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Skagit County affirms hearing-examiner denial of Lake Erie Pit expansion in closed-record appeal
Summary
The Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 24 denied a closed-record appeal from Wooding and affirmed the hearing examiner's denial of Special Use Permit PL16-0556, which sought to expand the Lake Erie gravel mine from 17.7 to 53.5 acres; board said the record did not show the applicant met county code requirements to avoid or minimize
Skagit County commissioners on Monday denied a closed-record appeal and affirmed the hearing examiner's decision to deny a special-use permit application to expand the Lake Erie gravel pit. The board voted 3-0 to uphold the hearing examiner.
The closed-record appeal (PL24-198) challenged the hearing examiner's denial of Special Use Permit PL16-0556, which sought to expand an existing 17.7-acre gravel mine to a 53.5-acre operation. The matter was originally applied for in 2016 and remanded twice. County legal counsel and the written resolution read during the meeting summarized the central issue as whether the applicant had provided sufficient analysis to show the proposed expansion would avoid or minimize landslide or other geologic risk to adjacent coastal bluffs, life, property or critical areas as required by county code.
Will Hoehny, the county's land-use counsel in the meeting, explained the commissioners' role in a closed-record appeal is limited to the material presented to the hearing examiner and that the appellant bears the burden of showing the hearing examiner's decision was "clearly erroneous." The resolution read in public recites code provisions and the hearing examiner's finding that evidence was insufficient to demonstrate the mine expansion would not increase landslide risk to adjacent coastal bluffs.
Commissioner David Janicki said he had not seen sufficient additional information in the record and would vote to affirm the hearing examiner. Commissioner Peter Browning and Commissioner Ron Wesen likewise supported affirming the hearing-examiner decision. The board's resolution found the record did not leave the board "with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake had been committed" and therefore denied the appeal.
The resolution was adopted by voice vote, recorded as 3-0. The board noted the decision was without prejudice to the applicant's right to reapply for a special-use permit with additional evidence.
The appellant, referenced in the record as Wooding, and counsel had argued technical issues regarding subterranean water flow and geologic hazard analysis; the hearing examiner previously remanded the matter to develop additional evidence. The board concluded the record before it still did not demonstrate compliance with the county's geologic-hazard requirements and affirmed denial.
