PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County planners on Monday handed over close to a year’s worth of work to county commissioners, asking them to review and approve the blueprint for future county growth management.
The county commissioners accepted the proposal, tentatively setting a public hearing for Dec. 6, after the Dec. 1 state-imposed deadline.
David Alvarez, county chief civil deputy prosecutor, told the commissioners that the county could show good faith in its efforts to expedite approval of the plan.
“We can do the best as we can and catch up as best as we can,” Alvarez said.
“If we are sued for being inactive, we’ll have to deal with that.”
The county is under the pressure of state Growth Management Act-derived development regulations, which require the county to update and amend its comprehensive plan.
Al Scalf, county director of community development, asked that the commissioners call for the Dec. 6 public hearing by Nov. 24.
“Then, any information will be available to all” for the public hearing.
County planners and the county Planning Commission have spent much of 2004 defining how to protect Jefferson County International Airport’s future aviation and industrial uses, and the county’s agricultural lands “of local importance.”
Focus on verbose lingo
The Planning Commission has focused much of its comprehensive plan update work on chipping away at the verbose language contained in the original plan document, which dates back six years.
That primarily included language on how to implement the comprehensive plan.
