PORT TOWNSEND — A public hearing on the environmental-impact statement for a mineral overlay designation at Fred Hill Materials’ Shine pit was delayed Tuesday when the number of people attending exceeded the capacity of the Jefferson County Superior Court courtroom.
The hearing — required after the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board rejected the impact statement — was rescheduled for June 9 at 7 p.m. in the Chimacum High School gymnasium.
About 100 people demonstrated against Fred Hill Materials plan to build a four-mile conveyor system to move gravel from its Shine pit to an 1,100-foot pier extending into Hood Canal, where the material would be loaded onto barges for transport.
The mineral overlay designation would allow the Poulsbo-based company to mine at its pit, but opponents claim it is the first step in the “pit-to-pier” project.
County commissioners had just started listening to a staff report Tuesday when Port Townsend firefighters determined that the audience exceeded the courtroom’s 90-person limit.
Firefighters said 30 people would need to leave the courtroom. Many people complied with the firefighters’ order.
When asked by Chairman Glen Huntingford, R-Chimacum, the audience voted to delay the hearing to another date in a location that would accommodate everyone who wanted to attend.
