Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Public services will need to be coordinated
An apartment complex is under construction in the northern part of Belfair.
The Belfair Urban Growth Area boundaries.
Mason County commissioners took several actions involving the Belfair Urban Growth Area and the Mason County Comprehensive Plan after a public hearing about the UGA and amendments to the comprehensive plan.
The commissioners approved amendments to the Belfair subarea plan and the comprehensive plan on a 2-1 vote. Commissioners Kevin Shutty and Sharon Trask voted in favor while Commissioner Randy Neatherlin voted against.
The changes to the Belfair Subarea plan update growth and land-use patterns and the status of planned improvements for transportation based on the environmental impact statement and address future traffic concerns. The changes update the trail proposal for parks, trails, open space and public facilities, which includes adding a reference to Sweetwater Creek and Waterwheel Park to be compatible with the Mason County Park plans.
Changes also update the status of the sewer system and new policies about water-quality protection.
The commissioners amended Title 17 and the zoning map by a 2-1 vote, with Shutty and Trask in favor and Neatherlin opposed.
Commissioners adopted a planned action ordinance with an amendment to match the preferred alternative, according to staff recommendation. Shutty and Trask voted "yea" while Neatherlin voted against the adoption. The preferred alternative plan recommendation by staff was the alternative 3 hybrid with zoning changes on the Riverhill property, which combines the higher growth potential of alternative 3 with some of the features of alternative 2. The alternative was developed with feedback from the county Planning Advisory Commission and public testimony.
The alternative 3 hybrid option includes a more intensive land-use pattern, and zoning changes are focused in the commercial and industrial center in the northeast corner of the UGA and in the east residential and mixed-use portions of the UGA on the plateau. No major zoning changes are planned for downtown Belfair.
The commissioners also voted to adopt a traffic transportation mitigation fee of $1,000 with a 5% annual escalation payable upon the issuance of an occupancy permit. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve it. In conjunction with the fee, the period of expenditure is 10 years for those fees, which was approved unanimously in a separate vote by the commissioners.
Shutty said he was proud of the action taken after the public hearing.
"It's not a perfect plan, it is a good plan. It is a strong plan that starts to address the environmental concerns of growth and development in the Belfair Urban Growth Area that adjusts zoning where growth is likely to occur, putting it in an area that is respectful of our environmental critical areas but also in a way that allows the county to start capturing transportation mitigation fees," Shutty said.
"We're putting more of that responsibility back onto the developers that want to come into this community. We know we need transportation improvements, we know that we need more housing, we know that we want more jobs and opportunity here so that we have people that are stabilizing utility rates, stabilizing not only our Belfair sewer rates but stabilizing your PUD power rates, stabilizing your Belfair water rates and that they're contributing to public safety and education and fire protection, emergency medical services, to continue to provide high quality services for the residents of Belfair and Mason County more broadly."
Commissioner Trask said the state Route 3 freight corridor will help with traffic, but it will not solve all the issues on state Route 3. She said she wants to show where we want the growth and this action addresses that.
"I've always been supportive of Mason County, keeping Mason County rural," Trask said. "There's a lot of bills that go through the Legislature. I testify on them, I send comment because I want to protect Mason County. I want to protect Belfair, Shelton, Union, Matlock. I love Mason County and I love the people that live here."
Commissioner Neatherlin said he was in favor of the EIS but he has some questions about some of the aspects of it. He said he doesn't have a problem with most of the changes being made, but his issue is how the commission has gone about the process and the public the commissioners represent.
"Mr. Overton made a statement that this was robust like 2004. I was there also and it's not even close," Neatherlin said. "The pictures that you will see in the presentation, that's what I was bringing up earlier, show all the people around tables, not one table, tables fill the whole bottom of that room at the church for just one of them and they went over and over again. The participation was huge and this is the biggest change since that participation occurred. The impact here is exponential on the community regarding density and population and to ignore that would be a real shame because the impact it can have on their lives is exponential as well."
Neatherlin made a motion to table action for 60 days to create a public open house and take it back to county committees for more information. The motion failed for a lack of a second.
BERK Consulting presented the environmental impact statement during the public hearing. The EIS found that utilities growth under action alternatives may exceed capacity of the current water and wastewater system and planned action should include development thresholds and phasing to ensure adequate water and sewer availability. A planned action should require connecting to public water, which is supported by tribal comments to the commissioners.
Public services will need to be coordinated for future planning, including with PUD 3, North Mason Fire and North Mason School District.
The EIS transportation recommendations included the transportation mitigation fee the commissioners approved due to the traffic the development will generate and the improvements needed for road service standards.
About 15 people attended the public hearing. Kim Wilson, a North Mason County resident, said WSDOT should "put boots on the ground" in a vehicle coming from Bremerton to experience the traffic at 4 p.m. on a Friday and at the light at the intersection of state Route 3 and Clifton Lane. She said it would show that the light does not impede the flow of traffic in response to the state Department of Transportation suggesting a roundabout instead at that intersection during the public hearing.
"It's not that traffic light that is backing up the traffic. It is everything beyond it," Wilson said. "I just wanted to put that out there and recommend they actually don't do a traffic count, they actually experience what we all experience in Belfair."
Some people asked commissioners to pause acting after the hearing in order to host a public forum so more people could provide input.
David Overton, a property owner in Belfair, was in support of the commissioners acting following the public hearing. He said he's participated in this process for more than two years and several hearings.
Jeff Carey, who lives between Allyn and Belfair and has been involved in various aspects of community planning, said he believes "these documents are not really ready for adoption if we're going to use this as the final guidance at what we do." Carey is on Mason County's TIP CAP and said none of these changes were brought to the committee until the most recent meeting. He said the transportation impact fees may not be the right fees and only two projects were in the six year-plan for TIP CAP and the numbers do not match the numbers approved by the commissioners.
To view the Environmental Impact Statement, go to masoncountywa.gov.
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