SAN JUAN ISLAND SOLID WASTE TRANSFER STATION

Related Stories

Press release from San Juan County Prosecutor: Skagit County judge overturns permit for Trash to Treasures project

Letters from Claudia Mills regarding San Juan Island Transfer Facility

Hearing Examiner's decision

Issues re proposed transfer station presented to hearings examiner

Prosecutor: Work at Trash to Treasures property is legal

Trash to Treasure initiative

List of stories about solid waste operations in San Juan County

Evans floats non-profit recycling plan

posted 05/18/04
San Juan County Commissioner John Evans proposed turning over the county's San Juan Island recycling/reuse program to a non-profit organization. He shared his idea with the county Solid Waste Advisory Committee during their May 17, 2004 meeting. The SWAC members did not think the idea was financially viable and didn't think any organization would want to handle the recycling program.

Evans is concerned about the time lag before the county can build the San Juan Island Trash to Treasure project. The project is stalled while the county deals with zoning issues. A $436,000 grant from the state Dept. of Ecology has been lost because of the delay.

Evans said, "We've lost a lost a half million dollar grant to help build a build a state of the art facility and we have and lost a whole lot of time. To put the project back together will take years." He suggested moving recycling/reuse off of the current site and onto Port of Friday Harbor property or property in the Town of Friday Harbor limits. He said such a move would eliminate the zoning issue. He said Browne Lumber's building on Spring Street might be a good location.

Under the town's land use regulations, a recycling facility is not a permitted use in a commercial area. Conditional uses include: public and private utility structures, automotive or other machinery repair services contained within an enclosed building; self-storage rental units.

Evans thought a non-profit could count on volunteers to help run the operation and would be eligible for grants. Construction material and other items which could be reused could be sold to bring in revenue. Some arrangement could be made with the county to cover some of the cost of transporting the recycling to the mainland. Customers would need to pay for recycling for the model to work, he said.

SWAC member George Post has run the Exchange on Orcas Island for more than 20 years doubted a non-profit would want to take on the administrative headache of handling all the recyclables. At the Exchange, people drop off items which can be reused and purchase (through donations) items they want. People take other recyclables to the recycling bins. The Exchange does not handle those items. "I don’t think it will work with volunteers or a non-profit," he said. "I'm telling you what I learned in 25 years."

Helen Venada thought the process of finding a suitable location would run into the same siting issues the county did with its recently purchased Roche Harbor Road property. The purchase, design and building could take as long as following through on the current Trash to Treasure project, other SWAC members said.

Evans said something needed to be done, the current facility is overcrowded and dangerous. SWAC was the first group to hear his idea. "This is where I am starting ," he said. "This is not where I am going to finish. I don’t think I would be doing my job. I don’t think SWAC is doing its job if it allows it (current situation) to exist."

SWAC members took exception to SWAC being blamed for the inadequate facility. SWAC Chair Tom Munsey pointed out the committee has repeatedly asked the BOCC to provide a source of capital funding for the solid waste infrastructure. The zoning problem is another issue that can only be solved by the Board of County Commissionersnot by SWAC. The committee is an advisory group to the BOCC .

Permit for recycling center pulled

updated 04/05/04 posted 04/02/04
Claudia Mills won her suit April 1, 2004 in Skagit County Superior Court against San Juan County. Judge Michael Rickert issued a summary judgment, ruling the hearing examiner erred when he granted a conditional use permit for the recycling center on Roche Harbor Road. As a result of the ruling, the permit has been pulled and it is likely the county will lose a $436,000 grant, said San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord.

The state Dept. of Ecology awarded the grant last year and has extended the deadline several times. The final deadline is June 30, 2004.

Mills won on every ground, Gaylord said. The 6 acre property, the county purchased for the project, is zoned agricultural. Under that land use designation no more than 20 percent of the property can be developed. The county had argued the state law and county regulations could not preclude the siting of an essential public facility. The judge said the Growth Management Act says the county cannot pass regulations precluding the siting of facilities but that doesn't mean essential public facilities are allowed in every area.

Mills also argued the the pick up and drop off area of the recycling center was not an essential public facility. Gaylord said it was an essential part of the project which was supposed to be a model for others in the state.

The judge found the county permit center erred in processing the permit. The application was not complete when it was submitted, according to the suit.

The county could redesignate the property to another land classification which would allow more development. A conditional use permit would still be needed. Gaylord said the court's ruling did not present any obstacle the county could not overcome but the redesignating and permitting process could not be done in time to meet the grant deadline.

Gaylord noted a study showed the soil was not suitable for agriculture. The topography and rock outcroppings also make it an unlikely site for agriculture.

The county commissioners will discuss the ruling in executive session Tuesday, April 6, 2004.

Mills believes it would be wrong for the county to change the land designation. "The thought of them spot-zoning like that, because a piece of ag land - a little tail of a real farm - doesn't have ag soils, is scary," she said. "Most farms have small bits that are not useful, and if the BOCC starts a process of pulling these bits out of the ag resource category, we will be going down a bad road."

Mills wonders why the county wants to site the facility on the parcel. "I don't understand why they are stuck on this site. Why this one was chosen is unclear to me," she said in a phone interview Sunday evening. She doesn't think the project can fit on the parcel. "I don't think they can put the drainage on the parcel and they don't have water," she said.

She questions why the county Land Bank would spend $850,000 to preserve farmland across the road from the project when building the project would ruin the views. "This is the last unspoiled area of Roche Harbor Road," she said. The three buildings planned for the Trash to Treasure project plus the incinerator on the old transfer station site would be visible from Roche Harbor Road according to Mills.

She plans to continue to fight the county. "I do think I know what's wrong, but I don't know what's right," she said.

Taxpayers losers in permit squabble

posted 12/17/03
A difference in interpretation of grading regulations and a mixup in issuance of a permit is costing county taxpayers $75,000. The Public Works Director Jon Shannon's interpretation differs from Community Development and Planning Dept. (CDPD) Director Joseph McKenna's take on the issue.

Commissioner Rhea Miller called McKenna-Smith "one of the gutsiest people" in the county. He ordered the grading at the San Juan Island transfer station site stopped until a permit could be issued.

Commissioner John Evans said, "It is astonishing to me the lack of clarity from the permit center for their procedures." He agreed with Shannon that "if you are not hitting the threshold for clearing and grading you don’t require a permit."

According to the county code, all grading of 500 cubic yards or more is subject to a clearing and grading permit. There are exceptions for driveways, ponds, etc. Public Works Director Jon Shannon believes grading of less than 500 cubic yards could be done at the new transfer station site while the permit issue is being straightened out.

McKenna-Smith said there is no exemption for grading under 500 cubic yards in this case because the cumulative amount would be more than 500 cubic yards. No grading can be done until a grading permit is issued, according to him.

According to records from the Community Development and Planning Department, the Public Works Department submitted a complete application for the Conditional Use Permit for the Trash to Treasure project as of July 29, 2003. According to San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord the normal procedure is to issue the pemit once a completed application is received. McKenna-Smith would not comment on why the permit wasn't issued.

Asked if a grading permit was included in the CUP, McKenna-Smith said in this case a grading permit and the CUP were separated at some point.

A 21-day comment period for a separate grading permit ended Dec. 11, 2003. McKenna-Smith said he is waiting for more information from the Public Works Department before he will issue the grading permit. Once he issues the permit there is another 21-day appeal period.

Shannon said all the information has been provided. A sticking point seems to be the restoration plan called for in the CUP. Shannon said there is no restoration plan to submit because everything that is excavated will be paved or built on and therefore there is nothing to be restored. A document stating that has been submitted.

The losers in this whole scenario are the taxpayers, according to Evans. A $75,000 which was being used for some of the grading work expires on Dec. 31, 2003. Since the work was stopped and apparently will not be resumed soon enough, the work will have to be paid for with tax dollars.

Grading ordered stopped
$75K grant lost

posted 12/16/03
Grading has been stopped at the site of the county's new San Juan Island transfer station and as a result the county has lost a $75,000 grant, according to Public Works Director Jon Shannon.

Community Development and Planning Dept. (CDPD) Director Joseph McKenna-Smith said, "All work has stopped until permit issues are resolved."

Public work staff began work on the site Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003. According to McKenna-Smith a grading and clearing permit had not been issued. The comment period for the permit ended Dec. 11. Once the permit is issued there will be another 21-day comment period. The CDPD is waiting for more information from the Public Works Dept. before the permit can be issued, according to McKenna-Smith.

The county has received two grants for its new recycling plaza. A $75,000 grant had to be used by December 31, 2003. The grant will have to be forfeited.

The deadline for the other grant, $436,000 from the Dept of Ecology, has been extended. It had been May 2003 and was extended to Dec. 31, 2003. A pending lawsuit against the county, may mean the loss of that grant, according to Shannon.

Unified Development Code 18.60.060

1. Project or building permits which involve grading of 100 or more cubic yards are subject to environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) (see SJCC 18.80.050) unless the grading is SEPA-exempt under WAC 197-11-800.

(Note: this does not apply when grading is associated with a development or activity which is categorically exempt from SEPA review requirements. Most minor new construction, including construction of a single-family house and related outbuildings, is exempt from SEPA review; see WAC 197-11-800.)

2. Clearing and Grading Permit. The clearing and grading permit is a development permit that is processed using the procedures under the Uniform Building Code, adopted as the San Juan County building code, Chapter 15.04 SJCC.

a. All grading of 500 cubic yards or more is subject to a clearing and grading permit, except grading associated with the following:

i. Maintenance of gravel roads;

ii. A SEPA-exempt (cf. WAC 197-11-800(2)(d)) residential driveway;

iii. Construction of a Class I – III logging road (per RCW 76.09.050 and WAC Title 222);

iv. Drainage improvements constructed in accordance with SJCC 18.60.060(B) and 18.60.070; or

v. Construction of a pond of one-half acre or less which is not in a regulated wetland (cf. SJCC 18.30.150).

b. Applications for projects which require a clearing and grading permit shall include the following information:

i. Source of fill material and deposition of excess material;

ii. Physical characteristics of fill material;

iii. Proposed methods of placement and compaction;

iv. Proposed surfacing material;

v. Proposed method(s) of drainage and erosion control;

vi. Methods for restoration of the site;

vii. Demonstration that instream flow of water will remain unobstructed;

viii. Demonstration that erosion and sedimentation from outflow channels will be minimized by vegetation or other means; and

ix. Demonstration that pond runoff will be controlled to protect adjacent property from damage. (Ord. 12-2001 § 6; Ord. 2-1998 Exh. B § 6.6)

Suit filed against Trash to Treasure project

posted 12/02/03
San Juan Island resident Claudia Mills filed a Land Use Petition in Skagit County Superior Court November 26, 2003 against the Board of County Commissioners ruling regarding the Trash to Treasure Conditional Use Permit (CUP).

The county's Solid Waste Division has received a $436,000 grant to build a recycling plaza. A hearing examiner issued a CUP for the project in September. Mills appealed the CUP and a closed record hearing was held last month. The BOCC voted two to one to uphold the hearing examiner's decision.

Attorneys Peter Eglick and Michael Witek of Seattle's Helsell Fetterman law firm are representing Mills in her suit against the county.

San Juan transfer station decision upheld

posted 11/17/03
In a split vote, the Board of County Commissioners upheld the hearings examiner's decision granting a conditional use permit for the San Juan Island transfer station. Commissioner Rhea Miller supports the Trash to Treasure project but strongly opposed the permit. "I am so embarrassed by this application I can hardly stand it," she said during the Nov. 10, 2003 closed record appeal.

San Juan Island resident Claudia Mills appealed the hearings examiner's opinion. She objected to the "choice of the Sundstrom parcel and the grandiosity of the plan." She called the application incomplete and was concerned about environmental impacts of the proposed facility. The existing vegetation serves as a biofilter according to her. "There is a big sponge there right now, that won’t be there at the end of the project," she said.

San Juan County Land Use Manager Francine Shaw responded to the nine points Mills brought up in her appeal. Shaw recommended the addition of three more conditions on top of the original 24 imposed by the hearings examiner.

The first added condition prohibits retail sales until the recycling center is in operation. New items will not be allowed to be sold at any time at the site.

The second condition required wastewater from holding tanks to be disposed of off-site. If in the future the site can handle the wastewater, the condition will be lifted.

The third condition originally required a hydrology study. Commissioner John Evans was leery of the idea. "We need to discuss and refine what we mean by hydrology test. They are very expensive and not conclusive when dealing with wells that are primarily rock structure." He suggested the condition be written to address mitigating measures regarding contamination of ground water.

Commissioners Darcie Nielsen and Evans agreed to add wording: a monitioning and mitigation program shall be put in place to prevent contamination of ground and surface water resources. An annual report will be filed with the county Environmental Health Department.

Miller believed the application was incomplete and should not be approved. "The cost of things like water, sewage, drainage are very much unknown. None of these questions are not adequately answered," she said. "The only recourse is the county will have is paying for mitigation." She said, "The only reason we are approving this is because we have a half a million dollar grant and a December deadline," she said. "This is unbelievably tragic."

Commissioners Nielsen and Evans voted to uphold the hearing examiner's appeal. Miller explained her vote against the measure. "I love the trash to treasure project," she said. "My vote today is strictly based on conditions of the apllication."

Asked Nov. 16 whether she planned to file an appeal of the BOCC's decision in Superior Court, Mills said she was considering it.

Appeal filed, $436K grant jeopardized

posted 09/30/03
San Juan Island resident Claudia Mills filed an appeal of the conditional use permit obtained by the county for the Trash to Treasure project. The appeal was filed one day before the 21 day deadline expired. The appeal means the county will likely lose a $436,000 grant from the state according to members of the county Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

The county was awarded the grant by the Department of Ecology (DOE) in the spring of 2002 to build a state-of-the-art recycling center. The deadline for the use of the funds was extended after negotiations between the town and county for purchase of property for the facility dragged on for more than a year.

After negotiations broke off, the county purchased 6.8 acres on Sutton and Roche Harbor Roads for use as a recycling center and transfer station. The hearing examiner approved a CUP for the project Sept. 4, 2003.

DOE has extended the deadline for the money to be used to December 31, 2003. DOE staff has told Shannon, it cannot be extended again. The next step in the appeal process is a hearing before the Board of County Commissioners. A notice must be run for two weeks in the newspaper of record. Then the hearing can be held. If the BOCC upholds the hearing examiner's decision, an appeal can be filed with Superior Court within 21 days of that decision.

Mills lives on Big Foot Road which is off of Sutton Road. In her 19-page appeal, she writes:

If this project is allowed to proceed it will have an economic impact on the value of my property, it will effect the scenic rural values on the drive to my property, it will effect the quiet, privacy and sense of place both in the daytime and at night at my property by means of noise and lights. As a professional biologist who works in the field of marine conservation biology, I believe that this project threatens to pollute a very large wetland near my property that is connected to a shoreline ..."

County Public Works Director Jon Shannon addressed issues of drainage during the Sept. 4 hearing. Mills does not feel the questions were adequately answered. She also says the property is needed as a buffer because of an uncapped portion of the town-owned county landfill. The town property is adjacent to the Sundstrom property purchased by the county.

According to Town Administrator King Fitch, there is no uncapped portion of the landfill. The area Mills refers to, has to be regraded because of recent use. The town let the county move its recycling bins up to the shelf area.

Mills suggests the county use the Browne Lumber property for part of the Trash to Treasure project. The builders exchange where used windows, doors, appliances and left over building material would be resold and the thrift house could be sited there, she says. The town has been in negotiations to purchase the Browne property for more than two years. The asking price is more than a million dollars. In her appeal she states an in town facility would be advantageous:

"If this project is as good as it intends to be, it will be written up in every guidebook about the area and will be a magnet for visitors, including those arriving without cars. Many/most male tourists and some percentage of women tourists would rather visit a builders exchange than shop."

CUP approved for transfer station

posted 09/08/03
Hearing Examiner Rodney Kerslake approved a conditional use permit for the new San Juan County Transfer Station on San Juan Island. The county wants to build its Trash to Treasure project on the 6.84 acre site on the corner of Sutton and Roche Harbor Roads. Opponents have 21 days to file an appeal of Kerslake's decision.

One of the issues raised at the August 22, 2003 hearing concerned restrictions on the land due to its classification as agricultural resource land. The amount of land which can be developed in that classification would rule out the siting of the facility. The county argued that under state law, nothing could preclude the siting of an essential public facility.

The hearing examiner ruled:

After a careful reading of the County's UDC, the Hearing Examiner is satisfied that the maximum land conversion and maximum impervious surface coverage requirements were not designed or intended to address the development of an essential public facility such as the one hear proposed that is industrial in nature. The Hearing Examiner is also satisfied that the application of these two requirements to the proposal would preclude its development, in that there is no reasonable and practicable way to satisfy these requirements. Thus, under the prohibition set forth in RCW 36.70A.200(5), these regulations cannot be applied to this essential public facility. This does not mean that the County can waive any regulation under the guise of siting of an essential public facility, and it has not been so suggested in these proceedings.

The CUP is approved subject to the following restrictions:

1. Development of the site shall be in strict conformance with the site development plan submitted to the San Juan County Permit Center on May 12, 2003. The director/designee may allow deviations to this plan consistent with the applicable development regulations. No new or additional land uses associated with Trash To Treasures facility are permitted without the processing of a new conditional use permit and/or compliance with the San Juan County Code, as amended.
   
   
2. The proposal shall comply with all applicable development standards of the San Juan County Code, except as provided herein. See Conclusion 7.
   
   
3. Prior to the issuance of any building permit for the proposed essential public facility, a geo-technical report, which discusses the existence of critical area erodible soils on site, shall be submitted to the San Juan County Permit Center for review and approval.
   
   
4. Prior to the issuance of any building permit, two copies of a drainage plan shall be submitted to the Permit Center for review and approval by the Permit Center and the San Juan County Public Works Department. The storm drainage for the project shall comply with the DOE Stormwater Drainage Manual, and all off-site discharge of storm and wastewater shall be in accordance with NPEDS requirements.
   
   
5. The proposed essential public facility shall be in strict conformance with the noise standards identified in WAC 173-60 and the San Juan County Noise Ordinance. Additionally, those noise mitigation measures designed into the project and described by the applicant (See Finding 8), shall be implemented by the applicant.
   
   
6. The stormwater facility noted on the site development plan near Roche Harbor Road shall be a water quality treatment/detention pond unless approved otherwise by the San Juan County Public Works Department, and shall be sized in accordance with the DOE Stormwater Drainage Manual.
   
   
7. Prior to the issuance of any building permit for the Thrift Store, Builder's Exchange, Moderate Risk Waste facility, E-waste area and/or Builder's Exchange storage area, the applicant shall demonstrate compliance with Section 18.60.140 of the Uniform Development Code, Off Street Loading Space Requirements. The off street loading space shall be illustrated on the site development plan submitted with the building permit application.
   
   
8. Development authorized through this conditional use permit shall be completed within five (5) years of the date of approval or the conditional use permit shall become null and void.
   
   
9. All disturbed areas of the site which are not to be paved or constructed upon shall be restored immediately and planted with native vegetation similar to that removed from the site.
   
   
10. The full width of required setbacks from all public/private roads shall be retained and maintained in their native vegetated state.
    
    
11. No structures may be placed in required front or road setbacks other than a fence, gate and/or driveway. Fences shall not be placed on any property line fronting a public/private road but rather shall be screened from view through retention of a 20 foot-wide strip of native vegetation that meets the Screen-C described in Section 18.60.160 of the Uniform Development Code. Native vegetation may be enhanced to achieve compliance with this condition of approval.
    
    
12. A restoration landscaping plan shall be submitted at the time any land moving or construction activity occurs on site for review and approval by the Permit Center. Compliance with this requirement shall be demonstrated at the time a building permit and/or clearing and grading permit is requested for the site.
    
    
13. Ingress/egress to the site is restricted to the proposed site entry on Roche Harbor Road. The two southerly access points to the site from Sutton Road shall be used only for ingress by transfer trailers and emergency access only.
    
    
14. Prior to issuance of a building permit for the project, plans for providing a source of water for the facility shall be finalized and approved by the County's health authority and Permit Center.
    
    
15. The proposed essential public facility shall comply with the concurrency standards identified in the Unified Development Code, as amended.

The Trash to Treasure part of the facility will be built using a $436,000 grant from the state Dept. of Ecology. If an appeal is filed, Public Works Director Jon Shannon has warned, the county will lose the grant which must be spent by December 31, 2003.

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