Concerned parties will have to wait another month to testify and learn the results of two widely anticipated back-to-back hearings on separate aspects of a proposal to develop a luxury camping site near Husum, Wash.
A last-minute objection to the process forced a delay in the hearings, now rescheduled for 9 a.m., Thursday July 29, and 9 a.m., Friday July 30.
Montana-based company Under Canvas is seeking permit application approvals to move forward with a project proposal that would see the development of a seasonally operated, 95-tent luxury camping facility sited on Oak Ridge Road near Husum. The plans call for individual canvas tents, multiple deluxe tents with en-suite restrooms, separate bathroom facilities, a commercial kitchen, laundry services, and enough gravel parking spaces for around 125 vehicles. “Approximately two communal fire pits started, maintained, monitored, and extinguished by trained Under Canvas staff set at set times” would adorn the facility, should their individual permits be approved.
Following the company’s submission and later revised submission of permit applications and a SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) checklist last year, progress was halted after landowners on Oak Ridge Road appealed the county’s reissued Determination of Mitigated Non-Significance, citing the county planning department’s SEPA evaluation of the project as lacking “reasonably sufficient information” on potential impacts on traffic, wildfire, state and local wildlife populations and habitats, wetlands and streams, and nearby land uses — including the open range located in the vicinity.
According to discussions held between the county board of commissioners and county planning officials in February, it was decided among county officials that, given the appeal, state SEPA policy directs the county to combine the public hearings on the SEPA appeal as well as the conditional use permit application into one, with the board of county commissioners acting as the hearing body.
Commissioner Jacob Anderson voluntarily recused himself from the discussions, based on his campaign interactions on the proposal. The recusal left the two remaining commissioners, Commissioner Dan Christopher and Board Chair Dave Sauter, to decide to bring on a hearing examiner to preside over the hearings, eliminating the possibility of a tie decision.
The board brought on Wenatchee-based attorney Andrew L. Kottkamp to preside over the hearings. Fast-forward to last week — the SEPA appeal hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, and the conditional use permit application hearing on Thursday.
A day before what was supposed to be the hearing on the SEPA appeal, the attorneys representing appellants Friends of Oak Ridge and Dennis and Bonnie White (Jennifer Calkins) and Klickitat Land Preservation Fund (Bryan Telegin) wrote a joint letter to the Klickitat County Planning Department, objecting to Kottkamp’s appointment as hearing examiner.
The attorneys argued the Klickitat County Board of Adjustment is the body responsible for a determination on both the appeal and the conditional use permit application, as opposed to the county’s assertion that the Board of County Commissioners — and thus, a hearing examiner — would be the hearing body. The claim comes down to language within state and county codes.
At Thursday’s hearing, Kottkamp called the letter a “motion to dismiss the hearing examiner,” which ultimately led to his decision to postpone the hearings until the issue has been resolved.
During the hearing, County Prosecuting Attorney David Quesnel called the objection letter “litigation by ambush” based on the late entry of the objection letter to the record, noting the deadline for pre-hearing motions was April 1.
“There was ample time to bring this issue to the hearings examiner,” Quesnel said. “This is just a strategy to delay, to continue the pattern of harassment and intimidation of the planning department and the board of commissioners.”
“I’m not sure what intimidation or harassment he’s referring to,” Telegin responded.
Dennis White, one of the appellants in the case, called the prosecuting attorney’s comments “way off-base.”
Quesnel then asserted a motion for sanctions on the appealing party for the delay in the hearings, in part due to the objection that caused a delay.
Dan McBrearty, Chief Development Officer for Under Canvas, told Columbia Gorge News via email that the company “remains optimistic about a positive outcome” from the joint hearings, “given our project suitability for the site, low impact and sustainable development philosophy, and mission to inspire connections with the outdoors for all to enjoy.
“The completeness of the SEPA checklist was evidenced by the county’s initial issuance and subsequent re-issuance of a mitigated declaration of non-significance,” McBrearty said. “Under Canvas provided all required materials and volunteered additional information and public outreach on topics that were of the greatest importance to the community, namely traffic, fire and water, ensuring full compliance with local and state code as well as partnership with the community.”
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