02/13/2005: "Your Future in Five Minutes, and Is the Comp Plan Broken?"

Commissioners, Planning Director and the EDC Write Their Vision For the Future

The BOCC recently held a work session to have "A Dialog around Alternative Strategies for a Destination Community". Some of those invited to attend were senior members of County departments, as well as representatives of the Planning Commission, the Economic Development Council, Roche Harbor, and others. The meeting was chaired by BOCC Chair Rhea Miller, and the Statement of Intensions (sic.), was to include an attempt by the invited group "To enhance community understanding about the ability of San Juan County to manage development, to improve understanding at the County level regarding community concerns, and to identify tools for growth management."

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The group was encouraged to "...add language around: Begin a community dialog, Create a coalition of public, private, and local interest groups who will build a foundation to increase our capacity to deal with growth pressures in our community".

To help move the discussion along and set a tone, the BOCC invited Richard Hobbs to act as a facilitator. Prior to the discussion, Eugene Bricklemyer presented a succinct review of a report completed five years ago by the Aquatic Resources Conservation Group under contract with the SJC Planning Department. The report was entitled Socioeconomic Impacts of Growth Pressure In Selected Seasonal/Resort Communities: Document Analysis and Interview Summaries Aspen, Colorado and Nantucket, Massachusetts. Mr. Bricklemyer listed some of the attempts to control growth in the Aspen and Nantucket areas, and related examples of both successes and failures of such attempts, such as caps on building permits, point systems used in the issuing of permits, and even attempts to limit the use of vehicles; an attempt that failed when the local residents realized the restrictions would also apply to them.

After the presentation, the eleven participants began a structured discussion of what-and-how the County can control growth and the accompanying negative impacts. If the title of the agenda and description of the goal of the meeting was less than clear, it soon became clear from the far ranging discussion that ensued that there would be no viable outcome from the workshop. The ideas and discussion that followed covered the gamut from "How do we define our community" to "...tax cars that drive into town" and a long discussion on the need for Impact Fees. While there seemed to be a general agreement that Impact Fees would be useful, there was disagreement between the Public Works Director and Commissioner Rhea as to what extent it was possible to impose them. Mr. Bricklemyer (an attorney) said he was astounded that State law did not allow Impact Fees to be easily imposed. None of the participants gave any indication that they were aware that such fees were in fact imposed in San Juan County some years ago, but were struck down by a unanimous decision of the State Supreme Court. Subsequently the State legislature drafted strict conditions on how, and when, they could be imposed.

At one point the facilitator asked the participants to take five minutes to write down their visions for the future of San Juan County. Rhea Miller stated a resource impact footprint was needed, and she also saw a need for an interface between the State and the County. Other hopes for the future included an increase in affordable housing, restructuring land use regulations to help farmers, more walking and bike paths, and so on.

The discussion then moved to how "we" can accomplish the visions of the group. Commissioner Miller stated a committee was needed, and while we have the "tools" in the existing regulations, they are inadequate for the job. This was followed by much discussion on the need for a vision statement, for a clear plan and regulations to control growth, and the need for planning. The meeting had started at 9:00 am, and it was not until 11:25 am that Stephanie Buffum of the Friends of the San Juans quietly said the word: "Comp Plan", but no one picked up on the fact that what was being discussed was, in fact, contained in the existing Comprehensive Plan. Nor was it acknowledged that it was the role of the Planning Commission and the Planning Department to hold hearings on suggestions from the County and the public as to what, if any, changes should be made to the Plan and the regulations that enforce it. This process is clearly spelled out in state law and is a recognized procedure that the County practices and is currently involved in.

After another 10 minutes of unstructured discussion Stephanie forcefully stated that we do have adequate tools in the Comprehensive Plan and the Uniform Development Code. At this point some of the participants seemed to realize that there are, in effect, the "tools" needed to govern growth and that what is needed is a way to "jump start the planning process". After the meeting, a senior member of County government stated "I wish someone would tell me what is broken that needs to be fixed. They're trying to reinvent the wheel."