The San Juan County Council approved an ordinance designating an essential public facility (EPF) site for San Juan County operations on Shaw Island and adopted a companion resolution directing planning for county property at 1385 Blind Bay Road after a public hearing on June 3, 2025.

Opponents, represented by Shaw Island Alliance, urged the council to transfer the review and any necessary environmental review to the county hearing examiner. Kyle Loring of the Shaw Island Alliance said, "we respectfully request that this county council transfer the review of the Shaw EPF siting application to the San Juan County hearing examiner," and argued the council’s role should be legislative and not quasi‑judicial. Loring and a Shaw Island resident raised procedural and substantive concerns with the SEPA checklist, saying it contained contradictory statements and lacked adequate environmental analysis.

Resident testimony echoed that there is no pressing operational urgency. One resident told the council that Public Works had stated it could manage operations at the Blind Bay worksite “for the next 20 years,” and urged the council to complete a legally defensible SEPA assessment before proceeding.

County staff planning lead Mackenzie said the ordinance is an early, site‑designation step and that subsequent land‑use redesignation applications would include another SEPA review with more detailed project information. Deputy prosecuting attorney John Kane explained the county’s legal view: "it is the prosecutor's office's, firm opinion that this is a legislative act," and that the line between legislative and quasi‑judicial can be blurry, but that council may choose whether to wait for the hearing examiner’s SEPA decision; if the hearing examiner alters the environmental determination, the council would need to revisit its action.

After public testimony and staff remarks, Council Chair McVay called for a motion. The council voted to approve the ordinance designating the EPF at TPN 262932006000 and to authorize application of the site‑specific land‑use designation change to DCD; the council also voted to approve the resolution regarding planning for county property at 1385 Blind Bay Road. Each motion was moved and seconded and carried on unanimous voice votes recorded as "Aye. Motion passes."

The record shows public commenters pressed two legal points: that the Mitigated Determination of Non‑Significance (MDNS) tied to the project had been appealed and that the SEPA checklist submitted with the application contains multiple statements of "no known impact" without the supporting studies commenters said SEPA requires. Opponents argued the council had sought legal advice from the public‑works lawyer, raising an appearance‑of‑fairness concern. The deputy prosecuting attorney disagreed with opponents’ view that the council must defer to the hearing examiner but advised the council that it may choose to wait for the hearing examiner’s ruling before finalizing legislative action.

Outcome: council adopted the ordinance and accompanying resolution; however, public commenters and the opponent group said they had an SEPA appeal pending and asked for transfer to the hearing examiner. The council has discretion to revisit the designation if the hearing examiner or later land‑use proceedings change the environmental determination.