Fate of disc golf course delayed as Clallam commissioners widen public participation
By Jim Casey, Peninsula Daily News
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They'll redesign how government considers such ideas, expecting that 60 to 90 days will elapse before the disc golf squabble returns to them for discussion and a decision.
More than two-dozen people — all but one opposed to disc golf, also known as Frisbee golf — attended the commissioners' weekly work session Monday.
About half of them spoke to say that Robin Hill Farm Park — located between Port Angeles and Sequim off Dryke Road, a quarter-mile north of U.S. Highway 101 — belonged to them; that is, to hikers, dog walkers and horse riders.
One woman said she'd chosen her house so she'd have the adjacent park in which to ride her horse.
But as she spoke, the issue already was on ice while commissioners find a way to decide disc golf's future.
Do little, say less
As of Monday, they could do little and say less under a 1990 ordinance that any major change to county parks requires a conditional use permit.
Under the system, the county Parks Advisory Board applies for the permit, then the county hearing examiner rules for or against it.
County commissioners become involved only if the permit is appealed — similar to a process that will take place today concerning a crematory proposed in Carlsborg.
In the meantime, commissioners can't discuss a proposal for fear of compromising their role as appellate judges.
The 1990 ordinance was adopted to make sure park projects met the Growth Management Act and the State Environmental Policy Act, said Public Works Director Craig Jacobs.
'It's kind of awkward'
County Administrator Jim Jones said Clallam was among the state's 39 counties to follow such a practice.
"It's kind of awkward," he said, noting that it also governs a decision to end hunting in the Dungeness Recreation Area after April 2010 and to locate a shooting range on Sadie Creek sometime after this year.
"It's awkward and it makes it difficult for the public to have some input," said Commissioner Mike Chapman of Port Angeles.
Chapman, elected to his first two four-year terms as a Republican, is seeking re-election as an independent candidate, challenged by GOP nominee Terry Roth.
Commissioner Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, said the new process would put the Parks Advisory Board in the same role as the Clallam County Planning Commission.
The planning group considers proposals, holds public hearings, and makes recommendations to county commissioners, who in some cases hold another round of hearings before approving or rejecting a request.
Angered walkers, riders
The disc golf controversy started months ago when commissioners approved adding the course to the parks long-range plan.
Opponents were furious and said the proposal by Michael McAleer of Sequim received a rubber stamp from both parks staff and Parks Advisory Board members.
Disc golf critics have presented what they say are more than 1,000 signatures to petitions urging that the plan be scrapped.
The game — in which players throw hard-edged flying discs toward baskets — would threaten equestrians, elderly walkers and others, they said.
Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, said the new ordinance should require all advisory boards to have agendas and post them on the county Web site, www.clallam.net, to ensure adequate public participation.
Horseman, spare that tree
Besides asking staff to prepare the new Parks Advisory Board ordinance, commissioners disbanded a committee of disc golf opponents and proponents who were trying to agree where the course would be located.
After letting disc golf opponents have their say, commissioners heard from its lone backer, McAleer.
The people who should decide shouldn't be only those who live near Robin Hill, he said, but "the people who paid for it, and that is everybody."
It's unfair to give equestrians' wishes more weight or to reserve the park for elders, he said.
McAleer also said 17 proposals — including a 70-acre conventional golf course — were suggested for Robin Hill when the county bought its 155 acres in 1997.
As for removing trees for a disc golf course, he said, it wouldn't be the first time they were cut.
Some were felled for a parking lot, and others went to accommodate some of disc golf's harshest critics.
"When they built the horse trails," McAleer said, "they took out a lot of trees."
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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: September 15. 2008 9:00PM