11/30/2005: "BOCC Caught Off-Guard On Moratorium"

While the BOCC has imposed an emergency moratorium (Ord.1200-05) on the issuing of construction permits for the Deer Harbor area Previous Story , state law requires that they hold a public hearing within 60 days of the declaring of an emergency that necessitates the passing of a moratorium. The "emergency" was defined as a concern that, while a Sub-Area plan was being fine-tuned for adoption into the SJC Comprehensive Plan, construction might take place that would be contrary to the plan.

The public hearing on the moratorium was held on Tuesday (11-29-05), and as the Commissioners received public input, it became increasing clear that all was not well with how the public process was being conducted by the DHP&RC (Deer Harbor Planning and Review Committee), and the SJC Planning Department, that is charged with overseeing the process.

The first sign of trouble came when Bob Henigson of Deer Harbor, a retired attorney and the de-facto spokesman for the DHP&RC, submitted a letter to the Board requesting that all construction permit applications submitted to the County from Trend west (the largest landholder in Deer Harbor) be reviewed for completeness, and a "Determination of Completeness" of the review be sent to the DHP&RC; and then told the Board that the Committee was concerned about the "impropriety of Trendwest being allowed to participate in the meetings" being held to draft language that may become part of the Sub-Area Plan for Deer Harbor, and that while it was "less objectionable if they (Trendwest) only wanted to observe", the group had concerns that allowing others than the members of DHP&RC to participate might slow down the process.

Things did not get any better after that. The BOCC seemed surprised by additional testimony that the DHP&RC was a self-appointed group, had no legal standing to take planning action, was meeting in private with Jeff Otis, who had been retained by the SJC Planning Department on a contract to aid in the writing of the Sub-area plan, and who had recently become a property owner in Deer Harbor. In addition, there were new concerns expressed by some of the property owners that they have been cut-out of the process, and questions raised on the legality of a private group, such as the DHP&RC paying part of the salary of Mr. Otis, who is required to be working as a disinterested third party for the County.

At the end of the public participation testimony, County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord was asked to comment. Gaylord told the Board that the GMA (Growth Management Act) process requires an "Early and continuous public participation", and urged the County to provide a public participation plan that would meet the GMA requirements, and until that is done, the DHP&RC should not be taking votes on proposals, and should not exclude any member of the public from their meetings.

When the BOCC went into deliberations, all three Commissioners agreed that the Planning Department should quickly develop a Public Participation Plan, and continued the hearing until 12-20-05 at 3:15 P.M.