SAN JUAN ISLAND SOLID WASTE TRANSFER STATION

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Evans floats non-profit recycling plan

posted 05/18/04
San Juan County Commissioner John Evans proposed turning over the county's San Juan Island recycling/reuse program to a non-profit organization. He shared his idea with the county Solid Waste Advisory Committee during their May 17, 2004 meeting. The SWAC members did not think the idea was financially viable and didn't think any organization would want to handle the recycling program.

Evans is concerned about the time lag before the county can build the San Juan Island Trash to Treasure project. The project is stalled while the county deals with zoning issues. A $436,000 grant from the state Dept. of Ecology has been lost because of the delay.

Evans said, "We've lost a lost a half million dollar grant to help build a build a state of the art facility and we have and lost a whole lot of time. To put the project back together will take years." He suggested moving recycling/reuse off of the current site and onto Port of Friday Harbor property or property in the Town of Friday Harbor limits. He said such a move would eliminate the zoning issue. He said Browne Lumber's building on Spring Street might be a good location.

Under the town's land use regulations, a recycling facility is not a permitted use in a commercial area. Conditional uses include: public and private utility structures, automotive or other machinery repair services contained within an enclosed building; self-storage rental units.

Evans thought a non-profit could count on volunteers to help run the operation and would be eligible for grants. Construction material and other items which could be reused could be sold to bring in revenue. Some arrangement could be made with the county to cover some of the cost of transporting the recycling to the mainland. Customers would need to pay for recycling for the model to work, he said.

SWAC member George Post has run the Exchange on Orcas Island for more than 20 years doubted a non-profit would want to take on the administrative headache of handling all the recyclables. At the Exchange, people drop off items which can be reused and purchase (through donations) items they want. People take other recyclables to the recycling bins. The Exchange does not handle those items. "I don’t think it will work with volunteers or a non-profit," he said. "I'm telling you what I learned in 25 years."

Helen Venada thought the process of finding a suitable location would run into the same siting issues the county did with its recently purchased Roche Harbor Road property. The purchase, design and building could take as long as following through on the current Trash to Treasure project, other SWAC members said.

Evans said something needed to be done, the current facility is overcrowded and dangerous. SWAC was the first group to hear his idea. "This is where I am starting ," he said. "This is not where I am going to finish. I don’t think I would be doing my job. I don’t think SWAC is doing its job if it allows it (current situation) to exist."

SWAC members took exception to SWAC being blamed for the inadequate facility. SWAC Chair Tom Munsey pointed out the committee has repeatedly asked the BOCC to provide a source of capital funding for the solid waste infrastructure. The zoning problem is another issue that can only be solved by the Board of County Commissionersnot by SWAC. The committee is an advisory group to the BOCC .

Permit for recycling center pulled

updated 04/05/04 posted 04/02/04
Claudia Mills won her suit April 1, 2004 in Skagit County Superior Court against San Juan County. Judge Michael Rickert issued a summary judgment, ruling the hearing examiner erred when he granted a conditional use permit for the recycling center on Roche Harbor Road. As a result of the ruling, the permit has been pulled and it is likely the county will lose a $436,000 grant, said San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord.

The state Dept. of Ecology awarded the grant last year and has extended the deadline several times. The final deadline is June 30, 2004.

Mills won on every ground, Gaylord said. The 6 acre property, the county purchased for the project, is zoned agricultural. Under that land use designation no more than 20 percent of the property can be developed. The county had argued the state law and county regulations could not preclude the siting of an essential public facility. The judge said the Growth Management Act says the county cannot pass regulations precluding the siting of facilities but that doesn't mean essential public facilities are allowed in every area.

Mills also argued the the pick up and drop off area of the recycling center was not an essential public facility. Gaylord said it was an essential part of the project which was supposed to be a model for others in the state.

The judge found the county permit center erred in processing the permit. The application was not complete when it was submitted, according to the suit.

The county could redesignate the property to another land classification which would allow more development. A conditional use permit would still be needed. Gaylord said the court's ruling did not present any obstacle the county could not overcome but the redesignating and permitting process could not be done in time to meet the grant deadline.

Gaylord noted a study showed the soil was not suitable for agriculture. The topography and rock outcroppings also make it an unlikely site for agriculture.

The county commissioners will discuss the ruling in executive session Tuesday, April 6, 2004.

Mills believes it would be wrong for the county to change the land designation. "The thought of them spot-zoning like that, because a piece of ag land - a little tail of a real farm - doesn't have ag soils, is scary," she said. "Most farms have small bits that are not useful, and if the BOCC starts a process of pulling these bits out of the ag resource category, we will be going down a bad road."

Mills wonders why the county wants to site the facility on the parcel. "I don't understand why they are stuck on this site. Why this one was chosen is unclear to me," she said in a phone interview Sunday evening. She doesn't think the project can fit on the parcel. "I don't think they can put the drainage on the parcel and they don't have water," she said.

She questions why the county Land Bank would spend $850,000 to preserve farmland across the road from the project when building the project would ruin the views. "This is the last unspoiled area of Roche Harbor Road," she said. The three buildings planned for the Trash to Treasure project plus the incinerator on the old transfer station site would be visible from Roche Harbor Road according to Mills.

She plans to continue to fight the county. "I do think I know what's wrong, but I don't know what's right," she said.

Taxpayers losers in permit squabble

posted 12/17/03
A difference in interpretation of grading regulations and a mixup in issuance of a permit is costing county taxpayers $75,000. The Public Works Director Jon Shannon's interpretation differs from Community Development and Planning Dept. (CDPD) Director Joseph McKenna's take on the issue.

Commissioner Rhea Miller called McKenna-Smith "one of the gutsiest people" in the county. He ordered the grading at the San Juan Island transfer station site stopped until a permit could be issued.

Commissioner John Evans said, "It is astonishing to me the lack of clarity from the permit center for their procedures." He agreed with Shannon that "if you are not hitting the threshold for clearing and grading you don’t require a permit."

According to the county code, all grading of 500 cubic yards or more is subject to a clearing and grading permit. There are exceptions for driveways, ponds, etc. Public Works Director Jon Shannon believes grading of less than 500 cubic yards could be done at the new transfer station site while the permit issue is being straightened out.

McKenna-Smith said there is no exemption for grading under 500 cubic yards in this case because the cumulative amount would be more than 500 cubic yards. No grading can be done until a grading permit is issued, according to him.

According to records from the Community Development and Planning Department, the Public Works Department submitted a complete application for the Conditional Use Permit for the Trash to Treasure project as of July 29, 2003. According to San Juan County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord the normal procedure is to issue the pemit once a completed application is received. McKenna-Smith would not comment on why the permit wasn't issued.

Asked if a grading permit was included in the CUP, McKenna-Smith said in this case a grading permit and the CUP were separated at some point.

A 21-day comment period for a separate grading permit ended Dec. 11, 2003. McKenna-Smith said he is waiting for more information from the Public Works Department before he will issue the grading permit. Once he issues the permit there is another 21-day appeal period.

Shannon said all the information has been provided. A sticking point seems to be the restoration plan called for in the CUP. Shannon said there is no restoration plan to submit because everything that is excavated will be paved or built on and therefore there is nothing to be restored. A document stating that has been submitted.

The losers in this whole scenario are the taxpayers, according to Evans. A $75,000 which was being used for some of the grading work expires on Dec. 31, 2003. Since the work was stopped and apparently will not be resumed soon enough, the work will have to be paid for with tax dollars.

Grading ordered stopped
$75K grant lost

posted 12/16/03
Grading has been stopped at the site of the county's new San Juan Island transfer station and as a result the county has lost a $75,000 grant, according to Public Works Director Jon Shannon.

Community Development and Planning Dept. (CDPD) Director Joseph McKenna-Smith said, "All work has stopped until permit issues are resolved."

Public work staff began work on the site Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003. According to McKenna-Smith a grading and clearing permit had not been issued. The comment period for the permit ended Dec. 11. Once the permit is issued there will be another 21-day comment period. The CDPD is waiting for more information from the Public Works Dept. before the permit can be issued, according to McKenna-Smith.

The county has received two grants for its new recycling plaza. A $75,000 grant had to be used by December 31, 2003. The grant will have to be forfeited.

The deadline for the other grant, $436,000 from the Dept of Ecology, has been extended. It had been May 2003 and was extended to Dec. 31, 2003. A pending lawsuit against the county, may mean the loss of that grant, according to Shannon.

Unified Development Code 18.60.060

1. Project or building permits which involve grading of 100 or more cubic yards are subject to environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) (see SJCC 18.80.050) unless the grading is SEPA-exempt under WAC 197-11-800.

(Note: this does not apply when grading is associated with a development or activity which is categorically exempt from SEPA review requirements. Most minor new construction, including construction of a single-family house and related outbuildings, is exempt from SEPA review; see WAC 197-11-800.)

2. Clearing and Grading Permit. The clearing and grading permit is a development permit that is processed using the procedures under the Uniform Building Code, adopted as the San Juan County building code, Chapter 15.04 SJCC.

a. All grading of 500 cubic yards or more is subject to a clearing and grading permit, except grading associated with the following:

i. Maintenance of gravel roads;

ii. A SEPA-exempt (cf. WAC 197-11-800(2)(d)) residential driveway;

iii. Construction of a Class I – III logging road (per RCW 76.09.050 and WAC Title 222);

iv. Drainage improvements constructed in accordance with SJCC 18.60.060(B) and 18.60.070; or

v. Construction of a pond of one-half acre or less which is not in a regulated wetland (cf. SJCC 18.30.150).

b. Applications for projects which require a clearing and grading permit shall include the following information:

i. Source of fill material and deposition of excess material;

ii. Physical characteristics of fill material;

iii. Proposed methods of placement and compaction;

iv. Proposed surfacing material;

v. Proposed method(s) of drainage and erosion control;

vi. Methods for restoration of the site;

vii. Demonstration that instream flow of water will remain unobstructed;

viii. Demonstration that erosion and sedimentation from outflow channels will be minimized by vegetation or other means; and

ix. Demonstration that pond runoff will be controlled to protect adjacent property from damage. (Ord. 12-2001 § 6; Ord. 2-1998 Exh. B § 6.6)

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