Alchemy Arts Center seeks county conditional‑use permit at former Pelindaba lavender farm; staff recommends approval with 13 conditions

San Juan County staff recommended approval on March 25 of a conditional‑use permit for the Alchemy Arts Center to expand onto the former Pelindaba Lavender Farm into an "Alchemy Art Farm," but recommended 13 conditions intended to limit traffic, noise and ecological impacts.

Contract planner Jean Bronghe told Hearing Examiner Gary McLean the application covers three tax parcels on San Juan Island in the Rural Farm Forest zoning district and proposes mixed uses that require conditional approval. Bronghe said the county received 160 supporting comments and two strongly opposing comments that specifically raised concerns about temporary events (allegedly up to 200–400 people), noise and traffic; those two opposing comments are in the record as Exhibit 13. Bronghe summarized key conditions of approval including: a critical‑habitat assessment for new development within 300 feet of wetlands (San Juan County Code 18.35.085), a requirement to keep a record of site usage (number of employees, guests and vehicles) for five years, a traffic‑study and parking analysis if special events generate more than 100 one‑way trips per day on average, and hours/noise restrictions that reference the county noise ordinance.

The Alchemy Arts Center’s representatives said the nonprofit provides broad community benefit and has engaged neighbors. Maria Michaelson, who identified herself as the head of the Alchemy Arts Center, said the expansion "will dramatically increase how we are able to serve our community," citing youth programs, artist residencies and classes. Dan Grouse, the applicants’ representative, urged modifications to several conditions, characterizing condition 9 (the record‑keeping requirement) as overly broad and burdensome and objecting to proposed restrictions on special‑event hours. "That condition 9 as written now would require that Alchemy Arts Center keep track of every individual, every vehicle, every guest who comes to the site over the next 5 years," Grouse said, calling that requirement impractical for uses the county table lists as outright permitted.

Public comment at the hearing was overwhelmingly supportive. The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce’s executive director Becky Day submitted a statement saying the adaptive reuse of the 14,000‑square‑foot structure would activate an underused site, expand cultural infrastructure and support local businesses. Artists, volunteers and neighbors described prior community outreach and mitigation work; several speakers said Alchemy has programs for youth, seniors and people with special needs.

Opposition in the record — limited to two neighbors — focused on noise, traffic, the potential for multi‑day events and impacts on nearby preserves. Staff and the applicant debated how those cumulative impacts should be addressed in conditions: staff emphasized county authority to impose conditions that address cumulative impacts across a large site; the applicant said conditions must not improperly regulate activities that are permitted outright under the zoning table.

The examiner granted the parties time to submit supplemental written materials: staff and the applicant were given until April 3 to file responses to issues raised at the hearing; either party may file replies by April 10. The examiner said he will consider any supplements when writing his decision.

What happens next: Staff will file a written memo supplementing the record, and the applicant may propose changes to specific condition language. The hearing record remains open for the April 3/April 10 submissions. The examiner has not issued a final decision.