PORT TOWNSEND — A long-festering land-use controversy was settled Monday after Jefferson County commissioners voted to repeal an ill-fated ordinance covering land use in Brinnon.
The ordinance, adopted in 2002, approved a commercial designation on nearly 22 acres of land northeast of Dosewallips Road.
The issue dates back to 1982, when the county adopted a “community plan” designed to monitor commercial and residential growth in Brinnon.
The 2002 ordinance was part of a move to incorporate the Brinnon subarea plan part of the county’s comprehensive plan.
It granted a small-business-cottage industry, or SBC, overlay which would allow for low-impact commercial operations.
But it was appealed by the Better Brinnon Coalition and reversed by the county Hearings Board, which found it to be situated too close to another commercially zoned area, said David Alvarez, chief civil counsel for the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The property is fronted to the east of U.S. Highway 101 with a strip of gravel field, and features heavily forested land to the west.
