PORT TOWNSEND – Jefferson County officials are huddling with legal counsel and the outcome of those meetings could determine the future of a Discovery Bay-based homeland security training center.
“We”re concerned they are operating in violation of the stop work order,” said Molly Pearson, county Department of Community Development compliance officer.
She said that “attorneys are now involved” in the controversy that pits neighbors and county planning and zoning officials against Security Services Northwest’s Fort Discovery Training Center.
The center is on Discovery Bay Land Co.’s 3,400-acre property extending from the bay’s western shore into the Olympic foothills.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Gardiner-area neighbors reported hearing gunfire coming from the training center’s shooting ranges after a quiet Monday.
12 violations cited
County Director of Community Development Al Scalf issued a stop work order last week based on county code that lists 12 violations at the training center.
The violations include unpermitted structures built on the property in recent years, shoreline use, marine patrols and counterassault team training.
The order calls for civil penalties of $100 a day per violation until Security Services takes corrective action to obtain building and land use permits and meet county codes and other local, state and federal regulations.
The company can continue its basic commercial security services and K-9 unit training, the order states.
