— by Matthew Gilbert, Orcas Issues reporter —

It was business as usual at the Planning Commission’s first meeting of the new year – reviewing updates of various Comp Plan elements courtesy of the tireless efforts of the Department of Community Development (DCD). Formal briefings were made on the following:

I cherry-picked a few additions largely specific to Orcas Island from the four CP documents; fortunately, most were highlighted, as the reports ranged in length from 11 pages (Land Capacity—Employment) to 169 (Capital Facilities). Anyone interested in a deeper dive can go to any one of them for the full experience. The comment deadline is January 28.

Capital Facilities: Recycling / Waste

Orcas Island’s available solid waste capacity is currently at 60%. It is estimated to drop to 52% by 2036. (Lopez and San Juan have less capacity but still plenty to cover the next 20 years.)

Recycling: “The recycling markets have experienced considerable changes since 2018 when China first reduced the materials it will accept. This has resulted in reducing the total types of materials accepted at material recovery facilities and those purchased by brokers. For materials that are still accepted or purchased, the market prices are generally depressed by comparison to pre-2018 levels. Further complicating recycling efforts is the ‘buyers’ market’ conditions that effectively reduces the contamination level allowed by buyers (cleaner recyclable material becomes necessary). . . . The County and Town of Friday Harbor will need to use every avenue to provide outreach to residents for environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP), and adopt a Contamination Reduction Outreach Plan (CROP). . . .”

Composting: “While there have been workgroups and outreach efforts in the past, the County has yet to commit to the building of a commercial composting facility. . . . Based upon statistics from the Department of Ecology, approximately 30 percent of the total waste stream is estimated to be organic waste suitable for composting. . . . As markets for recycling continue to return less revenue and make facility operations more costly, and as the County’s permanent and seasonal populations continues to grow, the County will need to work with its stakeholders to find other solutions such as commercial composting to reduce waste, control costs, and steward resources.”

Capital Facilities: Water & Waste Treatment

According to the report, the Eastsound Water Users Associate (EWUA) has 1,127 active hook-ups serving a population of 2,200, drawing water from Purdue Lake and 12 groundwater wells. Although projected “service area” growth since the EWUA’s 2009 Water System Plan has been below projections (1.1% v. 3.4%), the water system is at 99% capacity. Eastsound’s wastewater treatment capacity is at 86%. Both systems are facing capacity and level of service (LOS) issues.

Capital Facilities: Orcas Island School District
“Orcas Island School District (OISD) has been in the process of modernizing and renovating the Orcas campus and Waldron campuses since 2009. With the passage of an 11.9 mil bond in 2012, Phases I and II are now complete. Those updates include:

  • New band room in the middle school
  • Career technical education center
  • New tech room
  • Library remodel
  • New cafeteria building with culinary arts room and commercial kitchen
  • New courtyard between the elementary and middle school
  • Two-lane area for student drop-off

“An unexpected component of the project was a flood in the elementary school, which required new flooring, drywall and paint. The work was finished in the fall of 2015. In 2017, voters approved a bond and levy for school renovation and capital projects on Orcas.” There are approximately 800 K – 12 students in the OISD.

Lengthy comments on this version of the Capital Facilities Inventory were provided by Sadie Bailey and Stephanie Buffum, executive director of Friends of the San Juans. They are available at the end of the report.

Utilities: Broadband
“As of October 2019, approximately 50 percent of the County (7,500 addresses) is located within a serviceable distance (500 feet or less) of existing fiber optic facilities. Of those, 1,800 are utilizing fiber optic service. As demand for higher bandwidth and additional improvements are made to public infrastructure, the availability of fiber optic services will continue to grow. . ..
Fiber is considered a future-proof technology that allows for massive increases in available bandwidth for generations to come. The average monthly new connection rate is 30-40 locations.”

“Fast, reliable Internet connection is increasingly important to economic development, health and safety, and daily life in San Juan County. . . . The Economic Development Element of this Comprehensive Plan states the goal of ‘support[ing] development of reliable high-speed (100 Mbps or higher, or the current standard for urban regions of the U.S., whichever is higher) broadband infrastructure that enables the creation of jobs and improved educational opportunities for islanders, and increased competitiveness for the county.’ Internet utility infrastructure comes in several forms, including LTE fixed wireless, fiber, and cable.”

Housing: Vacation Rentals

Section 5.4.4 (p. 32) of the Housing Needs Assessment (HNA), a subsection of the CP’s Housing Element, has been expanded considerably to include most of the issues that have been raised over the last number of months relating to VR impacts. For example:

“The County began a certification of compliance program for vacation rentals in 2018, sending out 1,040 notices to vacation rental permit holders in the first year. Of those, compliance certificates were received for 537 permits. Of those, only 372 permit holders indicated that they were actively utilizing their property as a vacation rental. In 2018 – 2019 the County received $98,100 in code enforcement penalties from code enforcement actions on unpermitted rentals. Code enforcement is continuing for uncertified permit holders and those that operate without permits. . . .”

“Most parcels with vacation rental permits are valued above the affordable home price. As shown in Table 5-10, $285,060 is the maximum affordable home price for a household of four earning the area median income. This is approximately $120,000 less than the median assessed property value of all parcels with buildings, which is $403,890 (Figure 5-20).

“Figure 5-21 shows that the median assessed value for properties with vacation rental permits is $483,905, which is approximately $200,000 higher than the maximum affordable home price for a household of four. More than two-thirds of the properties permitted for vacation rental are valued above the affordable home price. Considering that vacation rentals are currently permitted for 7 percent of the existing housing stock, vacation rentals are not necessarily depleting the stock of housing affordable for San Juan County residents.”

[Observation: The above data seems to assume that “affordable” housing can only be purchased, not rented.]

In addition (drawing from different sections of the report):

  • The number of vacation rentals in the County has steadily increased since the year 2000 and made up 7 percent of the total housing stock in 2015.
  • From 2005-2010, there were 5.5 new dwelling units created in the County for every vacation 41 rental permit issued per year. From 2011-2016, there were only 2.18 new dwelling units per vacation rental permit.
  • Current trends predict 1,500 – 2,000 permitted vacation rentals in San Juan County by 2036.
  • The vacation rental share of total housing can be expected to be between eight and eleven percent by 2036 given permit trends.
  • The decline in new construction appears to have more influence on housing supply and availability than vacation rentals.
  • San Juan County shows a lack of diversity of housing types with few multi-family units. In 2015, 84 percent of structures in the County were 1-unit detached structures, as opposed to 63 percent statewide. Only 3.4 percent of the structures in the County consist of five or 18 more units, compared to 19.5 percent statewide.
  • No multi-family unit permits were issued from 2009-2015.
  • Only 16 percent of the County’s total housing inventory was renter occupied in 2015 compared to 34 percent statewide.
  • The majority of vacant housing units in the County are categorized by the American Community Survey (ACS) as, “For seasonal, recreational or occasional use.”

A VR compliance update is on the agenda of the County Council’s January 28 meeting. For more information, contact council@sanjuanco.com.

**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**