BRINNON — The proposed Pleasant Harbor Resort would either be an economic boom for Brinnon or destroy its bucolic way of life, according to speakers at a Jefferson County Planning Commission meeting.
“We have no economy down here,” said Joe Baisch of Brinnon on Wednesday.
“We have to find some courage and create an economy here, and this project is an opportunity for Jefferson County to take a step into the future.”
Brinnon resident Scott Black, who first saw the town when he was a child, seeks to preserve its charm.
“This is a great place to live,” Black said.
“I like the environment here, and I don’t want it to grow [so] that we lose the fresh air, the environment and the oysters.”
More than 150 people were crammed into Brinnon School’s auditorium for the meeting on an application from Statesman Groupe of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for a zoning change for 252 acres from rural residential to master planned resort.
Planners heard public comment on the project and the final supplemental environmental impact statement, which was released Dec. 9.
The planning commission will deliberate the zoning change request at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 3 at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road, Chimacum.
It then will make a zoning recommendation to the county commissioners.
Commissioners’ approval of the change would mean that plans can begin for constructing the resort, which was first proposed in 2006.
Wednesday’s crowd was “the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen in Brinnon,” said David Wayne Johnson, Jefferson County associate planner.
Of 34 commenters, 15 spoke in favor of building the resort, while 19 were opposed.
About a third of those who signed up to comment declined to speak or had left the hall by the time their names were called.
Garth Mann, CEO of Statesman Groupe, began the meeting with a presentation about the company’s plans.
The resort would transform Brinnon by offering a range of activities and services, Mann said.
It would include 191 guest suites, an exercise center, a variety store, a convention center, a wedding chapel, a waterslide, an amphitheater and zip lines, and other amenities, he said.
In the supplemental environmental impact statement, the alternative preferred by the company scales down the original 18-hole golf course to nine holes.
Johnson discussed the county’s role.
“This is new code. It has never been done before,” Johnson said.
“We’ve never built a master plan resort, as Port Ludlow was already built when the Growth Management Plan went into effect [and created land-use restrictions].”
Statesman first approached the county in January 2006 to request the zoning change.
After learning the process could take years, the company walked away, according to Johnson, who has worked on the project since its inception.
A few months later, Mann contacted the county to begin the process, Johnson said.
Statesman has incrementally improved the land, building a new dock, cleaning out the harbor and improving the marina, but the permitting process took longer than the company expected, officials said.
Time was a recurring topic at the meeting.
Proponents said the approval process has dragged on long enough and the project should move ahead, while those opposed said they were not given enough time to analyze the data.
“Our concerns are not being met,” said Phil Best of Brinnon, saying the meeting was scheduled too soon after the supplemental environmental impact statement was released.
“The SEIS was released on Dec. 9, which is a short turnaround considering the holiday,” he said.
Gene Farr of Port Ludlow, a retired satellite designer, slammed the delay in acquiring the permit.
“We have to find a way to get this expedited,” he said.
“We developed a major satellite program in four to five years. For this to take 10 years is appalling.”
In a December 2014 meeting, many people voiced the same sentiments: the resort’s potential economic benefit versus its environmental impact as well as a concern that the county had not provided enough time to respond.
Aside from the planning commissioners, several other Jefferson County officials were in attendance.
“There was a classic tension between economic development and environmental concerns, but it doesn’t have to be either or,” said County Commissioner Kathleen Kler.
“I still think it’s marvelous to have a public forum where so many speak, where there is deliberation about big change.”
For more information, contact Johnson at 360-379-4465 or dwjohnson@co.jefferson.wa.us.
To view all county documents about the process, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Resort.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
