Port Orchard Legislator Wants State to Require More Notice Before Property Rezones

By Steven Gardner for Kitsap Sun
Posted January 2, 2010

PORT ORCHARD — State Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, is proposing a bill that would require cities and counties to notify property owners when their properties will be considered for rezoning.

“There needs to be some kind of initial notification, and then whether people want to get involved in the initial hearings or go to meetings, that’s up to them,” Angel said of the proposed legislation, House Bill 2408.

It’s an idea that isn’t meeting much initial resistance at the county administration building in Port Orchard.

Jeffrey Rowe-Hornbaker, deputy director of the county’s Department of Community Development, said rezone proposals are planned so far ahead of time, it might be possible to mail the notices in the same envelopes with assessments or tax notices.

Rowe-Hornbaker said the county puts notices in newspapers and on the county’s Web site, but said he’d be open to another method “if it’s a means in which we can better inform our community.”

“Yesterday’s tool doesn’t necessarily fit today’s need,” Rowe-Hornbaker said. “The last thing we want to do is rely on what we did yesterday.”

Tim Matthes, president of the Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners, said it’s an issue of fairness. If a property owner requests a rezone, the cost of mailing notices to neighbors is built into DCD fees.

He has suggested that DCD should make the same kind of effort, he said, but been told it’s too expensive.

“It just purely makes good sense. Anybody that would have something possible to lose or possibly to gain should be notified,” Matthes said. “If it’s good enough for the goose it should be good enough for the gander.”

Kitsap County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido said she didn’t have any initial objections to the proposal, but would want to know more about what impact it would have in DCD, including the cost.

Angel, Garrido’s successor and predecessor as county commissioner, acknowledged her bill could qualify as an unfunded mandate.

“And that’s why I darned near didn’t do it,” Angel said. “But I do believe it is the responsibility of government if they’re going to change the property’s zoning they have to notify the property’s owner.”

The first-term legislator said city and county organizations have asked her whether the law would require local governments to notify property owners at every step of the process. Angel said she doesn’t want that. A simple postcard at the beginning would be fine for her.

That and other details are still to be spelled out in the bill. The bill’s first draft requires the notice to be sent to the last known owner using records from the assessor’s office, that the notice describe the action being considered, that times and dates of any action be provided and that contact information for questions be available.

Four other Republicans had signed on as cosponsors as of Thursday. Angel said she will attempt to cross the aisle to get Democratic support as the session begins.

Angel said she has briefly discussed the bill with state Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, chairman of the House Local Government & Housing Committee. She said he expressed some concern over whether local governments could afford more costs being demanded on them.

“If they can’t afford to pay for notification on a property,” Angel said, “maybe they shouldn’t rezone it.”

COMMENTS

January 2, 2010
10:50 p.m.
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roger2012 writes:
If the property owners in the area of the rezone are not the ones requesting the rezone, the property owners of the property requesting the rezone should be required to pay for the notification to the non requesting property owners. Increase the rezone fees to ensure those in the area are notified, including those not in the rezone area, but nearby and potentially affected by the rezone.
Just because my property may be next to someone or near someone who wants a rezone does not mean I automatically want to be part of the rezone. If the government and the property owner both want the rezone they must notify other property owners and not just with a four line notice in the paper. Each individual property owner involved has the need and the right to be notified of a change affecting their property. At that point if they want to get involved to support or fight the rezone, they have the option. As it is now, many of the rezones happen in the same stealth manner as the Port of Bremertons 150% tax increase. It was done with the minimum effort and notification required by law.
Maybe the typical property owner could trust the local government to be there as a help vice a hindrance. Maybe property owners can have more say as to what is going on in their part of the world. Communication is a big part of that. It is also something that many government agencies and private business do not use effectively in this county.
Roger Gay
South Kitsap

...January 2, 2010
11:56 p.m.
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Larry_Keeton writes:
Roger is right, effective communication is necessary between the citizen and their government. Since my appointment to the Directorship of Community Development, I've tried to find ways to inform citizens and get them involved in issues that may eventually impact their use of property, etc. We've tried public notices, emails, community meetings, etc. Sometimes we're successful, sometimes not. Roger, if you have some suggestions as to how we can be better I'm listening.
As for Representative Angel's proposal, I believe its supportable in Kitsap County. Why? One of the 200 plus process improvements the Department of Community Development has implemented over the past three years is post card notification. With this process, notification of rezonees could be achieved at minimal cost. Representative Angel could include in her legislation that postcard/electronic notification is a legitimate method of notification, that such notification should go to the tax address associated with the parcel being impacted, and that the funding of such notification will be deducted from the $4.50 surcharge paid to the state on all permit applications.

...January 3, 2010
6:53 a.m.
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pamalonia#290830 writes:
Yes, notification by mail is fair. But will a postcard include the necessary information? I doubt it. Also, postcards are easily lost in the mail system. Better for a mailed flyer.

...January 3, 2010
8:11 a.m.
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csob writes:
Perhaps the larger problem is when the local jurisdiction is contemplating a rezone to further its long-range planning goals. Developers already pay to notify neighbors about their plans.
Jan Angel is on to something here. It's easy for planners, administrators and elected officials to get lost in the "process" with dozens, if not hundreds, of meetings over months and years. From their perspective, there have been countless notices on bulletin boards and in the back of local newspapers. But how many citizens read these notices? Very few.
I don't like unfunded mandates. That said, I am amazed that neither Rep. Angel nor Mr. Rowe-Hornbaker mentioned email. He talks about postcards as new technology?
Every property owner should be invited to provide an email address for notices. This could be self-administered, like any other online account.
This process could be made to interface with existing databases at the county level. Then, if a city or county planning department wants to send out a notice, they enter the parameters and push [send].
Zero cost for printing or postage. And those who don't like email could opt-in to a postcard program if they agree to pay the cost.
We have programmers in Kitsap County who could easily make this happen. Let's support Rep. Angel and get this done. That way, property owners won't get blind-sided with zoning changes and "back-room" deals.

...January 3, 2010
10:17 a.m.
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brucea#214258 writes:
Is there a problem here?
Do folk's find their property being rezoned without their knowledge very often? Ever?
What are examples of "stealth rezones" that have happened that Roger Gay refers to?


...January 3, 2010
11:15 a.m.
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Bob_Meadows writes:
in response to brucea#214258:
Is there a problem here?
Do folk's find their property being rezoned without their knowledge very often? Ever?
What are examples of "stealth rezones" that have happened that Roger Gay refers to?
If you search the Sun's Web site for "Lake Emelia," you will find one situation that seems to involve rezoning as part of the county's growth management act implementation rather than a specific developer's rezone application. Here's a letter to the editor from a nearby resident:
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/fe...
Once the rezone occurred, the question was not whether to allow higher density development but instead was whether environmental concerns could be satisified.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jan/02/port-orchard-legislator-wants-state-to-require/?partner=RSS

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