Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLog082 .. 4; COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE PORT LUDLOW VILLAGE COUNCIL March 31, 2004 David Goldsmith, County Administrator 1820 Jefferson Street P.O. Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 LOG \TENl # 0) .~ Page_ \ of ~ Dear David, Thank you for your very comprehensive reply to some of the questions raised at our February 23 meeting with the County Commissioners. We contnue to have a number of concerns with regard to some of the topics discussed at that meeting. 1. As noted in a letter recently sent to you by Peter Joseph, a resident of Ludlow Bay Village, we cannot agree with the rationale used by the County Assessor to value the unbuilt lots in that Village at 50% less than the built lots when the Community Development Department has told us that these lots are indeed buildable. 2. You report that on June 6, 1994 Jerry Smith, Associte Planner, reported to the Board of County Commissioners that "all the conditions related to the preliminary long plat and shoreline permit have been met". It was certainly the prerogative of the BOCC to grant final subdivision approval, but if you read the 51 conditions set down in the shoreline permit carefully you will find that Jerry Smith's statement cannot be correct. Many of these conditions were ongoing and established in perpetuity and cannot have been fully met at that time. The BOCC failed to recognize this and the CDo has not continued to monitor this project and to insist on fulfullment of all of the conditions. We are now faced with a new proposal for development of the Resort area. Will conditions be set down that insure that the project complies with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan to maintain and enhance the community's lifestyle? And, more importantly, how will the County monitor the project to insure that the Developer actually satisfies all of the relevant conditions? 3. We still feel that the problem of tree-cutting on the Wedgewood Short Plat was mis-handled by the CDD. We are concerned that PLA will create more short plats without adequate CC&Rs and that there will not be sufficient architectural and land use control in some areas of Port Ludlow. We plan to meet with PLA in the near future to seek an agreement on how to handle these problems. 5. The Commissioners of our Drainage District are still concerned that there is a lack of code protection for new homeowners who have commissioned the .' .' building of homes of less than 5000 square feet. We are pleased that AI Scalf has recently offered to discuss these issues again with our Commissioners The role of our County government should be to protect our citizens against the occasional builder who cuts corners and does not provide adequate drainage protection in building new homes. This is particularly important in Port Ludlow because much of our community sits on very impermeable glacial till. The low infiltration capacity of this sub-soil results in serious run-off and flooding problems. We welcome your suggestions for ways to foster close coodination and communication between Jefferson County and Port Ludlow. The President of the Village Council Board will designate a sub-committee of the Community Development Committee to work with the County on issues of common interest. One of us will try to attend the Monday BOCC meetings whenever such attendance will be helpful. We hope that you will be able to provide us with an agenda on the Thursday/Friday prior to each Monday meeting. As you well know, Port Ludlow is not a municipality,. Our governance relies on citizens and voters who serve on the Boards and Committees of the Village Council and the various homeowners and condominium associations within the MPR. .We our not land-use experts and we must place heavy reliance on our County departments and bureaus to help us protect the environment and ambiance of our Community. Our Community is a very significant portion of the tax base of the County. While we realize that the County budget is very tight, we must insist that the County provide adequate expertise, particularly in the Community Development Department, to aid us in this period of accelerated growth within the MPR. Thank you(and the County Commissioners) again for the very helpful meeting in February. We will look forward to working more closely with the County in the future. ~'U~ Larry 71es, Chair Community Development Committee, PL VC cc: County Commissioners AI Scalf, Director of Community Development Michele Farfan, Associate Planner, DCD ~.( David Goldsmith 1820 Jefferson Street PO Box 1220 Port Townsend, WA 98368 " March 9, 2004 Port Ludlow Village Council Larry Nobels, Chair 81 Harms Lane Port Ludlow W A 98365 Re: Response to Concems Raised at the Public Meeting on February 25, 2004 Dear Mr. Nobles and Members of the Port Ludlow Village Council: This letter is a follow-up to five identified issues/concems raised at the February 25, 2004 meeting with the Board of County Commissioners, County staff, Port Ludlow Village Council (PLVC) and members of the public. The five issues raised are identified as follows: (1) over- water construction of town homes, (2) Shoreline Substantial Development Permit (SDP91-017) and the 51 conditions, (3) Wedgewood Short Plat tree cutting, (4) two mooring buoys, and (5) drainage/ storm water. The following paragraphs are an attempt to explain/clarify each of the identified issues: 1. Town homes: Over water construction of the town homes was reviewed by County and State agencies during environmental and subdivision review of the plat of Ludlow Bay Village. The pond is within 200 feet of the shoreline jurisdiction of Ludlow Bay but the pond was considered a man-made feature from years ago and therefore allowed the town homes to be constructed over the water. The Assessor's Office lowered the property taxes for several reasons: difficulty of over water construction requirements such as engiileerillg; tIle to\~7jl1101ncs adjacent to tI1e bayT l1a\lC a better "lievi; the tC'l/n heme lots cannot be sold separately due to the zero lot line (a platted group of town home lots would need to be purchased by someone to construct a town home before it could be sold at which point the assessed values would be increased.) 2. SDP91-017 and the 51 Conditions of Approval: A memo dated February 10, 1994 from James W. Pearson, Associate Planner to Mike Ajax, Building Official stated that "Pope Resources has demonstrated compliance with the pemlit conditions as they apply to construction of the proposed Inn at Port Ludlow. You may therefore issue the referenced building pemlit." Additionally, on June 6, 1994 before the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), Jerry Smith, Associate Planner reported that "all the conditions related to the preliminary long plat and shoreline pemlit have been met and that the Phone (360)385-9100 Fax (360)385-9382 dgoldsmith@co.jefferson.wa.us ..'. .. "".' Port Ludlow Issues Page: 2 necessary County departments have signed off on the plat." The BOCC by unanimous decision voted to grant final subdivision approval. The Inn received final building occupancy on October 19, 1994. 3. Wedgewood Short Plat Tree Cutting: The Department of Community Development issued a letter dated November 14,2003 to Olympic Ridge to allow the removal of alders on the 3 lots within said short plat, provided that any buffer disturbance to Tracts A and B shall be replanted with native vegetation in a serpentine pattern. Staff reviewed the plat conditions and found that the proposed tree removal was consistent with the "Notice to Potential Purchasers" on the face of the recorded plat. Trees were fallen within the streambed, which resulted in a violation with the Department ofFish and Wildlife (WDFW). Staff worked with the developer and WDFW and consequently WDFW did issue a Hydraulic Project Approval (HP A) with conditions on December 19, 2003 under Log Number ST-F9923-01. The HPA expires on October 31,2004. On March 1,2004, Staff received a phone call from Tony Hernandez, Code Enforcement Officer, that a neighbor contacted him regarding the developer cutting more trees. Staff contacted the developer and left a message for him to contact Michelle Farfan. The developer left a voice message stating that no trees were being cut but that he was cleaning up dead brush. 4. Mooring buoys: The County has ordered abatement of the buoys. 5. Drainage/Storn1 water: Jefferson County has stormwater requirements identified in the Unified Development Code (UDC) as well as the recently adopted Department of Ecology 2001 Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington. Port Ludlow Associates is subject to the DOE 1992 Stormwater Manual per the Port Ludlow Development Agreement. Private property owners would be subject to the UDC and 2001 Storn1water Manual. The County has received several copies of the Port Ludlow Drainage District manual dated October 2003. It is the detennination of the County that the County per letter dated January 27,2004 signed by Glen Huntingford, Chairn1an BOCC, will not adopt the Drainage Plan; however, the Drainage Plan will be used as reference material in the approval of development proposals. The meeting with your Committee and the community pointed out the need for close coordination and communication between Jefferson County and Port Ludlow. To this end, I suggest that a member of the Village Council be selected to be the point of contact with the County. Issues which arise through the Councilor the community would then be funneled through this person. I would also suggest that this person attend the Board of Commissioners business meetings that occur every Monday. Your designee will be provided with an agenda on the Thursday/Friday prior to the Monday meeting and would be able to address the Board with specific inquiries or to dialog with them on progress towards our mutual goals. ",i . " ..: t Port Ludlow Issues Page: 3 To foster communication from the County's end, we have tasked Michelle Farfan with the responsibility to oversee development activities in Port Ludlow. This is an addition to her already ambitious workload. Ms. Farfan will attend as many Village Council meetings as she can and make herself available to the Council to address pertinent issues for the implementation of the development agreement. Having a designated contact person from the Council will greatly enable Ms. Farfan to provide customer service to the Port Ludlow community. I thank you for the opportunity to address issues in the Port Ludlow area and I would be happy to address the Council on other topics of mutual concern. I trust the above answers the questions raised and provides a mechanism from which to rebuild relationships between the Port Ludlow community and the County. ~/~ ~ ( --- ~~~(- David Gold . , County Administrator cc: County Commissioners Al Scalf, Director of Community Development Michele Farfan, Associate Planner, DCD