PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners Tuesday approved what may be the final sixth-month extension of growth restrictions for the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area.
The “interim official controls” have been in place since 2008 to allow the county to mount a two-pronged approach to a Growth Management Act hearings board ruling that said Carlsborg was invalid and noncompliant with the growth legislation.
Clallam County is fighting portions of the ruling in court while planning for a $15 million Class A sewer and wastewater treatment plant for the Clallam County Public Utility District to operate in the village west of Sequim.
The county, which has already committed $4 million to the project, needs a sewer for the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area to comply with the Growth Management Act.
Interim zoning restricts new development to single-family homes on lots existing before the April 2008 hearings board ruling, expansion of existing structures with permits obtained before the ruling boundary adjustments as long as it does not increase the number of lots.
Opponents
Sewer opponents, mainly residential property owners, said the sewer will be too expensive and could drive some families from their homes.
“Nobody will be forced out of their homes,” Commissioner Mike Chapman said before voting for the extension.
Some opponents have questioned the science behind claims that existing septic systems are contributing to groundwater pollution in Carlsborg.
Bryan Frazier, director of the grass-roots Citizens for the Preservation of Carlsborg, which opposes a sewer system in Carlsborg, repeated previous objections he has made to the extension of interim zoning controls.
He urged the commissioners to down-zone Carlsborg from a UGA to rural.
“One needs only to look at the 1990 aerial photograph of the Carlsborg area to see that Carlsborg was not already characterized by urban growth and that the UGA designation was therefore improper,” Frazier said.
Frazier said the county has pushed piecemeal development despite requirements for adequate public facilities to be in place when the development is occupied.
“The business owners and developers who have paid their fees, developed their property and wish to expand according to their site plans are now subject to these post facto controls,” he said.
“They should be compensated by this county for their losses, not by the residents, and be given conditional-use permits without further costs after Carlsborg is down-zoned.”
Clallam County designated the Carlsborg UGA in 2000 because the area has the attributes of a small community, concentrated residential development and a mix of businesses.
Supports UGA, sewer
Art Green, who owns a medical supply manufacturing company in Carlsborg, said he will not be able to expand his business without a UGA designation.
“We did an economic profile of the businesses out there, and there’s over a 1,000 jobs in that UGA,” said Green, who employs 23 people.
Green said a sewer will have an “economic benefit down the road to our community, our local economy and our jobs.
“And in today’s world, I think it’s all about jobs.”
Chapman said the county was sued over the UGA by the Seattle group 1,000 Friends of Washington.
“What the board is trying to do is to defend the urban growth area, defend the jobs that are there, defend the businesses that are there and make it available, through a sewer, that they could actually expand and create more jobs,” Chapman said.
“If we were to just walk away from this process, which has been a 10-year process, we would walk away from the last area where the county can actually see economic growth and economic development.
“So I for one will continue to fight to keep it as a UGA.”
Chapman said the commissioners are “not thrilled” with the interim controls.
“What we have done is we have followed the advice of the chief civil deputy [Doug Jensen] to work along the process whereby we can come out from the order of invalidity that was brought onto us by an outside group,” Chapman said.
“We were found invalid by the Growth Management Hearings Board,” he continued.
“We won at the Court of Appeals through Doug Jensen’s good work, and we’re working real hard to come out from an order of invalidity, which may be even before the end of this year if not the first part of next year.”
Chapman said senior planner Carol Creasey, planning manager Steve Gray and others are “working real hard to put together a sewer plan because ultimately with a sewer plan, we’ll never lose the UGA.”
Creasey said the interim zoning controls had to be extended to ensure there is no lapse.
During past six months
She gave an overview of the legal action and sewer planning activities that have occurred over the past six months.
The Court of Appeals has remanded a case back to the hearings board to determine whether the petitioners had a right to appeal the county’s facilities plan.
“The hearing board has 60 days to make a decision, so we should be hearing back from the hearing board by Jan. 8, 2012,” Creasey said.
As for the sewer, the county is trying to find more funding — state economic revitalization dollars or community block grants — to lower the cost to property owners,
The PUD is eligible for a $10 million low-interest Public Works Trust fund loan that can be used for sewer infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the county and the PUD are re-evaluating the pros and cons of having the city of Sequim treat Carlsborg sewage, Creasey said.
Sequim has hired a consultant to come up with specific numbers.
“We are hoping that we will get that information, clarification from the city of Sequim here shortly so the county and the PUD can make a decision whether the Sequim option is truly more cost-effective,” Gray said.
“In the past, it has not been more cost-effective.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.