PORT ANGELES — Clallam County’s long crusade to solve its Growth Management Act quandary just got longer.
A Seattle-based nonprofit group and a coalition of county citizens filed an appeal Monday with the state Court of Appeals against last month’s Superior Court decision that reversed a 2008 state hearings board ruling saying portions of the county’s comprehensive plan were invalid and noncompliant with the Growth Management Act.
Groups appeal
Futurewise, a Seattle-based nonprofit group that calls itself “the state’s primary advocate for smart growth policies,” and the Dry Creek Coalition, a group of people living west of Port Angeles, have appealed Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams’ June 26 reversal of the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board’s April 2008 ruling.
The state board ruled in part that Carlsborg Urban Growth Area needed a sewer and the county’s “rural moderate” designated lands were zoned too densely.
Since that ruling, Clallam County planners have been moving on two tracks to come into compliance with the 1990 legislation that requires cities and counties to limit urban sprawl.
On one hand, the county enacted interim zoning rules to allow planners to rewrite the zoning map.
Meanwhile, the county took an appellate track with the growth board’s ruling on Carlsborg and rural moderate lands, which permit one home per 2.4 acres.
In anticipation of an appeal from Futurewise and the Dry Creek Coalition, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Jensen on June 30 said the original hearings board decision stands.
“We’re still on a holding pattern on the appellate track, but we’re off to a very good start,” Jensen said after the Superior Court ruling.
Deb Kelly, Clallam County’s Prosecuting Attorney, issued a statement Tues-day saying the appeal was expected.
“This continuing appellate process could delay a final decision until next year and possibly beyond,” Kelly said.
“In the meantime, the 2008 decision of the Growth Board remains binding upon the county until all levels of appeal are exhausted.”
Futurewise and the Dry Creek Coalition were the original petitioners.
Eighteen other counties have been challenged by Futurewise under the Growth Management Act.
“My office remains committed to vigorously defending individual property rights and preserving local control over Clallam County’s future,” Kelly said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
