PORT TOWNSEND — The Board of Jefferson County Commissioners unanimously approved the final docket for the 2021 Comprehensive Plan amendments.
The final docket includes two potential amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, including a site-specific determination for mineral harvesting and allowing for “green burials” on forest resource land.
The final docket was approved during the commissioners’ Monday morning meeting. It is not a final approval of the code changes, but rather an approval for the Department of Community Development to begin working through and researching the proposed changes.
The final proposal will be presented to the commissioners in late fall, said Austin Watkins, interim director, on Tuesday.
The first proposed amendment is a mineral resource overlay extension that was requested by Miles Sand & Gravel so the company can continue to harvest sand and gravel upon the Rayonier-owned land that the company operates on near Shine, David Wayne Johnson, long-range planner, said Monday.
As the amendment is a site-specific change, the amendment is automatically added to the final docket, Johnson said.
The green burials amendment was brought forward by the Jefferson Land Trust as a text amendment to the Unified Development Code. It would allow green burials at designated or accepting cemeteries, as well as on forest-zoned land greater than 20 acres through a conditional use permit, Johnson said.
Green burials are human burials that do not use embalming chemicals or cremation. Bodies are buried naturally and are more environmentally friendly than standard procedures, Johnson said.
“Both of those options have significant environmental impacts, so this is a trending alternative that’s earth friendly, kind of aesthetically pleasing to people, and I want to make this clear to people, it is an alternative,” he said.
“It is not going to replace what we currently do.”
Environmental impacts of other procedures include chemical pollutants from the embalming and caskets, and carbon dioxide emissions during cremation, Johnson said.
The docket amendments were first put together by county staff, who recommended them to the county planning commission, which approved the recommendations to the commissioners.
After the staff completes the work and research on the docket amendments, they’ll again be brought back to the planning commission, which will conduct a public hearing and then make their recommendations to the county commissioners.
The commissioners are expected to view and discuss the final code changes sometime during October or November.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com.
