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HomeMy WebLinkAbout060724 - WILDFIRE NEWS_ Port Ludlow resident asks why county_ fire district express no responsibility April 27_ 2019 _Five years and waiting_ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. WILDFIRE NEWS: Port Ludlow resident asks why county, fire district express no responsibility April 27, 2019 From: bertl@cablespeed.com <mailto:bertl@cablespeed.com> To: Randall Verrue Diana Smeland tcrosby Marco de Sa e Silva Greg Brotherton Philip Morley Philip Hunsucker Patty Charnas Brad Martin WILDFIRE NEWS: Port Ludlow resident asks why county, fire district express no responsibility to force resort owner to deal with health, safety issue Port Ludlow resident Bert Loomis continues to press officials from Jefferson County and Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue why the government entities appear unwilling to address what he considers an immediate and ongoing health and safety issue – wildfire danger along the Port Ludlow Golf Course. For years, Loomis has asked Port Ludlow Associates (PLA), the owners and operators of the Port Ludlow Master Planned Resort, to deal with tall weeds on a section of the abandoned Trail Nine golf course that fronts eight homes. The State Department of Natural Resources is warning of high wildfire danger again this year. “The state is concerned we may have an early and extensive fire season and the county and the fire department will not budge PLA to do anything about the fire hazard the resort owners created on their own property,” Loomis said. “I just find it amazing that between the county and the fire department nobody will address an obvious fire hazard when the owner has adequate equipment to create a buffer. Risk mitigation does not seem to be on anyone’s radar.” Loomis, who lives in the Edgewood Village in Port Ludlow’s South Bay, 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. He has also been part of three successful land-use appeals and a lawsuit against Jefferson County. Loomis lives at 235 Edgewood Drive and is one of eight 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. For the last eight going on nine years, the 83-acre Trail Nine has become overgrown with weeds and grass. Loomis and some other neighbors believe PLA is negligent in not doing more basic maintenance of the abandoned links. At this point, Loomis said weeds and grass are 4 feet in height. “I paid a premium in 2005 for a lot along a buffed-out section of golf course that for the last nine years has been a weed patch,” Loomis said. He has 175 feet of frontage along the former golf course, and his home is 5 feet from the PLA property at its closest point. Loomis has asked Jefferson County to enforce the Master Planned Resort-RA zoning code and require the property owner (PLA) to mow the abandoned Trail Nine course a minimum of four times a year, and implement a noxious weed mitigation plan. Also last year, following Loomis’ complaints during wildfire season, PLA began mowing an 8-foot section along a small portion of the former golf cart path (paved), which is open as a public trail. That’s a start, Loomis said, but nowhere near enough to mitigate wildfire danger. COUNTY CODE Loomis is especially unhappy with the responses he’s received from Jefferson County government with their lack of interest to enforce county codes on PLA property. Loomis cites this language under the county’s Title 18 land use code, specifically, 18.50.030 Enforcement and duty to enforce: (1) Provisions of this [Unified Development Code] will be enforced for the benefit of the health, safety, and welfare of the general public and the environment and not for the benefit of any particular person or class of persons. (2) The administrator is authorized to use the provisions of this chapter to remove, prevent and stop violations of this UDC. The administrator may call upon law enforcement, fire, health, or other appropriate county departments to assist in enforcement. (3) The owner of any real property subject to enforcement action for a violation at a particular site of real property shall be individually and jointly liable for failure to comply with this UDC. TIMELINE To date, Loomis contends that fire district and county government officials do not want to get involved in what he says is an issue that applies not just to Port Ludlow, but anywhere in Jefferson County. Loomis has emails regarding the condition of the abandoned Trail Nine that date back to 2010, expressing his concerns about fire danger. Here are a sample: According to a June 17, 2010 email from the Edgewood Village Homeowner Association president, “PLA had assured that the first and second fairways of the closed Trail Golf Course would be mowed twice each year and the greens would be maintained.” In 2013, Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue raised concerns with Port Ludlow Associates regarding emergency access to the closed Trail Nine, such as whether the wooden bridges on the cart path built in the 1990s – could support firefighting or medical aid vehicles. The fire district also noted the lack of water sources or hydrants along the Trail Nine, where the original sprinkler system has been deactivated. According to an Aug. 17, 2018 email from Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue Chief Brad Martin, “The overarching issue for me is that the Jefferson County Fire Chiefs do not have authority or enforcement abilities to do what Mr. Loomis is demanding. We (fire Chiefs) have been working on this with the County for some time” …. “Realizing it is a priority for individuals, we are a bit hamstrung on what we can do.” According to a Sept. 13, 2018 letter from Mary Valladares, Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal, regarding the state’s position on code enforcement authority: “Each city and county is responsible for enforcing state and local adopted codes and ordinances in their respective communities. The concerns you bring forward about the Port Ludlow Trail Nine Golf Course may be directed to the Jefferson County Department of Community Development.” According to a Sept. 20, 2018 email from Diana Smeland, President of Port Ludlow Associates, the cost for PLA staff “to mow ½ acre is approximately $1,000-$2,000. Mobilizing the equipment may be an additional charge.” According to a Sept. 21, 2018 email from Loomis to Smeland, “If I correctly understood PLA’s position on the Trail Nine issue, they are unwilling and/or unable to spend the money to mitigate the fire hazard they have created on their property. Therefore, I am willing to pay my gardener the actual cost of $225 to mow the (PLA owned) acre behind my home. This offer is contingent upon PLA allowing me to offset that expense against my water* bill.” (*PLA owns the water company) PLA’s Smeland on Sept. 21, 2018 responded that “as with all other residents that have requested to have work done on our property, we would require that the person be licensed and bonded. All of the residents who have made a request have paid for the work with no offset.” According to a letter Loomis received Sept. 25, 2018 from Jennifer Hernandez, assistant state attorney general regarding the state’s position on code enforcement authority: “I have verified with the Washington State Fire Marshal that this location does not fall within their jurisdiction for enforcement. Counties and cities typically have jurisdiction to enforce code violations. The Jefferson County Department of Community Development likely would be able to inform you as to who has the jurisdiction to enforce any code violations at the Port Ludlow Trail Nine Golf Course.” According to an Oct. 2, 2018 email from Jefferson County Department of Community Development Director Patty Charnas to Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue Chief Brad Martin and Brian Tracer, county fire marshal, county code does not apply to the Master Planned Resort land use code administered by the county under which Port Ludlow Associates operates. Charnas wrote: “There is no regulatory provision or other code that applies – Further, there is no established fire code provision that warrants any applicable action unless a clear and present danger (e.g., burning embers on a front porch).” According to an April 10, 2019 email to Loomis from Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley, “Jefferson County disagrees that we have an affirmative duty to bring that property into compliance with the MPR-RA zoning.” According to an April 17, 2019 email from Jefferson County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Philip Hunsucker (also a Port Ludlow resident), “The County does not in charge [sic] of fire protection. The Fire Districts do that. For Port Ludlow, that is the Port Ludlow Fire District. Also, I believe Edgewood Village has a “firewise” program (https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-to pic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA <https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA> ) that is supported by the Port Ludlow Fire District.” According to the Firewise website, the primary threats to homes during a wildfire are from windblown embers. The Firewise plan suggests homeowners deal with fire hazards in three zones: Immediate Zone (up to 5 feet from the home), the Intermediate Zone (5 to 30 feet from the home) and the Extended Zone (from 30 to 200 feet from the home). Among the suggestions are to keep lawns and native grasses to a height of no more than 4 inches. Last year Loomis brought his complaint to the Port Ludlow Village Council, the advisory body which represents the Ludlow’s various homeowner associations. The Village Council declined to take any action. What now for Loomis? “Risk mitigation Rule Number One is don’t make your situation worse,” Loomis said. “This is not just an issue for eight homeowners who live nearest Trail Nine, it’s a risk issue for the entire Port Ludlow community.”