Dear Planning Commission
Members
Jefferson County As a tax paying riverfront property
owner, I should have a much greater say in this deliberation than people from
outside the county - what you do here directly effects myself and the residents
of Quilcene and Brinnon - and our posterity. Having gone through the existing
process for building permits recently, both on our Dosewallips property and
another Coyle property which has a wetland - I have experienced the controls,
regulations and processes first hand. I can tell you that the processes are
already overprotective , time consuming and expensive. Speaking as a taxpaying
user of the existing system, a scientist and an environmentaly conscious organic
gardener - I can tell you that the overprotection and the manner of it's
administration are killing rural Jefferson County's economic future. Regulators
chosen by the DCD are often seen by taxpaying landowners as overly restrictive,
and are rarely seen giving benefit of any doubt, in grey areas - to the
taxpayer. I would remind you folks, that economic hardship is the standard of
rural Jefferson County residents already. There is no excuse at all, for
Jefferson County residents to have to travel to Kitsap and Clallam for shopping
and employment. It is unacceptable, and a human rights violation, that elements
within Port Townsend feather their own economic nest by qwashing development
elsewhere in the County. This element have used overly protective regulation to
enhance the PT UGA by not allowing economic competition to flourish. The only
"industry" allowed outside PT is home construction. For this home construction
we are forced to use Canadian timber products. (just check Carls and Hadlock -
all lumber comes from Northern BC on big diesel trucks). Additionally, home
construction is constantly under attack by regulators - making it increasingly
unaffordable. Furthermore Jefferson County no longer allows affordable sized
rural properties to be subdivided. So the only remaining "industry", which is
homebuilding, is going away. That is the last bastion of possible employment for
rural families, who are being forced out now - or onto welfare. What is left for
rural areas is 20 acre parcels where wealthy retirees are the only possible
persons, who can afford to be there. What I am laying at you feet is a story of
hardship and oppression that is the product of special interest groups
controlling the political processes of Jefferson County. These interest groups
are frequently from outside this county and their claims are usually not based
on best available science - or for that matter, on science at all !! More rigid
regulation is not acceptable to those who are it's victims, the people whom this
planning commission was created to serve !! Respectfully Ken Shock PO Box 234
Brinnon 98320 796-4234