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News Release No. 2006-4 April 22, 2006 GROWTH BOARD WANTS CHANGES BEFORE APPROVING LOPEZ VILLAGE BOUNDARIES In a disappointing setback for planning on Lopez Island,
the Growth Board has requested more work before it will approve the boundaries
of the Lopez Village urban growth area. “It’s become a familiar pattern with Growth Board
decisions. For every two steps we move
forward, we are pushed back one step with new issues,” said Randall K. Gaylord,
San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney.
“Unlike previous decisions, this ruling provides specific steps for the
county to obtain compliance. That is
very helpful.” added Gaylord. Lopezians Steven Ludwig and Fred Ellis had challenged the
County’s action in designating Lopez Village as an urban growth area. Ludwig and Ellis raised ten issues to the
Growth Board, most of which dealt with the protection of water resources and
adequacy of capital facilities to provide water for the village. Of the ten issues raised, six were dismissed by the
Growth Board. Specifically, the Growth Board said that the designation of the
Lopez Village UGA is consistent with most comprehensive plan policies, and that
it did not have jurisdiction to review the water report for Lopez village. The Growth Board also ruled that the County
properly included a parcel that had agricultural tax status in the Lopez
Village. Finally, the Growth Board said
that the County properly designated and limited the development of area near
Lopez Village as a growth reserve area and marine center. The decision also supports the County’s use of private
water and sewer purveyors to satisfy the County’s duty to provide adequate
facilities for water and sewer. But,
the Growth Board ruled the County was deficient because it did not include the
capital facility planning of the private purveyors as its own. The Growth Board remarked that “the County has done an
admirable job of working with the local water provider” to develop capacity to
serve the new Lopez Village area. The
deficiency, said the Growth Board was the fact that County needs a written
agreement with the purveyors to serve the area. “Stated another way, if
the County is going to rely upon the work and service of the Fisherman
Bay Water District and Fisherman Bay Sewer District, there needs to be a formal
partnership with them, with cross references to their plans and agreements in
place ahead of time,” said Gaylord.
“This should be relatively easy to accomplish,” added Gaylord. Another relatively easy fix is the Growth Board requirement
that the County adopt a program to protect against salt water intrusion. “San Juan County has taken sound, deliberate
steps to addressing its sea water intrusion threat and has committed to do
more,” wrote the Growth Board. And the
Growth Board did not find that the designation of the 2005 Lopez UGA was
inconsistent with the County comprehensive plan policies that protect ground
water. The Growth Board did find that the County must have an
adaptive management program in place before it will approve the boundaries of
Lopez Village. An adaptive management
program monitors water wells and includes a commitment to take action to adopt
more protective measures if the information requires it. The Growth Board saw that the County’s water
report had already recommended such a program, but it had not yet been
implemented. “We will need to tool up an adaptive
management program and be very specific about the benchmarks for action and
specific steps that will be taken if those benchmarks are not met in water
quality tests,” said Gaylord.
“Fortunately, Jefferson County, has already dealt with this issue so we
should be able to adopt a program that meets approval relatively quickly,”
added Gaylord. Until the County completes the work on the water protection
and capital facilities planning, the Lopez Village designation is on hold. “Our ordinance is not effective until a
Growth Board order of approval is received,” explained Gaylord The Growth Board gave the County 180 days to adopt a new
ordinance and conduct the environmental review that is necessary to bring its
ordinances into compliance. Gaylord
said that he would be discussing these deadlines and the public participation
plan for the work with County Administrator David Goldsmith and Community Development
and Planning Director Ron Henrickson.
Gaylord remarked that he understands that obtaining compliance with
existing Growth Board orders is the highest priority of the long range
planning. |