| Growth Management Hearings Board Considers FGI Case On Wednesday, March 19, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board will consider the majority of issues raised by Friends of Guemes Island in a case filed last November. The Hearings Board combined the first two issues raised by FGI, regarding LAMIRDs, with similar cases brought by Evergreen Islands and Friends of Skagit County and will consider them on March 27, 2008. The Final Decision and Order is expected by May 12, 2008.
Once again Friends of Guemes Island will challenge Skagit County, this time at the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. We have decided to post the documents submitted by both FGI and Skagit County for you to review. In these documents you will find a very persuasive argument that the county has failed to do their job required by State Law. The County's rebuttal to this argument is also included for your amusement. I'm confident that if you persevere through these documents you will conclude, as I have, that the Elected Officials of Skagit County have either a poor understanding of what FGI's issues are and an unwillingness to understand them, or have an agenda unknown to the people of this island that prevents them from publicly acknowledging the fact that we are right and they have failed to protect us as they are sworn to do. We will know in May whether the State of Washington thinks that Skagit County is noncompliant with State Law. This is a very significant determination that will strengthen our case, if we win, should we return to Superior Court to stop the late weeknight ferry runs. - Gary Davis, President, Friends of Guemes Island [3.17.8] Growth Management Hearings Board Filing [16 kb PDF] Skagit County's Response To FGI Filing [2.1 mb PDF] FGI's Rebuttal of Skagit County's Response [120 kb PDF] FGI Petitions State Hearings Board The Friends of Guemes Island (FGI) called Skagit County to task in a comprehensive filing to the Western Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board on November 13th. This legal petition lays out eleven violations of state law Skagit County has committed over several years that erode the rural character of Guemes Island. FGI is asking that the Growth Management Hearings Board rebuke Skagit County for a pattern of poor land use planning and to force them to comply with the intent of Growth Management—preserving rural areas. The listed violations include numerous attempts to increase island zoning density beyond rural standards, failure to study or protect the island’s water supply (a federally designated sole-source aquifer), extending ferry hours which induce island development, and multiple conflicts with Skagit County’s own Comprehensive Plan. The FGI filing essentially documents the Guemes Island portion of a decades-long assault on undeveloped Skagit County by its own government. State Growth Management law requires counties to protect rural lands by channeling growth to cities and towns, thus stopping sprawl and the resulting waste of public resources and energy. FGI’s attorney, Gerald Steel, has asked the Growth Management Hearings Board for a finding of invalidity for any provisions of the Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations that are found not to comply with the Growth Management Act. Board of Directors, Friends of Guemes Island [11.15.7] |
