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Home My WebLink About060724 Port Ludlow residents are pushing for PLA to do more fire-prevention maintenance of the abandoned 83-acre TraiALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. Jefferson County Washington <https://www.facebook.com/people/Jefferson-County-Washington/100064894171887/?__tn__=-UC*F> September 6, 2018 <https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02RoZFcJ727429rqwi8HSkHf8aeCwqbnZ2SnLLhH5989VFYvKdQkpmSizLTvAc7BgFl&id=236159643133225&__tn__=%2CO*F> · PORT LUDLOW NEWS: Fire chief says partial 14-foot buffer along abandoned Port Ludlow golf links is ‘acceptable’ as wildfire defense A few Port Ludlow residents are pushing for Port Ludlow Associates (PLA) to do more fire-prevention maintenance of the abandoned 83-acre Trail golf links in the resort community. Edgewood Village resident Bert Loomis has a long history of disagreements with PLA, the entity that owns and manages the Resort at Port Ludlow property and oversees the Master Planned Unit resort development. Loomis lives at 235 Edgewood Drive and is one of about seven homeowners who front the former Trail nine links. The nine-hole Trail section was built in 1992 to make the Port Ludlow Golf Course a 27-hole course. It was the shortest and proved to be the most challenging and least played of the course's three nine-hole links. PLA closed the Trail nine in May of 2009, citing economic reasons, and with a focus on the remaining Tide and Timber nines. The Trail nine has become overgrown and with the wildfire danger this summer, Loomis and some other neighbors believe PLA is negligent in not doing more maintenance of the abandoned links. Loomis said that in 2013, he got the Jefferson County Noxious Weed Control Board involved because of what PLA had allowed to happen to the Trail course. Wildfire danger has also been a concern, Loomis said, and this year PLA did less mowing along the Trail section than in previous years. “When you buy golf course property and it turns into a weed patch, you’re never happy but I understand the economics behind the golf decision,” Loomis said. Loomis said. The underground sprinkler system on Trail has long been removed, he noted. Diana Smeland, PLA president, in an Aug. 8 mail to another Edgewood Drive resident, suggested that Loomis had circulated outdated photos of the former Trail nine, and asked how much PLA should be expected to mow. “If we are going to attack fields of grass, what about trees, bushes, etc.? Where do we stop?” Smeland wrote. Loomis has urged the Port Ludlow Village Council, which is an advisory group representing homeowner associations, to request a memorandum of understanding regarding PLA’s responsibilities to mow the former golf links. Edgewood Village is a certified Firewise Community, with residents encouraged to take wildfire precautions. Homes which front the former Trail course have assessed property values starting at about $800,000 [in 2018] FIRE CHIEF INSPECTION In response to community concerns, Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue Chief Brad Martin sent an email Aug. 30 describing his view of the situation after inspecting the area on Aug. 28. Port Ludlow Fire District,” Chief Martin wrote. “I want to assure you that we are absolutely committed to the safety and protection of each and every person in our fantastic community.” Chief Martin wrote that on Aug. 28 he visited the closed Trail nine golf links with East Jefferson Fire Rescue’s Brian Tracer, the appointed fire marshal for Jefferson County and Don Svetich, assistant chief for Quilcene Fire Rescue and the wildland firefighting expert within the Jefferson County Fire Chief’s Association. “When we completed the tour, there was consensus that the 8-foot mow strip PLA is doing, in conjunction with the 6-foot cart path (totaling an average of 12-14 feet) is an acceptable barrier to the conditions we observed,” Martin wrote. “One may argue that the mowing hasn’t been completed in a while and needs to be re-done. However, it is obvious that it was not mowed long ago, and it does not take long for the grass to grow back. Martin noted that Port Ludlow homeowners are “doing a fantastic part by maintaining the greenbelts on their properties.” NOT SATISFIED Loomis is not satisfied with Chief Martin’s response. For starters, Loomis said, “The part of the cart path where PLA has mowed represents 1 percent of the cart path on Trail nine. Loomis also contends that “95 percent of the course has no buffers and the grass is to 3 to 4 feet.” Doing his own research, Loomis said the U.S. Forest Service recommends a minimum 30-foot buffer to combat wildfire danger. Cal Fire, which oversees firefighting efforts in California, noted that state’s law changed in 2005 to go from a 30-foot to a 100-foot defensible space clearance. Loomis found a number of other states and firefighting agencies which recommended a defensible space of 30 to 100 feet. Loomis said “While I am disappointed by the Chief’s response, I am certainly not surprised by his conclusions,” Loomis wrote in a Sept. 1 letter to Mary Valladares, Washington State chief deputy fire marshal. “It is simply an attempt to obfuscate the ongoing failure of the Fire Department and/or Jefferson County to address the impact of allowing an 83 acre fire buffer to be turned into an 83 acre fire hazard, without any requirements for the property owner (PLA) to mitigate those obvious risks for the protection of our Community.” Loomis also wrote, “The Chief’s conclusions are absurd. The referenced ‘8 foot mow strip’ presently covers less than 1% of the cart path. No agreement regarding mowing frequency, distance and/or specifications, etc. has been published. In addition, the lack of fire equipment access is extremely limited due to the size and condition of the cart path, coupled with the limitations of three very narrow wooden bridges.” Some neighbors to the 83-acre former Trail nine want Port Ludlow Associates to do more maintenance to reduce wildfire danger. The Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue chief has declared the current 8 foot buffer to be acceptable. 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