.san-juan.wa.us/cdp/default.asp Explanation of EIS process for Rosario Resortposted 09/29/05
The County must review and consider all of the comments received on the draft EIS before moving forward. An acceptable EIS must incorporate and address comments or outstanding issues about significant environmental impacts. Adding a level of mitigation approved by agency specialists in environmental concerns, which adequately addresses those impacts, is critical for approval of any EIS submitted to the department. Before the department can move forward with public hearings on land use decisions related to the Rosario Master Resort Plan, the EIS must be finalized. If it turns out that the environmental impacts have not been adequately analyzed and addressed, Community Development and Planning (CD&P), as the lead agency, cannot issue the Final Environmental Impact Statement. A supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement may be needed to address any outstanding issues. The Supplemental DEIS, once prepared, must also be circulated to agencies for review. While CD&P recognizes the importance of the economic viability of the Rosario Resort to the entire community, it is at this stage of the EIS process that the department is responsible to make sure that potential environmental impacts from the proposed development are properly identified and that appropriate mitigation measures are also identified. Both are necessary to assist in the permitting process, which is when the mitigation measures become part of the site preparation and construction of the Resort. Along the way to this end, there will be a meeting to take comments on the Draft EIS at the Discovery House at Rosario Resort on October 6, 2005 between 1:30-3:30 p.m. Progress on Rosario EISposted 12/12/05County Community Development and Planning staff met with Rosario Resort representatives on Thursday, December 8, to discuss next steps in the continued effort to complete an environmental impact statement associated with a new resort master plan. "We had a productive meeting with the new director Ron Henrickson and his staff, and we agreed to some immediate actions to further develop the EIS," said Mike Usen, project manager representing Olympus Real Estate Partners who own the resort."We are going to revise the draft EIS further to address county issues now that we have necessary clarification on these items." The county staff will receive the amended EIS later this month for additional review, and then the two groups will meet again to outline the next steps. "We have a shared goal of redeveloping the historic resort as well as to have a sound environmental review of the plan," said Henrickson. "We are moving ahead as carefully and quickly as prudent. We certainly appreciate the contribution the resort makes to our island quality of life." Pending the next meeting, no new date has been set for Planning Commission review of the resort master plan. Supplemental EIS requested from Rosarioposted 11-29-05
The Resort prepared a Draft EIS, which has been circulated for review for accuracy and thoroughness to federal, state and local agencies. Comments received have triggered inclusion of new information and some revision of the document. The Department determined that more information is needed in the areas of traffic analysis, environmental impacts on the shoreline, and development of the Hilltop parcel. County staff cited State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) regulations, the San Juan County Code, and responses from agencies in their analysis of the Draft EIS and their request for supplemental information. The proponent has already added significant new data, including a Traffic Impact Analysis (October 2005); a Marina Biology Report (1997); and a Stormwater Management Plan (October 2005) in response to comments and questions from state and county agencies. New data must be circulated to agencies for review and comments. Agencies returning substantive comments that required response from the Resort development proponents include the State Parks and Recreation Commission, the State Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Department of Ecology, the State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the San Juan County Public Works Department, the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee, the Lummi Nation, Rosario Utilities, the Friends of the San Juans, and the University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories. A supplemental EIS and the required review by agencies will take some time to accomplish; therefore, the schedule for Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners review of the Rosario Resort Master Plan itself will probably be moved to March or April. There will also be one public meeting on the supplemental EIS as required under SEPA, which also calls for clearly identified environmental impacts and analysis of methods that will best mitigate or avoid those impacts. This additional information should make the actual permitting for the resort much more efficient and save the developer time once the project is underway. EWUA and Rosario to increase water system capacity togetherposted 03/18/05
An independent engineering and hydrology study has determined that there are sufficient water resources in the Cascade Lake basin to meet the planned future needs of the Rosario service area as well as provide the additional supply to meet the needs of Eastsound. The study takes into account the need to maintain historic lake levels for park and recreational purposes. The water rights for this supply have been used for hydropower generation for Rosario and date back to the 19th century. Rosario's drinking water rights are not affected by the agreement with Eastsound. Rosario Utilities' General Manager Chris Vierthaler says that "Rosario recognizes how vital water is to our entire community and welcomes the opportunity to work cooperatively towards a better future." Both utilities are members of the East Orcas Water Supply Committee which was organized and sponsored by San Juan County and the Public Health Department to deal with water supply and demand issues for the future, as well as watershed protection. The group provides a mechanism to develop better communication between local water purveyors on water resource and management issues. The Eastsound Association Board of Directors contacted Rosario Utilities' ownership more than a year ago to begin discussions on available options. Discussions are now continuing between the utilities regarding joint efforts to install the infrastructure and facilities needed to treat and transfer the water. Their plans will likely involve constructing a joint use treatment plant and additional water storage for both companies. Eastsound proposes to construct a pipeline from the Rosario area to deliver treated water to its system. Eastsound Water General Manager Ted Wixom says that "This will go a long way towards solving the water problems of both utility companies," but cautions that "there is a lot of work ahead to implement this plan." Both utility companies agree that a cooperative effort is clearly the most efficient and cost effective way to provide a reliable and high quality water supply to their customers. Jim Nelson, President of the Eastsound Water Users Association, stated that "We're delighted that Rosario is willing to share its precious water resource with the island community and we are looking forward to working together with them to develop a practical and sound water management plan for the future." |
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