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Jeanie Orr
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Karl J [mebachiefengineer@gmail.com]
Friday, January 30, 2009 4:38 PM
#Long-Range Planning
jeffbocc
Comments on Shoreline Master Program Draft
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After reading selected sections of the proposed SMP I want to make the following comments:
a. this is an overly complicated and lengthy document, I do not believe it is necessary to
go from a document of 30 or 40 pages to a document approximately 200+ pages.
I realize that changes must be made to bring this document into compliance but this is
going too far.Please make the document readable and understandable b. several articles in
this document propose to place an increased financial burden on shoreline property owners.
Shoreline property owners already pay extremely high
property taxes and are very restricted in what we can do with our property.
c. the setback and buffer requirements are ludicrous. One of the reasons you state for the
150' setback is "human health and safety". I have lived and owned property
in the Port Townsend area for over 60 years and except for lor 2 cases I cannot
remember anyone accidentally falling from a shoreline and being injured. The 2 events I
can
recall involved a member of our county government falling from a shoreline, possibly a
trespass situation, and 1 person driving off of an unguardrailed county road in the
Discovery Bay area. There is no need for a 150' setback for safety reasons, the only
reason I can see for this 150' setback is to further restrict private shoreline owners
from using their property.
d. in article 6.3.A.1, you state "Providing public access to shorelines is the primary
goal of the Shoreline Management Act".As a shoreline property owner I believe the
public should acquire shoreline access the same way I acquired shoreline access, the
public should purchase shoreline for their use, not try to take it away from people
that now own and pay high taxes on their shoreline.
e. the conditions proposed for stairway or trams for access to my legally owned property
are overly restrictive. Shoreline property owners have the legal right to access
_ALL_ of our property, not just the upland areas of our shoreline property.
f. the restrictions proposed for repairing a damaged residential structure or making an
addition to a residential structure are unfair and unjust. You are taking my property
away from me with these restrictions.
g. I believe that if the SMP is enacted in substantially it's current form it will" result
in possibly hundreds of lawsuits the county will have to defend and most likely have to
pay substantial damages to many of the shoreline land owners.
These are just a few of the problems I see with this document. Please consider easing many
of the restrictions you have placed on us shoreline land owners. A program of this
magnitude needs much more public review and comment. Please have several more public
comment opportunities.
Karl Jacobsen
4250 S. Discovery Rd.
Port Townsend, WA.
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