Planning Commission closes year by looking at shoreline, employment, density maps

— by Matthew Gilbert, Orcas Issues reporter

Nothing seismic occurred at the County Planning Commission’s (PC) last meeting of 2019. Outside of administrative updates, staff from the Department of Community Development (DCD) reported on the following:

Shoreline Master Program Review

The DCD received an $84,000 grant from the WA State Dept. of Ecology to review the Shoreline Master Program. This review would focus on the extent to which “other detached residential structures” – a catchall that includes such “unidentified appurtenances” as fire pits, outdoor kitchens, dog houses, raised beds, and garden/art sculptures – comport with existing shoreline regulations. Money left over from the grant will be used for implementation and monitoring.

For program updates go here; to make comments (there have been none so far), email SMPcomments@sanjuanco.com. The PC will hold a public hearing on February 2020. Additional code amendments are expected to be completed by June.

Land Capacity Analysis (LCA) Employment Capacity Methodology (ECM)

As required by the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA), the county has been implementing a detailed evaluation process of its ability to absorb future growth, and one area associated with the LCA is employment capacity. A methodology has been developed to answer the question, “Is there sufficient commercial and industrial land capacity to accommodate the forecasted growth in jobs through 2036?” The short answer is, “We don’t know yet,” but the county does have an idea of how many new jobs are expected. On Orcas, for example, the number is 342; on San Juan, it’s 893. If the composition of those jobs follows current trends, we can expect the majority of them to end up in construction, lodging and food services, and retail – not atypical for a tourist and second-home economy.

LCA Mapping

At last month’s PC meeting, the commissioners asked to see a density map of where anticipated new growth could occur, and staff presented that map on Friday. If you’re interested in what your neighborhood may look like in 20 years, you can click on charts and categories and select specific parcels. It may take some getting used to, but in this case, a visual story is truly worth a thousand words. You will find it here.