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News Release No. 2005-4 July 26, 2005 Growth Board
Says Guest Houses Only for People With Permits
Dated Before November 2000 Another ruling from the Growth Board
on the construction of a guest house states that only people with a “vested
right” may build a guest house or construct a main house on property with an
existing guest house. “This decision
closes the door for a few people who had built a guest house first and planned
to build a main house later,” said Prosecutor Randall K. Gaylord. “In the big picture, there are few people
who will be affected by this decision, but for those people the decision is
harsh,” said Gaylord. Throughout the County, people have
built a guest house first with plans to build a main house later. In 2001, thirty people appeared before the
Growth Board and asked the Growth Board to clarify its rulings to allow them to
continue with those plans. The Growth
Board issued a Clarifying Order in 2001, which the county implemented by allowing
construction of a main house in the few circumstances where a structure that
qualified as a guest house already existed on the property. Gaylord said that decision, by a different
Growth Board, was based upon a fair approach that honored the reliance by
citizens backed by investments in their property.
In 2004, the Friends of the San Juans, Lynn Bahrych and Joe Symons
objected to the 2001 Clarifying Order and the county’s interpretation of that
ruling. On July 21, 2005, the Growth
Board said that the 2001 Order is limited to those circumstances where the
vested rights doctrine applied. According to Gaylord, the “vested
rights doctrine” requires a person to have filed a complete application for a
building permit for the main house and the guest house before November 30,
2000. “Simply showing a guest house on
a plot plan is not sufficient,” said
Gaylord. The Growth Board observed that the
larger issue of detached guest house construction is on appeal to the court of
appeals in Tacoma and that a decision is expected soon. The case was submitted to the appellate
court after oral argument on March 28, 2005.
“A decision from the appellate court is expected any time in the next
three months,” said Gaylord. Gaylord said he will meet with the
Board of County Commissioners on August 9, 2005 to discuss whether to appeal
this decision, or simply wait for the court of appeals’ decision. |