PORT ANGELES — A public hearing to form a Clallam County Building Code Board of Appeals has been moved from June 22 to June 1 to expedite the change.
This new board — composed of citizens with a wide-range of expertise in the construction trade — would replace the hearings examiner in the county’s appeal process.
The June 1 hearing will be packaged with another hearing on changes to county policy to update the list of current boards, clarify their operation and align them with current policy.
The county’s Permit Advisory Board raised concerns last summer about possible conflicts in the building code. Its members asked the commissioners to form a Building Code Board of Appeals.
Three public comments were taken in favor of the new board in a hearing last November.
In December, the Permit Advisory Board and Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Jensen made revisions to the ordinance to form the appeals board.
A hearings examiner has overseen the county’s appeals process since 2001.
Commissioner Mike Chapman had earlier objected to what he saw as non-standardized policies in the county code.
Jensen worked to align them.
“I very much appreciate the prosecutor’s office helping us continue with our policy to standardize policies,” Chapman said during a Monday work session of the county commissioners.
Changes supported
County Administrator Jim Jones said he supports the changes recommended by Jensen.
“It’s something we really needed to have done many years ago, really, with different kinds of boards that we had,” Jones said.
“This was a real service that I think will help us along in the future.”
The commissioners will call formally for the June 1 hearings in today’s business meeting.
Trail agreement
They will also consider approving a management agreement with the U.S. Department of Interior, the National Park Service and Olympic National Park to build three new segments of the Olympic Discovery Trail near Lake Crescent.
The county was awarded a $999,000 state grant to assist the park in restoring the former Spruce Railroad grade on the north shore of the lake.
The grant was matched by $1.2 million in federal funds and the county road fund.
Most of the match money has been spent on a 6.4-mile section of paved trail west of the existing Spruce Railroad Trail.
Tunnel restoration
The state grant will be used to restore two tunnels and to bring the trail in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Olympic National Park will manage the portions of the trail within its boundaries after the county builds it.
The 140-mile Olympic Discovery Trail will eventually connect Port Townsend with LaPush.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
