[A version of this article also appears in the Whatcom Democrats monthly newsletter. This is the "Director's Cut" version.]
This is a profoundly complicated matter, so I will attempt to sum up the basics, but this is no substitute for doing your own research on the matter.
On December 22nd, the Growth Management Hearings Board issued a "Determination of Invalidity" of a portion of Whatcom County's Comprehensive Plan.
Before the Determination of Invalidity, this portion of the County's Comp Plan was "non-compliant" with the GMA. The difference between being "non compliant" and "invalid" is analogous to the difference between getting a parking ticket and getting a boot put on your car. If you get a parking ticket, you drive your car around as you see fit, and are expected to pay your parking ticket. If you get a boot put on your car (because you never pay your parking tickets), it prevents you from driving your car.
While the Determination of Invalidity is in place, owners of land in those portions of the County can't legally "vest" their rights to develop property for commercial and industrial uses. Worse still, the Determination of Invalidity literally strips that portion of the County Comp Plan of its presumption of correctness. When a County is deemed "non-compliant" with the GMA that County is still given the benefit of the doubt that it is working towards becoming compliant and is allowed to do its day to day business for planning growth. Once a portion of a Comp Plan is labelled "invalid", then that benefit of the doubt is no longer in play. After that, the County must do something to get this boot taken off of the Comp Plan. The same GMHB ruling that ruled on "invalidity" also granted Whatcom County 90 days to work on that portion of the Comp Plan and bring it into compliance with the GMA.
The Council leapt to action. Kind of.
On January 4th, the Council held a meeting in Executive Session (that means in private). The attending public (four people, including me) were there for the open session portion of the meeting. Ken Mann questioned the necessity of going into Executive Session and excluding the public from the meeting. Legal counsel (Karen Frakes) adamantly insisted this was a necessity. This meeting also couldn't wait two days for Carl Weimer to return from out of state to attend. Turns out, not so much. But I get ahead of myself.
The public (all four of us) were excused from the meeting room, and then from the lobby outside the meeting room into the hallway. After the meeting was concluded, the Chair emerged and informed the public (at that point down to three of us) that the meeting had adjourned. The Chair did not announce any action had been taken or decision had been made. This is important because it is a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act for the Council to take "final action" in Executive Session.
On January 11, the County Council imposes an emergency moratorium on accepting applications for divisions and subdivisions of the portions of the County described in the "invalid" portions of the Comp Plan.
On January 14th, Deputy Civil Prosecutor Karen Frakes filed a motion to rescind the Determination of Invalidity with the GMHB. Ms. Frakes refers to the emergency moratorium to support the request for the Invalidity to be rescinded.
On January 25th, the Council held the public hearing on the emergency moratorium. After the hearing concluded Carl Weimer asked Ms. Frakes what was so urgent about the January 4th meeting that it couldn't wait. It turns out, that the day of the meeting it was discovered that there was no urgency but they held the meeting anyway. And Ms. Frakes claimed to have made the decision to file the motion unilaterally, without authorization from either the Council or the Executive, or the elected County Prosecutor.
On February 9th, the GMHB will take up the County's motion to rescind the Order of Invalidity.
Bottom Line: a year ago, the new County Council started with part of the County Comp Plan (the Urban Growth Areas) deemed "GMA compliant" by the GMHB. Instead of fixing the parts of the Comp Plan that were still broken, the Council (led by Sam Crawford) spent 2010 "tweaking" the part of the Comp Plan that was already GMA compliant. The Council spent all of 2010 doing nothing to get this now invalid portion of the Comp Plan into compliance with the GMA, and it has spent the first 30 days of its 90 day extension of time continuing to do nothing to get this portion of the Comp Plan into compliance with the GMA.
Will the GMHB rescind its ruling on February 9th?
Find out next month in Land Use Wars (Chapter Five: The Invalids Strike Back)
For more in-depth info on the Order visit Whatcom Watch here.
And visit Get Whatcom Planning here.
It is a period of land-use conflict. Futurewise, striking from the Herald building, has won its first victory against the ethically impaired Chair of the County Council. During the battle, Futurewise managed to render invalid a portion of the County's ultimate weapon, the COMP PLAN, a legal document with enough flaws to destroy an entire County's resource land. Pursued by the County's sinister agents, Futurewise holds meetings and prepares legal documents that can save its people and restore freedom to the galaxy…. or at least comply with the GMA...
This is a profoundly complicated matter, so I will attempt to sum up the basics, but this is no substitute for doing your own research on the matter.
On December 22nd, the Growth Management Hearings Board issued a "Determination of Invalidity" of a portion of Whatcom County's Comprehensive Plan.
Before the Determination of Invalidity, this portion of the County's Comp Plan was "non-compliant" with the GMA. The difference between being "non compliant" and "invalid" is analogous to the difference between getting a parking ticket and getting a boot put on your car. If you get a parking ticket, you drive your car around as you see fit, and are expected to pay your parking ticket. If you get a boot put on your car (because you never pay your parking tickets), it prevents you from driving your car.
While the Determination of Invalidity is in place, owners of land in those portions of the County can't legally "vest" their rights to develop property for commercial and industrial uses. Worse still, the Determination of Invalidity literally strips that portion of the County Comp Plan of its presumption of correctness. When a County is deemed "non-compliant" with the GMA that County is still given the benefit of the doubt that it is working towards becoming compliant and is allowed to do its day to day business for planning growth. Once a portion of a Comp Plan is labelled "invalid", then that benefit of the doubt is no longer in play. After that, the County must do something to get this boot taken off of the Comp Plan. The same GMHB ruling that ruled on "invalidity" also granted Whatcom County 90 days to work on that portion of the Comp Plan and bring it into compliance with the GMA.
The Council leapt to action. Kind of.
On January 4th, the Council held a meeting in Executive Session (that means in private). The attending public (four people, including me) were there for the open session portion of the meeting. Ken Mann questioned the necessity of going into Executive Session and excluding the public from the meeting. Legal counsel (Karen Frakes) adamantly insisted this was a necessity. This meeting also couldn't wait two days for Carl Weimer to return from out of state to attend. Turns out, not so much. But I get ahead of myself.
The public (all four of us) were excused from the meeting room, and then from the lobby outside the meeting room into the hallway. After the meeting was concluded, the Chair emerged and informed the public (at that point down to three of us) that the meeting had adjourned. The Chair did not announce any action had been taken or decision had been made. This is important because it is a violation of the Open Public Meetings Act for the Council to take "final action" in Executive Session.
On January 11, the County Council imposes an emergency moratorium on accepting applications for divisions and subdivisions of the portions of the County described in the "invalid" portions of the Comp Plan.
On January 14th, Deputy Civil Prosecutor Karen Frakes filed a motion to rescind the Determination of Invalidity with the GMHB. Ms. Frakes refers to the emergency moratorium to support the request for the Invalidity to be rescinded.
On January 25th, the Council held the public hearing on the emergency moratorium. After the hearing concluded Carl Weimer asked Ms. Frakes what was so urgent about the January 4th meeting that it couldn't wait. It turns out, that the day of the meeting it was discovered that there was no urgency but they held the meeting anyway. And Ms. Frakes claimed to have made the decision to file the motion unilaterally, without authorization from either the Council or the Executive, or the elected County Prosecutor.
On February 9th, the GMHB will take up the County's motion to rescind the Order of Invalidity.
Bottom Line: a year ago, the new County Council started with part of the County Comp Plan (the Urban Growth Areas) deemed "GMA compliant" by the GMHB. Instead of fixing the parts of the Comp Plan that were still broken, the Council (led by Sam Crawford) spent 2010 "tweaking" the part of the Comp Plan that was already GMA compliant. The Council spent all of 2010 doing nothing to get this now invalid portion of the Comp Plan into compliance with the GMA, and it has spent the first 30 days of its 90 day extension of time continuing to do nothing to get this portion of the Comp Plan into compliance with the GMA.
Will the GMHB rescind its ruling on February 9th?
Find out next month in Land Use Wars (Chapter Five: The Invalids Strike Back)
For more in-depth info on the Order visit Whatcom Watch here.
And visit Get Whatcom Planning here.
How does an invalid rural element destroy resource lands? Resource lands are a different zone with a whole different chapter in the Comprehensive Plan.
ReplyDeleteIf you were talking about the Resource Lands Element.....
I do see the humor funny guy :D
I used the language that achieved the most humorous effect.
ReplyDelete