Onerous Critical Areas Ordinance in the making, says local farm bureau president - Jefferson County residents urged to attend planning commission meeting

June 17, 2006

THE NEWLY ORGANIZED NORTH OLYMPIC COUNTIES FARM BUREAU IS URGING Jefferson County property owners to attend a county Planning Commission hearing on Wednesday, June 21, to voice their concerns about a proposed Critical Areas Ordinance. County Farm Bureau President Roger Short said the ordinance would require up to 450-foot buffers around streams and wetlands. “This ordinance will basically take everything,” Short told the Peninsula Daily News. The hearing is scheduled for 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Washington State University Community Learning Center in Port Hadlock. For more information, contact Short at (360) 732-4601.

Following is the notice about the meeting:

It’s time to “Show Up and Be Heard!”

The Jefferson County Planning Commission is holding a public hearing on proposed amendments to the county’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO).  All landowners have a stake in this CAO issue.   Your property rights are being targeted!

What:        Jefferson County Planning Commission public hearing

          When:          Wednesday, June 21, 2006
                             6:30 – 9:30 p.m.

          Where:     WSU Community Learning Center
                             Shold Business Park
                             201 West Patison
                             Port Hadlock

Please make plans to attend and sign up to testify!  Let county planners know loud and clear that the CAO proposals are extreme and unnecessary.  For example, the plan calls for large buffers (450-feet in some instances) that could leave a landowner’s property useless, with no compensation to the property owner for the loss of their property.  That’s unacceptable, and it’s a violation of the state constitution!   

Go to http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/commdevelopment/CriticalAreas.htm to view a copy of the proposed CAO amendments.

Let your neighbors and contacts know about the public hearing so that all landowners have a voice to protect their property rights!  Hundreds of angry landowners showed up in Thurston County recently to fight a similar CAO effort.  The result?  The CAO process there is back to the drawing board as a result of the public’s outrage.  It’s time for Jefferson County to hear the same message!  

For more information, contact Roger Short, president of the North Olympic Counties Farm Bureau, at (360) 732-4601.