PORT ANGELES — Should a Dungeness Valley cluster development be required to provide water to an adjacent farm?
That’s a question that Clallam County Hearing Examiner Chris Melly will consider before ruling on David LeRoux’s application to create five 1-acre lots in the middle of 65 acres of farmland near Sequim.
Melly will render a decision by July 7.
LeRoux has proposed a cluster development on 25 percent of his property to preserve the rural characteristic of the other 75 percent.
But the state Department of Ecology may stop him in his tracks by limiting water access to the 13 small lots in the middle of the farmland, he said.
“The county has been supportive on this,” LeRoux said in a 90-minute hearing Wednesday at the Clallam County Courthouse in Port Angeles.
‘Flex more muscle’
“What I would want the county to do is flex more muscle.”
LeRoux said he wants Clallam County to stand up to Ecology, which requires the development to serve the surrounding farmland on 5,000 gallons of water per day.
“The only way to get action is just to do it and say, ‘This is the developed portion of the project and it gets its own well. This is the undeveloped portion of the project and that’s totally separate,'” he said.
LeRoux’s Discovery Trail Farm, which is nestled along the Olympic Discovery Trail south of Old Olympic Highway and east of Kitchen-Dick Road, is the first project of its kind on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Instead of subdividing the 65 acres into 13 5-acre parcels, LeRoux and his partner, Walter Johnson of Sequim, want to develop 13 small lots and a farmhouse.
Two of the eight existing lots have been developed.
County planners
County planners in the Department of Community Development have recommended that the hearing examiner approve LeRoux’s application for five additional lots with 31 conditions.
One condition says water wells within the project should be limited to 5,000 gallons a day, based on Ecology standards.
The condition notes that the Department of Community Development has asked Ecology to reconsider its view of the development and surrounding farm as one, and instead see them as separate areas with separate water needs.
“The planning department and myself, personally, are very supportive of cluster development,” said Steve Gray, Clallam County planning manager.
LeRoux said the county supports his project “because this is the kind of development that they want.”
“But the Department of Ecology is trying to tie the well on the farm with the water supply in my development, and I’m maintaining that in reality the farm is just that. It’s a neighbor,” LeRoux said.
The Discovery Trail Farm promises homeowners easy access to the nearby Sequim Valley Airport, unobstructed views of the Olympic Mountains, starry night skies and a role in the preservation of Dungeness Valley farmland.
Andrew Sallee, president and manager of Sequim Valley Airport, described LeRoux’s development as a better alternative to the “mishmashed” five-acre parcels of rural zoning.
“I think these cluster developments make a lot more sense,” Sallee said. “It keeps large parcels of land available for farming.”
Ecology requirements
Under requirements set forth by Ecology, LeRoux can draw a maximum of 5,000 gallons of water per day for the 14-lot cluster.
Once developed, each lot would have access to about 325 gallons per day.
“I don’t get any credit for the 65,000 gallons a day that I could have been drawing through the ground if I’d have gone for five-acre chunks,” LeRoux said.
“This project really is about land conservation and water conservation.
“I don’t want these people to reach 325 gallons a day or exceed 325 gallons a day,” he said.
“With the proper conservation measures, I’m fairly comfortable that we could stick to the 5,000 gallons a day.”
But that leaves no well water for the surrounding farm, which LeRoux intends to sell.
“The Department of Ecology is telling me that I have to share my allocation of 5,000 a day with the farm, and I don’t agree with that,” he said.
“I don’t know what Department of Ecology is thinking. There’s no way I can provide a neighborhood of 14 homes with water and a farm and stay under my 5,000 gallons a day allocation.”
LeRoux said he has followed all the rules in the county’s cluster ordinance.
“If the county is serious about saving the farmland, the county has to stand up to the DOE,” LeRoux said.
Seven speakers
Seven public speakers addressed the hearing examiner. All seven spoke in favor of LeRoux’s development.
Robert Caldwell, who lives near the farm, said the state has encouraged the county to promote cluster developments to preserve farmland.
“Now we have an individual, Dave LeRoux, who has tried valiantly to accomplish this,” Caldwell said.
Greg Good, executive director of the North Olympic Land Trust, said Le Roux’s proposed cluster would “open up the door for more of these responsible developments happing throughout the county.”
“It’s wonderful to see a person that is forward-thinking as a developer who is looking out for the best-benefit of the entire community,” Good said.
He said the 55 acres of open space that surround the cluster would benefit local farmers and help recharge the groundwater.
“The fact that a water code does not agree with the GMA [Growth Management Act] is certainly an issue that needs to be looked at, and I think that the county can take steps to encourage that happening at higher levels,” Good said.
A decision made by a Hearing Examiner can be appealed to county commissioners in a closed record appeal.
Any decision the commissioners make in their quasi-judicial role can be appealed to Clallam County Superior Court.
“Quite frankly, I think DOE should be coming up here congratulating me, shaking my hand and saying ‘How did you do it?'” LeRoux said.
“Instead, they’re throwing obstacles at this project.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
