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Home My WebLink About2961-329 &a~A \J"Iil~ l1- CQmVl'Jo'l-q Michelle McConnell 7A&1 From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Attachments: Rentz, Karen (Perkins Coie) [KRentz@perkinscoie.com] Friday, January 30, 2009 3:33 PM Michelle McConnell Mackie, Sandy (Perkins Coie) Shoreline Regulations Comment Letter Jefferson County Planning Commission Itr #2. pdf; Figure 1-12. pdf ~ To: Jefferson County Planning Commission c/o Michelle McConnell See attached comment letter and attachment regarding Pleasant Harbor Marina and Golf Resort. Karen Rentz I Perkins Coie LLP LEGAL SECRETARY TO SANDY MACKIE 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4800 Seattle, WA 98101-3099 PHONE: 206.359.6140 FAX 206.359.7140 E-MAIL: krentz@oerkinscoie.com <<Jefferson County Planning Commission Itr#2.pdf>> <<Figure 1-12.pdf>> NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you have received it in error, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you. 1 perl<i~ Coie Alexander W. Mackie PHONE: (206) 359-8653 DWL: AMackie@perkillscoie.com 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4800 Seattle, WA gS101-:i099 PHONE, 206.359.8000 FAX: 206.:i59.90oo www.perklnscole.com Januaty 30, 2009 VIA E-MAIL MMCCONNELL@CO.JEFFERSON.WA.US Jefferson County Planning Commission clo Michelle McConnell Jefferson County Dept of Community Dev. 621 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, W A 98368 Re: Shoreline Regulation Changes Recommended Dear Commissioners: I am writing this letter to express concern that the Shoreline regulation draft now under consideration would materially and needlessly interfere with the Master Planned Resort planned for Pleasant Harbor in the Brinnon Subarea. See ms for the Comprehensive Plan modification dealing with the Pleasant Harbor Marina and Golf Resort at Black Point south of Brinn on for a detailed description of the program, a copy of the planned Marina Village is attached. The Pleasant Harbor Marina bas been located in Pleasant Harbor for more than 50 years. Over that time, roads, septic fields, grading, and parking facilities have been constructed that do not meet present standards and that can and do cause untreated stonnwater and other contaminants to reach the bay. In approving the Comprehensive Plan for a Master Planned Resort at Pleasant Harbor the County conceptually approved the Marina Village that was part of the preferred alternative. The conditions of approval include a water management and monitoring plan for the Harbor, a tunicate eradication program, and a host of other environmental, design, and technical requirements. The marina shore of Pleasant Harbor has been designated for "intense" development under the proposed shoreline regulations, and the parking, access, marina store, offices, and marina support facilities, including pool, showers, and yacht club facilities that are already present in the uplands immediately facing the Marina, are testament to the propriety of the intense development designation. S7S77.ootl61LEGALlS22347S.1 ANCHORACE . 8EIJING . 8ElLEVUE . BOISE. CHICACO . DENVER. LOS ANGelES. MENLO PARK OLYMPIA. PHOENIX. PORTLAND. SAN FRANCISCO. SEATTLE. SHANGHAI. WASHINGTON. D.C. Perkins Cole UP and Affiliates Jefferson County Planning Commission January 30, 2009 Page 2 The attached Figure 1-12 shows that both a portion of the mixed use village and the water touch units just to the south would all intrude in the proposed ISO-foot buffer. As written, we believe the proposed shoreline regulations would necessarily prohibit the planned development without any environmental benefit and in some places environmental loss. The problem arises from the decision to impose a uniform 1 SO-foot critical area buffer on all salt water shorelines with unnecessarily narrow exceptions. In the present regulations, the 1 SO-foot buffer is imposed by Section VI. D. Regulations - Critical Areas and Shoreline Buffers 1. Subject to the exceptions listed below, the Critical Areas provisions ofJCe Chapter 18.22, dated March 17,2008, Ordinance #03-0317-08, are incorporated by reference, except that permit, nonconforming use, appeal, and enforcement decisions within shoreline jwisdiction shall be governed by this Program and not ICe Chapter 18.22. 2. In the event development or performance standards in JCe Chapter 18.22 are inconsistent with standards and requirements in this Program, this Program shall govern. 3. Unless otherwise stated, no development shall be constructed, located, extended, modified, converted, or altered, or land divided without full compliance with Jce Chapter 18.22 and this Program. You provide exemptions frOm the buffer provisions, but only in limited circumstances: 3. Water-oriented UsesIDevelopment: When otherwise consistent with this Program and JCC Chapter 18.22, the following water-oriented uses/developments may be permitted within a shoreline buffer without a shoreline variance. The amount and extent of buffer modification shall be the minimum needed to accommodate the allowed use/development This allowance for water-oriented usesldevelopments within shoreline buffers without a shoreline variance may apply to the primary use and/or to the following accessory uses/structures: i. Primary uses and structures that meet the definition of a water-dependent or water-related use/development as defined in Article 2. 57S17.QOO61LEGALl 5223475. I Jefferson County Planning Commission January 30, 2009 Page 3 ii. Boating facilities accessory to a single-family residential development including rail~ doc~ piers and floats; iii. Boathouses accessory to a single-~ly residential development provided that all of the following are met: a. The boathouse is used to store watercraft and shall not be used as or converted to a dwelling unit. The County shall require a notice on title indicated such; and b. The boathouse has a maximum footprint of 300 square feet and a maximum height of 1 S feet above average grade; and c. The primary doorway/entryway faces the water; and d. The structure is located entirely landward of the ordinary high water mark. iv. Pedestrian beach access structures; and v. Public access structures, including but not limited to docks, piers, floats or pedestrian beach access structures accessory to commercial, industrial, port or other allowed uses/developments; and vi. Certain utilities and essential public facilities as specified in Article 8, Section 11. The terminology is confusing in that the heading make reference to "water-oriented" uses and developments, but then limits the easing of the buffer standards to" primary uses and structures" meeting the definition of "water -dependent" and "water-related," which would certainly include the marina, but appears to limit" accessory uses" to ''public access structures," effectively prohibiting marina offices or related onshore facilities, or the very common marine store or marina-oriented food service so commonly found in marina areas. In addition, the language would seem, to also prohibit the very type of mixed use, residential, and multifamily development contemplated for the marina shoreline area in the Master Planned Resort. As you can see from Figure 1-12 attached, the upland facing the marina is very narrow and a 1 SO-foot buffer would effectively put a complete moratorium on any meaningful development, leaving the existing marina store and facilities with the runoff, septic, and other issues unremedied. S7S77-GOO61LEGALI5223475.1 Jefferson County Planning Commission January 30, 2009 Page 4 We believe the regulations are overly broad and unduly burdensome when other approaches are available to the County to achieve a more comprehensive and environmentally superior result. You should be aware that we believe there is no scientific basis for the uniform marine buffer requiremen4 as the work of Dr. Houghton in Pierce County showed. Similarly Dr. Lee's work on waters and wetlands, approved by WDOE for wetland and FWHCA protection in the City of Mount Vemon, showed that often uniform buffers only serve to lock in presently damaging circumstances and prevent restoration, often in areas of existing development where it is needed most, such as the area fronting the Pleasant Harbor Marina today. One better approach would be for the County to encourage redevelopment in the Master Planned Resort, along the "intense development" designated shorelines fronting the marina area by extending the Critical Area Stewardship program, now presently limited to residential development, to Master Planned Resorts and specifically the portion of the Pleasant Harbor shorelines approved for intense use. Such an approach would encourage the redevelopment of the existing, intensely developed shorelines, which means upgrading stonnwater control and meeting all modem environmental standards, and assuring no net loss of function and value would occur. The result would be achieved while allowing the mixed use parking, retail, and residential structures that provide the economic lift necessary to provide sewers and engineered storm water control to materially improve the present situation. All development still needs to meet the base criteria of the Shoreline Management Act, but allowing the stewardship program within the Pleasant Harbor area would facilitate a broader range of uses, encouraging greater shoreline use and access and fully enable the economic and environmental benefits of the Master Planned Resort contemplated, for which the Comprehensive Plan was adopted. Your time and attention are appreciated. Since~;t- Alexander W. Mackie A WM/kr Enclosure cc: Garth Mann w/enc. Craig Peck w/enc. S7571.()OO6.1LEOAL15223475, I THE PROPOSAL CHAPTER 1 1.2.2 The Marina and Maritime Village The Maritime Village is the northerly component of the Master Planned Resort, located between US HWY 101 and the Pleasant Harbor Bay, and consists of the marina, the maritime resort, and water side resort. See Figure 1-12. Commercial Water-side units Townhouses Villas Total 16,000::1: square feet 63 units 40 units 48 units 151 residential units Figure 1-12 Site Plan - Marina Pleasant Harbor Marina and Golf Resort FINAL EIS - (Site Specific Amendment MLA 06-87) Page 1-11 November 27. 2007