Galleria plan moves forward

Hearing examiner Bill Nielsen delivered his findings to La Conner Town Hall at about 4 p.m. yesterday – he recommended approval of the state shoreline permits and approved the historic design review for Michael Girdner’s “Galleria” project.

At the same time, he denied a variance that would have allowed the “lighthouse” feature to stick up a couple of feet higher than the 30 feet from the sidewalk permitted by town code.

Girdner purchased the old Lighthouse Inn property on First Street last year after it had been sitting mostly vacant since the bank took it back in 2010. He wants to add a second story and put retail shops at street level with three condos and four offices upstairs.

The next bureaucratic stop for the development is with the state Department of Ecology, who will decide whether to accept Nielsen’s recommendation and grant the shoreline permits necessary for the project to proceed.

Although many residents consider Girdner’s plan a way to cure what has become an eyesore on the waterfront, the project has some detractors who have filed about 150 pages worth of objection letters. Nielsen had to pore over stacks of documents, several inches of which were presented at a public hearing held last month.

Some detractors claim the proposed expansion of the building will make it too big for the neighborhood and that the plan violates various codes.

Last month, at a meeting with several of the project’s opponents present, the town’s Planning Commission recommended that Nielsen approve the historic design of the proposed renovation, while noting a concern over the size.

Town Administrator John Doyle said that after the Department of Ecology renders its decision, there will be a 21-day appeal window. The project’s opponents still have another chance to make their case against it.