Council to revise Critical Areas Ordinance Aug. 25

By Stan Matthews
County Communications Program Manager

A planned Council workshop on efforts to revise the County’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. on August 25^th. The site has tentatively been set as the San Juan Island Community Theatre. In June, a public meeting on San Juan Island at the fire house on Mullis Street drew a larger than capacity crowd and vocal complaints that the venue was too small.

That meeting was hosted by the Community Development and Planning Department, which is overseeing the development of the portion of the Critical Areas Ordinance involving the shoreline.  A controversy over required development setbacks from the shoreline has grown intense, with some critics saying that even discussing larger setbacks has affected home and property sales.

The exact format and the naming of workshop participants has not been completed, but most Council members said at their meeting Tuesday, they want to include information from all sides of the issues raised in process as well as policy and environmental experts from the state Department of Ecology.

Council Chair Rich Peterson said, “I’m hoping that all of the issues that we are hearing can be surfaced that day.”

Council Member Bob Myhr added, “There are so many rumors out there, if we can just get some of the facts out I think it would be really useful.”

Initially the workshop had been scheduled for July 27, but it was rescheduled to allow more time for preparation. Details about the workshop will be released as they become available.