Skagit County officials say moratorium compliance progressing; voluntary agreements due in August

County speakers said the advisory board overseeing a current moratorium should remain in place while staff finalize voluntary compliance agreements with local businesses.

An advisory board member said, “really close is not there,” and argued the board needed to remain until there was “good agreement across the board.” A county staff member reported that of 18 businesses identified under the moratorium, 15 land‑use forms had been returned by the July 1 deadline and that one or two additional forms were expected. The staff member said one business indicated it was not working on the form.

The staff member said they planned to meet individually with each business owner to “hammer out the details of the voluntary compliance agreement” and asked that the agreements be signed by August. The staff member described the program so far as “a success up to this point.”

Remarks about the advisory board and the timeline were made during preliminary discussion recorded before the formal consent agenda, and no formal vote or ordinance regarding the moratorium or the voluntary compliance agreements was recorded in the meeting transcript.

The discussion distinguished the following points: county representatives advocated continuing the advisory board while negotiations continue; staff committed to one‑on‑one meetings with business owners and to gather remaining land‑use documentation; and no final enforcement action or vote was taken at this meeting.

Details provided in the meeting indicated continuing work rather than a final policy decision. The county did not provide in the transcript a full list of the 18 businesses, nor a finalized version of the voluntary compliance agreement; those items were described as forthcoming.