02/13/2007: "Growth Board Rules In Favor Of County & Friends"

Call them Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) or Guest Houses, but whatever you call them, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (GB) has decided that the agreement between The Friends of the San Juans and the former three member County Commissioners - now the six member County Council- was a valid agreement. The Board has ruled (Compliance_Order.pdf (374k file)) that in all cases but one, the County was correct in their solution to bringing the County into compliance with the Growth Management Act when the County replaced an existing set of regulations by passing a new ordinance

Councilman Kevin Ranker was the Executive Officer of the Friends, and one of the authors of the original appeal that had sent the county regulations to an appeal before the Growth Board. His reaction to the news at a County Council meeting on Tuesday was unbounded. As the Council questioned the protocol, the wording, and the proper format of a press release that Ranker had quickly issued, Ranker became frustrated with the discussion and stated "I want to jump with joy.. .let's take a moment and celebrate". With respect to the ongoing discussion of the press release, Councilman Gene Knapp agreed with Ranker that "Victories like this don't happen often, and it's a shame to throw a wet blanket on it".

If the 73.5% of the voters, who said they wanted the County to allow guest houses, are also pleased with the more restrictive regulations that the GB has blessed, remains to be seen, but the ruling was not unexpected by some of the those who had opposed the Council and the Friends regulations

Even though the Board has found the regulations to be legal, the fight may not be over. As in all rulings, there is now an appeal period, so it is possible that the Board's ruling could be appealed to Superior Court. What the basis might be for a possible appeal is not known, but there are a number of regulations that even the Planning Commission had concerns with that control how, and where, an ADU may be constructed. It is now possible for someone to point out to a judge some of those concerns, or a set of new ones, and ask the Court to render a legal decision on them. The clock is now ticking, and only time will tell.