BRINNON — Jefferson County is taking public comment on a draft supplemental environmental impact statement for a long-planned 252-acre Pleasant Harbor master planned resort on the Hood Canal.
The Jefferson County Department of Community Development released Nov. 19 its draft of the Pleasant Harbor supplemental environmental impact statement.
The document includes a development agreement between the applicant for a county permit, Statesman Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, and the county.
Public comment will be taken on the draft statement until Jan. 5.
The resort is planned about 2 miles south of Brinnon.
It was proposed in 2006.
Plans have been streamlined during the extended approval process, according to David Wayne Johnson, DCD associate planner, who is managing the project.
“As time goes on, we are developing ways to have a less significant environmental impact,” Johnson said.
An open house is planned from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Brinnon Community Center, 306144 U.S. Highway 101, and will be followed by a county Planning Commission meeting on the draft document at 6:30 p.m. in the same location.
Planners, representatives of the applicant for a county permit and consultants are expected to discuss the plans.
Written comments will be accepted at the open house.
Verbal and written comments will be accepted at the planners’ meeting, which will not be the final chance to comment, county staff said.
A public hearing will be scheduled, but the date has not been set yet.
The final supplemental environmental impact statement is expected to be released by the end of March, with a public hearing set in April or May.
Dates of consideration by county commissioners have not been scheduled yet.
Johnson said the final permitting process “could take years.”
According to Garth Mann, Statesman Group CEO, plans include a hotel, permanent housing, a year-round conference facility, tennis courts, restaurants, a farmers market, swimming pools and entertainment facilities.
Mann said the draft supplemental environmental impact statement outlines a way to permit the resort’s construction with minimal environmental impact.
“All the issues raised have been researched and reviewed by experts in order to provide to Jefferson County a high level of certainty for filling an economic and social need in the southern area of the county as well as protecting the environment,” Mann said in an email.
According to Johnson, one example of protective action is a “net zero” design, in which the runoff is greater than the water drawn from the aquifer.
The long-standing cost projection for the complete project of $300 million will be modified, Mann said.
“The total budget is being refined at this time, so we are working on a more exact budget for completing the resort,” he wrote.
Phase 1 of the resort would include a “maritime village” located adjacent to U.S. Highway 101, Mann said, adding that it would take 30 months to complete.
Three phases each with a 30-month duration would follow, adding up to 10 years from groundbreaking to completion.
Mann said the resort complex would eventually create more than 300 new permanent jobs, “which does not include thousands of direct and indirect construction jobs.”
Johnson predicted that public comments will address the size of the project.
“A lot of complaints I’ve heard is about the scale, with people saying that it’s just too big,” he said.
“Under the law, he is allowed to build to that level.
“The traffic is going to increase, there will be more accidents — they are concerned about that.”
The document examines two possible development plans and their respective impact on a host of environmental aspects.
The first alternative includes 828 residential units (including 52 units for staff residences), tennis courts, swimming pools, a bocce ball court, parking and other amenities.
The Maritime Village would have 62 additional residential units, as well as more than 13,000 square feet of commercial space.
The overall project would include revegetating disturbed areas with specimens harvested from areas that would be regraded.
The second option, which the draft supplemental environmental impact statement labels as the “preferred alternative,” modifies the golf course design by following existing topography.
Revisions to the golf course layout and residential units also would reduce the amount of disturbed area and decrease the amount of cut and fill needed by more than half, the statement says.
The 822 residences within the golf resort would be located in such a fashion to reduce the footprint of the site, it adds.
“The position and placement of buildings and recreational amenities under Alternative 2 is adjusted to ensure placement on undisturbed soil, and to work within existing site contours,” the report says.
“There would be significantly fewer disturbed areas under Alternative 2 when compared to Alternative 1.”
The two-part report, 269 pages of narrative plus 992 pages of appendices, is available along with other project information at http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Pleasant-Harbor.
CDs of the document are available for $4 at the county DCD and will be available at the open house.
Hard copies can be viewed at the county office; the Jefferson County Library at 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock; and the Brinnon Fire Department at 272 Schoolhouse Road.
Hard copies also can be purchased at SOS Printing, 2319 Washington St., Port Townsend.
Comments can be sent by email or mailed through the Postal Service.
Mailed comments must be postmarked by 4:30 p.m. Jan. 5. They are to be sent to Pleasant Harbor DSEIS c/o Jefferson County DCD, 621 Sheridan St., Port Townsend, WA 98368.
Email comments have the same deadline and should be sent to dwjohnson@co.jefferson.wa.us.
All comments should include a complete current return mailing address.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.