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Staff recommends approval of Orcas Island Food Bank building after SEPA note; DOE flagged wetland
Summary
San Juan County staff recommended approval of a conditional‑use permit for a new Orcas Island Food Bank building, classifying the project as institutional, noting a SEPA DNS, and recording Department of Ecology concerns that a wetland on the site may require state authorization.
San Juan County staff told the Hearing Examiner they recommend approval of a conditional‑use permit for a new Orcas Island Food Bank building on a 1.35‑acre parcel in the East Sound urban growth area, but flagged a wetlands jurisdiction question raised by the state.
Jeff Morgan, the county’s contract planner on the application, summarized the staff report under oath and said the project had been reviewed for clearing, grading and stormwater controls. The SEPA determination of non‑significance (DNS) was issued and Department of Ecology commented during the public comment period that a wetland on the site (identified in staff materials as Wetland B) is subject to state jurisdiction and that any alteration would require state authorization. Morgan said staff had provided an updated memo (dated Jan. 22) clarifying that the project should be classified as an institutional use rather than a commercial use, which changes certain development standards that would otherwise trigger commercial landscaping and parking rules in the East Sound UGA.
Morgan told the examiner staff found the stormwater checklist indicated about 5,800 cubic yards of cut and roughly 6,000 cubic yards of fill and made a grading permit and a completed stormwater report conditions of approval. He asked that duplicate conditions be consolidated and that condition timing language be clarified (for example moving a work‑trigger condition from short‑plat approval to building‑permit approval). Morgan said the staff recommendation included requirements for screening of the parking area and minor corrections to the staff report.
Tracy Smith, program manager for the Orcas Island Food Bank, testified she and the applicant accept the staff analysis as modified and are committed to meeting the proposed conditions. Bill Singer, the project architect, told the examiner the wetland on the site would be preserved and not disturbed and that Ecology had not required a buffer in the correspondence cited in the record.
The Hearing Examiner closed the public hearing for the conditional‑use permit and asked staff to post a revised staff report and exhibit list clearly dated to reflect the revisions; no final local approval was issued at the hearing.
