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Resident warns relocation of 3 Crabs neighborhood could be costly and urges levee or road-raise instead
Summary
A resident told Clallam County commissioners May 6 that relocating the 3 Crabs neighborhood at below‑market cost could expose the county to large legal costs and recommended raising the road and building flood protections instead.
Mark Curtis, a Sequim-area resident, urged the county May 6 not to relocate the 3 Crabs neighborhood at below‑market cost and warned that established state case law requires fair‑market compensation, which could make a buyout far more expensive than proponents expect.
Curtis cited the Washington Supreme Court case involving the Paul Bunyan Rifle and Sportsman’s Club, in which the court rejected a lower state valuation and awarded a larger fair‑market amount. Curtis said the case sets a precedent that would likely lead courts to use comparable nearby properties as the basis for compensation rather than wetlands or tidal floodplain values, which would raise acquisition costs substantially. “So if it's believed that you're going to be able to relocate the residents of the 3 Crabs neighborhood and use wetlands or tidal flood plains as comps, you won't,” Curtis said.
Curtis recommended the county instead consider raising the road bed, installing protective levees and other measures to protect residents and preserve property-tax revenue. He warned that a relocation program would likely prompt legal challenges and higher compensation demands if the county relied on low-value comparables.
The commissioners received the comment as part of the public‑comment period; the transcript shows no county decision on the 3 Crabs neighborhood at the May 6 meeting.
