Quinault lawyers: City could prevent proposed oil terminals

As the City of Hoquiam works through a process to adopt an ordinance preventing future oil facilities within the city, a legal opinion from attorneys representing the Quinault Indian Nation suggests that the city could prevent the three already-proposed oil terminals currently under consideration.

Hoquiam Mayor Jack Durney pushed for the ordinance that would make it difficult for future oil storage facilities in Hoquiam, but he has said the city’s hands are essentially tied in terms of the three projects that have already requested permits. Those three are grandfathered by the city’s existing zoning ordinances, he has said.

The council at Monday night’s meeting moved to hold a workshop on an ordinance to address future requests. It is set for April 20, to decide what the council would like to include in an ordinance, said City Administrator Brian Shay.

The meeting will allow council members to discuss the details and goals of the ordinance but does not allow them to vote on anything. The workshop is open to the public, though the council is not required to allow public comment.

The council’s schedule for a discussion comes two weeks after Port of Grays Harbor Executive Director Gary Nelson urged the council to reconsider the language in the ordinance, saying it could inadvertently prevent future gas stations, as well as facilities for lubricating oils and greases. At its meeting on March 9, the council voted a moratorium into effect with a 9-1 vote, with council members saying they would spend time revising the language.

The meeting on Monday night allowed for a public hearing about the ordinance, which drew comments largely from crude-oil opponents. Leonard Barnes, the Port’s deputy executive director, attended the meeting but did not give public comment.

Among those to comment was Aberdeen councilman Alan Richrod, who commended the city’s decision to put an ordinance in place.

“Grays Harbor, Washington could — if we want — be a place where the world comes to see how sustainable industry and sustainable management of property happens,” he said.

During the meeting, oil opponents raised concerns stemming from an open letter from Earthjustice, a San Francisco-based environmental law firm whose Seattle office represents the Quinault Indian Nation.

The letter, addressed to Fawn Sharp, the Nation’s president, suggests that the three oil terminals with pending applications that the city had grandfathered in with the moratorium could legally be denied by the city, citing a series of cases as precedent and other regulations, including the Shoreline Management Authority Act.

Arnie Martin, a member with Citizens for a Clean Harbor, sent the letter to a selection of council members and Mayor Jack Durney. Durney said during the meeting that he hadn’t had time to read the letter.

Ward 2 Councilman Richard Pennant, an outspoken opponent of crude-oil facilities, asked fellow council members to provide their thoughts on the letter.

But Durney pointed out that the letter was indeed opinion, and that everyone on the council ought to have a chance to read it before talking about it as a council.

“I don’t know that tonight’s a good time to make a decision based on what Earthjustice says or whatever,” Durney said, adding that he encouraged all council members to read the letter when they received it. “Our information has been that we can’t retroactively change zoning ordinances.”

Ward 4 Councilman Ben Winkelman, an attorney for Hoquiam law firm Parker, Winkelman &Parker, also stressed after the meeting that the letter is no more than a legal opinion.

“I could write my own response to that myself if I wanted to,” he said.

Following the workshop to discuss the ordinance, the council will send a draft ordinance to the city’s public hearing examiner, who will then hold another public hearing on the draft, Shay said.

The examiner will then recommend changes to the council on the draft. The council could then adopt that draft ordinance as-is, make the recommended changes, or make different changes altogether.

“What really needs to happen at the workshop is the council needs to give the staff direction on (what it wants) in the ordinance specifically,” Shay said.