“Green Pages” Now Online

We are pleased to see that, at long last, the “Green Pages” has found a home online. For those of you unfamiliar with “Green Pages,” this is a bi-monthly journal of environmental news and commentary, published by South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH). It is available as a free newsletter, distributed in many locations around Thurston County.

The current issue “aims to help readers gain a foothold on some local water issues – and some local candidates’ views on them.”

Griffin resident, Dr. Paul Allen, is the Vice President of SPEECH and a frequent contributor to Green Pages.

We have often found Green Pages to offer practical information and well thought-out commentary on issues related to both the local and global environment and we’re certain many of you will want to bookmark the online version of Green Pages.

Many thanks to the folks at SPEECH for placing this valuable resource online.

Click here for the current issue of Green Pages.

Land Use and Global Warming Forum – August 22

The degree to which governments can or should be involved in crafting solutions to global climate change is an issue of some controversy. However, there is clearly a connection between global climate change and land use. In the area of land use, the role of government – local, state and federal – is both far-reaching and long-established. The habits of individuals and corporations, if changed, can go a long way to mitigate the climate impact of humans on the planet. However, without governmental attention, particularly in the area of land use planning, we are unlikely to achieve a goal of sustainable living.

Global warming is more than an environmental problem, our entire community needs to pitch in. Futurewise is holding a forum on “Land Use and Global Warming“.

Wednesday, August 22nd: 5:30pm
Lincoln School, 213 21st Ave SE, Olympia

Speakers include:
Sam Garst, Thurston County’s 1st Five Star Built Green homeowner
Sister Mimi Maloney, Interfaith Works’ Earth Stewardship Committee
Cheryl Petra, Principal, Lincoln Elementary School
Charlie Stephens, Kamilche Sea Farms
Paula Swedeen, Earth Economy

There’s no doubt that tackling global warming is the challenge of our generation. How we address this challenge will determine the health of our state’s environment, the strength of our economy, and the future we will give to our kids.

Sprawling development patterns create neighborhoods farther away from jobs, schools, churches, and other needs in our daily lives. The resulting traffic is Washington’s largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions. We can’t fight global warming without stopping irresponsible development.

Join Futurewise for a forum on Land Use and Global Warming, co-sponsored by Earth Ministry, Livable Thurston, League of Women Voters of Thurston County, Thurston Conservation Voters, and Climate Solutions.

If you have questions, or to RSVP, email april@futurewise.org.

Local Residents Force County Staff to Address Deficiencies in Developer’s Plan

Thurston County has issued a revised environmental ruling requiring additional stormwater drainage and erosion-control measures on a project near Schirm Loop. Consequently, the developer, Paul Muirhead of Muirhead Construction, has withdrawn his application.

The County may describe this as a success. In the end, a developer was allowed to proceed with plans only when appropriate steps were taken to protect habitat, adjoining property, and address the threat of runoff directly into Eld Inlet.

It was, instead, another complete failure, on the part of County staff, and it cost local residents much time and much money.

Why do local residents have to keep paying the salaries of county staff, only to be forced to pay to address the inadequacies of that same staff?

It took a group of concerned neighbors that included a lobbyist, stormwater engineer, septic system engineer and several residents to produce a 56-page appeal to the County’s original findings in favor of the plan.

Then, County staff “accidentally” misled local residents as to the filing deadline for appeal (a deadline contained within county regulations).

When the when the County’s hearing examiner declared the appeal deadline had been missed, it took more work – money and time – on the part of local residents, to get the attention of the County Board of Commissioners.

County staff clearly said the rules favor the developer and they were wrong.

“Without this dream team and some funds to go with the effort, the developer would have his way,” said one local resident.

“We need stronger voices for the average citizen and the environment from our county commissioners,” said another.

We also need a competent staff in the Development Service office.

Read the Olympian’s coverage of these events, in chronological order:

Neighbors want review of Steamboat road plan
County to review Schirm ruling
Developer pulls permit application

Futurewise Tries to Making Sense of the Rural Rezoning Proposals

A Public Hearing will be held on July 2nd at 6:00 p.m. at the Worthington Center, for the Rural Rezoning project.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to testify and provide written comment at the public hearing.

Where do you stand on the three proposals currently before the Commissioners?

Here’s what Futurewise has to say on the matter.

In 2004, Futurewise appealed the Thurston County Comprehensive Plan because Futurewise beleived the Plan promoted urban sprawl. On July 20, 2005 the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board held there were inadequacies in the county’s Plan which violate the Growth Management Act and those must be corrected; Thurston County appealed this decision. On April 3, 2007 the Court of Appeals decided almost entirely in Futurewise’s favor. According to Futurewise:

The Court of Appeals upheld the Board’s determination that Thurston County’s urban growth areas were too large by 7,000 acres and that the County must provide for a variety of rural densities, which must be less dense than 1 housing unit per 5 acres. We are now working to encourage the County to stop wasting taxpayer money and to start protecting our drinking water and rural character.

The Planning Commission sent not one, but three rural rezone proposals to the County Commissioners for their review.

According to Futurewise:

Each of the proposals should be improved so that they better protect rural character, water quality and quantity, and reduce sprawl – all of which are the reasons that the County is being asked to rezone its rural lands in the first place. Here’s a quick look at each proposal in turn:

  • The majority report was presented to the County Commissioners as what the county could “get away with.” Critical groundwater areas and at risk geographic areas are zoned 1 unit every 20 acres; nearly everything else is zoned 1:5. For our recommendations for improvements to this proposal, please click here.
  • The minority report more closely mirrors the public comment received during the open houses and hearings. This plan rezones 39.6% and better protects rural character and habitat lands. This proposal should be expanded to include a larger percent of the rural lands so that it complies with state law.
  • The third option before the Commissioners is a proposal which puts all zoning on the back of critical areas protections. As a stand alone option, this “innovative technique” will not protect Thurston’s water quality or rural character because it will not create a variety of rural densities. To read a more in depth view of this proposal, please click here.

A Public Hearing will be held on July 2nd at 6:00 p.m. at the Worthington Center.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to testify and provide written comment at the public hearing.

Written comments can be submitted in advance of the public hearing. Please address them as follows:

The Board of County Commissioners
ATTN: John Sonnen
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Building #1, 2nd Floor
Olympia, WA 98502-6045

Click here for Thurston County’s Growth Management Act compliance page.

Calls Increase for Reform in the County’s Development Services Office

We have seen it time and again. The County’s Development Services Department fails to meet its regulatory requirements with respect to review of development applications, notification of parties concerned, application of the Critical Area Ordinance, use of the Shorelines Master Program, adherence to timelines. . . the list goes on and on.

Are resident Mary Skelton is right, when she said, “The county Department of Development Services isn’t doing its job.”

Kaye V. Ladd, in a recent Letter the Editor, wrote:

In my neighborhood, they [County Development Services] approved a single family residence on a rural waterfront lot with about half of the dry land area required by the SMP [Shorelines Master Program]. Using an erroneous calculation and without a hearing, the county planner reduced the 50-foot required setback to 37 feet. She did not notify adjacent property owners of this decision or of the appeal period.

In the end, Ladd paid her money, spent her time to do the work the County staff had failed to do, and succeeded in an appeal to the County Commissioners. Wouldn’t it have been better if the County had done their work correctly, in the first place?

In our own neighborhood, we’re accumulating an increasing list of examples of not just poor judgment, but outright ineptitude, on the part of County staff in Development Services.

The problem is not limited to the performance of the County staff, either. The Seattle attorney with whom the county contracts, for services as a Hearing Examiner, has passed on applications and set precedent which ought to be very troubling to residents on the Steamboat Island Peninsula.

Most recently, for example, the Hearing Examiner dismissed any concerns regarding suitability with respect to the rural setting, when he approved the application for a Tennis Club. While there was support for an athletic facility at the corner of Steamboat Island Road and Sexton, the Hearing Examiner ruled essentially that, provided only that no more than 60% of the property were impervious surface, a building of any size is just fine out here.

Think about the implications. If you are on residential land, and your neighbor owns 40 acres, she can build a 24-acre building right next door. The Tennis Club is nearly 3-stories in height, so let’s make that 24-acre building about 3-stories tall, too. All your neighbor needs to do is qualify for a Special Use Permit, and she can convert her residentially-zoned property to commercial use. The county’s Hearing Examiner will give no weight to an argument that a building of that size is urban in nature, and not rural.

At least one County Commissioner with whom we spoke, regarding the performance of the Hearing Examiner told us that no complaints – not one – about the Hearing Examiner has ever reached the ears of the Commissioners.

How long will the County Commissioners continue to issue toothless admonishments to County staff to “do better” and overrule staff decisions that ought never to have been made, in the first place?

How long much longer will the Commissioners continue to renew the contract with the Seattle law firm that provides this county’s Hearing Examiner?

We’re seeing these kinds of problems with the Conference Center application. The performance of county staff has affected development along fragile shorelines, and it’s getting harder and harder to ignore (see “Development projects require better scrutiny,” at the bottom of this page).

How many more Aloha Lumber projects will we see on our peninsula? In that instance, Aloha Lumber was allowed to clear every stick of wood from a 30+ acre parcel, behind the Main Fire Station, for development. They application stipulated reforestation. When they didn’t re-plant, the County staff responded that was fine with them; the County failed to stipulate that Aloha Lumber do what the company said it would, in the original forestry application.

That’s just dumb and it’s just not right.

When will our elected County Commissioners take action to bring these bumbling bureaucrats to heel? When will we get a Development Services Department that doesn’t shoot itself in the foot, so often? We’re losing fragile habitat, jeopardizing the value of our property, and our quality of life is being lost, through the inept actions of these poorly-trained paper-pushers.

Thieves Break In to Steamboat Island Espresso – Information Sought

The Olympian is reporting that thieves broke into the Steamboat Coffee Shop this last Wednesday night. They broke a window and, after all that damage, came away with $5 in change.

This is a local business, run by our neighbors. If you know anything about this break-in, please contact the Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222.

And, if you’re in the mood for a beverage, please stop by Steamboat Island Coffee Shop. They do a fine job and we’ve every reason to want to see this local business thrive.

Here’s how the incident was reported in The Olympian:

Thieves broke a $75 window to gain access to an espresso stand on Steamboat Island Road near Sexton Drive N.W. Wednesday [June 27] morning and made off with about $5 in change from the stand’s money box, Lt. Chris Mealy of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said today.

The burglary took place sometime between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. Wednesday at Steamboat Espresso located at 3403 Steamboat Island Road N.W.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222.

Peninsula People Business Directory Now Available as Part of the New Resident “Welcome Basket”

GNA Board member and longtime local resident Velma Rogers has completed the Peninsula People Business Directory. The Directory is part of the GNA’s new “Welcome Basket,” now available to residents new to the area. The Directory includes contact information for businesses on or around the Steamboat Island Peninsula. Click here for your copy of the Peninsula People Business Directory.

Why create a Welcome Basket? Those in attendance at our Annual Meeting, earlier this year, heard it best from Jerry Handfield, outgoing President of the GNA, who said, simply, “Because we care.” In addition to the Peninsula People Business Directory, the Welcome Basket contains samples, flyers and business cards from local businesses. It also contains materials from the County and elsewhere to help homeowners to become more informed users and conservers of local water and other natural resources.

The Welcome Basket and its Peninsula People Business Directory is an important part of the commitment of the Griffin Neighborhood Association to the life and resources we share on and around the Steamboat Island Peninsula.

County Releases a “Growth Management Act Compliance Update”

The GNA received a “GMA Compliance Update,” from the County:

On June 18, 2007 the Board of County Commissioners adopted new higher density residential zoning districts now referred to as limited areas of more intensive rural development or “LAMIRD” zoning districts. A map displaying which areas are rezoned and which areas are designated as residential LAMIRDs is attached to this email and available at the County Permit Center and on-line at:
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/GMA/lamird.htm.

Changes to the geodata layers and official county zoning map will not be ready until late next week. An email will be sent when those changes are complete. In the meantime, you can zoom in on the PDF to view parcel specific zoning changes.

Please note: Adoption of these land use changes, does not remove properties from the subdivision moratorium. That will occur at a later date when compliance is approved.

The county analyzed all areas zoned RR 1/1, RR ½, RR 2/1, SR 4/1, and MDR 1-6/1 (21,939 acres in 55 study areas) to determine which areas met the LAMIRD criteria found in the Growth Management Act (GMA). The analysis was in response to the July 20, 2005 Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruling that Thurston County’s higher density residential zoning districts fail to comply with the GMA.

The final changes adopted by the Board designate 12,876 acres as higher density residential zoning districts. The higher density districts have been renamed: Residential LAMIRD 1/1, Residential LAMIRD ½, and Residential LAMIRD 2/1. The zoning districts of SR 4/1 and MDR 1-6/1 have been repealed. The 9,063 acres of higher density zoning districts that did not qualify for LAMIRD designation has been rezoned rural residential 1 unit per 5 acres.

Thank you,

Katie Knight, Associate Planner
Thurston County Long Range Planning
2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW
Olympia, WA. 98502-6045
t: (360) 709-3005
f: (360) 754-2939
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/

Public Hearing for the County Rural Rezoning Project – July 2

A Public Hearing will be held on July 2nd at 6:00 p.m. at the Worthington Center, for the Rural Rezoning project.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to testify and provide written comment at the public hearing.

Written comments can be submitted in advance of the public hearing. Please address them as follows:

The Board of County Commissioners
ATTN: John Sonnen
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Building #1, 2nd Floor
Olympia, WA 98502-6045

We have described this project’s hearings fairly thoroughly, in a previous post to this blog.