The start of the June 21 La Conner Town Planning Commission meeting, with several residents hound-dogging the coming 306 Center Street condominium proposal conditional use permit decision, was more interesting than the bulk of the 90 minute hybrid session at Maple Hall.
Residents Linda Talman, Dan O’Donnell and Jim Matthews and Center Street property owner Georgia Johnson were fervent in their opposition.
O’Donnell asked that a 1986 contract rezone between the Town and then property owners Jerry and Donna Blades be formally recorded.
Matthews said he supported O’Donnell and agreed that the Town should ratify the agreement. He also said the Town’s code should be revised to grant direct public referenda on such proposals.
Talman, having sleuthed dozens of public records, said commissioners and council members need to be kept apprised of how key issues evolve in real time.
Johnson lamented how this debate has played out.
“I feel like I’m not being given good answers,” Johnson said. “I feel I’m not being respected, and this isn’t how government is supposed to work.”
To help avoid future controversies, Hanneman revisited her prior suggestion that planning director Michael Davolio prepare an inventory of potential problem areas going forward.
“We’re looking to take a proactive approach to avoid what’s happening with Center Street,” she said.
That proposal has stirred emotions since Brandon and Kate Atkinson purchased the project last fall and applied for permits to demolish a garage there. The commission differed with Davolio and in March recommended not granting the permit.
Hearing examiner David Lowell approved the conditional use permit application in May despite the commission’s opposition and before the 36-year-old contract rezone was discovered – it was misfiled and never codified by ordinance.
The matter is now back with Lowell on reconsideration.
Hanneman referenced the former COA location at the corner of Maple Avenue and Washington Street. She wondered if restaurants there, dating to Joe’s Drive-In, have been operating under conditional use permits.
Davolio said he is gathering that type of information for the June 30 Town communications committee public forum.
Hanneman encouraged residents to continue their active participation in Town government. “Keep your voices heard,” she said. “We were aware of your concerns with Center Street.”
The bulk of the meeting was a line by line review of La Conner’s sign ordinance regulations, a process likely to extend over much of 2022, said Davolio.
“We’re going to be looking at whether our sign code meets legal requirements,” he said.
Davolio has not yet received responses from the business community to his December 2021 invitation to participate in the sign ordinance study.
“The next step,” he said, “will be to send something out to the Chamber of Commerce.”
Davolio added that The Port of Skagit and La Conner Schools have expressed interest in mounting a reader board at a strategic location on public property. Town Council approval will be required for such a sign.
“We want to make sure it’s not offensive to the neighbors,” commission chair Marna Hanneman said.
Reader Comments(0)