By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager
The San Juan County Council adopted a resolution Tuesday, Feb. 16 to seek public participation and hire consultants to identify scientific research to use in the state-mandated process to update the County’s Critical Areas Ordinance.
The ordinance – which spells out protections for wetlands, fish and wildlife habitat, frequently flooded areas and geologically hazardous areas – is behind schedule. It was originally due to be completed in 2005, and then the deadline was extended to 2006.
The latest draft update, produced after more than three years of work by County staff, consultants and a citizens’ advisory group, drew protests from critics who complained that the proposal was not properly based on scientific research proven applicable to the County’s unique geography and geology.
The Council’s action Tuesday sets in motion a multi-step process in which the public will be invited to submit scientific reports and articles to be considered, along with other research, by consultants engaged by the County. After the applicable research is selected, it will be used to analyze how the current ordinance should be updated.
Paul R. Adamus of Oregon State University is expected to be the main consultant on the science concerning protection of wetlands, one of the most contentious areas of regulation. Adamus oversaw new research and provided the scientific rationale for the wetlands portion of Island County’s Critical Areas Ordinance, which passed muster with the state and which critics of the San Juan County’s previous effort consider to be a model for using variable buffers. He spoke to the San Juan County Council and answered questions via teleconference on January 26.
The resolution sets September 15, 2010 as the target date to complete both the selection of the science and analysis determining how it should be applied to the Critical Areas Ordinance.
With the County’s 2010 budget in danger of running in the red, no unallocated funds are available for consultants, so in the Council’s resolution directs that “all possible financial resources be considered to pay for the professional services including but not limited to grants and interfund borrowing.”
A link to the resolution as adopted is on the County’s website at: sanjuanco.com/council/resolutions
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