— by LIn McNulty, Managing Editor —

Inter-Island Propane 30,000-gallon fuel storage tank in Friday Harbor

Ruling that the “Conclusions Based on Findings” by San Juan County Hearings Examiner Sharon A. Rice are defective both procedurally and substantively, Island County Superior Court Judge Alan R. Hancock issued a ruling on April 30, 2018, that reverses the decision to prohibit Inter-Island Propane from installing a propane tank near the Orcas Airport and the Seaview residential community.

Inter Island, which provides propane delivery service in the San Juan Islands, requested a conditional use permit to install a 30,000-gallon propane storage tank along with required fencing, and a 20-foot natural vegetation buffer, at 27 Aeroview Lane, designated as a Service and Light Industrial area by the Eastsound Subarea Plan. The requested storage tank and slab on which it would sit would cover no more than one-third of the lot, the tank specifications exceed industry standards for storage of liquid propane gas (LPG) as set by the National Fire Protection Agency, and there would be no other facilities sited on the property. The propane would be filled about once every two weeks and accessed about twice a day.

On October 2, 2017, the Hearings Examiners based her denial of the permit based on (1) inadequate fire protection, (2) failure to identify an emergency evacuation route and incompatibility with the Orcas Airport, and an inadequate water supply for fire suppression, and (3) inadequate fire flow and emergency-agency approved evacuation route.

Following that denial, the Petitioner, Inter-Island Propane, appealed the Hearings Examiner ruling on October 24, 2017. And because the Petitioner also objected to San Juan County Judge Kathryn Loring, the case was moved to Judge Hancock’s court, although the ruling is still considered a San Juan County Superior Court ruling, according to San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord.

Any decision to appeal the ruling would be made by the San Juan County Council. As of press time, no decision has been reached.

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