Citizens Group Requests Full Buildout Analysis of Potential County Development

— by Susan McBain, Orcas Issues’ reporter —

A group called Plan Ahead San Juans hosted a community meeting on Friday, Feb. 2, at the Orcas school cafeteria to raise questions about the update currently under way to San Juan County’s Comprehensive Plan (CP). Approximately 60 people attended, among them Orcas’s County Councilman Rick Hughes at the invitation of the group’s Steering Committee. The Committee consists of people from throughout the islands who are concerned about the impacts of growth on the quality of life in the San Juans.

This update to the CP, originally adopted in 1998 under Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA), will be used to guide development in the County through 2036. The elements to be updated are Vision, Population Projections, Land Use, Land Capacity, Natural Resource Lands, Housing, Capital Facilities, Utilities, Transportation, and Water Resources.

The group would like the County to expand the scope of the Land Capacity Analysis now under way to a full buildout analysis. That analysis would show the total number of parcels and new development units that would be possible under current zoning—what one person called “the worst-case scenario.” The group would also like the County to provide easy-to-understand descriptions (maps, charts, graphics, photographs, spreadsheets, narratives, etc.) of CP data, designed for the layperson. A quick show of hands showed that most of those in attendance supported this concept.

The group is also concerned that under the GMA, the Comprehensive Plan addresses only the full-time permanent resident population. However, two other population groups significantly affect the County—part-time property owners and visitors—but these groups are not legally required to be considered in the update process.

Steering committee member Joe Symons described the history that led to the meeting. He stated that in 2001 he submitted a formal request to the Planning Commission via the annual docket process to request “a thorough and comprehensive explanation of the CP in layman’s terms.” He said that the Planning Commission unanimously approved the request and gave it high priority, but that the Board of County Commissioners (predecessor to the current County Council) never acted on it. He is planning to resubmit an expanded formal request and would like co-signers. The text of the request is available at https://doebay.net/sunshine/docketapplication.pdf.

Councilman Hughes stated that he thought that such a buildout analysis was possible but needs to consult with staff. He felt that other information needed to be considered together with the land capacity analysis, such as the results of the recent visitor survey, Washington State Ferries plans and constraints, and the land capacity analysis results.

The meeting ended with a call for the Steering Committee to identify exactly what kinds of data they would like included in a buildout analysis. The Committee expects to hold future meetings to continue discussing these issues.