HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning and Development May 17 1989WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
May 17, 1989
The meeting was called to order at 11:00 a.m. by Committee Chairman Tom
Burton with members Emlly Jackson and W'I'II Roehl present. Also present were Dan
Taylor, Sarah Bussard, Planning; Marge Laidlaw, Mr. and Mrs. Bovencamp.
1. RESOLUTION ADOPTING PUBLIC BENEFIT RATINGS ON EXISTING OPEN SPACE -
OPEN SPACE TAX STATUS PARCELS IN WHATCOM COUNTY
Taylor said he hoped this would be dealt with by June. There are
121 in this group with one (Nelson) that the Commission turned down
and requested the Council pull out of the program. If this Is done,
the owner still have the option of appealing. This puts in place
the whole public benefit rating system for the first time including
the group that the Planning Commission have approved over the last
year and a half. These have been reviewed by staff and some were
given different scores based on the revised Public Benefit Rating
System; their taxes may change as a result of that. The changed
scores are reflected in parenthesis on the attached sheet.
Owners will be notified of the new rating and they then have the
opportunity to pull out if they are not interested in staying in
Open Space; if they do stay their taxes will change and for some as
much as 50 %. They still will be getting a break. It is the
people's choice to get out of this program when their taxes are
revised but they will not be removed by the County. There will be
interest in how many do drop out of the program because of the
changed ratings.
Roehl asked how much acreage C B 8 I have in Open Space. Bussard
stated it is 33 acres. There was some discussion of whether people
should be allowed to hold property in Open Space when they intend
to develop commercially. Taylor stated that the first time the
owners applied for a use permit, the status would be changed.
It is open to the public and has been rated the same as other
parcels.
RoehI questioned if people could pull out without penalty then
reapply so that if they develop in 3 years they would not be
penalized for the previous years.
Roehl moved to recommend approval to the Council.
Motion carried.
Planning and Development, 5- 17 -89, Page 2
2. RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE DESIGNATION FOR TWO AREAS OF WHATCOM
COUNTY AS GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AREAS AND AUTHORIZING THE
ADMINISTRATION TO APPLY FOR FUNDS FOR PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT FOR
THE GROUNDWATER IN THESE AREAS
The grant has to be submitted by May 31, 1989 and is almost ready.
A letter was sent recently supporting the grant and later on we wi I I
get into the dollar amount that the County is contributing and this
will form a detailed presentation. This involves staff time and up
to $15,000 in cash. The resolution just states that the Council
supports the concept.
The LENS and Blaine studies will dovetail because the Information
is similar although the Blaine study is already underway.
Jackson expressed the concern that we will overload the County staff
if they are working on the Blaine, LENS, Lummi Island, Lake Whatcom
and now the Lake Samish study. Taylor said the Diane is programmed
heavily for LENS, some for Lummi Island study and Blaine. They are
almost out of the Lake Whatcom study and Taylor would be the only
one involved in that, and Lake Samish is new. Taylor felt that they
could handle the present load but could not handle any more.
Roehl moved to recommend approval to the council.
Motion carried.
3. Taylor showed a color coded map to the Committee indicating the tax
status of parcels in the County. The committee expressed some
concern that the number of parcels with lower taxes seemed to
dominate the map and they could understand how the levy lid was
reached so quickly with relatively few full tax payers. Taylor
agreed to loan the map to the Council for awhile. Jackson stated
that with so much agriculture land, we should be as tuned in to ag
needs as we are to the commercial taxpayers. Roehl questioned how
much scrutiny the ag lands undergo in the Assessor's office; they
check earnings on parcels under 20 acres but over that amount it
just has to be devoted primarily to agriculture. Jackson said that
with the four year cycle you could lose out on 3 years taxes if it
is being used for another purpose. The only way to prevent this is
to buy the computer program that would allow yearly updates.
4. Mr. & Mrs. Bovencamp - Jackson stated that the Bovencamps had a
pending sale on their home on Bay Lyn Drive. When the prospective
buyers applied for Title Insurance, it was revealed that the
property was zoned commercial and they lost the sale. It was then
discovered that a mistake had been made on the maps In the Planning
department and his property and that of his neighbor Bill Van Zanten
is zoned residential . The Bovencamps have since so I d their property
for more money but do feel that property owners should be informed
if there is a zoning change of their property or that of adjacent
properties. Property owners should not be penalized because they
don't take the Ferndale Record - Journal. Burton said he had heard
Planning and Development, 5- 17 -89, Page 3
of this happening in other areas and wondered if we couldn't send
out notices. Roehl said that in large area rezones the costs of
sending out notices, if they don't coincide with tax notices, is
prohibitive. Bovencamp did not think this a valid argument as he
felt the owners are entitled to know what is happening with their
area. As it turns out the commercial owner is not a good neighbor
and keeps a very junky place which does put the residential owner's
properties in jeopardy. Had they known it was coming many of them
would have resisted. it was suggested that a notice could be
included with the taxes saying that a rezone was being considered
in their area and the owners would be alerted to watch for It.
Burton suggested we speak to our Treasurer about sending notices
for the few areas that are left to be rezoned. The Council office
was asked to invite Barbara Cory to our next Planning and
Development meeting to discuss this.
Mr. Bovencamp said he would also like to speak about the junk -car
ordinance. In the area now zoned commercial, the owner has old
cars, pickups plied three high, etc. and when you come down the
Guide all you see is this mess. Everyone in the area is very
distressed about this and Mr. Bovencamp hopes the County has an
ordinance with some teeth in it so something can be done about this.
Bovencamp asked that the Council office send a notice to Bill Van
Zanten, 190 Bay Lyn Drive, Lynden stating that his home is zoned
residential.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m.
Barbara Maher, Clerk tom Burton, Member