From the San Juan County Council Clerk’s Office
A Special Public Meeting will be held on Friday, August 5 when County Council Members Richard Fralick, District 4, Orcas West and Patty Miller, District 5, Orcas East, will host the first of three Town Hall Meetings on the Update of the Critical Areas Ordinance at the Fire District Station in Eastsound, Orcas Island, from 4-5:45 p.m.
Shireene Hale of the San Juan County Department of Community Development and Planning will lead the discussion. The topics for the meeting will be a summary of progress on the Update and a detailed discussion of the General Section that includes the Reasonable Use Exemption. Orcas members of the Planning Commission have also been invited to attend. A copy of the General Section of the Critical Areas Ordinance Update is available on the County website www.sanjuanco.com under Special Projects, CAO, Notices & Documents. For more information please contact the Clerk of the County Council at (360) 378-2898.
Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 San Juan Island County Council Members Lovel Pratt, Rich Peterson and Howie Rosenfeld and Planning Commissioners Susan Dehlendorf, Mike Carlson, Karin Agosta and John Lackey will host the first of three Town Hall Meetings on the Update of the Critical Areas Ordinance in the Legislative Building’s large conference room, 55 Second Street, Friday Harbor.
On that date, from noon – 1:00 p.m. Shireene Hale of the San Juan County Department of Community Development and Planning will lead the discussion. The topics for the meeting will be a summary of progress on the Update and a detailed discussion of the General Section that includes the Reasonable Use Exemption. A copy of the General Section of the Critical Areas Ordinance Update is available on the County website www.sanjuanco.com under Special Projects, CAO, Notices & Documents. For more information please contact the Clerk of the County Council at (360) 378-2898.
This is a critical piece (no pun intended) of the critical areas ordinance. These rules will govern how you can use your land if it falls within a critical area–which it almost certainly does. For one thing, the entire County has been designated a water critical area. For another, new intrepretations of “streams” and buffers mean that virtually every parcel in the County will be subject to these restrictive and expensive regulations. Only public participation can ensure that the practical effect of these rules on our citizens will be considered. There are many, many meetings coming up in August and September, which makes participation difficult for those with jobs or families, but please do try to attend and let your voice be heard.
Hi Peggy:
I agree with you regarding the importance of this issue, and am somewhat mystified at the lack of notice or comment on this forum concerning such an important matter. Actually, if you want to get residents “passionate” (pun intended) about this issue, go paint a meeting notice on the tank – – it seems that will get lots of notice and commentary.