PORT ANGELES — The Department of Homeland Security has leased two acres at the northeast corner of Fey Road and U.S. Highway 101 in western Port Angeles to locate new Border Patrol headquarters.
Its announced intention is “to place a modular border patrol station” on the tract of farmland, according to a letter from Jane Griffin of the leasing branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The lease is for five years with an option for a three-year renewal, according to the property’s owner, Jim Ciaciuch.
No other details of the headquarters were available Thursday, including whether the station would be surrounded by concrete barriers or would include a detention facility, as Border Patrol officials have indicated in the past.
The modular station is considerably scaled down from Homeland Security’s request for proposals a year ago that would have placed the Border Patrol, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Marine Operations under one roof.
The agents now continue to be based in the Richard B. Anderson Federal Building, 138 W. First St., downtown — despite an increase from four to 24 agents in the Border Patrol alone.
The Border Patrol operated roadblocks on the Peninsula this year, and have also boarded buses.
An increase in Border Patrol presence on the Peninsula corresponds to a national buildup of immigration agents on the northern border of the United States.
Property owners who responded to Homeland Security’s request included the Port of Port Angeles and Lisa DelGuzzi of Port Angeles.
Robert McChesney, the port’s executive director, said, “A year ago, we made a good-faith submittal” of a tract at 18th and O streets in the William R. Fairchild International Airport industrial park in Port Angeles.
“At one point we were told that we were the preferred alternative and then — bang! — nothing happened.”
Port Commissioner George Schoenfeldt said, “They were looking at a lot of property with a huge building to put all the agencies in one spot.
“To go from the grand plan to a modular building …”
Schoenfeldt said the port and Homeland Security had been in contact last spring when the lease was secured.
‘They didn’t even stop’
“The last thing I remember being told was everything was on hold until after the election.”
DelGuzzi, a Port Angeles property owner/developer, said she had offered two nearby parcels to Homeland Security.
“They didn’t even stop to look,” she said.
If placed at Fey Road and Highway 101, even the modular buildings would violate Clallam County’s residential zoning on the parcel.
The tract coincidentally is part of a 59-acre package proposed for industrial rezoning.
According to county Planning Manager Steve Gray, Homeland Security’s announcement of the lease predated the rezoning request.
Without that rezoning, such a facility ordinarily would require a conditional use permit, if not be prohibited outright.
Federal law supreme
However, a letter from Griffin to Gray cited the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution plus a half-dozen court decisions that say the federal government can do as it pleases.
As Ciaciuch told county commissioners Tuesday:
“Whether this property is rezoned industrial or not, they can do whatever they want on this piece of property.”
The exchange of letters between Griffin and Gray took place last May and June, but Gray said he has heard nothing since then from Homeland Security.
Ciaciuch declined to answer questions posed by Peninsula Daily News about Homeland Security’s plans.
Likewise, Griffin could not be reached at her office in Laguna Niguel, Calif., and Michael Bermudez, Border Patrol spokesman in Blaine, said he could not confirm or deny that new offices would be built at the Highway 101/Fey Road location.
It has been more than a year since county, port, and city of Port Angeles officials said they expected to hear what was in store for a new headquarters.
Unwelcome to neighbors
At Tuesday’s hearing, a nearby resident said he wanted no part of the agency.
“These are the type of people I need in my neighborhood?” asked John Currie, 2422 W. Sparrow Lane.
Another Fey Road neighbor wondered, when other properties in the area were for sale, why Homeland Security would lease these two acres.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Evan Bradow.
“I don’t want them there, anyway. I don’t like their roadblocks.”
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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
