BRINNON — A Seattle consulting firm is set to begin an environmental study on a long-planned 252-acre resort on Hood Canal that the builder hopes to begin developing by the end of this year.
The Jefferson County Department of Community Development is finalizing a contract with EA Blumen of Seattle to draft a $92,950 supplemental environmental impact statement on the proposed Pleasant Harbor Marina and Golf Resort located 3 miles south of Brinnon, Associate Planner David Wayne Johnson said.
“We are in the process of getting the contract signed,” Johnson said, adding that the study will be completed by Sept. 11.
The project applicant is the Statesman Group of Companies, a Calgary-based resort-building corporation that first proposed the
$300 million project in 2006.
Statesman will pay for the environmental study.
Statesman Group President Garth Mann said Wednesday he received the contract this week but had not yet reviewed it.
Johnson said Mann’s attorney assured him the company would sign the agreement.
“We’re right at the doorstep of getting the whole process going, and development agreements and zoning regulations,” Johnson said.
“The zones will define what is allowed in those areas as far as heights, dimensions, standards, setbacks, that kind of thing.”
The marina-golf resort would be developed on property on the Black Point peninsula.
The land is zoned for a “master-planned” resort and already includes the 300-slip Pleasant Harbor Marina, which is owned by Statesman.
“We’re close to nearing a half-century of being in the business,” Mann said this week.
“We’ve examined the property and done a ton of work and consulted a lot of different people,” he said.
“We are of the opinion that there is validity in moving forward.
“It would be nice if we could get the SEIS [supplemental draft environmental impact statement] completed and out of the way, and could start construction in late 2013 or early 2014,” Mann said.
The North Hood Canal Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the project.
The Brinnon Group, which opposed the project in its earlier versions, is monitoring its progress, organizer Barbara Moore-Lewis said this week.
“The Brinnon Group is concerned about the health of Hood Canal,” she said.
“We are pinpointing weaknesses in the proposal and will bring them up in due time.
“This will be the real crux of the SEIS: How do you mitigate any impacts on the canal and whether there actually exists technology to do that.”
The resort would include 890 residential units and an 18-hole golf course, a wastewater reclamation plant and 12,000 square feet of commercial space at a marina village off U.S. Highway 101.
“There is likely to be opposition,” Johnson said.
“Some people think it’s too big,” he added.
“I am confident we are going to finish the SEIS and the development agreement and zoning regulations, so he [Mann] can proceed.”
Statesman already shows the resort as a concern on its website, www.statesmancorporation.com, complete with an artist’s rendering of $690,000 sea-view residences, and parking for cars and boats.
Johnson predicted the draft EIS would be ready for public review this fall, with its first stop being the Jefferson County Planning Commission.
A hearing examiner also will hold a public hearing on marina, golf course and other usage zones included in the undertaking, which will be developed on property zoned overall for a master planned resort.
“As a model, look at Port Ludlow zoning and regulations,” Johnson said, referring to the marina-golf resort 20 miles south of Port Townsend.
“[Statesman] tweaked it to their circumstances.
“It’s essentially the same kind of thing.”
Mann said he will not seek financing for the project until it’s approved.
Plans call for the resort to be built in phases, with the wastewater treatment plant coming first.
Johnson said the county will ask Statesman to pay a bond to ensure that phases of the project that are started are completed.
“They are proposing to clear and put in an 18-hole golf course that will require a huge amount of excavation on the site,” he said.
“You are talking about millions of cubic tons of material.
“If they start that and don’t finish it, that’s not good.
“That will all be worked out in the development agreement.”
Public comment will be taken on the draft SEIS and the final EIS.
A public hearing also will be held when the Planning Commission considers the final EIS.
Finally, the county board of commissioners will vote on whether to approve or deny the study’s preferred alternative.
Information and numerous documents on the proposal are available at http://tinyurl.com/7yr6x3s.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
