Community Plan Approved - 9/23/08

Planning Commissioners Approve Illahee Plan. The Planning Commissioners approved the Illahee Community Plan on Tuesday morning by a vote of 7 for and 1 against. The Commissioner against the Plan was against the concept of community plans in general.

Survey Results. The results of the on-line survey were given to the Commissioners and the comment was made that 98% of the respondents approved of the community plan. We were given a copy of the responses to the questions after the meeting, which will be posted later on the county's website. The responses were interesting to read and they indicate diverse opinions, but nevertheless they were overwhelmingly in support of the Community Plan. We will provide a link later on the www.illaheecommunity.org website.

Tax Title Strip Issue Discussed. Several of the commissioners were concerned that "tax title strips" should not be given special status and the new language in the Plan, that went through county legal review, was questioned regarding its intent. The majority of the commissioners eventually voted to keep the language in the Plan as written.

Tree Preservation. One of the commissioners asked about the Tree Preservation Program and also asked why the Heritage Tree section was voluntary, thinking it should be mandatory. When it was explained that the community wanted a voluntary program rather than a mandatory program the issue went away.

Thanks to Katrina Knutson. Our planner through this process has been Katrina Knutson, who has been very diligent to make sure the public process was followed, and that everyones voice was heard. In the process she took some flak and abuse from both sides. She also helped guide the county's reviews, which covered a number of different departments. And once she had a document that satisfied the community and the county, she had to present it a number of times to the Planning Commission and respond to their questions and inquiries. She made sure no person or group dominated the conversations or the process. We think she was fair and impartial and worked for consensus and the desires and good of the Illahee Community. We couldn't ask for anything more and so we want to give this special note of gratitude and thanks to Katrina on behalf of the Illahee Community. Thank You!

One More Approval Needed. We now need to get the Illahee Community Plan approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Like with the Planning Commission, another public meeting will be held for people to express their views or concerns regarding the Plan. We will let you know the date. There is still the possibility of opposition at this public meeting, but with a 98% approval rating by those responding to the survey, coupled with the approval of the Planning Commission, we should be in a good position for approval, though as people know, anything can happen, especially at public meetings.

Plan is on the County Website. The Plan is on the county website under Subarea Plans, and then Illahee. There are a few minor edits and corrections that need to be made and the map in Figure 6.1 will need to be replaced with the approved map. We have requested several paper copies of the Plan be placed at the Sylvan Way Library once the minor edits are completed. We will also have it on the illaheecommunity.com website soon.

Jim Aho