The Washington State Department of Commerce has spoken with the County Planning Department to "encourage the County to ensure their local codes and official administrative interpretations are clear and made publicly available." Why was this even necessary? Because the County is applying a short plat vesting policy that fails to comply with the law followed by the rest of the state, and because the County has not made its policy on this matter public.
It appears that the County is allowing development disclosed on a short plat application to vest before a building application is submitted. Exactly when development rights vest is being determined on a case by case basis. As a result, affluent property owners who purchase a short plat in a sensitive watershed such as Drayton Harbor, and hire Sam Crawford's friends at Belcher & Swanson, have been allowed to build homes that do not comply with current environmental regulations. Since the vesting date of short plat development is determined through review of individual cases, as urged in a memo by Council Members Sam Crawford, Ward Nelson and Kathy Kershner that was leaked to the public, the opportunity for disparate treatment, and outright abuse, is clear. Can you think of another land use policy applied on a case by case basis under subjective standards determined by the Planning Staff, influenced by the arguments of private land use attorneys?
Hopefully, the email from the Department of Commerce will result in a publicly available policy that conforms to state law.
----- Original Message -----
From: Wendy Harris
To: County Officials
Cc: City Officials and DOE
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 3:45 PM
Subject: Whatcom County Short Plat Vesting/Department of Commerce
Dear County Council, County Executive and Planning Department:
In light of the below email, could you please advise me of the actions that the County will take with regard to its short plat vesting policy, both in terms of substance and public access?
Presently, the County is taking a "case by case" approach to short plat vesting that fails to ensure consistent application of regulations or enforcement of current environmental standards in sensitive watersheds such as Lake Whatcom and Drayton Harbor. This approach is premised on a policy that allows development on a short plat to vest at the time the short plat application is submitted. This is not an appropriate interpretation of the Washington vesting doctrine or state case law. As indicated below, this is not the policy that is being followed in other parts of Washington.
Moreover, the County policy on short plats has not been available for public review, and my public record request for this policy was unsuccessful. I have only been able to determine this policy from following cases before the County Hearings Examiner, and through disclosure of the advocacy letter issued by Mr. Crawford, Mr. Nelson and Ms. Kershner, citing transcript reflecting the position advocated by an attorney from the Belcher& Swanson law firm.
Thank you for your anticipated reply.
Wendy Harris,
Lake Whatcom watershed resident
----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Peters, Department of Commerce
To: Wendy Harris
Cc: PDS Staff
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 9:37 AM
Subject: Whatcom County vesting
Dear Ms. Harris,
I apologize for the delay in responding to your request. I did contact [XXXXX] of the Whatcom County current planning staff about your concerns. He assured me they are working to clarify their approach to vesting. I encouraged the County to ensure their local codes and official administrative interpretations are clear and made publicly available.
I also spoke with Jim Doherty of the Municipal Research Services Center about this issue and he assured me that vesting permits for building construction is supposed to apply to building permits and not to short plats, unless the short plat also contains a building permit application.
Thank you for your interest in protecting important water resources. I encourage you to remain engaged in participating in local planning and permitting activities.
If you have additional concerns or questions please contact me directly.
Thanks for your interest in local planning activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment