Commissioners table Island sand permit

Property owners along Puget Island's East Sunny Sands left Tuesday's meeting of the county board of commissioners in a good mood.

Facing erosion of their beach front property, they went to the meeting to oppose commission approval of a shoreline development permit for the association of upriver ports to allow them to dump dredged sand on farmland inside the dike.

It should be placed along the eroded waterfront first, they said.

After hearing comment Tuesday and discussing the matter, county commissioners agreed to postpone action and hold a workshop meeting next Tuesday with the US Army Corps of Engineers to discuss issues and solutions.

On February 26, the county planning commission, which develops recommendations on permit applications for the board of county commissioners, had recommended denial of the permit. The permit would allow dredgers to pump sand over the county road and deposit it 35 feet high on leased farm land. The Corps identified the land as a disposal site years ago as it started a channel deepening project.

Consultants from the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), who evaluated the application for the planning commission, had recommended approval, saying the permit would meet the requirements of the county's shoreline management program.

However, 39 people attended the meeting to object to the permit, and the planners listened to their input.

In recommending denial of the permit, the planning commission cited, "overwhelming objection to the permit, lack of local benefit to the community and county, the vague long-term responsibility for managing the dredge spoils after the 20-year period, and the rapid time line of the plan."

When the county commissioners held their public hearing on the permit application Tuesday, citizens voiced similar concerns.

Commissioners said they agreed with the Sunny Sands property owners. Their goal, they said, is have sand placed along the beach and also to have a long term permit in place to maintain the beaches in the future.

Commissioner Dan Cothren related he had spoken with a Corps official, Karla Ellis, on Friday and she had asked for delay in a vote on the permit. Ellis recently assumed responsibility for the dredging program, Cothren said, and wants to discuss the situation.

"There's a lot of movement going on," Cothren said. "We should discuss this next week and postpone the vote now."

Commissioner Blair Brady agreed, adding that the county's control over the shoreline permit gives it leverage negotiating for beach sand.

"The bottom line: We want beach nourishment," Cothren said. "That's the priority."

Brady added the meeting next Tuesday is only a workshop for discussion; no action will be taken then.