Submitted by Friends of the San Juans

Over the past couple weeks, you may have seen or heard about a YouTube video about FRIENDS’ role in the enforcement of a code violation on Orcas Island. That video, which features one of the landowners, a hydrogeologist, and the property rights director from the Olympia-based Freedom Foundation has forced our staff and board to devote many extra hours responding to this video. Some members of our community have asked us for more information about the events described in the video.

Q. How did FRIENDS learn about the code violation?

A. We received a call from someone who was concerned about construction near a stream and wet areas, in addition to a well in a stream. This call occurred over two years ago.

Q. What did FRIENDS do next?

A. We sought more information (as we do when we receive similar calls). We contacted the County’s planning department, where we learned that none of the buildings had permits. We also learned that of the three buildings, a barn had been built in the stream zone and a studio had been built in a wetland buffer. After learning this information, we asked the County to enforce the code requirements to protect wetlands and the stream.

Q. Why did FRIENDS ask the County to apply its rules?

A. Fairness. We believe that our land use rules will be more equitable if we all adhere to them.Predictability. We think that if we all play by the same rules, it increases the predictability in both the application process and in our community’s development. If we don’t know which land use protections apply, or to whom, it increases uncertainty for all of us.Environmental Protection. In the absence of a permit process, we may not learn about how our developments will impact critical natural areas. In this case, a wetland scientist hired by the landowners found structures within buffers for a wetland and stream.

Q. Is the stream really a ditch?

A. It was characterized by a wetland scientist as a stream. Regardless, the name is not as important as the functions that it performs. Like many similar water bodies in the islands, it is a seasonal stream that connects to other properties downstream, and eventually East Sound. Activities that happen upstream, including diverting water or changing sediment patterns, can cause harmful impacts to critters downstream. The Wild Fish Conservancy studied a downstream property and found it to be a fish-bearing stream.

Q. Did a second wetland report determine that there is no wetland or stream on the property?

A. Yes. Because the County did not have the expertise to judge which of the two reports was more accurate, it asked the Department of Ecology to provide its opinion. An Ecology expert who had visited the site determined that the first report more accurately represented the conditions there, and properly followed wetland sampling protocols. For more information, see ecologywa.blogspot.com/2012/02/ecology-plays-advisory-role-in-countys.html. You can also learn more information about other work by the consulting company that provided the second wetland report at http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/131552948.html.

Q. Does FRIENDS ignore some complaints because it favors some landowners?

A. No. We treat all who ask us for help with land use questions the same. We try to learn as much as we can about a situation and then we direct people to the entity that might best be able to respond to them.

Q. Does FRIENDS oppose farming?

A. No. If you are familiar with our newsletters, or have seen our staff at your local farmers’ market, you know that we support farming in the San Juans with both our time and our money. In fact, in 2010, we successfully challenged a County ordinance that would have exempted most County development from protecting agricultural lands. We believe that we can protect the environment and support farming here, and we are working with farmers to make this a reality.

For more information, attend the following meetings hosted by Friends of the San Juans’ upcoming meetings. The Orcas Community Meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 22, is at Odd Fellow’s Hall, 3:30-5 p.m., and the Orcas CAO Workshop, Wednesday, Feb. 29, is at Emmanuel Episcopal Parish, 242 Main Street, 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.