Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Presentation says aquaculture 'a permitted use'
Mason County Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts once again heard public comment and asked his own questions about the permit for Taylor Shellfish's proposed floating oyster bag farm in Oakland Bay.
The public hearing continued Aug. 16 after a previous public hearing Aug. 9 in the Mason County commissioner chambers that drew a standing-room-only crowd. It began with Taylor Shellfish representative Erin Ewald asking Olbrechts for two weeks to provide written responses to the public comment received about the proposal, which was granted. Taylor Shellfish has until Aug. 30 to reply to public comments received about the project.
After Taylor's response, the county will post those responses by Aug. 31, and the public will then have a chance to respond to Taylor's responses by Sept. 7. Taylor Shellfish will get a chance for a final reply by Sept. 14. After that, Olbrechts has 10 business days to issue a decision.
"I think all total, it will be a three and a half week process," Olbrechts said during the hearing. "If we close the hearing, to get all those comments arranged and out of the way."
Jesse DeNike, an attorney representing Taylor Shellfish at the hearing, responded to some of the public comments received on the project.
DeNike said over Zoom that they've heard several comments in support of the project and many comments against the project. He said those comments prioritize aesthetic and residential interests over shellfish aquaculture.
"As one commenter put it, they envision Oakland Bay as having an opportunity to being Seattle's nicest bedroom or summer community and are concerned this project could compromise that potential," DeNike said during the hearing. "That's not the vision Mason County has adopted for Oakland Bay, nor has the Legislature or the Department of Ecology. Collectively, they've stated in the Shoreline Management Act and implementing regulations at WAC (Washington Administrative Code), and in the shoreline master program for Mason County that floating aquacultures is permitted use of Oakland Bay, that shellfish aquaculture is a preferred use of the water. It's in the statewide interest (and) can result in long-term or short-term benefit that can protect the resources and ecology of the shoreline. They've also said priority should be given to aquaculture uses in areas that have a high potential for it, given potential locations for shellfish farming are relatively restricted."
Ewald gave a presentation, stating there are 328 farms in the state that are 9.1 acres or larger. One-hundred and 78 of the projects are 36 acres or larger and 148 are 50 acres are larger. South Puget Sound has the second highest amount of these larger farms on a regional scale, and five farms are bigger than the proposed project in Oakland Bay, three more than 36 acres and two more than 50 acres, including Taylor Shellfish's Chapman Cove farm, which is 90 acres.
Chris Cziesla, CEO and senior principal marine and fisheries biologist at Confluence Environmental Company, gave another presentation in response to public comments. He stated the project is not large or of unprecedented scale when considering oyster culture, with 45,000 acres of shellfish cultured in the state and 5,000 acres of shellfish cultured in South Puget Sound. He talked about the floating culture operation approved for Willapa Bay, which has 15-foot spacing as opposed to the 30-foot spacing in the proposed Taylor Shellfish project and a maximum of 452,000 cages versus 33,000 cages in the proposed Taylor project.
Olbrechts questioned both Ewald and Cziesla on some of the aspects of the project and both answered questions from the public.
There were only four public comments, two in favor of the project and two against the project.
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