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HomeMy WebLinkAbout042919_cabs02 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST TO: Board of County Commissioners Philip Morley, County Administrator FROM: Julie Shannon, Executive Secretary II DATE: April 29,2019 SUBJECT: Consider County Comments re: Draft Washington State Guidebook on Military and Community Compatibility STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners will review and finalize a letter to the Washington State Department of Commerce providing comments on the above referenced document. It is a large document containing a great deal of information on military, military installations, planning and operations. ANALYSIS: See above. In addition to the DRAFT Comment Letter, the Department of Community Development is finalizing separate detailed review comments, which will also be provided at the meeting. FISCAL IMPACT: n/a RECOMMENDATION: Review, finalize and sign the attached letter. REVIEWD BY: rte. /1-6/' , Philip Morley, o • y Administrator Date OF `"M N. Board of County Commissioners co01-r\ 1820 Jefferson Street � PO Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 H/NG �0 Kate Dean,District 1 David Sullivan,District 2 Kathleen Kler,District 3 Washington State Department of Commerce Local Government Division—Growth Management Services Attn: Deanna Watson, Program manager 1011 Plum Street Olympia, WA 98504-2525 April 29, 2019 RE: Washington State Guidebook on Military and Community Compatibility Dear Ms. Watson: The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners appreciates this opportunity to provide comments on the above referenced document. It is a large document containing a great deal of information on military, military installations, planning and operations.We are impressed with the easy to read format and informative call-out boxes for readers who may be curious to learn more on programs, rules and processes related to military planning and operations. We offer general comments in this letter, plus more specific, detailed comments on the Draft Guidebook by page number in a separate attachment. General Comments Jefferson County, on the Olympic Peninsula, is a resource-rich, rural region with historical roots in forestry,agriculture,fishing and mineral extraction. The County is characterized by hundreds of miles of marine and fresh water shorelines from the Hood Canal to the Pacific Ocean, dense forests and the Olympic Mountains. This uniquely remote region provides the ideal landscape for outdoor recreation, conservation and ecosystem services, and enviable "quality of life." While the 30,000 residents of Jefferson County highly value these attributes,they also suffer from a lack of economic opportunity, familiar to many rural communities that have seen industry and jobs migrate to the I-5 corridor which sits only 30 miles to the east. Eighteen per cent of families with children in Jefferson County live under the federal poverty level. It is these grim benchmarks that force this local jurisdiction to act and do all that is possible to address and improve our social, economic and community well-being. Much of this effort is nested in our local land use policies, codes and practices. As you are aware,Jefferson County participated on the Project Advisory Committee (PAC)for the compatibility guidebook.We sincerely hope that the feedback we provided through this participation and especially the input related to local planning processes and to local issues regarding military planning, installations and operations was helpful in the drafting of this guidebook.We believe that Phone(360) 385-9100 Fax(360) 385-9382 jeffbocc@cojefferson.wa.us input plus the substantial contributions from citizens and local elected leaders given to your agency at the public workshop held at the Tri-Area Community Center in Chimacum were also considered in the drafting for this guidebook.We were given the distinct impression during PAC meetings that the guidebook was to serve two directions: • as a primer to military planning and operations officials on how to work successfully with communities and local jurisdictions in accommodating local needs and land use planning requirements under Washington State law including the Growth Management Act; and, • as a resource for citizens and local planners on how to work successfully with the military to accommodate their military installation and operations needs. We find the guidebook's narrative and guidance, as currently drafted, is overly focused on how to communities can meet military installation and operations planning needs, and comparatively little on how the military can accommodate the needs of local jurisdictions and communities that they impact. As we have stated in the past and do now, we have substantial concerns with respect to the equity and parity that local governments are afforded in this draft guidebook.Jefferson County,for example, is the location of Naval Magazine Indian Island and is situated very closely between NAB Whidbey Island and NBK Bangor,two areas of major on-going military base training,testing and other operations.As a local government,Jefferson County supports our military partners and their efforts and understand the large and often complex training and testing work that our military bases require. We were looking forward to this guidebook offering to our military neighbors a more in-depth look at the difficulties and complexities involved on local land use planning and how to engage in a bi-lateral relation of mutual compatibility. In our opinion, this guidebook furthers a notion that local governments must be compatible with military installations, as a one-sided approach.This an incorrect notion. Compatibility is a shared responsibility, both under federal laws, regulations, and policies but under state laws like the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA). Our detailed comments provide more specificity on this. We request that the Commerce guidebook be redrafted to more deliberately and at more length describe what local jurisdictions must consider in carrying out local land use planning responsibilities. As it is currently drafted the guidebook, unfortunately mis-states the language and legislative intent of RCW 36.70A.530 and WAC 365-196-475 namely,the sections of GMA that specifically relate to military-community compatibility.The guidebook states that "consultation is required" and that "GMA calls upon counties and cities to integrate the nearby base and operations into their local planning context" whereas in reality the RCW and WAC directs local government to provide "notice" which is clearly not the same as"consultations" or"integration." Theguidebook overlyrelies upon the Joint Land Use Study(JLUS) as apreferred compatibility tool. We P P Y know that there are more options to consult and work together on military-community compatibility than just the JLUS. Further,given recent Growth Management Hearings Board findings, local jurisdictions may be wary of how JLUS may inappropriately be used to compel how local land use policies and practices are carried out.Other options to JLUS exist and this county in particular works in 2 a variety of ways through a number of different mechanisms to establish and maintain planning relationships with our neighbor military installations. Specific review comments about the draft guidebook are contained in the attachment to this letter. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the draft guidebook.Jefferson County values our partnership with the Washington State Department of Commerce and with the military installations within and near to our County. We look forward to an improved second draft and hope our comments are both helpful and seriously considered in the re-drafting. We respectfully request being notified of any action taken regarding this project. If you have any questions or need anything further, please contact this Board or Patty Charnas, Director,Jefferson County Dept of Community Development at 360-379-4493 or pcharnas@co.iefferson.wa.us. Sincerely, Kate Dean, Chair David Sullivan, Commissioner District 2 Greg Brotherton, Commissioner District 3 Cc: State Legislative Delegation WSAC County Administrator 3