The twenty year saga of the Pleasant Harbor Marina and Golf Resort may have finally been dealted a death blow in court this last week. The County Hearings Examiner has ruled against the developer and county. See attached.
The developer must build infrastructure and recreational features before he can sell lots to raise money. This was always an underlying requirement that for years the developer attempted to modify with legal challenges to the county.
Building roads, sewer and water systems, reworking the intersection with Highway 101 and building out the golf course are expensive enough, but the conference center + 208 hotel rooms would seem to make the whole venture financially infeasible. Hard to think of a bank or traditional lending source that would touch this proposal.
The project has cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in time, labor costs and legal challenges by the developer to not pay what they considered costs that they said they shouldn’t pay. The county finally settled out of court to avoid even more costs.
This county’s commissioners made a massive costly mistake in approving this project in the late 2000s. There was a significant vocal opposition to it, posing the very issues that have brought us to this sad end. Other than outright killing the proposal, the county expected that the developer would build out the infrastructure before he sold lots. That didn’t happen. There has been logging on the site, but little else that would qualify in the mind of the hearing examiner.
The Olympic Peninsula Environmental News has covered this sad situation since the beginning. You can search the site for background stories if you wish.
We are very grateful for the continued work of the Brinnon Group, who has spent thousands of hours and funds fighting this. You can help offset their costs by donating what you can.
https://www.brinnongroup.org/take-action
Filed under: Environmental Protection, Jefferson County, Jefferson County, Land Development | Tagged: Black Point, Pleasant Harbor, resort |
I love good news-Thank you to the hardworking volunteer activists of the Brinnon Group!-Inspiring bunch! Their dedication to preserving our environment is an example to follow. Thank you all for your decades of commitment. Wow!
Bravo! This project would have fundamentally changed this section of Jefferson County. Imagine the residents expecting a grocery store within less than an hours’ drive. Huh…..isn’t one. They’d demand more and more stores, attractions, another school, and on and on. Can you imagine how happy they’d be that Costco was over an hour away?
I am thrilled that this has faced this much opposition. Sometimes, growth isn’t what the area needs. Thank you, Brinnon Group, and all who fought this. Job well done!
Yep.Given that the developer has had twenty years to get this done, and all they have to show for it is that they cut the timber and sold it. They refused to pay their bills at one point, sued the county and the county caved for over $100k. That’s money out of your taxes. This all smells like another developer we know in power in the other Washington, willing to promise anything but then not deliver. As to a grocery store, I do believe that there is a grocery store in Brinnon and one larger one in Hoodsport, not much farther than many places down Hood Canal, hardly an hours drive. More like 20 minutes. There was never a mention of a grocery store in the plans either. As to Costco, I live in Port Townsend, and Costco is 40 minutes each way for me too. I’m not lobbying to get one in town either.