05/09/2005: "EDITORIAL: Guest House Saga Continues"

GUEST_HOUSE-1 (46k image)

Legal Guest House On Two Acres -San Juan Island
There will be a public hearing before the BOCC on Tuesday (the 10th) to take testimony on the Guest House Issue.

The original Comprehensive Plan adopted by County Commissioners Tom Starr, John Evans and Rhea Miller did not allow for guest houses; however a later, and the current board, did allow for them. And then the battle was on. The latest action will occur this Tuesday at 10:30 a.m., when the County Commissioners will hold a public hearing on an Ordinance designed to address one of the unexpected consequence of the battle; or to put it another way: a proposal to protect the innocent.

The County's allowance of Guest Houses has been repeatedly challenged by the Friends of the San Juans, in the form of Lynn Bahrych, Joe Symons and Maile Johnson. As a result of the challenges, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (WWGMHB) ruled Guest Houses were not legal in San Juan County. Other counties allow them, San Juan does not.

While the battle between the BOCC and those who oppose them has been going on, a number of people obtained permits, and many constructed what they though at the time was a guest house. They thought they were guest houses, because it was their intent to build one, and the regulations required it to fit within the tight constraints that define a guest house, not the least of which was that it had to be small. And of course the construction of the guest house was not located on the best part of the property in terms of views or exposure to light, since the more desirable location was being reserved for the main house.

The hearing this Tuesday is required as a result of the passing of Ordinance Number three by the BOCC. This ordinance came to be in order to comply with the WWGMHB ruling that resulted from the legal challenges. Because the County has not yet held a public hearing on an ordinance establishing a moratorium on the construction of guest houses, the County will now hold the hearing.

One of the official agenda item reads as follows: Public Hearing to Consider a Proposed Ordinance to Suspend for Six Months the Acceptance of Applications for the Building Permits for Freestanding Accessory Dwelling Units on Parcels of Less than 10 Acres in the Rural and Resources Land of San Juan County

There are a number of property owners who now find that because they were given a building permit, and built a small guest house, they cannot now build the main house. One of the issues that the ordinance has addressed, and solved, is to open the current trap some people have now found themselves in, resulting from their having built a small guest house that meets all of the conditions of a guest house, but now are not allowed to build their true house (the main house), because to do so, would truly make the small house a guest house -which is not allowed due to the challenges.

The part of the ordinance that solves this problem is number 3, which states in part: "…this ordinance shall not apply to an application for a principal residence on a parcel with a structure which existed or for which permits had been obtained before November 30, 2000…"

To give support to the ordinance, is to support the right of those who were granted a permit to build a legal guest house under the regulations, to now built a main house. To not support the ordinance, is to not support that right. Anyone who wishes to give testimony to the County Commissioners on this subject will be allowed to do.