Challenging The System Before The Hearings Board

It's scary to challenge the system before the Hearings Board when you're not an attorney.  The Growth Management Act allows citizen challenges but, when someone like myself does "Petition for Review" of something the government's done that someone, in this case myself, Jack Petree, is held to the same legal standards of discussion and proof an attorney is held to.

Anyway, April 9th, 2013, I asked the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board to review the Whatcom County's actions in requesting the Lake Whatcom Reconveyance be carried out.

The red areas were harvested in the late 1800s; the brown areas were burned in forest fires in the late 1800s

The review will be done over the next several months.  I felt it appropriate to inform the Council about the request for a review so, I provided the following:

MEMO:   4/9/13

To:  The Whatcom County Council and the Whatcom County Executive

From:  Jack Petree

Regarding:  Hearings Board challenge regarding Whatcom County Resolution 2013 – 009 (Reconveyance)

Council members and Executive,

Earlier today I submitted a Petition For Review to the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board regarding the Reconveyance resolution you passed March 12^th of this year.

I think it is right and proper to inform you of my action and, to offer a few words about why I submitted the petition.

My primary objections to your action are threefold.

First, the three major economic initiatives I’ve seen Whatcom County and its cities take in recent years have resulted in the Whatcom County economy being one of the poorest performing  metropolitan economies in the State of Washington with exceedingly low median incomes the rule.

So what have we done about our wage issue?  We deliberately ran Georgia Pacific out of town, we deliberately assured the stagnation of our rural economy by the adoption of LAMIRDS in lieu of the already Superior and Appeals Court approved rural zoning we had in place previously and, now, we are violating state law regarding what both the Hearings Boards and the State Supreme Court have called a “…forest resource conservation imperative that imposes an affirmative duty on local governments to designate and conserve forest resource lands in order to assure the maintenance and enhancement of the forest resource industry.” (bolding is the Hearings Board’s).  In doing so, we are crippling our forest products industry, an industry paying well above the average wage for the county. 

Next, I believe the Department of Natural Resources cannot offer Reconveyance opportunities to Counties on land zoned to reflect the law’s requirement that lands of long term commercial significance be preserved and enhanced.  It is my belief that Reconveyance can only be allowed after resource land has been de-designated and rezoned to accommodate park uses.  This challenge, if accepted by the Board, will help clarify that issue.

Last, the Whatcom County Council put the cart before the horse in the reconveyance process.  Land cannot at once be lands dedicated to the commercial production of timber and the preservation of a healthy forest industry and, park lands.  As the Hearings Boards have said, there are three kinds of land under GMA; resource land, rural land and urban growth areas.  In saying that the Boards have pointed out that rural land and lands dedicated to urban growth can be routinely zoned and rezoned to accommodate the needs of society but, resource lands require a much higher standard and greater scrutiny by the Boards when it comes to de-designation and re-designation.   The Council chose to ignore the need to de-designate and then re-designate the lands it wanted reconveyed before proceeding with its action and in doing that, I believe, violated the GMA.

I am not happy doing this.  This will take a huge number of hours out of my life, hours better spent trying to make a living in this tough economy but, I don’t see an option here.  If I don’t do this the livings of our county’s forest industry workers will be threatened.  I’ve lived in Whatcom County too long to see our industries continue to be harassed and unsupported for decade after decade after decade without trying to do something.  We have brought our economy to the point where it is, with the exception of the big three at Cherry Point, excessively dependent on grants, transfer payments from the state and the sale of milk, cheese and gasoline to Canadians. 

Respectfully,

Jack Petree

In coming weeks I, or others, will try to keep you, the reader of this blog, informed about the progress of the challenge.