Hearing Mailing. On Friday (8/15/08) approximately 750 Kitsap County residents, mostly Illahee residents, received notice of an August 28th Public Hearing for the Timbers Edge project. Many of those received the mailing because they had signed petitions several years ago expressing concerns with aspects of the development. SEPA Appeal Filed. On Friday afternoon (8/15/08) a SEPA MDNS (State Environmental Policy Act Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance) appeal was filed by the Illahee Community Club, along with the $500 filing fee.
Wednesday Club Meeting. The Illahee Community Club met with residents on Wednesday to get an overview of the project and legal information. At the meeting residents voted overwhelmingly to file the appeal. Following the vote, the Club asked for pledges of financial support to assure there would be sufficient support for an appeal. With enough money pledged the Club's lawyer, Ryan Vancil, was contacted to go ahead and prepare the appeal (which was submitted on Friday as earlier stated).
Request for Continuance Filed. Also filed with the SEPA MDNS appeal, was a Request for Continuance. Four primary expert witnesses were identified as being necessary for the appeal, and were contacted as to their availability for the August 28th Public Hearing. Three of the four were unavailable and one has not yet responded. Other witnesses are being considered. They expect the hearings to begin on the 28th and the hearing to be "continued" to a later date when the community's expert witnesses are available.
Sunday 8/17/08 Strategy Meeting. Because of the short time available, less than two weeks, a strategy meeting has been scheduled for Illahee State Park at 2 pm. There will be "Illahee Group" signs to where we will be meeting as the location in the park has not yet been determined. The park was chosen because of the lack of other facilities, and the fact that parking and a picnic or open space should be able to be located somewhere on Sunday afternoon.
Hearing Strategy. The strategy is to breakdown the appeal categories and assign teams to work on the issues. For instance traffic is a major issue and a team needs to work on that topic. There are a total of 14 issues with the project and we will have copies of the appeal on Sunday.
14 Teams Needed. They need community volunteers to comprise the teams. For instance on the traffic example, residents along Fir Drive, may want to take pictures and measurements of the road the county says is not a problem, and maybe contact the property owner on Perry Avenue where the right hand turn lane is being proposed. There may be someone in the Illahee community who is a traffic engineer and can advise the members of this team what to look for in reviewing the Timbers Edge traffic analysis.
Actual Hearing. The actual hearing is a very interesting process. The goal is to give everyone a chance to speak and be heard in hopes they won't be too disappointed when the Hearing Examiner normally eventually agrees with the County Staff who have already approved of the project. The community's job is to show by facts, pictures, studies, etc that the developer and/or the county have not adequately identified or analyzed specific impacts or the mitigation measures. The case needs to be so compelling that the Hearing Examiner has no choice but to rule in the community's favor.
Can It Be Done? The Illahee Community Club thinks it can be done, but it is a tough assignment. That is why they are looking at experts to cover the more complex issues such as aquifer recharge, geology, hydrology, fisheries, and stormwater. In addition to these already identified areas the individual teams will need to work on the rest of the issues.
Please Attend the Strategy Meeting. They need as many Illahee residents as can help to come to the strategy meeting on Sunday. See what team you feel most comfortable working with, and volunteer to help.
Jim Aho
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