FREE Workshop: Grow Healthy, Productive Pastures
Sunday March 11, 2007, from 1 – 5pm
Griffin Fire Hall, 3707 Steamboat Island Loop, Olympia WA

Come to this fun and informative workshop to learn the basics of pasture management. This workshop will cover many aspects of healthy grass production and will give you the information you need to grow amazing pastures for your horses or livestock.

Topics to be addressed include: soil testing, fertilizing, grass species, pasture rejuvenation, weed management, rotational grazing and heavy use area development.

A Farm Visit & Pasture Walk at a local livestock facility will take you out into the field to get an even better understanding of specific pasture management options and methods.

FREE.

Registration is requested, although not required. Please contact Sara at 360.754.3588 x136 or scarter@thurstoncd.com for more information or to register.

Sponsored by Thurston and Mason Conservation Districts

Click here for the Thurston Conservation District web site.

A GNA member writes, “We have been able to get SB 5544, making it easier to deal with nuisance noise from recreational riding of ORVs in neighborhoods, to the Rules Committee. We really need your help this week to get the Senators to pull it from Rules and put it on the Senate calendar.”

The increasing recreational riding of loud off-road vehicles (“ORVs”) in rural residential neighborhoods is disrupting the peace and quiet of communities and negatively impacting the health of residents and property values. This legislation allows simple, common sense tools to be available to neighbors and law enforcement officers so that peace and quiet can continue to be available in residential areas.

Interested residents are invited to call or email as many members of the Rules Committee as possible, even if they are not your Senator, and ask them to support SB5544 and move it to the Senate calendar.

The legislative hotline number is 1.800.562.6000.

The Rules Committee page is: http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/RULE/members.htm

There have been misleading statements, from opponents, about what this legislation would and would not do.

What SSB5544 IS about:

1) Sets reasonable limits on noise from the recreational use Off Road Vehicles (ORVs*) in residential neighborhoods Here is what the bill does, in summary:

▪ reduces the allowable tailpipe decibel (Db) level from 105 to 96 Db – this is the level supported by the industry, most states, and many in the ORV community

▪ makes it an infraction for an ORV to be so noisy as to be plainly audible and disturbing to a reasonable person or in excess of 45 Db within the home and 10 feet around the home

▪ sets escalating fines (starting at $100 and capped at $800) for repeat violations, and

▪ allows limited circumstances for recovery of costs and attorney fees for individuals who bring nuisance lawsuits

2) Codifies the existing law, WAC 173-60, which limits residential noise, at the property line, to 55 Db during the day and 45 Db at night.

3) Protects the health of neighbors from the negative impacts of noise and the bullying behaviors that some ORV riders use because there are no clear standards being enforced

What SSB5544 IS NOT about:

1) This bill does not prohibit ORVs or dirt bikes from riding. It just requires them to be properly muffled and used in a respectful way.

2) This bill does not limit use of ORVs to manage land. This bill exempts the use of ORVs to manage forest and agricultural land.

3) This bill does not prevent the use of home maintenance machinery (the bill does not limit home maintenance machinery such as lawn mowers and chain saws).

4) This bill does not prevent users from loading or unloading machines for use elsewhere (ORVs in residential neighborhoods are exempt from noise standards for brief time periods to service and load and unload for transport).

5) This bill does not prevent use of off-road vehicles in designated or permitted parks or tracks.

Here is an announcement about a meeting on 3/7 from 6:30-8:30 at Jefferson Middle School or on 3/15 at Evergreen Christian Community Church on the subject of roads/access in West Olympia. Since this is immediately adjacent to our neighborhood, this may be of interest to many of us.

Please click here for more information.

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU

Your participation is key to this study.

The City of Olympia and Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) are partnering on a joint study of city street and state highway systems on the west side of Olympia. The study will evaluate how well the systems work together to support the diverse transportation needs of the west side, now and in the future.

What’s the problem?

Current street and highway networks on Olympia’s west side hinder timely emergency response, efficient transit service, and pedestrian and bicycle access. We need to more evenly distribute traffic, and provide access to planned growth areas.

What’s the study goal?

The study will result in a package of improvements and programs to meet the future mobility needs of transit, bike riders, walkers, cars and trucks traveling to and through Olympia’s west side.

Join us at one of the Public Workshops to:

• Learn about this study.

• Share your ideas about west side transportation issues and problems.

• Identify principles to be used to evaluate alternatives.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Jefferson Middle School
2200 Conger, Olympia

— OR —

Thursday, March 15, 2007

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Evergreen Christian Community
1000 Black Lake Blvd SW, Olympia

(Two identical workshops are planned for your convenience.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Kathy McCormick
West Olympia Access Study
2424 Heritage Court SW Ste. A
Olympia, WA 98502

(360) 956-7575
e-mail: westolympia@wsdot.wa.gov

For information about this project: http://www.trpc.org/programs/transportation/projects/woas.htm

or the Washington State Department of Transportation’s website at:
www.wsdot.wa.gov

Livable Thurston, a coalition led by Futurewise, is presenting a forum and social event, March 7 at 5:30pm, at the Capitol Playhouse (612 E 4th Ave , Olympia WA , 98501).

This will be a strategy session and social hour on managing growth in Thurston County. According to organizers, “With over 65% of Thurston County voting down Initiative 933, me must now turn and use this collective voice at the county level. Find out what challenges and opportunities exist after I-933 in Thurston County.”

• Jeff Kingsbury , Olympia City Council Member and theater owner will welcome us and share his wit and wisdom
• Kaleen Cottingham , Futurewise lobbyist will speak on the post-933 legislative agenda and other current land-use legislation of major importance to our state
• Sue Danver with the Black Hills Audubon Society will talk about current projects being considered and their potential impacts
• Rhenda Strub of the Thurston County Planning Commission will address the importance of the County’s pending rezone decision
• Lisa Remlinger, President of Thurston Conservation Voters, will unveil a consensus list of Priorities for a Livable and Healthy Thurston County.

The program will include music, refreshments, and socializing.

Please RSVP (email april@futurewise.org), so they can plan accordingly with snacks and drinks.

Members of the Griffin Neighborhood Association who attended our Annual Meeting, on January 31st, voted in a new Board. At a special Board Meeting, this last Tuesday night, the Board elected its officers. The Board Members, officers and committee heads are:

Gayle Broadbent-Ferris, Community Outreach Committee Head
Matt Coyle
Fred Finn
Gary Goodwin, Chair
Jerry Handfield
Steve Lundin
Mark Messinger, Secretary & Webmaster
Eric Moll, Treasurer
Kathleen O’Shaunessy
Joyce Roper
Dave Schuett-Hames, Vice Chair
Velma Rogers, Habitat Committee Head
Jack Sisco
Bob Whitener
Chris Wickham

Contact information for the Board is online at http://www.griffinneighbors.org/ Just click the “Contact Us” link.

Not yet a member of the GNA? Members need only live or work within the boundaries of the Griffin School District. Join us online at https://www.steamboatisland.org/joinus/

On Tuesday, County Commissioners faced a standing room only crowd of Steamboat Peninsula residents, wearing “No Conference Center” stickers, to vote 2-to-1 against the Griffin Neighborhood Association appeal to declare the conference center application to be expired. While the Commissioners admitted county staff made errors in the handling of the timelines associated with the application, Diane Oberquell and Cathy Wolfe voted to allow the application to go forward. Bob Macleod expressed concerns that this or any developer could, as reported in The Olympian, tie up projects for years by “banking development rights” only to “have them be reviewed later under archaic guidelines.” Macleod voted with the GNA.

You may want to read that again. The commissioners agreed that our county staff should have monitored the approval process deadlines better. But, county staff didn’t, so the application to build a large, commercial conference center, on residential property, can move forward. Incredible.

In related news, the Thurston County League of Women Voters has officially come out against the conference center. In an email to commissioners, E.L. Johnson, president of the League, wrote, “The availability of water, sewer, roads and other utilities cannot sustain a large development on that small tract of land. We join [the] Griffin Neighborhood Association in opposing this effort to put a totally inappropriate ‘community center’ in an area designated rural.” The Olympian is reporting that Johnson said, at Tuesday’s meeting, “The cost of that project will be borne by everyone from Tenino on up to Lacey.” “A variance is not called for.”

What This Means – When the Application is Complete

At any time convenient to them, the Willis Family Trust will file the Environmental Impact Statement required by the County to complete the application. There will then be a public hearing on whether to grant the Special Use Permit required to allow this commercial facility to be built on land zoned for residential use.

Public testimony will be taken, at the hearing, and you had better believe that your neighbors and the Griffin Neighborhood Association will be there.

When will that happen? The County has given this developer carte blanche to take however long they want.

What This Means – Possible Legal Action

Meanwhile, legal counsel for the GNA is awaiting the Commissioner’s vote on whether to issue a formal written decision on this appeal. The Board and its lawyer will review that decision and will need to choose whether to appeal the county’s ruling to the Thurston County Superior Court or abandon a challenge in the courts.

A decision to challenge the conference center in court cannot be made without the financial support of the community. Click here to contribute to the GNA legal fund.

If we succeed, in Superior Court, we will not only squash this application, but we will set an important precedent which can be used by others seeking to ensure that development applications are handled by the County in a timely manner.

A case before the Superior Court will also put us in an excellent position if we need to appeal a decision by the County to grant the Special Use Permit, or if we need to defend an appeal by the Willis Family Trust, should the County deny their application.

What You Can Do

Do you feel that developers should not be able to grab residential land for their commercial use? Do you think large, commercial developments are out of place in our rural community? What do you think about the county’s decision to let this building go up along a two-lane road, sending traffic through the interchange with US-101 (to say nothing of that underpass heading south with the intersection of WA-8)? Does your idea of a “community center” include a for-profit facility which competes with the Little Creek Casino, St. Martin’s University, and the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center?

Make your opinion known.

Tell your neighbors. Ask them to visit our web site to learn more about this development.

Click here to write a letter to the Editor of The Olympian. Stuck on some of the details? Click here for plenty of information about this development.

Join the Griffin Neighborhood Association. If you’re not yet a member, we need your support. We don’t want the Willis Family Trust and their plans to keep us from our other projects on the peninsula, such as our partnership with the Griffin Fire Department and Griffin School District to prepare for major disasters. Join us online at https://www.steamboatisland.org/joinus/

Together, we can work to ensure that large, commercial facilities that don’t serve our community won’t get built near our school, our homes, or our shorelines.

On Tuesday, February 20 at 4PM, the County Commissioners will announce their decision regarding an appeal made by the Griffin Neighborhood Association against the Conference Center.

No public testimony will be taken.

The GNA Board is asking all opponents of the Conference Center to turn out and demonstrate their opposition to this project.

Last year, the GNA asked the county to declare the application to build the Center had expired. When the county refused to do so, the GNA went to a Hearing Examiner for the County. The Hearing Examiner found the developer of the Conference Center was under no deadline to complete the Environmental Impact Study requested by the county more than a year ago. The EIS is required for the county to consider the application for approval.

The GNA appealed the decision of the hearing examiner and filed legal arguments with the County Commissioners. This Tuesday we will hear the decision of the Commissioners on that appeal.

If the Commissioners rule against the Conference Center, any new application to build would be filed under more restrictive rules for facilities of this kind. Even the representative of the conference center developer has admitted an application made under the current regulations is unlikely to pass.

If the Commissioners rule against the GNA, we will have to decide whether to take our appeal to the courts. We could only do that with the continued financial support of those in the community who don’t want to see residential property converted for commercial use in the way necessary to grant the Special Use Permit.

Join the GNA for the Commissioner’s meeting this Tuesday afternoon. We will have stickers to wear, so the Commissioners will know where we stand on the project, even if we cannot speak at the meeting.

Meeting of the County Commissioners
Tuesday, February 20
4PM
Thurston County Courthouse
2000 Lakeridge Road, Building 1
Click here for a map.

To download a poster you can put in your car, click here

To contribute to our legal fund, click here

For more information on this project, see our web site here

Vesting refers to the ability of a land owner to lock in (“vest”) the right to develop property consistent with existing zoning laws and other development regulations, so that the development is not subject to subsequent changes in zoning or development laws.

Washington, however, has an approach to vesting that allows irresponsible developers to surprise communities and circumvent the community’s vision for their future.

There are basically three points in time that different states use to determine vesting rights. In most (about 30) states, a landowner vests when they have obtained approval for the project and taken substantial steps to develop the property. In most of the remaining states, landowners vest when they actually obtain a permit.

Washington is in the minority in allowing vesting to occur so early in the process – all a developer need do is apply for certain permits.

While developers and others should be assured a reasonable level of certainty in the rules after investing substantial sums in the development process, Washington’s liberal vesting rules create major loopholes for irresponsible developers seeking to sidestep community standards.

Representatives Simpson (D-47th Legislative District) and Williams (D-22nd Legislative District) have sponsored HB 1463. Companion bill SB 5507 has been introduced by a number of Senators. The effect of these bills will bring Washington’s vesting rules up the standard the majority of states are using and close this loophole that gives developers an easy way around new protections for critical areas, farmland, and rural communities.

Click on the links above to read the bills, track their progress and tell your elected representatives where you stand on the issue of property vesting rules in Washington state.

Steamboat area residents with waterfront property are probably already familiar with some of the questions surrounding commercial shellfish harvesting, particularly some of the techniques employed to harvest geoduck. It is no surprise, then, to read in The Olympian about hearings held on two bills presently working their way through committees in the State House.

Where does the truth lie? Is geoduck harvesting harmful to the environment or does the benefits to the Sound of shellfish outweigh some of the practices employed by harvesters?

House Bill 1547, sponsored by Gig Harbor Democrat Pat Lantz, would prevent the state Department of Natural Resources from granting new geoduck farm leases on state-owned lands until scientists figure out whether the practices cause environmental damage.

House Bill 1728, was introduced by our own Representative Bill Eickmeyer on behalf of the growers. It extols the benefits of the shellfish industry. It seeks to streamline regulation and create a job in the state Department of Agriculture to promote the industry.

Click on the links above to learn more about these two bills and to make your opinion known to Representative Eickmeyer.