SEQUIM — Portions of a revised binding site plan application for a proposed 55-and-older manufactured home development in Carlsborg are coming back to the Clallam County Hearing Examiner after an appeal was heard in Kitsap County Superior Court.
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Melissa Hemstreet reversed or remanded six of 11 alleged violations in the application by Chris Anderson’s CA Homes, Inc., and Clallam County for a proposed subdivision of 66 manufactured homes at the northeast corner of Atterberry and Hooker roads.
Neighbors of the development calling themselves Concerned Atterberry Neighbors (CAN) appealed Clallam County Hearing Examiner Andrew Reeves’ Feb. 25, 2019, decision for the project under the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA).
A virtual meeting for an updated application of the project begins at 1 p.m. Thursday. Attendees can call in to 408-419-1715 or 408-915-6290 or go online to bluejeans.com with the meeting ID 787 154 983.
Updated documents on the project can be found at www.clallam.net/Permits/hearingexaminer.html.
Hemstreet told Reeves he must issue a ruling concerning an alleged eastern wetland on/near the property. He must also rule on the county’s code requiring manufactured home developments with 21 or more lots to have at least 24-foot-wide streets and right-of-way at least 50 feet wide; Reeves initially agreed to 20-foot-wide roads in the development.
Hemstreet reversed Reeves’ decision on four elements: that Matriotti Creek is a Type 3 creek rather than a Type 2 creek; the adequacy of the Habitat Management Plan; the adequacy of the seismic protection plan; and the project’s State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review.
Neighbors have lobbied for Matriotti Creek to be Type 2 since the project was proposed because a county map allegedly designates it as such. Hemstreet said county officials ruled it was a Type 3 and that an informal conference note from Feb. 25, 2019, affirming their decision does not provide substantial evidence for re-typing it.
She added that the state Department of Natural Resources also doesn’t have authority over the county’s critical areas designation, and that neighbors and the state Department of Ecology weren’t included in the conference.
The Kitsap County judge also is requiring a geotechnical report because the site has fill and a perched water table at different areas. She reversed the Habitat Management Plan because it did not include the effects of the project upon the wildlife species and habitat identified for protection, nor does it identify which fish and their habitat are present.
Hemstreet also ruled that the county’s Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS) failed to account for the different species in the creek, and potential impacts of drilling sewer lines under the creek. She said the new sewer line will require a distinct permit application and distinct environmental analysis.
Hemstreet upheld four of Reeves’ decisions, including not to require sidewalks and that there is enough open space on site.
Previously, Reeves denied two versions of the manufactured home park, a 73-home project in August 2017, and a similar 66-home project in July 2018.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
