EPRC Dives Into Full Plate at January Meeting

It was a long and intense Eastsound Planning Review Committee (EPRC) meeting on January 6. After seating two new County advisory committee members, the volunteer advisory group tackled an agenda including:

• Plans for the design of the long-anticipated stormwater treatment plant on the “Mount” property
• Incorporation of parts of the Sub-area plan into the County Uniform Development Code
• Permitting of kiosks in the Eastsound Sub-area Plan
• Ongoing review of parking concerns in “Ocean Forest” development on Main Street
• Formulating procedure for EPRC plan reviews
• Review of design changes to meet Sub-area Plan standards for the Food Bank Building
• County permitting and EPRC review as it applies to Craftsman Corner

Mount Property Constructed Wetland

County Public Works employees Shannon Wilbur and Ed Hale gave an overview of the “Mount Property Constructed Wetland,” a stormwater treatment project that has been ongoing for a number of years.

The “Mount property is a .9 acres parcel just to west of the Eastsound Village Green, a wooded wetland area. In 1999 a stormwater control study was conducted by Hart Pacific Engineering to evaluate the siting of stormwater dentention and treatment.

The 2005 Eastsound drainage plan, written by consulting firms and the county, incorporated all Eastsound potential stormwater projects in three systems:

1.    Piping from the Mount property south to Main Street,
2.    The Mount property itself
3.    Piping from Mount property to the north

Wilbur announced that construction will go forward with the award of an EPA grant between the stormwater utility and Marine Resource Committee and County Development and Planning for $326,000 for all phases. The constructed treatment plant on the property is expected to be about $250,000 and to be constructed this year.

Wally Gudgell questioned the county officials about the original intent to provide parking at the Mount Property, establishing a baseline with which to measure water quality and funding for the project’s operations.

EPRC Chair Gulliver Rankin recalled that  stormwater treatment was deigned a Growth Management Act (GMA) requirement and that Public Works Director Jon Shannon had determined that parking couldn’t be accommodated within the stormwater treatment plans for the facility.

Ed Hale said that the Mount stormwater teatment facility would implement tesing of both “the influent and the effluent, with water from different parts of the village.”

Maintenance of the system is expected to come from the county-wide stormwater utility for capital expenses, Hale said. He added that maintenance of the system is expected to cost a minimal amount.

Design finalization for this step is the next issue to be addressed, Wilbur said. To that end, the County is soliciting interested parties to join the [intlink id=”10987″ type=”post”]Aesthetic Design Review Committee[/intlink], which will be introduced at a community Open House on Jan. 20 from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

The overall schedule calls for construction to run from late August into October, so “We have to go to bed at the beginning of May, which allows four months doing the final design and public involvement process,” Wilbur said.

The Aesthetic Design Review committee will meet once a month for three months to discuss six components of the treatment plant design:

• Pedestrian bridge
• Fencing sedimentation pond and wetland itself
• Plantings
• Trail, surfacing
• Interpretation and signage, educational component
• Name of plant

Eastsound Development Governance

Colin Maycock, County Senior Planner, spoke to the amendment before the County Council to incorporate parts of the Eastsound Sub-area Plan into the County Uniform Development Code. “The Eastsound subarea plan exists as a subsection of the County Comprehensive Plan, and [as such] can only be changed once a year,” he said.

Maycock also cited “antiquated language” which complicates site plan review by distinguishing between impacts that are “provisional” and require administrative approval, or “conditional,” requiring a public hearing.

“In this process, a number of other options will become available to be taken up as part of this overall amendment,” Maycock said.

EPRC Chair Gulliver Rankin proposed that the EPRC hold an additional meeting on Jan. 20 to formulate their recommendations to the Planning Department for the February 15 Council Meeting on Orcas Island.

EPRC member Fred Klein said that the committee would be required to go through the sub-area plan, “line by line, page by page.”

EPRC Member Clyde Duke said the committee needs to identify what areas need to be reviewed, and agreed with Fred that the undertaking was “a big task.”

Rankin suggested the Jan. 20 meeting could identify the highest priorities.

Ongoing Review of “Ocean Forest”

In discussion of the “Ocean Forest” project (the buildings under construction east of Washington Federal Bank), the EPRC agreed to review the letter from the Eastsound Design Review Subcommittee (EDRS) and a draft letter to the County Planning Department on the matter, to be composed by Fred Klein. The EPRC will finalize the letter at their Jan. 20 meeting.

Klein said his concerns stemmed from the fact that, “Although technically the EDRS is limited in scope to comments… the issues they discovered on street standards and parking coming right into town is one of the most important things they discovered; I want Rene [Beleveau,Planning Deparment head] to be reading our letter coupled with the one from EDRS.”

Deer Harbor kiosk

The EPRC reviewed the permit application for the “Deer Harbor Whale Watching” kiosk on property in front of the Dragonfruit Restaurant in Eastsound, noting that the Eastsound Sub-area Plan doesn’t address temporary structures such as the kiosk.

Until there is written policy for equitable and fair treatment of such structures, the committee stated its inclination to support permits for seasonal temporary structures, provided the size does not exceed certain limitations and the structure is not be connected to Eastsound utilities.

Potential issues would be adding heat or electricity or the failure to remove such temporary structures.

New EPRC member Rick Hughes noted that vendors in the Eastsound Farmers Market sign contracts with the county for their temporary structures, and that the number and location of kiosks should be determined.

Terri Williams, also a new EPRC member, said, “I don’t believe we can make up rules for a particular project; if it complies with the rules of the sub-area plan — however lacking they may be — then we have to put up with it.” Later she added that compliance with the building code should also be required, “and that’s all we can say at this point.”

EPRC Project Review Procedure

Rankin presented a draft procedural plan for EPRC review of projects, “so that EPRC members are up-to-speed before meetings and can publicly discuss matters at the meeting.”

Rankin reminded the group of the EPRC mandate to review all permits and advise public and governmentt agencies on projects. Some of the considerations in these reviews are:

• Set clear standards for development in Eastsound including allowable uses
• Identify, conserve and enhance qualities of Eastsound
• Ensure that land uses are compatible
• Support business community

The format should ensure that permit reviews go through a consistent process:

• Statement of facts — Project location, scope of EPRC review, areas of zoning restrictions and regulations
• Review facts with board
• Clarification by applicants
• Citizen testimony
• Review of each point – by EPRC, applicant, citizens

At the end of the process, a “form” letter noting EPRC recommendations would be sent to County Planners.

Klein spoke in support of the plan, saying, “We’re … simply suggesting that we have a template under which we can operate — offering an opinion to the county on how we see it.”

Rankin said that both getting permits and responding to permits has been “problematical and inconsistent in the past.

My intent is to avoid [discussion] by email circulation; in public meetings, background and discussion would be my goal.”

Food Bank Building Plan Review

Klein disclosed to the meeting that he had volunteered to assist with the Food Bank Building Committee to bring the  modular building into compliance with Eastsound Sub-area Plan building standards.

There were two variances on the plans for the modular Food Bank Building, relating to continuous walls in excess of 40 feet in length and fronting on a public street. Klein’s design remedied the design by adding two dormers and a connecting arbor structure.

The EPRC agreed that Klein would write a letter to the County Planning Department in support of the application being granted.

Craftsman Corner Review

The EPRC discussion of the permitting and use of the property developed at Orcas Power and Saw continued for over an hour, and will be reported in an accompanying article.

Future dates

• Jan. 20 Continuation of EPRC meeting relating to Sub-area Plan and Craftsman Corner Review, time TBA
• Jan. 20 Open House for Aesthetic Design Review of Mount Property Constructed Wetland
• Feb. 3 Hearing Examiner in Friday Harbor
• Feb. 15 County Council to hold meeting on Orcas Island