Letter to Editor: Scheduling Too Tight for Shoreline Update

–by B. Sadie Bailey–

The latest Draft Plan of the Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) was released on November 11, 2015. The Hearing, and chance to comment more extensively on the changes, is this Monday Nov. 30, 9 a.m. at the Council Chambers in Friday Harbor. Continuation of the hearing, if Council deems it necessary, is slated for Dec. 2, 3, and 4 – Agenda to be changed without notice. County offices closed at the end of Wednesday for Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. They won’t reopen until Monday, the day of the hearing. Scheduling a hearing just 2 1/2 weeks after final draft release is unacceptable. I can’t find the existing/previous SMP or maps on the County website; only the proposed documents, which have changed much for the worse. I hope people will flood County Council with requests to postpone the Nov. 30 hearing and mid-December adoption.

This brings up the question of legality regarding the Public Records Act and “requirements” for comment submission: Is it legal and transparent to the Public for the County to remove existing Plans and maps before a new Plan is adopted, or make them nearly impossible to find? Is it legal and transparent to the Public to require mailed or hand-delivered comments only, and not let us know if our email comments will even count, no matter how hard we work on our comments? Was the Shoreline Management Act adhered to, were its directives and mandates followed?

* The proposed draft would remove all of these previous SMP protections:

General requirements:
• avoid disturbing, and minimize impacts to, fish and wildlife spawning, nesting, and rearing habitat areas and migratory routes
• minimize interference with natural shoreline processes like erosion & accretion (beach growth or expansion)
• avoid releasing oil and hazardous materials into waters

Protections in dock building that include:
• length limits
• requirement to use feasible alternatives for docks serving 5 or more residences
• preference for less ecologically harmful buoys to be used in critical habitats (in the new SMP draft, buoys will be prohibited)
• limitations on the amount and size of structures built on docks

Aesthetic instructions for shoreline development:
• a standard limit against structures spanning more than 50% of a lot’s width
• limits on the number, height, and size of accessory dwelling units in the shoreline
• protections against shrinking of setbacks based on outdated neighboring development(s)
• a 25% ceiling on expansion of nonconforming residences

Modernizing provisions, including:
• a direction to meet current standards for more than a 75% rebuild
• a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for expansions of nonconforming structures.

Instead of the above protections, the proposed SMP would authorize:

• shoreline airstrips
• desalination as the primary water source for new subdivisions
• underwater oil pipelines through the county
• “temporary” barge landings (12 in 24 months) anywhere, through an exemption
• non-commercial float plane use without public notice or review
• mitigation plan approval with just over 50% success

Another alarming thing being allowed under the proposed SMP is timber harvesting in “tree protection zones”- with all 22 protections of 18.50.240 (Forest Management) removed by the watered-down CAO. There are so many alarming changes in the proposed SMP.

If you think that the new SMP should not roll back existing protections, and in their place, industrialize and potentially pollute the waters of San Juan County, please submit a comment letter this weekend! Share this on social media, and with your email list. Spread the word. We need Council to listen to us and postpone hearings and adoption of the proposed SMP. Also, please copy Bob Fritzen (WA Dept. of Ecology) The Dept. of Ecology (DOE) must approve any SMP changes, so copying Ecology will keep them informed of any concerns you may have about this entire process and its end result.

County Council (this email address goes to all of Council members plus Staff Ingrid Gabriel and Sue Kollet) | council@sanjuanco.com
Colin Maycock (the County’s staff planner) | colinm@sanjuanco.com
Please copy Bob Fritzen (WA Department of Ecology) | bri461@ecy.wa.gov

*footnote: I adapted most of the bullet points outline from a Friends of the San Juans educational communication and sample letter forwarded to me by a friend Monday night. I made some changes to the language to help with clarity – if I am inaccurate with any changes, blame me, not the Friends. Interested people, please also read the informational pdf linked below. It will help with understanding the “why” of protecting our shorelines and nearshore habitats. I think most people would want to do the right things if they understand the why, and how to do those things (or avoid doing harmful things.) Thanks for reading. I hope you will let Council know, in strong terms, that scheduling Hearings and adoptions in Holiday season is unacceptable and disrespectful of its constituency.
https://www.sanjuans.org/documents/OurShorelinesMailerSpring13_web.pdf