Island Guardian

Wednesday, February 21st

Shannon Makes U-Turn On Road Failures: Rock Passed Tests, But Rock Is Wrong

ig_PW_ChipSeal-2 (67k image)
(PW Director Shannon and staff members wait to testify to CC)

During a lecture to the (CC) County Council in January, entitled "Chip-Seal 101", Public Words Director Jon Shannon informed the County Council that, while there were a number of reasons for the rough and failing roads in SJC, the rock -the "chips"- was not the problem; and called concerns that the rock was the problem "a conspiracy theory". Shannon told the CC the main problem was the quality of the sealer used to hold the rock in place, not the rock..

On Tuesday Shannon returned to the Council chambers to present a new report on the on-going problem, and reported that while the rock they had used passed all tests, it was in fact the wrong shape of rock; was not uniform in size; and had been "applied too heavily". Shannon said that in the future they will be using new specifications, and that smaller rock for the chip sealing of the roads will be used. To solve the current road problem, Shannon said they will use the money in the budget for this years maintenance of roads to repair last years maintenance work. The estimated cost to get the roads back to where they should be, is estimated to be just under a half million dollars.

Shannon said PW will also need to spend over $800,000.00 to insure that the problem will not happen again, by purchasing new and additional equipment. But since it is too late to purchase equipment this year, PW will rent the equipment for $30K. One of the benefits of the proposed solution of rental is that the county crew will be able to be trained in proper use of equipment and methods.

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Tuesday, February 20th

PC Public Hearing On Changes To HE Rules

The SJC Planning Commission will hold a Public hearing and deliberations on an amendment to the SJ C code relating to the Hearing Examiner system and administrative appeals of land use decisions. The hearing will be in the Garden Room, Key Bank. Friday, February 16, at 10:15 a.m.

An applicant unhappy with a decision by the Hearing Examiner has a right to appeal the decision to…Okay, now we have a problem. Prior to the passing of the Charter, appeals went to the County Commissioners, and from there to Superior Court. The Charter changed all that by adopting a rule that stated an applicant "may choose to bypass review by the Legislative Body and seek direct review with the court or other tribunal as provided by law".

When the Freeholders wrote the regulation, and when the voters passed the Charter, that language seemed clear enough, but the sitting Commissioners -who had now turned into Councilmen- thought it was a tad too clear that anyone should be allowed to bypass them by simply opting to go directly to court. The loss of possible review in land use matters that might be important to the Council did not sit well with them, and it seemed to them that the Freeholders should not have framed it as they did.

After much discussion on how to get around the new rule, the three Councilmen (the other three had yet to be elected to the Council) decided to consider some new interpretations, and possible changes that would allow them to retain the right to still hear appeals, if one of the parties in the appeal chose to ask the Council, and not a Judge, to first rule on an appeal. (link to history)

This brought the Council back to the rule of law, and that required the Council to follow proper procedures in making or altering a regulation or a law, which in this case requires a public hearing be held by the Planning Commission, who in turn will then forward their reasoned opinion back to the Council as a formal recommendation. A recommendation that, by definition, will not be binding on the Council.

It is expected that a former Freeholder or two may show up on at the Planning Commission meeting to give their opinion on the matter.

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Wednesday, February 14th

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 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 passed a guest house Ordinance that replaced an existing set of regulations.

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Tuesday, February 6th

Petition On Ferry Fare Increases

A group of concerned islanders is launching a countywide petition drive. The drive aims to address concerns about the pending ferry fare increases, the financial health of the system, and the cumulative impacts of fare increases on the sustainability of our ferry dependant communities

Island residents are urged to help roll-back the proposed ferry fare increases by signing the Petition for Sustainable Ferry Funding (see below), and attending the upcoming WSF meetings:

• Monday, Feb. 12 Orcas Island - 6:30 to 8 p.m., Orcas Center 917 Mount Baker Road Eastsound
• Monday, Feb. 12; on Lopez from 9 to 10:30 am at the Lopez island Community Center
• Friday Harbor from 2 to 4 pm at the Mullis Center
• Orcas from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Orcas Hotel
• Thursday, March 1 Anacortes - 9 to 10:30 a.m. Flounder Bay Cafe 2201 Skyline Way

Petitions are available at:

Lopez: Isabels, Cafe Le Boehem, Paper Scissors Rock, the Children's Center, Family Resource Center
Orcas: Orcas village: Orcas Hotel, Cottage Gift Shop
Crow Valley area: Island Hardware
Eastsound: Country Corner, Rainbow Services, Ray's Pharmacy, Teezers, Village Stop
Friday Harbor: Anne Sheridan Photography, Garden Path Cafe, Griffin Bay Books, Harbor Rental, Browne's, Vics

(Petitions are available for signing on Shaw at the kiosk).

Copies of signed petitions will be presented to representatives of the Transportation Commission and WSF attending the Friday Harbor meeting. A subsequent delegation to Olympia is planned to deliver the petitions to the legislature.

For more information please contact: Anne Sheridan at 378-7286, Louise Dustrude at 378-4306, or Lee Sturdivant at 378- 2648

Text of the petition is as follows:

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