Letter to the Editor: Support for Consignment Treasures Not the Issue

Recently, I’ve been getting emails and phone calls to “save Consignment Treasures” (CT). People say they love CT. Well, I think everybody loves CT. That is not an issue.

The issue is where this facility is located. CT is on property designated Rural Farm Forest (RFF) where land use rules clearly say this use is not permitted. Such a facility has the characteristics of a commercial and small-scale industry. The rules are there to protect the residents of RFF in the whole County from the noise, traffic, etc. of these types of operations, which is incompatible with a rural residential lifestyle. If you live in such an area, you might have concerns about such a facility on a neighboring property.

However, the County Council wants CT to continue to provide these important services to the community. That is not an issue. CT has a Conditional Use Permit to continue, as is where it is. The recent vote by the County Council to implement recommendations from the Planning Commission didn’t change anything for CT.

CT wants to not only continue but also become a recycling receiver and expand its operations. The County Council and staff have been trying to find a way to allow this. We need to do it without opening up the door to allow more such operations in RFF, which could negatively impact many other people.

County staff recommends making the recycling and reuse activities of CT an Essential Public Facility (EPF) as the best fix. The County Council endorsed this suggestion and asked staff what the potential costs would be and whether those costs might be reduced or eliminated.

The process to make CT an EPF could take a year. Meanwhile, I would expect CT to continue to operate as usual.

Howie Rosenfeld
San Juan County Council