Monday, December 17, 2012

A Trojan Heron Christmas Carole

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my County gave to me ...

12 secret meetings
11 grant proposals
10 lawsuits pending
9 stacked committees
8 candidates running
7 facilitated visionings
6 priority watersheds
5 SEEE AAAAA OOOOO's (wetlands/fish & wildlife/frequently flooded/geo-haz/general)
4 ferry-served islands
3 party endorsements (1 for each residency district)
2 code violations (per home ... at least)
And Stephanie Buffum (with binoculars) in your pear tree

And for your reading pleasure, here is an excerpt (emphasis added) from the General Section (don't fret, the worst is yet to come). Merry Christmas one and all!

Critical Area Review process. All plans for development of commercial, industrial, institutional and public facilities must undergo review for compliance with groundwater protection requirements for critical aquifer recharge areas (SJCC 18.30.140). The Department shall review the application, available maps, and information and if requested by the property owner, shall conduct a site inspection prior to determining whether the proposed project may affect or be affected by a wetland, fish and wildlife habitat conservation area, frequently flooded area, or geologically hazardous area. If the area proposed for development or vegetation removal is not in a frequently flooded area; is more than 200 feet from a geologically hazardous area; is more than 205 feet from a wetland, or fish and wildlife habitat conservation area; is more than 1,000 ft. from any golden eagle nests; and is more than 1⁄4 mile from any peregrine falcon or great blue heron nests, the Department shall rule that the Critical Area review is complete with regard to those types of critical areas. Otherwise, the Department will notify the applicant and provide them with a list of any report(s) or application materials required by SJCC 18.30.110-160. If required, these reports and materials must be received before an application will be deemed complete.

Critical Area Report.
  1. Detailed requirements for Critical Area Reports are identified in SJCC 18.30.110-160.
  2. If the director finds that a report does not accurately reflect site conditions, is inadequate to determine compliance, or does not meet the requirements of SJCC Title 18, the director shall contact the qualified professional who prepared the report to discuss the issues, and if necessary shall have the report reviewed by a third party qualified professional. The report shall not be accepted as complete until it meets the applicable requirements. 

13 comments:

  1. :) like you said thats just the beginning.
    And best part is, look at the qualifications, woops but I guess anyone with authority is justly qualified, maybe to kiss my ass

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  2. So much for our farmers, they will need an approval for removal of any vegetation. What will that do to the price of beans. Oh, and everyone be sure you get your permit to mow your lawn. Perhaps if they are buried in permit requests??? Nah they still wouldn't get it. But it might slow them down.

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  3. Actually, I believe were more than 12 secret meetings. If you want a sing a song about that, it would be more like.

    99 OPMA violations on the Wall,
    99 OPMA violations,
    If one were properly noticed and open,
    98 OPMA violations on the wall. . .

    Perhaps we can sing that in the prison bus on the way to the joint together.

    I am, singing in the rain, Nick Power.

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  4. Hopefully the 3rd Amendment will serve to protect us from having Friends observers assigned to our homes.

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  5. Looks like we all got a lump of coal for Christmas.

    SEEEEE - AAAAA - OOOOOO
    SEEEEE - AAAAA - OOOOOOOOOOOO ...

    It's such a shame, and a pity

    Pay a fine, on your dime

    Soon there will be disarray

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  6. Good news is the CAO doesn't mention pot growing, so I think I can plant it in my wet-land!

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  7. just ask any third party qualified professional!

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  8. For a CAO to memorialize things like bird nests and arbitrary setbacks to same is a huge headache for the very staff who wrote this stuff.

    First, the status of such birds and the Fed/State protections for them change frequently and regulations affecting them are usually swamped with court actions. So, second; WHO has the time and is paid to stay current on these items.

    Putting this kind of stuff in regulation at a local level is not necessary and just plain stupid.

    Over written, over committed, and out of touch with professional planning that's what I see in those few inches of type provided by the TH.

    Does the little population of San Juan County need any of this? Of course not and we can not afford it.

    Get rid of it. Get rid of the redundant committees, (the MRC is an obvious one as there are probably twenty such groups looking at our waters) the advisory groups, the dated planners, and those with no vision for a healthy community.

    Let us move forward in a constructive and meaningful way, and let's do it now.


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  9. The envelope please, Mr. Zee!

    The Democratic Party endorsements for this nonpartisan election are:

    Lovel Pratt (four more years!)
    Jamie Stepehens (faithful servant)
    Lisa Byers (deeply entrenched in the grant-based economy).

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  10. And exactly how does the County know the GPS coordinates of every Eagle and Falcon/Heron nest? Exactly how do I prove that nowhere within 1000 feet of my development there is NOT a nest?

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  11. Yeah, and are we going to use the hypotenuse as the measure of whether the nest is within 1000 feet, or are we going to use the GPS coordinate as it describes the nest on the ground. That is do we take the three dimensional aspect of the bird's nest being off the ground. Seems like we should, No?

    I am pathologically Pythagorean and Nick Power

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  12. well, love the song, watched it now 4 times

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  13. Actually, since hair splitting is in order, this great remark could get some fees paid to someone.

    So aside from your laser measuring device, your fly overs, your GPS, aside from those things you must hire an ornithologist and then as I understand it, if Rene does not like what this person says he will kick their report up to the DOE who then will likely have some desk jockey accept or reject it. Months will go by. Large sums of money will be spent.

    This complete nonsense went on before eagles were de-listed. A person on the North side of SJI wanted to put in a boat hoist. The Hoist had an electric motor. There was an eagle nest nearby. Do I need to go on?

    Inspite of the fact that an entire house had been built, think nail guns, trucks, etc. while the nest was in place (the nest was discovered later) and the birds stayed right there our bright bulb County required a bird man/woman to review the low hum of this electric motor.

    So the person came out and sat on a stool a few times and observed the birds while someone turned the hoist on and off.

    The birds cared not, and people who actually live with such a nest close to them know that almost NOTHING bothers them. (Unfortunately.)

    So that is what we were doing and it was deemed not good enough?

    Our gang of five need full psychiatric.



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