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Home My WebLink AboutAP16 Showalter Obj No Staff Rpt w att SDP 2024-00006M A R I L Y N S H O W A L T E R 1596 Shine Road, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 marilyn.showalter@gmail.com, 360-259-1700 Aug 9, 2025 Honorable Gary N. McLean Jefferson County Hearing Examiner Jefferson County, Washington carolyn@co.jefferson.wa.us Dear Hearing Examiner McLean: Re: SDP2024-00019 Rock Island: No Staff Report, in Violation of Rule 4.2 Rule 4.2 (attached) requires that the Staff Report be publicly available at least 14 days prior to a public hearing. The Public Hearing in the above-entitled case is scheduled for August 19, 2025. As of August 8 (11 days before the scheduled hearing) there is no Staff Report available—despite the claim on the Notice of Public Hearing that it was available as of July 30, 2025. Without access to the Staff Report, neither I nor the general public has the ability and time to review and comment on staff ’s analysis and recommendations in this case. The public hearing must be rescheduled. I would like to emphasize three additional points: 1) The public has already been hampered by seriously inadequate notice of the application, which is ground in itself for dismissal of this case. 2) The County, while denying and minimizing citizens’ complaints about procedural errors in this case, continues to make more errors. 3) A year ago, I complained of this exact same error in another case, necessitating rescheduling the public hearing (see attached letter to Greg Ballard re SDP 2022-00019 Termination Point, March 29. 2024). The County seems to have absorbed nothing from that event. Thus, these errors are persistent and show a disregard for rules that are necessary for fair and adequate public participation. Respectfully, Marilyn Showalter Marilyn Showalter Attachments: Hearing Examiner Rule 4.2; Screen shots of case file; Notice of Public Hearing; Letter to Greg Ballard. CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16 Hearing Examiner Rules of Procedure.pdf CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16 CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16 CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16 JEFFERSON COUNTY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING SEPA APPEAL/TYPE III LAND USE APPLICATION SDP2024-00006 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a public hearing will be held by the Jefferson County Hearings Examiner on a Type III Land Use Application. APPLICANT: Rock Island Shellfish P.O. Box 181 Port Gamble, WA 98364 Application Received Date: June 3, 2024 Application Complete Date: June 27, 2024 Application Notice Date: July 10, 2024 SITE ADDRESS AND PROJECT LOCATION: Hood Canal Tidelands at Parcels 965100009, 965100010, and 965100011 (located along the south side of Killapie Beach Road) PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND REQUIRED PERMITS/STUDIES: Shoreline substantial development permit application and flood development permit application to raise Kumamoto oysters (Crassostrea sikamea) within private tidelands in Hood Canal using a rack and basket system. SEAPA baskets, a near-bottom culture system, will be installed, maintained, and operated within the intertidal zone between +4 feet to -4.2 feet mean lower low water. Each basket will be stocked with oyster seed. Oysters will be raised to full growth prior to being harvested and sold commercially. SEAPA baskets will be placed in approximately two acres (of the six-acre project area). Native eelgrass (Zostera marina) occurs within the intertidal zone and oysters will be raised at least 16.5 feet from any place where the native eelgrass is present. Gear abandoned in the intertidal area by a previous aquaculture operation will be removed as part of this proposal. The applicant submitted a Habitat Report and a Habitat Management Plan. The proposal is subject to review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) and the applicant submitted an Environmental Checklist. The proposal is immediately adjacent to three parcels owned by the applicant. No upland activity related to this aquaculture application is proposed on the three subject parcels or within shoreline jurisdiction elsewhere in the county. No new buildings, ground clearing, or staging areas are proposed. PUBLIC HEARING AND WHERE TO VIEW DOCUMENTS: The public hearing will begin at 10:00 am on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 and may extend into Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 10:00 am. To join the meeting: VIRTUAL: Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82678751298 PHONE: (253) 215- 8782, Webinar ID: 826 7875 1298, *9 to raise your hand, *6 to unmute CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16 To view the case file, including application and staff report, go to www.co.jefferson.wa.us – Services – Laserfiche web portal (username and password is: public) – Board of Commissioners – Boards and Committees – Hearing Examiner – 2025 –Rock Island SEPA INFORMATION AND DETERMINATION: This is a Type III permit application that is subject to SEPA Review. As the SEPA lead agency, Jefferson County issued a Determination of Non-significance on May 20, 2025. Jefferson County received a SEPA appeal on June 3, 2025. APPEALS: The decision by the Hearing Examiner is final on the date issued. Pursuant to chapter 18.25.750(5) JCC, appeals to the Shoreline Hearings Board of a decision on a shoreline variance or shoreline conditional use permit may be filed by any aggrieved party in accordance with RCW 90.58.180 within twenty-one (21) days of filing the final decision by Jefferson County with the Washington State Department of Ecology. Information on appeal process and rules of procedure is available on the Shoreline Hearings Board web site at Shorelines Hearings Board | ELUHO Project Planner: Donna Frostholm, 360-379-4466, dfrostholm@co.jefferson.wa.us CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16 M A R I L Y N S H O W A L T E R 1596 Shine Road Port Ludlow, WA 98365 marilyn.showalter@gmail.com, 360-259-1700 March 29, 2024 Jefferson County Hearing Examiner Jefferson County, Washington carolyn@co.jefferson.wa.us Dear Hearing Examiner: Re: Objection to Sufficiency of Public Notice, SDP2022-00019 Termination Point The Notice provided in this matter does not comply with Jefferson County Hearing Examiner Rules of Procedure, Rule 4.2. The hearing should be rescheduled in order to provide proper notice. Rule 4.2 requires that the departmental report (“Staff Report”), which encompasses a number of items, “shall be made publicly available at least 14 days prior” to the public hearing. The Notice, however, states that the materials will be available for review within seven days of the hearing, and only upon email or phone inquiry or office visit. (Further, one is left to deduce that the appropriate phone number and email are the ones in the following paragraph. The notice should provide more direct instructions. In addition, the first paragraph of the notice implies the hearing is virtual-only, but the last paragraph says the hearing can be attended physically. Whether it’s one or the other or both should be clarified.) This is a material defect and can’t be cured absent a new Notice, which will require a new hearing date. I have already heard from neighbors who are confused about how to obtain these materials, and they have been misinformed as to when they are entitled to them. Further, this is not just a defect in the Notice; the materials are not, in fact, available. I emailed Greg Ballard today (13 days from the currently scheduled hearing) to request the materials and received this response: “Hi Marilyn, the staff report and exhibits are still being compiled and will be available on April 4, 2024.” I would like to point out that this is the third recent occasion I’ve encountered where these Procedural Rules have not been followed. On the first occasion, the staff was relying on rules repealed in 2019, and I brought this to their attention. On the second occasion, staff could not find, even upon a public records request, a document that should have been publicly available at least six months earlier and had been cited many times in a hearing examiner’s order. (It was later found.) In all three cases, members of the public were disadvantaged. So, this is not a one-off mistake. Staff needs to consult and comply with these Rules. I suggest that, once the materials are ready, they be posted online. Then, a new notice can provide a link to the materials, as well as a new hearing date. Sincerely, Marilyn Showalter Attachments: Procedural Rule 4.2 and Notice Cc: Greg Ballard, Josh Peters, Phil Hunsucker CA received 08/09/25 EXHIBIT AP16