Clallam County lawmakers and the Carlsborg landowners who are fed up with red tape blocking commercial development are stuck in the same chicken-or-the-egg dilemma.
In order to comply with state law, Clallam County commissioners cannot allow new commercial development or residential subdivisions in the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area, which is just west of Sequim, until it proves that it has financing to build infrastructure for a sewer and water.
A governor-appointed hearings board ruled in April 2008 that Carlsborg was noncompliant with the 1990 Growth Management Act because it lacks a sewer. Taxpayers would be subject to lawsuits if the county allowed urban development without financing a sewer first.
To that end, the county commissioners on Tuesday extended temporary zoning restrictions for Carlsborg after a lengthy public hearing.
Interim zoning allows the county to finalize a sewer facilities plan and figure out how to pay for it.
Clallam County has budgeted $4 million for the proposed sewer and wastewater treatment plant. It has spent $250,000 for a consultant to study the feasibility of the proposal and dedicated staff time.
In order to pay for the remainder of the $15 million sewer, Clallam County is seeking a low-interest loan from the Public Works Trust Fund of the state Department of Commerce.
Proposed sewer plant
Residents and businesses that hook into the sewer would pay back the loan over 30 years.
But to get the loan, the Clallam County Public Utility District would need to adopt a local utility district defining the boundaries for sewer assessments, county officials say.
The PUD, which will operate the sewer, wants to see more money up front.
“They’re willing to look at this, but they’re also very reluctant to go out and form an LUD [local utility district] unless they have half of the initial cost in hand,” Commissioner Steve Tharinger said.
“That’s one of the pivot points.”
Meanwhile, commercial property owners, already weary of the “interim official controls,” just want to build on their land.
“This is a pretty intense, emotional situation for a lot of people,” said Cory Startup, who owns commercial property in Carlsborg.
Startup articulated the frustration shared by several other Carlsborg business and property owners who spoke in the 90-minute public hearing.
“We have a lot at stake here,” Startup told the commissioners.
“This whole situation as I see it, in my opinion, is having a big effect on livelihoods, futures and retirements. For some of us, everything we have is invested in these properties and our businesses.
“This whole thing, it seems like, is filtering down onto the shoulders of the commercial property owners and business owners in Carlsborg.”
In response
In response, Tharinger said: “The land-use options for commercial property are very limited if we don’t get an urban growth area.”
“We can’t get an urban growth area without getting a sewer,” he explained.
The PUD estimates that the earliest the public will be asked to approve a sewer project would be the second half of 2011.
Amid concerns over the potential cost to customers, the PUD commissioners last week reaffirmed a need for grants and low-interest loans to pay for the project.
Without additional grants, the PUD says the costs would be too high.
“Members of the board understand this project is important to the long-term public health, environmental protection and economic vitality of the Carlsborg area,” PUD Board President Will Purser said.
“However, we are reluctant to solicit a public decision on the project until we have been awarded significant grant funding or low-interest loans.
“Costs will be influenced greatly by the size and number of grants received and the terms and interest levels for any required loans,” he added.
“We urged staff responsible for the project to continue exploring all avenues for attracting alternative funding sources.”
Plan by August
Clallam County planner Carol Creasey said a sewer facilities plan will be submitted to the state Department of Ecology and made public by August.
Creasey recommended that the county commissioners extend interim zoning for Carlsborg before they expired on July 1.
The county has extended interim zoning several times since the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board’s finding of noncompliance in 2008.
Besides buying the county more time to finance the sewer, interim zoning allows the county to contest portions of the state hearings board ruling in court.
The original decision has been overturned in Clallam County Superior Court.
But Futurewise, the Seattle-based public interest group that originally challenged Carlsborg and several other elements in the county’s comprehensive zoning plan, appealed.
Oral arguments
A Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in September.
“That does not mean a decision would come in September,” Planning Manager Steve Gray said.
Since the original ruling, Clallam County has been found compliant in the other challenges brought by Futurewise.
Tharinger said he and county staff will meet with PUD officials to discuss the sewer project funding.
“We are moving forward in a responsible fashion,” Purser said in a prepared statement from the PUD.
“It requires striking a good balance between the pace of the project and the pursuit of funding sources essential to getting it built.”
In response to a Carlsborg resident who said “let us have our business,” Tharinger said the township west of Sequim has good growth potential.
“The problem is we’re dealing with the restrictions of the Growth Management Act and an out-of-compliance order brought to us by a group that doesn’t even live here,” Tharinger said.
“Right now, in my view, the pressure point is on the PUD to keep moving forward with this LUD process.”
Commissioner Mike Doherty noted that 19 out of 39 counties in Washington were challenged by Futurewise.
“We’ve made as much progress getting to a solution, probably more, than a great majority of those counties,” Doherty said.
“We’re forced to play in this game because of litigation.”
Commissioner Mike Chapman said he voted to extend interim zoning based on the advice of the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
In another public hearing on Tuesday, the commissioners approved the online sale of surplus county property. No public comment was taken.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
