"About Town" has been to Whidbey twice;  Weston has things in common with the Island.  But no Counties in CT, since the late 1950's - 15 Regional Planning organizations, instead.  Will this be changing anytime soon?  This legislative session is moving in that direction...

THERE ARE TWO PAGES COVERING PLANNING ON WHIDBEY ISLAND - THIS IS ONE, AND HERE IS A LINK TO THE OTHER...WHICH IS A MORE COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF MEETING AGENDAE
ISLAND COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION AND BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS (related matters that County Commissioners weighed in on)
Freeland Sub-Area Planning link: http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/freeland.htm
NEW WETLANDS REGS
County Government in Island County, WA PLUS a different way to do zoning changes...ANNUALLY!
ISLAND COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS’ HEARING ROOM, COUPEVILLE, WASHINGTON
 1:30 P.M. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2011 
 
JOINT MEETING

Roll Call

1:30 P.M. Public Workshop – Annual Joint Meeting with the Board of County Commissioners and the Island County Hearing Examiner
    Review of 2011 Work Plan
    An Overview of the 2012 Work Plan
    Establishing the 2012 Annual Review Docket
    Hearing Examiner’s Report
ISLAND COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
COMMISSIONERS’ HEARING ROOM, COUPEVILLE, WASHINGTON
9:00 A.M. TUESDAY JANUARY 24, 2012
   
Old Business – Workshop related to the Shoreline Master Program Update, which will include a presentation on the Draft Shoreline Inventory and Characterization Report and discussion of draft preliminary shoreline environment designations.  Please see the website http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/shorelines.htm for copies of the documents and further information about the update process. 


From the South Whidbey RECORD
New Zoning Map for "proposed future land use" - how long do you think it will take to make the future today?
http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/pdf/freeland/proposedzoning.pdf

Current Zoning:  http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/pdf/freeland/currentzoning.pdf

The "planner" retained by Island County PC for Freeland Plan completion-EIS presented this: http://www.design.asu.edu/apa/proceedings97/wagoner.html

What's up?  Why, is this proposal moving ahead?  Read interesting information here: http://www.islandcounty.net/planning/freeland/2007%20Scoping%20notice.pdf
Shakeup in county planning
By JESSIE STENSLAND, Whidbey News Times Assistant editor
Jan 14 2009, 7:59 AM · UPDATED

The makeup of an important group that helps guide land-use decisions in Island County will be changing soon.

Island County Commissioner Angie Homola, a Democrat who beat longtime Republican Commissioner Mac McDowell, will be appointing two new members to the nine-person county planning commission that is dominated by people involved in industries that generally support property rights and development.

Alan Schell, the chairman of the commission, officially resigned Monday. Bill Massey’s term expired and his replacement hasn’t been named yet.

On Monday, the county commissioners unanimously approved Helen Price Johnson’s choice to reappoint Coupeville resident Val Hillers to the planning commission. Hillers served one four-year term, which expired this month.

“She has demonstrated her ability to be objective, thoughtful and thorough,” Price Johnson said.

Moreover, Price Johnson, a Democrat, said she wanted someone on the commission who can represent Central Whidbey and Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve.  Homola, who is known as an environmental activist, has also taken the appointment process very seriously. She believes the commission will play a vital and influential role as the county visits, and possibly revisits, important land-use issues.

“As any elected official who wants to build a cabinet, it’s important that the commissioners have a say as to who represents them on the planning commission,” she said.

But so far, only two people have applied for the District 2 position: James Bruner, a retired Air Force major, a former technical editor and writer, and a member of the League of Women Voters; and Kurt Jaehning, a school teacher and commercial fisherman.  An appointment to the commission caused a stir before Homola even took office. The two other commissioners rescinded McDowell’s choice for the seat and decided it was Homola’s decision to make.

The planning commission consists of three residents from each of the three commissioner districts. The county commissioner from each district gets to recommend the members, though the board has to approve the selection.  Homola said she’s investigating who’s on the commission so that she can appoint members to balance the interests. She’s had trouble looking into the membership, she said, because bios aren’t even kept by the county.

“I think we need to look at the appointment process,” she said.

As for Schell, he said he’s leaving the commission after three years because he’s just too busy. The retired president of Upchurch Scientific, Schell said he’s heading to Ghana to install a water system, he teaches for HomeConnection, he’s active in his church and he hopes to write a book.

“I just felt my plate was too full,” he said.

Schell agrees that the commission has a very important role. They “do the heavy lifting” and make recommendations to the commissioners on land-use issues. He said the county commissioners have adopted the recommendations with just minor changes in his experience.  Schell admits that being on the planning commission isn’t fun; it requires a lot of reading and attendance at long meetings.

“It’s just like jury duty,” he said. “I would encourage people to do it as a service to the community.”

Yet Schell said the planning commission isn’t the appropriate place for people with strong agendas.

“A person needs to be intelligent, to be able to read a lot of material and consider all sides of an issue,” he said.

Moreover, he warned that the commission will inevitably have to make tough, no-win decisions that make folks angry.  As for the current commission, Schell said it’s impossible to say whether it’s balanced with broad interests that reflect the community. “You can get people on both sides saying the board is not balanced,” he said.

More importantly, Schell said all the members are civil, thoughtful individuals who want to do the right thing.  Republicans who dominated the board of county commissioners — until last November — selected most of the current members of the volunteer board. Six of the current seven members are, or have been, involved in industries that tend to oppose strict environmental regulations.

In District 1, Mike Joselyn owns Building Source Inc., Ray Gabelein is a farmer, contractor and land owner and Val Hillers is a retired WSU Extension food specialist.

In District 2, Terry Reynolds is a real estate agent.

In District 3, Deb Eidsness works at Skagit Farmers Supply and is involved in supporting farmers’ rights, according to Commissioner John Dean. Scott Yonkman owns Yonkman Construcion. Wayne Havens is a retired Camano Island resident who was involved in some of the early development of the area, Dean said.

Since it is such an important group, Homola said she hopes to make it more accessible to residents. The commission usually meets during the day, when most people can’t attend. So she hopes to have the meetings videotaped and broadcasted, possibly over the Internet.

“I want to make sure it’s as open to as many people as possible,” she said. “It has a very important role in land-use decisions.”


WETLANDS UPDATE / SCHEDULE - From Island County PC:

Island County adopted wetlands regulations in 1984.  The County was the first county in Washington State to protect wetlands.  It did so voluntarily.  The 1984 regulations were adopted in 1995 as GMA regulations.  The GMA requires that wetlands regulations be reviewed and updated if the review determines that updating is needed.  The County initiated its review in 2005.  Public/Agency review of the County’s Update will be considered in three phases:

Phase I - Report on the Survey of Island County Wetlands -1984 to 2005.  This Report will look at current conditions and changes in the County’s wetlands that have occurred over the past 20 years. In essence, Phase I will be a report card on the condition of County wetlands and the County’s regulations relating to wetlands.

Phase II - Report on the “Best Available Science” for Protecting Island County Wetlands and their Functions.  This Report will define what BAS means, how BAS has been interpreted and, based on the Phase I Report, whether there are unique local circumstances that affect its application to Island County wetlands. The purpose of the report will be to identify BAS that is applicable to Island County.

Phase III - Report on Wetland Recommendations Based on Phase I and II Reports.  This Report will review implications of the Survey (Phase I) and BAS (Phase II) and, based on these two reports, identify specific recommendations.
----------------------------------------------------------
Review Schedule for the Update Reports

 Phase I - Wetlands Survey
   April                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
           3          Phase I Report Available for Public Review
4    Camano Workshop
6          North Whidbey Workshop
11    Coupeville Workshop
13    South Whidbey Workshop
18    Planning Commission Briefing and Discussion
24    Board of Commissioners Briefing; Summary of Comments Received on the Phase 1 Report; and proposed Findings

Note:  The County will be available to meet with interested groups to discuss the Phase I Report and will also request Peer Review on the Phase I Report.

 Phase II - Best Available Science Report
   May
            1          Phase II Report Available for Public Review
          10          Coupeville Workshop
          16    Planning Commission Briefing and Discussion
   June
           5    Board of Commissioners Briefing; Summary of Comments Received on Phase II;
        and proposed Findings

Note:  During May, the County will also request Peer Review comments on its BAS Report and again meet with interested groups to discuss the Phase II Report.



 Phase III – Recommendations
  July
            10        Phase III Report Available for Public Review
19    Coupeville Workshop
  
25       Planning Commission Briefing and Discussion

Aug
14    Board of Commissioners Briefing; Summary of Comments received on Phase 
                        and determination of whether changes in wetland regulations are needed.

Note:  Again, during July, the County will be available to meet with interested groups to discuss the Recommendations and also request Peer Review of the Recommendations. .

Beginning in September, the County will begin its formal public review process on ordinance revisions if any are determined by the Board to be needed.

Review Schedule for Regulatory Changes

  September
5    CAO Changes Available for Public Review
            Commence 60-day State Agency Review
    Publish / Distribute SEPA Determination
18    Planning Commission Public Hearing - Camano
21    Planning Commission Public Hearing - North Whidbey 
26    Planning Commission Public Hearing - South Whidbey
28    Planning Commission Public Hearing - Coupeville

  October
10    Planning Commission Deliberations
24    Planning Commission Deliberations / Action

  November
13Board Workshop / Public Meeting on PC Recommendations
20    Board Deliberations

December
11    Board Deliberations (if no public hearing) or Board Public Hearing
18    Board  Deliberations and Action


County readies new wetlands ordinance
Whidbey News-Times
By Paul Boring
May 19 2007

As Island County prepares to finalize its new wetlands ordinance, planning staff are working feverishly to help the public make sense out of information that for many can be about as clear as mud.

Residents recently received a second mailing laying out the draft ordinance, which explains the daunting process the county underwent to revamp an ordinance that was established in 1984. Wetland regulations are part of the county’s Critical Areas Ordinance, a document that must be updated periodically.

“We were the first county to do that way back in 1984,” said Phil Bakke, Island County Planning and Community Development director. “What we have now is a complex ordinance. It’s like taking Windows and updating to Vista. It’s more complicated and more intuitive.”

The county in the past has been using a “one-size-fits-all” approach to dealing with wetlands, including imposing a blanket 100-foot buffer.

“It is complicated and we willingly undertook this process because we want to be specific and attuned to regulations,” Bakke said. “We need to tailor the regulations and management techniques for specific land use.”

The new system, developed by wetland biologist Paul Adamus during a lengthy study of county wetlands, breaks down wetlands into four categories, setting up 20 to 300-foot buffers depending on the category, the sensitivity of the wetland and the function it provides.

Public outreach and empowering the community with knowledge is the ultimate goal of the planning department. A new identification guide that can be used by the average landowner will be disseminated in hard copies and available on the county’s Web site. The guide provides a comprehensive crash-course in determining what category of wetland each property owner is dealing with.

A series of workshops will be held throughout the county to augment the extensive bank of information available on the Web site. The complete listing of the workshop schedule is included in the recent mailer.

Watershed Planner Jan Smith said the workshops have been planned to accommodate citizens’ invariably busy schedules.

“You don’t have to live in the area where the workshop is held,” she said. “And if you show up late, that’s okay. The whole idea here is to help people help themselves.”

Bakke said the sheer enormity of the wetlands ordinance process has been remarkable for a small county.

“Adamus is one of the leaders in his field,” the director said. “We’ve worked with state agencies. The staff has really taken on the role of the citizens. And we have three very impressive peer groups that will descend and work on the ordinance.”

Bakke said his department’s plan, although it created an excruciating workload for everyone involved, was to give the public a complete package that adequately broke down the draft ordinance.

“The community members expect it,” he said. “It a very informed community.”

The risk implicit with working closely with the public is that the draft may be altered as a result of new input submitted, essentially opening Pandora’s Box. Bakke is undeterred and emphasized that the people of Island County need to play a crucial role in the process to allow them to ask informed questions when public hearings are held in the future.

“Some people will say it’s too much and some will say it’s not enough,” Bakke said.

With the studies conducted by Adamus, the three phases will be used continuously in the future and tweaked appropriately to avoid having to completely take on the process again in 2013 when a new modification to the Critical Areas Ordinance is required.

“It’s a lot of work, but the prize is not having to rewrite it in 2013,” he said.

In a nutshell, the ordinance will be far more complex and specify site-specific regulations for wetlands. But that is the tradeoff between having a simple but inflexible ordinance and one that offers options and alternatives for landowners.

Steve Erickson from the Whidbey Environmental Action Network said all he has seen is the mailer and that it is too early to say if an appeal is coming.

“We haven’t even seen the ordinance language yet,” he said. “All we have is this mailer. I would be delighted if Island County decides to protect wetlands, but we don’t know if that’s the case yet.”

Bakke said his confidence in the “scientifically superior” project is unwavering.

“If WEAN wants to appeal, they can bring it on, on that basis,” he said. “If it’s about scientific validity, go ahead and appeal. This is extremely scientifically defendable.”

For more information about the draft wetlands ordinance, visit the Web site at www.islandcounty.net/planning/index.htm