Clallam: More legal wranglings over proposed Critical Areas Ordinance initiative

The legal wranglings over a citizens initiative to repeal the county Critical Areas Ordinance continued Wednesday with an attorney representing two environmental groups asking for a hearing on motions to intervene.

Seattle-based attorney Gerald Steel, representing the environmental groups Protect the Peninsula’s Future and 1000 Friends of Washington, filed a motion Wednesday with the Clallam County Clerk of Court requesting a 1:30 p.m. hearing on Friday, Sept. 7.

Steel also petitioned the court for a judge to set a trial date on the issue.

That request could be harder to fulfill as Judge Pro Tempore Gary Sund of Sequim, who was presiding, recused himself last week.

And Bob Forde, the defendant in the case, wants the next presiding judge to be an elected official who does not have business or personal ties to members of the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

This full report appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News, on sale throughout Clallam and Jefferson counties. Click onto “Subscribe” to order your PDN delivered to your home or office.

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