Monday night county commissioners took testimony on a proposed change to the county’s shoreline management master program.

The proposed amendment, if approved, would change 2,474 feet of shoreline in Seabeck from a conservancy designation to a rural designation. The county is calling the original designation of the shoreline in 1977 an anomaly, because the conservancy designation restricts marina uses, however when the designation was made more than 30 years ago, a marina was in place along the shoreline.

County staff and the Department of Ecology worked together on the staff report detailing why the change should be made. Ultimately both groups have to approve of the designation change for it to take effect. County commissioners are set to vote on the proposal at their next meeting, Dec. 8.

Ten people testified in favor of the marina and the shoreline designation change, including one of the private developers Eric Bentzen. The only opposition to the shoreline change came from the Hood Canal Environmental Council.

Phil Best, Silverdale attorney and member of the council, testified that the group supports the replacement of the existing marina with a new one, but is opposed to changing the shoreline designation.

“The designation was made in 1977 on purpose,” he said. “It’s not an anomaly. And there is good reason to keep it. The conservation designation prevents other unwanted uses.”

Best said it was the council’s belief that the new marina would be 4.6 times larger than the existing facility. However, Bentzen and Ann Farr, the permitting agent for the proposed marina, said that statement is false.

Bentzen said the current marina’s surface area coverage was 592,000 square feet, while the proposed marina’s surface area coverage would cover 466,000 square feet.

“The marina cannot be rebuilt in its current size,” Bentzen testified. “It would not be compliant with current code.”

When planning the design of the marina, the development group was required by environmental regulations to accommodate sensitive eel grass areas and other fish and wildlife habitats. To do that, the proposed marina was positioned to the north of the eel grass beds that lie to the south, and the docks proposed cover less surface area, to allow more sunlight, than the existing facility, according to Farr.

Those testifying in support of the marina and the shoreline designation change echoed each other in their desire to see the Seabeck waterfront come back to life. Barbie and Billy Mills, owners of the Seabeck General Store and Barbie’s Cafe, testified they are looking forward to the return of boaters to Seabeck’s waters.

“Seabeck is the jewel of Hood Canal,” Barbie said. “We really miss our marina.”

Others noted the marina will increase tourism in Seabeck, and will bring in money because of the increase of boaters. One person commented that right now boaters in Hood Canal spend their money in Mason and Jefferson counties because those are the only places to tie up in the canal. Creating a Seabeck Marina will be beneficial to the county because of those sales tax dollars, they said.

Chairman Steve Bauer requested county staff provide the commissioners with responses to the Hood Canal council’s concerns, so they can review them before making a decision next week. The board is scheduled to vote Monday.

Bentzen said work will not begin on the marina until the shoreline designation change, because it isn’t financially feasible to do any of the work unless all of the work can be done. He also wanted to thank the community for its support.

“We hope to start as soon as we can,” he said.

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