Roz Glasser is a member of the Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee

For further information contact Roz at (360) 588-0160 or rozglasser@juno.com.

Skagit County is proposing three types of amendments to the Countywide Comprehensive Plan. The first are map changes, shown on the map below, the second are text changes to the various elements of the plan, and the third are changes to the County code, or regulations that implement the plan policies. Each of these amendments are discussed below.

Guemes Island Map Proposals

Planning and Development Services generated a total of 50 County-initiated map amendments throughout the County. These are based on anomalous mapping situations that have come to the Department’s attention since the last round of annual Comprehensive Plan amendments, which incorporated amendments submitted between 2001 and 2003.

These proposals fall into two general categories. The Table below shows the five proposals for Guemes Island.

Skagit County Initiated Zoning Changes Proposed for Guemes Island

See County Map Summary Table [20k PDF] for a summary of all County initiated changes.

Description of LAMIRDs [20k PDF]

Islanders may write to the County Planning Commission and County Commissioners, turn out at hearings, and otherwise comment on this rezone:

Contact information

Skagit County Comprehensive Plan Information

Planning Commission Hearing Schedule:

March 21, 6 pm

March 23, 6 pm

April 4, 6 pm

April 6, 6 pm

April 18, 4:40pm

Ferry will run at 10 pm Tuesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 23 so that Guemes residents may attend public hearings.

See the map below for location details. SCO5-01 would extend the Rural Intermediate designation (minimum of 1 unit/2.5 acres) to this property (Bush Ranch) which is currently zoned Rural Reserve (1 unit/10 acres). The zone change would recognize that the outer boundaries of the property are more consistent with the Rural Intermediate zone than the Rural Reserve. This is because the property is bounded by West Shore Drive on the east and County Row drainage, access, and utility easement directly to the south. It has two residences (1 ADU), with separate wells. Property owners want to divide property into two separate 6.15 acre lots and will agree to restriction on any future subdivision of property. Proposal is consistent with CP policies 3B-1.4(b) (logical outer boundaries) applying to Rural Limited Area of More Intensive Rural Development (LAMIRD) which allows for selected areas of intensive development to be included in the Rural Intermediate zone.

Changes SC05-02 and 04 are initiated by the County to correct an inadvertent split zoning of a parcel between two map designations so adjacent properties under one ownerships carry a single zone. In most cases this split zoning has resulted from (technical changes/improvements in mapping technology/locations of property boundaries) and does not serve an intended land use purpose. But it does complicate processing of development permits and application of the zoning code to those properties. All of these changes are from Rural Intermediate to Rural Reserve and therefore would reduce the allowed density accordingly.

SC05-03 is also the result of a split zone, however in this case, the change is from Rural Intermediate to Rural Commercial which would permit low intensity commercial uses on the site. The parcel is currently developed with a single family residence.

Map Change Issues

Judging from the few conversations I’ve had, there seem to be two main concerns about the map changes:

• SC05-03 proposes a rezone from Rural Intermediate (RI) to Rural Commercial (RC). The site is at the SW corner of Guemes Island Road and South Shore Road which currently has a residence on it. The County says that assigning RC to the site to correct a zone split, but all other surrounding lots are RI. So it is unclear how a zone split could apply.

• CPA05-21 is a proposal to rezone a 280 acre area north of Holiday Hideaway, flanking either side of Square Harbor Rd, from RI to Rural Reserve (RRv). The area is substantially undeveloped and forested. There are 48 lots, some of which are 10 acre and some 5 acres. It has water supply limitations with poor accessibility for emergency services. In addition, a number of critical areas are there, including several eagle nest sites, wetlands, a stream, and steep and unstable slopes. All of these features further limit development there.

The County is recommending that the Commissioners deny this rezone request based on the LAMIRD policy which says that RI should continue to be the zone due to its proximity to Holiday Hideaway. However, the area appears to be consistent with the criteria for RRv. RRv is intended to support natural resource production, including agriculture and forestry. It’s also intended to provide a buffer between the RR and residential development in the RI zone. Lands in the RRV zone are considered transitional areas between resource lands and non-resource lands for uses that require moderate acreage.

In this case, the rezone would add to the buffer between Holiday Hideaway and the wildlife habitat in the Sq. Harbor Reserve and the Rural Resource zone in the valley.

These issues and any other amendment concerns that are raised will be discussed at the next GIPAC meeting on Monday, March 20 at 7pm in the church.

Comprehensive Plan Text Changes

The Countywide Comprehensive Plan has 12 chapters which identify goals and policies for various aspects of land development including transportation, environment, and land use. Proposed amendments reflect changes in local needs and circumstances, new data, and changes in state law since the last adoption of Comprehensive Plan amendments. The Proposal would reorganize the Comprehensive Plan by consolidating 16 chapters or elements into 12, and modifying the format and streamlining policies to improve readability and user friendliness. A report to be released on February 17, 2006, along with various other supporting documents, will discuss and summarize the proposed changes in greater detail. But you are urged to review the new language especially in the following elements: Rural, Natural Resource Conservation, Environment, and Transportation. Click Here.

Amendments to Skagit County Code

The Skagit County Unified Development Code Title 14 changes are to ensure consistency within the code and with the Comprehensive Plan policies; to clarifying certain processes and requirements; and to address typographical errors and inadvertent additions or omissions. Minor changes will also be made to Title 15, Buildings and Construction, to correct outdated references to the Planning and Development Services Department; and to delete a chapter, 15.20, that is now addressed in Title 14 (14.34, Flood Damage Prevention). Click Here to review these changes.

- Roz Glasser

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