Purchase of Rayonier Mill Site

The Harbor-Works Public Development Authority might soon be purchasing the 75-acre site of the former Rayonier Mill.

Orville Campbell, board chairman of Harbor-Works, said a sale agreement with Rayonier Inc. would allow Harbor-Works to begin the due diligence process before they acquire the property. PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other contaminants have accumulated during Rayonier Mill’s 68 years of operation.

Harbor-Works was created by the City of Port Angeles and the Port of Port Angeles to help direct the cleanup process and the future use of the site. Orville Campbell said he couldn’t estimate how long this process will take. “We'll have a decision point at the end of that about whether or not we go ahead with the acquisition and control of the property.”

According to Rayonier’s vice president of corporate affairs, Charles Hood, there's nothing definite about the sale; it was only discussed in “very general terms.” He said: “In my mind so far, acquisition of the property is nothing more than hypothetical at this point.”

If the Rayonier site is purchased and cleaned up, it would have great potential for some combination of retail-residential-office-industrial use. But in today’s PDN there was a letter warning that trying to develop the Rayonier site would be nothing but a “money pit.”

What do you think?

Casino For Elwha Tribe

The Interior Department has denied the Lower Elwha Tribe's plan to build a casino West of Port Angeles. The Interior Department ruled that the Tribe's application didn't include environmental assessments.

The Elwha wanted to build the casino on the 16-acre site that formerly housed Adventures Through Kayaking.

They might still be able to build the casino, but they'll have to wait at least five years. The Tribe is not planning to build a casino at Ediz Hook (where they own land) or at Tse-whit-zen, the ancestral village along Marine Drive in Port Angeles.

Do you think they should be allowed to build this casino? Or do you think the 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn is enough for Clallam County?

Closing Off Cherry Street

On October 6th a commenter at this post asked me if I knew anything about closing off a block of Oak Street downtown and turning it into a parking lot. I replied that I hadn’t heard anything about it.

Now it turns out that on October 9th the Planning Commission approved a request from the City of Port Angeles to close off Cherry Street from the alley (near the Peninsula Daily News) north to Front Street. The City Council will be discussing this on Tuesday, October 23rd.

Whatever the advantages or disadvantages to this idea, some questions come to mind: something about the Farmers’ Market and how it got run out of town on a rail because they couldn’t close off one block of Laurel Street for three hours just once a week. And yet just two blocks away they can close part of a parallel street and everything will be just hunky dory.

Any theories?

Growth in Clallam County

As you’ve probably read in the PDN (the articles aren't available online), there's been a showdown over growth between Clallam County and the City of Port Angeles.

Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman is in favor of rural growth zones known as Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development (LAMIRDs). Some of these rural growth zones include Deer Park Road at Rt. 101; Bell Hill near Sequim; and the Hungry Bear Café in Beaver.

Port Angeles City Planner Nathan West and City Manager Mark Madsen are opposed to any new urban development outside of incorporated cities. Mayor Karen Rogers is in favor of preserving the current LAMIRDs but is against enlarging them (according to what Mike Chapman said.)

To make everything even more complicated, a Seattle-based environmental group called Futurewise is suing Clallam County for failing to comply with Washington’s Growth Management Act.

Where is all this going? What do YOU think?

Wal-Mart Grants Stay of Execution for Local Businesses

OK, Port Angeles merchants — you have about 2-½ to 3 years to keep doing business before you'll start hearing that giant sucking sound pulling all of your customers away. The new Wal-Mart Supercenter is expected to be up and running sometime in 2010. Two years ago they were expecting to be open by 2007, so we’re getting a brief stay of execution.

Local merchants, environmentalists and a group called Wake Up Port Angeles are opposed to the new Wal-Mart Supercenter because of:

• The danger to salmon runs in Morse Creek;
  
  Well-paid jobs disappearing and being replaced by Wal-Mart jobs;
  
  Increased costs to taxpayers;
  
  Increased traffic on 101.

When/if the supercenter gets completed, there's a chance the City of Port Angeles might purchase the present Wal-Mart location and use it for an indoor soccer center or a swimming pool.