Discrepancies in regulations, review and permitting noted
A large gathering of 21 public members and county staff, in addition to the Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) heard at length of the failures in the County’s permitting process at the committee’s regular meeting on Jan. 6 last week. The focus was on the Craftsman Corner development, Steve Pearson’s Power and Saw equipment rental store, at the corner of Lovers Lane and Enchanted Forest Road.
The information on Craftsman Corner was sent to the EPRC on Dec. 3, with a due date of Dec. 27 for their review comments. EPRC Chair Gulliver Rankin said there is “still a problem” with getting timely communications from County officials.”
EPRC members Bob Connell and Peg Manning were unable to attend the Jan. 6 meeting. EPRC member Terri Williams left the meeting at the request of Errol Speed, who said that her involvement in the matter created a conflict of interest in the discussion. (Earlier, Williams had recused herself from the matter, and asked if anyone had an objection to her remaining in the room for the discussion).
Craftsman Corner is zoned “service light industrial,” is a category 2 wetland, and is in the airport overlay district: therefore it comes under County Development and Planning, Port of Orcas and Department of Ecology considerations.
In reviewing the project, Rankin noted that the original letter from the County Planning Department, in May 2005, was “a picture-perfect response from the building department to any applicant.”
The current argument about Craftsman Corner arises from the 2009 construction of an additional building on the site and its use as a retail store. In September 2010, [intlink id=”9917″ type=”post”]Pearson came to the EPRC[/intlink], informing them that in order to receive approval for the addition, he was adding 10,000 sq. ft. of building so that he may be granted a conditional use permit. (The Conditional Use permit application is scheduled to go before the Hearings Examiner on Feb. 3.)
When asked to present his case at the Jan. 6 meeting, Pearson referred to his September presentation. Prior to that, County Planners wrote that the 2009 building addition to an “existing commercial building,” was not an allowable business use; that the original permit does not allow for the business’ “current use… as a home and garden retail store.”
Pearson told the EPRC in September that the County has encouraged him to “go ahead with a substantial storage option,” requiring the construction of an additional storage facility, “rather than spend all that money on attorneys so they can define the grey area of incidental use.”
Pearson also commented on the requirements for outside storage and display, “I’m willing to screen whatever needs to be screened: how do you define that?”
At the January 6 meeting, Errol Speed gave a 40-minute presentation that was critical of the Craftsman project and the County and EPRC process in reviewing and granting permits.
Speed’s remarks included various aspects of the project, including:
- Aesthetics
- Parking
- Offstreet loading
- Traffic safety
- Propane tank storage and screening
- Accessory buildings
- Wetland setbacks
- Stormwater
- Rental equipment washdown
- Border zoning
Phase 2 of Craftsman Corner (the 2009 building) currently does not have a permitted use.
Among other criticisms, Speed noted that the EPRC had “apparently missed the deadline on the SEPA plan of Dec. 22…. That’s your responsibility to look over the environmental criteria.”
Speed said that the county’s review of the SEPA checklist requested no added information, and “didn’t correct anything; that’s a problem for me. The process is apparently broken. By making a determination of non-significance (DNS) quickly, the administrator didn’t allow the EPRC adequate time to review and submit recommendations.”
Following Speed’s statement, EPRC member Fred Klein asked, “What would you like to see as a preferred outcome of this?”
Speed answered, “I challenge anyone here — as far as the factual basis in which I presented my information – who sees anything incorrect, to come to me. I’d like to see something appropriate to service light industrial “boundary” zone; to protect patterns of use in the zone; something that meets the requirements of the code, especially as it [the Craftsman Corner development] faces village residential.
“This [project]is five years down the road.”
EPRC member Clyde Duke spoke of “the challenge of timing we have before us; [the EPRC] has not formally reviewed the project. We have to learn from mistakes; moving forward, it comes back to the structure of how the county and ourselves deal with things in a realistic time frame.
“The County has already sent out information; it’s hard for them to go back; how do you make it work after the fact?”
Speed suggested, “Remove the portable buildings.”
Sadie Bailey, who lives in the Lavender Hollow apartment buildings nearby, said, “The more I learn today, the more incredulous I am.” Bailey mentioned her concerns with the buildings’ screening and visibility … “I’d like someone to review that.”
Bailey said that she had called Rene Believeau (Planning Department head) last July, who reportedly answered her concerns by saying that any noncompliant use would “go away if it doesn’t meet code.”
Bailey asked, “Why do you let building continue if it’s not meeting code? Where do the people who live in and love Eastsound count? If your purpose is to advise the planning department and planning commission and county council… I think the permit process is appalling.”
Scott Lancaster, owner of Ace Hardware asked the EPRC what would happen with information Speed gave the committee, and was told that the matter would be continued at an additional EPRC meeting this month, scheduled for Jan. 20.
Lancaster also spoke to the environmental impacts of traffic and parking, as well as height and use issues: “There is no indication of what the actual use will end up being. I believe that should be a problem for all of us.
“The whole idea of the UGA [Urban Growth Area] is a concentrated area within the village where growth and commerce is supposed to be. There’s a definite plan as to why light industrial and residential should be on the outskirts.
“The County has made serious errors in the course of the last five years in what they’ve allowed Steve [Pearson] to do.”
Pearson will have the opportunity to respond to the comments at the Jan. 20 meeting.
Paul Kamin, Eastsound Water Users Association General Manager was asked how his office, across the street from Craftsman Corner has been impacted by the development, and responded, “Steve’s been a bonus to us as far as delivering services, as for the architecture, I appreciate his efforts to design a building. I personally don’t have a lot of issues, and I haven’t heard from neighbors that they do.”
EPRC Chair Gulliver Rankin said that, in going through the code compliance officer’s questions and how Craftsman Corner impacts others, that the Fire Marshal, while stating that the propane tank was “not within his purview as a fire issue,” also said that he “doesn’t see the storage tank as a significant risk.”
The airport district had requested that the propane tank be buried, Rankin said.
The EPRC will put together a list of questions to send to Planning Department before they advise the Hearing Examiner as to questions that have arisen. The Craftsman Corner matter is scheduled to go before the Hearing Examiner on Feb. 3.
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Excellent article, journalist Margie, thank you! This is truly an Orcas Issue. There are established requirements not being met here, and that is unacceptable, period. The boundaries and rules and codes were made law for a reason, yes? Everyone else must abide by them, yes? So what’s the issue?
I write in support of Steve Pearson and his current development of Orcas Rental and Saw at the northeast corner of Enchanted Forest Rd and Lovers Lane. I have known Steve for over three years; in that time he has proved to be an unfailingly good neighbor and friend.
I live on Lovers Lane, immediately south of Clyde and April Duke’s property on the southeast corner of that same junction. From the front porch of my house, I look directly across the eastern portion of the Duke’s property to Orcas Rental and Saw. As I stand on my porch, I am pleased to contemplate a structure that, with its varied and historically referenced architecture and local and recycled materials, honors the character and flavor of Eastsound Village.
From the beginning of his current project, Steve has been open and honest with me about his vision for the corner. As well, he has included me in that vision. Knowing that I am an avid organic gardener, he asked me to design and build a garden for the corner. I envisioned a biologically diverse garden that would demonstrate how ordinary individuals and families, with limited resources of time, money, land, and experience, could use organic practices to grow flowers, fruit, vegetables, and herbs to feed both their bodies and souls. The garden that I created this past summer did just that.
As I worked away at the corner, tilling, planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting, passers-by, many of them residents of nearby Bonnie Brae, stopped to visit, ask questions, and comment on the progress of the garden. As seeds became plants, and plants became vegetables and flowers, these neighbors would share their pleasure in watching the garden grow and note how healthy and beautiful everything looked. Many would ask how they could create similar gardens. Some asked if I would help them develop such a garden, such as Lisa Byers, OPAL Director, who envisioned a similar garden on the OPAL property just across the street. Especially as the cosmos and sunflowers began to bloom, and the lettuces and beans and squash grew to harvest stage, people would stop again and again and simply say, “I love this garden. Thank you for making this garden.”
Each Tuesday during harvest time I took a laundry basket of herbs and vegetables to share with islanders at the Food Bank. Employees of Orcas Rental and Saw took home fresh vegetables. April Duke wandered into the garden to harvest lettuces and herbs. I took home my share too. Our little corner garden delighted, inspired, and fed quite a few people, just as I envisioned it would.
I was sad to read in the record of the recent EPRC meeting that some islanders think Steve’s project is a “blight” on the neighborhood. Conversely, I can’t think of a more neighborly development than buildings and landscaping that reflect the historical aesthetic and purposes of the village, as well as values of community and sustainability. With each year, and additional time and funds, my goal is to develop the corner garden into an increasingly mature and diverse planting that will continue to delight, inspire, and feed islanders. I can’t think of a more appropriate “screen” than that.