PORT ANGELES — A proposed taxing district to pay for improvements to Striped Peak Road is going back to the drawing board.
Clallam County commissioners on Monday said they will call a Sept. 14 public hearing on a proposed road improvement district to pave and widen a 2,180-foot section of gravel road from Freshwater Bay to Ocean Cove Lane.
Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Doug Jensen said a procedural error occurred in a July 20 public hearing on the issue.
The three commissioners on Monday agreed to schedule a second public hearing to ensure a “safe harbor” public participation process.
“Everyone who wanted to speak had an opportunity to speak on the issues,” said Dan Phillips, a Striped Peak property owner who spoke in Monday’s work session.
“They all had the opportunity to speak here.”
Under the current proposal, property owners who live along the rural road north of Joyce would reimburse the county $664,500 with interest over 20 years.
Other features
The money would also pay for new culverts and a turnaround spot for emergency response vehicles at Ocean Cove Lane. The newly paved section would be maintained by the county.
Each property owner would pay an estimated $650 per year plus simple interest. He or she would have the option of paying the $13,561 cost at once.
County Engineer Dave Bibler has said 34 of 49 property owners surveyed favored the road improvement district.
Last month’s public hearing drew both support and opposition.
Some opponents said the lot method of property assessments is unfair. They argued that the taxes should be proportionate to the size of a property owner’s land, rather than a blanket assessment.
Jensen said the commissioners used an “imprecise methodology” of determining the cost and benefits of the road improvement district.
He said the commissioners should have made decisions on its feasibility and affordability, and the sufficiency of the petitions.
Jensen said the best approach would have been to continue the original hearing — not close it — and make a decision.
Legal review
A deliberative session was originally planned for Aug. 2, but rescheduled to give Jensen time to review the legal issues.
Verbal and written testimony taken in the first hearing will be considered next month.
“I’d just like to say I think we’re making a simple process really complicated,” said Jim Pfaff, a Striped Peak property owner.
“We have 70 percent that are in favor of it, which seems like a supermajority. So I don’t see why this thing’s gotten so complicated.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
