PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners have tabled consideration of a new zoning designation — urban reserve industrial — for about 60 acres of land north of U.S. Highway 101 west of Port Angeles.
Commissioners, concerned about the provisions for one lot in the area, will consider voting on the designation Tuesday.
The area is located west of the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society on either side of Fey Road.
“If we look at the urban reserve zone, it does allow for small-scale industrial business use — less than 5,000 square feet — and that would have to still meet our flow requirement,” planning manager Steve Gray said in a 90-minute public hearing on the matter Tuesday.
“And if it did not extend city sewer to the site, the amount of the flow that would have to come out of that business would have to be equivalent, essentially, to a single-family home,” he added.
“To go over 5,000 square feet would require a conditional-use permit, which will give, without those phasing agreements with the city, will give the county the authority to review that and require those upgrades in urban services were needed.”
Planning panel OK’d it
The Clallam County Planning Commission recommended approval of the application by a 5-2 vote Nov. 16.
The commission found that the site is already characterized by urban growth.
The area is currently zoned urban low or very low-density residential.
The county received the application in 2010 from two landowners — Bruce Gagnon and Olympic Peninsula Development Co. — who own six of the nine parcels in the project area.
The two parcels fronting U.S. Highway 101 are the only areas not zoned industrial between Airport and Reddick roads.
One is changed to industrial under the proposed plan.
The other would not be rezoned, based on prior public testimony.
“This was a long-studied rezone proposal, both in ’08 and this year,” Gray said at the end of a 40-minute summary.
A 2008 proposal from the same applicants to rezone the area to industrial was denied, in part because there was not an adequate financing plan in place to bring sewer and water to the site.
“That remains to be an issue in this case,” Gray said.
The county Department of Community Development recommended the rezone.
‘Good compromise’
Gagnon, one of an applicants, told commissioners Tuesday that the rezone is a “very good compromise” from the original application.
“I think this puts the county on good footing to attract future businesses, which we all know that we need based upon our economic times,” Gagnon said.
The concept of a modified urban reserve industrial zone was derived from Skagit County, Gray said.
The western urban growth area has most available industrial land in the Port Angeles area, Gray added.
“There’s about 1,485 acres of industrial zoned lands,” Gray said.
“Based on available maps, about 143, 150 acres is wetlands, streams or buffers,” he added.
“Based on our conversations with the city on that, it’s probably likely higher once you go out there and map it.”
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.