Planning Commission briefing was held via Skype

— by Steve Bernheim, Orcas Issues reporter —

As a COVID precaution, the San Juan County Planning Commission met via Skype on March 20 to hear staff briefings on 1) the transportation and 2) rural land elements of the still-evolving draft Comprehensive Plan, and 3) to receive staff briefing on draft regulations of marijuana grow and processing businesses. The Commission also recommended to the County Council that a 27-acre Lopez Island farm be temporarily reclassified as “conservation” land.

1. Transportation: The “Transportation Element” of the Comprehensive Plan is required by state law to: create an inventory of county air, marine, and surface transportation facilities; forecast air, marine, and surface transportation demand through 2036 and how to meet it; and assess how to pay the bill for transportation maintenance and construction, including contingency planning for funding shortfalls.

The Appendix of the draft Transportation Element contains the data for county air (airports), marine (ferries and docks, non-ferry island needs), and surface (roads and trails, sidewalks) transportation facilities, and projections for future needs with which the County Council identifies and prioritizes 20 year capital projects, six-year improvement timelines, and annual milestones.

According to the staff presentation, by 2036 traffic research will lead to left turn lanes instead of stop lights to moderate expected delays on roads and at Eastsound intersections. Also through 2036, Crescent Beach Road will be classified as a “major collector” roadway.

Even though recent changes in law allow the council to take public health and traffic congestion into account when deciding to fund transportation projects, development of pedestrian and bicycle roadways is limited in the draft transportation plan, nor is there any planning for any county public transportation system at least through 2036. And, under the draft plan, intergovernmental coordination of regional transportation needs with Skagit, Island, or Whatcom counties is minimized because we “don’t really share any roads” with those counties.

Creating international ports of entry (with US Customs and Immigration clearances available) on Lopez and Orcas has been deleted from the current draft, and finally, staff acknowledged that foreseeable taxes and grants may not provide sufficient revenues to address all transportation needs through 2036.

For further information on the many aspects of this “transportation” element of the draft Comprehensive Plan, and on how the county plans to construct and maintain facilities to meet this need through 2036, enter “transportation” in the search box on the San Juan County website.

Staff invited the public to continue to submit comments at compplancomments@sanjuanco.com, and reference “Transportation” in the subject line. Please do not “copy” other staff members on the comments, which only burden staff with repetitive tasks.

Neither global warming nor climate change was mentioned during the briefing until the end when staff summarized two public comments critical of the plan for this omission. Staff indicated willingness to amend the plan to encourage greenhouse gas reductions and installation of electric vehicle charging stations.

2. Rural Lands: State regulations say that “counties must include a rural element in their comprehensive plan,” so staff briefed the Commission on “Rural” aspects of the current draft Land Use element of the draft Comprehensive Plan. Staff and Commission spoke of how to maintain and define rural character, how to increase commercial and community uses in rural areas, and ways to protect rural character when the County Council increases commercial development and residential density allowances on rural lands through 2036.

In addition to leading a broad and general discussion, staff mentioned specific areas of specific islands for possible re-development planning or re-designation on the planning maps, including areas of Deer Harbor, West Beach, Olga, and Rosario. For further information on the many diverse aspects of this “rural” element of the draft Comp Plan, on specific plans for specific rural places, and on how the County plans to accommodate forecast residential and commercial development in rural areas, enter “rural lands” in the search box on the San Juan County website.

3. Marijuana Regulation: The Commission also heard a briefing from staff on the current draft marijuana production and processing regulations. A county moratorium on new permit applications to grow or process marijuana (also known as “cannabis”) is scheduled, without further council action, to expire in April. The draft regulations broadly permit marijuana growth and processing operations of limited size, but only indoors (and, in rural areas, only in existing structures), and only so long as public protections against odor and sound are certified by professional engineers. The draft regulations have nothing to do with retail sales.

The proposed code amendment can be found on the county website (enter “marijuana” in the search box) and will be the subject of future public hearings.

4. Conservation Farmland: The Commission also heard a briefing on an application from a recent purchaser of a 27 acre farm on Lopez Island seeking “farm and agricultural conservation” status while he ponders plans for future agricultural operations and recommended approval of the staff report, to be forwarded to the County Council for final action.

5. Emergency Preparedness: Finally, staff and Commission discussed how the remote meeting requirements worked in light of the COVID health emergency. At least two of the Commissioners were unable to see any of the visual materials staff provided at the meeting, though the staff presentation was available to members of the public who joined the meeting via the Commission’s meeting and agendas webpage. Live public comment was not possible without possibly violating distancing recommendations in the Commission meeting room. In light of remote meeting requirements, the Commission may cancel its April meeting.