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BELFAIR HERALD
Serving Belfair m Allyn m Grapeview -- Tahuya -- Mason Lake -- South Shore n Victor
00keLand, Allyn
lnd Victor may
Thursday, November 29, 2007 Section of The Shelton-Mason County Journal
At the county:
State board says county
" new district plan for Belfair is invalid
both of LakeLand Village.
that certainly didn't take
this month's election re-
B showed overwhelming sup-
for a new North Mason hos-
district in Belfair, nearby
hbors are already clamoring
e included, via annexation,
the newly formed district.
group of interested citizens
formed a working committee
h for the annexation of Lake-
Village, Victor and AUyn
!the newly established Mason
ty Public Hospital District 2.
E GROUP, which has rep-
ltatives from each of the pre-
requesting annexation, is
Unite North Mason Health
The effort is being led by Dr.
hLePere and Rodger DeBritz,
The group is encouraging the
new Public Hospital District 2
• commissioners to pass a resolution
to immediately put the annexation
issue on a ballot with a special
election to be held in May 2008.
Dr. LePere and DeBritz say that
if a Mason General bond were to
pass prior to the annexation, area
residents would be mandated to
continue paying that charge for the
life of the bond even after annexa-
tion. They also say that scenario is
not something the residents they
talk to are comfortable with.
Both men also say that from the
initial discussions on the creation
of a North Mason hospital district,
most have felt the taxing district
boundaries should be the North
(Please turn to page 4.)
00oice group hears
00tuart, Bakken at
00eir last meeting
Z CASE hopes for moving quickly into the
B ae North Mason Commu- construction of local affordable
Voice group met on Monday,
eraber 19, their first regular
:ring since the recent election.
!Ough the group rejoiced at the
a passage of the new hospital
ict, they spent more time on
ongoing issues for the north
of Mason County.
beakers Hannelore Stuart
ted the Voice on her work
w-income housing and Beau
ken, chiefofBelfair's Fire Dis-
2, cautioned the group about
lay fire hazards.
ast spring, Stuart was bub-
with enthusiasm with her
t for establishing low-income
Bing in Mason County. At the
she described her work to es-
ish housing for "those people
earn too much to qualify for
tat for Humanity, but not
enough to qualify for con-
ional loans at today's housing
eS."
k1? THAT time, she had high
housing.
She is still very much mov-
ing forward, but her schedule
has lengthened. Her group, now
named the Masonfrhurston Com-
munity Land Trust, is still work-
ing on establishing its infrastruc-
ture, its policies and manuals and
operational budget, and its 503 (c)
nonprofit tax status.
"I'm seeing that it will take
about two years to get it all in
place, the same as for a for-prof-
it business," says Stuart, whose
greatest roadblock at present is
zoning ordinances.
Stuart says that present county
zoning laws prohibit density out-
side the urban growth area bound-
aries and current regulations al-
low only one residence for every
(minimum) five acres.
"Habitat for Humanity has been
knocking on doors for 10 years to
change this," Stewart notes. She
(Please turn to page 4.)
Iason Holiday Meals volunteer driv-
tl and Belfair residents Diane Peter-
|on and Curt Peterson, at left, picked
tll 30 meals and place mats from vol-
ttllteers Andrew Be61ik and Ann Olli
Volunteers deliver holiday meals
November 21 at the Saint David of
ales kitchen in Shelton. The Peter-
SOns brought the meals to Theler Center
here they met three other volunteer
iver teams to distribute them to low-
"Come homebound seniors and physi-
By KEVAN MOORE
The Western Washington Growth
Management Hearings Board says
that Mason County's community
development and binding site plan
regulations for Belfair are invalid.
The county, which has been
found to be out of compliance in
these matters for about a year,
has now been ordered to achieve
compliance within 120 days. This
marks the third ruling in the case
which originally went before the
board in August of 2006. Early this
week, the county filed a motion for
reconsideration from the board.
The November 14 ruling, in fa-
vor of a petition by Advocates for
Responsible Development and John
Diehl, comes aider numerous con-
tinuances and hearings.
"WE HAVE previously rejected
Petitioners' request for a determi-
nation of invalidity because we did
not find there to be an imminent
threat of significant inconsistent
development which would substan-
tially interfere with the County's
ability to engage in GMA-compliant
planning," the board wrote in their
ruling. "Now, however, the risk of
significant inconsistent develop-
ment is considerable."
The board went on to say that
"new urban levels of development
on community septic systems pro-
vide a developer with an opportu-
nity to construct urban subdivi-
sions within the Belfair UGA with-
out public sewer ... The potential
of such residential development is
very real because a developer need
not wait for a public sewer."
Diehl said he and the Advocates
for Responsible Development are
pleased with the ruling.
"Our organization was formed to
try to promote and encourage wise
land-use management," he said.
"It's essential that local govern-
ment provide local infrastructure
to serve the development that they
seek to promote."
DIEHL ALSO said that the
county's sewer plans allow for "leap
froging or hop-scotch development
from the sewer line" and that the
sewer will "only serve the core area,
not anything like the majority of
the UGA." He says this type of ap-
proach "borders on fantasy" rather
than sound planning under GMA.
In the ruling, the hearings
board repeatedly acknowledged the
county's efforts to live up to state
law. They wrote that they do "not
doubt the County's good faith" and
said that Mason County has "made
enormous progress towards achiev-
ing the goal of a public sewer for the
Belfair UGA."
However, Emmett Dobey, Mason
County's director of community de-
velopment, took issue with several
of the board's findings•
"We believe there are a number
of errors in the decision, the pri-
mary one being that we don't have
sufficient money to cover the cost of
initial construction for the sewer,"
Dobey said. 'lney indicate that
we're about $8 million short, but we
are not short at all for initial con-
struction."
DOBEY ALSO said the county
believes that developer costs, rates
and connection charges will provide
tbr future development of sewer
lines.
"We believe our plan is no dif-
ferent than any other community's
for providing sewers to areas where
growth has not yet occurred."
While Dobey says the county
is moving forward, if the invalid-
ity sticks, it will be impossible for
the county to get some $3.2 million
that they need to finish the sewer
project. That money would come
through the Department of Ecology
via the state's Community, Trade
and Economic Development office.
"I believe we will be in compli-
ance by the time it's necessary to
get to that loan," Dobey added
DOBEY ALSO indicated that
the board's ruling actually encour-
ages something that the Growth
Management Act seeks to get rid
of.
"One of the down sides of the rul-
ing is that if somebody wanted to
come in and use septic tanks and
drain fields they could probably be
able to do that and that's something
we don't want to happen, he said.
Dobey says that's because the
ruling forces the county to revert
to its previous rules.
"It's a real dilemma," he added.
"The dilemma being you have a
mandate from the Governor to
clean up Hood Canal and we have
the money promised to do that. But,
we're unable to move forward be-
cause we're out of compliance and
we're out of compliance because the
rules we had developed to try and
prevent that from happening have
been found invalid•"
The board members that issued
this latest ruling are Margery Hite,
Holly Gadbaw and James McNa-
mara.
Annas Bay choir set to
perform December 12
The Annas Bay Community
Choir, directed by Matthew Me-
lendez Blegen, will perform "A
Classical Holiday in Lullabies
and Nursery Rhymes," a concert
for adults and families set for 7
p.m. on Wednesday, December
12, at Belfair's North Mason
cally challenged adults in Belfair. A to-
tal of 159 meals were delivered through-
out the county. The Shelton office of the
Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason and
Thurston Counties manages the pro-
gram. Key sponsors include United Way
of Mason County, and Faith in Action-
West Sound. Those interested in various
volunteering opportunities should con-
tact the volunteer center's Terri Shaw
at 360-426-3405.
Timberland Regional Library.
The concert is free of charge
and open to the public, a gift and
annual seasonal tradition of the
Friends of the North Mason Tim-
berland Library.
The choir will sing "Nursery
Rhyme Suite," written by region-
al composer Paula Fendler. The
composition uses the words of
familiar nursery rhymes to pres-
ent a history of western classical
music from Gregorian and poly-
phonic chant to the compositions
of Mozart and Beethoven.
BLEGEN describes the work
as delightful and often humor-
ous. He explains that the use
of Tamiliar rhymes, including a
tongue twister or two, allows lis-
teners to really hear each musi-
cal style without having .to con-
centrate on the words.
The choir will also perform
holiday lullabies including "Ave
Maria," arranged by Shelton
composer and chorister Cathryn
Mecham. The members of the
Annas Bay Community Choir
are all local volunteers, shar-
ing their joy in music with their
neighbors.
Blegen is the founder and gen-
eral director of the Annas Bay
Music Festival, held annually
on Hood Canal in Union. The
organization's Web site is http'J/
www.annasbay.org. An accom-
plished classical vocalist who has
sung professionally throughout
the nation, Blegen is a magna
cum laude graduate of the Uni-
versity of Washington Master of
Music program.
THE NORTH Mason Timber-
land Library is located at 23081
NE State Route 3 in downtown
Belfair. Those that would like
more information or directions
should call the library at "275-
3232 or visit the Timberland Re-
gional Library Web site at http'J/
www.trlib.org.
Timberland Regional Library
serves the information, reading
and lifelong learning needs of the
Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pa-
cific and Thurston county public
at 27 community public libraries
and seven library service partner
locations. The library system is
funded mainly by local property
taxes. Anyone needing special
accommodations to participate in
a library's program may contact
the library one week in advance.
On December 3:
LHCWC will hear
from UW scientist
The Lower Hood Canal Wa-
tershed Coalition will meet at 7
p.m. on Monday, December 3, at
the North Mason School District
boardroom.
The group's guest speaker will
be Dr. Thomas Hinckley of the
University of Washington. Dr.
Hinckley will be making a presen-
tation on forest resources, relat-
ing to watersheds, in Washington
State.
The Lower Hood Canal Water-
shed Coalition is a group of local
residents, business owners and
representatives from government
agencies who work to improve and
protect the quality and quantity
of fresh and marine water in the
lower Hood Canal watershed. The
group's meetings are always open
to the public. Those that would
like further information about the
group or the upcoming meeting
should contact coalition member
Bob Hager by calling 275-0618.
BELFAIR HERALD
Serving Belfair m Allyn m Grapeview -- Tahuya -- Mason Lake -- South Shore n Victor
00keLand, Allyn
lnd Victor may
Thursday, November 29, 2007 Section of The Shelton-Mason County Journal
At the county:
State board says county
" new district plan for Belfair is invalid
both of LakeLand Village.
that certainly didn't take
this month's election re-
B showed overwhelming sup-
for a new North Mason hos-
district in Belfair, nearby
hbors are already clamoring
e included, via annexation,
the newly formed district.
group of interested citizens
formed a working committee
h for the annexation of Lake-
Village, Victor and AUyn
!the newly established Mason
ty Public Hospital District 2.
E GROUP, which has rep-
ltatives from each of the pre-
requesting annexation, is
Unite North Mason Health
The effort is being led by Dr.
hLePere and Rodger DeBritz,
The group is encouraging the
new Public Hospital District 2
• commissioners to pass a resolution
to immediately put the annexation
issue on a ballot with a special
election to be held in May 2008.
Dr. LePere and DeBritz say that
if a Mason General bond were to
pass prior to the annexation, area
residents would be mandated to
continue paying that charge for the
life of the bond even after annexa-
tion. They also say that scenario is
not something the residents they
talk to are comfortable with.
Both men also say that from the
initial discussions on the creation
of a North Mason hospital district,
most have felt the taxing district
boundaries should be the North
(Please turn to page 4.)
00oice group hears
00tuart, Bakken at
00eir last meeting
Z CASE hopes for moving quickly into the
B ae North Mason Commu- construction of local affordable
Voice group met on Monday,
eraber 19, their first regular
:ring since the recent election.
!Ough the group rejoiced at the
a passage of the new hospital
ict, they spent more time on
ongoing issues for the north
of Mason County.
beakers Hannelore Stuart
ted the Voice on her work
w-income housing and Beau
ken, chiefofBelfair's Fire Dis-
2, cautioned the group about
lay fire hazards.
ast spring, Stuart was bub-
with enthusiasm with her
t for establishing low-income
Bing in Mason County. At the
she described her work to es-
ish housing for "those people
earn too much to qualify for
tat for Humanity, but not
enough to qualify for con-
ional loans at today's housing
eS."
k1? THAT time, she had high
housing.
She is still very much mov-
ing forward, but her schedule
has lengthened. Her group, now
named the Masonfrhurston Com-
munity Land Trust, is still work-
ing on establishing its infrastruc-
ture, its policies and manuals and
operational budget, and its 503 (c)
nonprofit tax status.
"I'm seeing that it will take
about two years to get it all in
place, the same as for a for-prof-
it business," says Stuart, whose
greatest roadblock at present is
zoning ordinances.
Stuart says that present county
zoning laws prohibit density out-
side the urban growth area bound-
aries and current regulations al-
low only one residence for every
(minimum) five acres.
"Habitat for Humanity has been
knocking on doors for 10 years to
change this," Stewart notes. She
(Please turn to page 4.)
Iason Holiday Meals volunteer driv-
tl and Belfair residents Diane Peter-
|on and Curt Peterson, at left, picked
tll 30 meals and place mats from vol-
ttllteers Andrew Be61ik and Ann Olli
Volunteers deliver holiday meals
November 21 at the Saint David of
ales kitchen in Shelton. The Peter-
SOns brought the meals to Theler Center
here they met three other volunteer
iver teams to distribute them to low-
"Come homebound seniors and physi-
By KEVAN MOORE
The Western Washington Growth
Management Hearings Board says
that Mason County's community
development and binding site plan
regulations for Belfair are invalid.
The county, which has been
found to be out of compliance in
these matters for about a year,
has now been ordered to achieve
compliance within 120 days. This
marks the third ruling in the case
which originally went before the
board in August of 2006. Early this
week, the county filed a motion for
reconsideration from the board.
The November 14 ruling, in fa-
vor of a petition by Advocates for
Responsible Development and John
Diehl, comes aider numerous con-
tinuances and hearings.
"WE HAVE previously rejected
Petitioners' request for a determi-
nation of invalidity because we did
not find there to be an imminent
threat of significant inconsistent
development which would substan-
tially interfere with the County's
ability to engage in GMA-compliant
planning," the board wrote in their
ruling. "Now, however, the risk of
significant inconsistent develop-
ment is considerable."
The board went on to say that
"new urban levels of development
on community septic systems pro-
vide a developer with an opportu-
nity to construct urban subdivi-
sions within the Belfair UGA with-
out public sewer ... The potential
of such residential development is
very real because a developer need
not wait for a public sewer."
Diehl said he and the Advocates
for Responsible Development are
pleased with the ruling.
"Our organization was formed to
try to promote and encourage wise
land-use management," he said.
"It's essential that local govern-
ment provide local infrastructure
to serve the development that they
seek to promote."
DIEHL ALSO said that the
county's sewer plans allow for "leap
froging or hop-scotch development
from the sewer line" and that the
sewer will "only serve the core area,
not anything like the majority of
the UGA." He says this type of ap-
proach "borders on fantasy" rather
than sound planning under GMA.
In the ruling, the hearings
board repeatedly acknowledged the
county's efforts to live up to state
law. They wrote that they do "not
doubt the County's good faith" and
said that Mason County has "made
enormous progress towards achiev-
ing the goal of a public sewer for the
Belfair UGA."
However, Emmett Dobey, Mason
County's director of community de-
velopment, took issue with several
of the board's findings•
"We believe there are a number
of errors in the decision, the pri-
mary one being that we don't have
sufficient money to cover the cost of
initial construction for the sewer,"
Dobey said. 'lney indicate that
we're about $8 million short, but we
are not short at all for initial con-
struction."
DOBEY ALSO said the county
believes that developer costs, rates
and connection charges will provide
tbr future development of sewer
lines.
"We believe our plan is no dif-
ferent than any other community's
for providing sewers to areas where
growth has not yet occurred."
While Dobey says the county
is moving forward, if the invalid-
ity sticks, it will be impossible for
the county to get some $3.2 million
that they need to finish the sewer
project. That money would come
through the Department of Ecology
via the state's Community, Trade
and Economic Development office.
"I believe we will be in compli-
ance by the time it's necessary to
get to that loan," Dobey added
DOBEY ALSO indicated that
the board's ruling actually encour-
ages something that the Growth
Management Act seeks to get rid
of.
"One of the down sides of the rul-
ing is that if somebody wanted to
come in and use septic tanks and
drain fields they could probably be
able to do that and that's something
we don't want to happen, he said.
Dobey says that's because the
ruling forces the county to revert
to its previous rules.
"It's a real dilemma," he added.
"The dilemma being you have a
mandate from the Governor to
clean up Hood Canal and we have
the money promised to do that. But,
we're unable to move forward be-
cause we're out of compliance and
we're out of compliance because the
rules we had developed to try and
prevent that from happening have
been found invalid•"
The board members that issued
this latest ruling are Margery Hite,
Holly Gadbaw and James McNa-
mara.
Annas Bay choir set to
perform December 12
The Annas Bay Community
Choir, directed by Matthew Me-
lendez Blegen, will perform "A
Classical Holiday in Lullabies
and Nursery Rhymes," a concert
for adults and families set for 7
p.m. on Wednesday, December
12, at Belfair's North Mason
cally challenged adults in Belfair. A to-
tal of 159 meals were delivered through-
out the county. The Shelton office of the
Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason and
Thurston Counties manages the pro-
gram. Key sponsors include United Way
of Mason County, and Faith in Action-
West Sound. Those interested in various
volunteering opportunities should con-
tact the volunteer center's Terri Shaw
at 360-426-3405.
Timberland Regional Library.
The concert is free of charge
and open to the public, a gift and
annual seasonal tradition of the
Friends of the North Mason Tim-
berland Library.
The choir will sing "Nursery
Rhyme Suite," written by region-
al composer Paula Fendler. The
composition uses the words of
familiar nursery rhymes to pres-
ent a history of western classical
music from Gregorian and poly-
phonic chant to the compositions
of Mozart and Beethoven.
BLEGEN describes the work
as delightful and often humor-
ous. He explains that the use
of Tamiliar rhymes, including a
tongue twister or two, allows lis-
teners to really hear each musi-
cal style without having .to con-
centrate on the words.
The choir will also perform
holiday lullabies including "Ave
Maria," arranged by Shelton
composer and chorister Cathryn
Mecham. The members of the
Annas Bay Community Choir
are all local volunteers, shar-
ing their joy in music with their
neighbors.
Blegen is the founder and gen-
eral director of the Annas Bay
Music Festival, held annually
on Hood Canal in Union. The
organization's Web site is http'J/
www.annasbay.org. An accom-
plished classical vocalist who has
sung professionally throughout
the nation, Blegen is a magna
cum laude graduate of the Uni-
versity of Washington Master of
Music program.
THE NORTH Mason Timber-
land Library is located at 23081
NE State Route 3 in downtown
Belfair. Those that would like
more information or directions
should call the library at "275-
3232 or visit the Timberland Re-
gional Library Web site at http'J/
www.trlib.org.
Timberland Regional Library
serves the information, reading
and lifelong learning needs of the
Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pa-
cific and Thurston county public
at 27 community public libraries
and seven library service partner
locations. The library system is
funded mainly by local property
taxes. Anyone needing special
accommodations to participate in
a library's program may contact
the library one week in advance.
On December 3:
LHCWC will hear
from UW scientist
The Lower Hood Canal Wa-
tershed Coalition will meet at 7
p.m. on Monday, December 3, at
the North Mason School District
boardroom.
The group's guest speaker will
be Dr. Thomas Hinckley of the
University of Washington. Dr.
Hinckley will be making a presen-
tation on forest resources, relat-
ing to watersheds, in Washington
State.
The Lower Hood Canal Water-
shed Coalition is a group of local
residents, business owners and
representatives from government
agencies who work to improve and
protect the quality and quantity
of fresh and marine water in the
lower Hood Canal watershed. The
group's meetings are always open
to the public. Those that would
like further information about the
group or the upcoming meeting
should contact coalition member
Bob Hager by calling 275-0618.