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01/03/2017 MINUTES 1 <br />COMMISSIONERS' MINUTES <br />KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON <br />COMMISSIONERS AUDITORIUM <br />SPECIAL MEETING <br /> <br />TUESDAY 2:00 P.M. JANUARY 3, 2017 <br /> <br />Board members present: Chairman Paul Jewell; Vice-Chairman Laura <br />Osiadacz; and Commissioner Obie O’Brien. <br /> <br />Others: Julie Kjorsvik, Clerk of the Board; Neil Caulkins, Deputy <br />Prosecutor; Lucas Huck, Engineer; Traci Shallbetter, Attorney; and 5 <br />members of the public. <br /> <br />PUBLIC HEARING ROAD VARIANCE APPEAL-ODEGARD/DAVIS PUBLIC WORKS <br /> <br />At 2:00 p.m. CHAIRMAN JEWELL opened a Public Hearing to consider an <br />Administrative Appeal of a decision of the Road Variance Committee <br />in the Matter of RV-16-16 Harlan Odegard and John Davis, filed by <br />Attorney Traci Shallbetter. <br /> <br />TRACI SHALLBETTER, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE APPELLANTS explained <br />the history of the preliminary short plat application for a 21 acre <br />parcel submitted filed by her clients John Davis and Harlan Odegard <br />in September of 2005. The location of the property is at 820 Filbert <br />Road Cle Elum, WA. She argued her clients were vested under the Road <br />Standards from 2005 and how there is no rational that exists for <br />denying the Applicants since the County has granted the same <br />variance requested by similarly situated property owners; there has <br />been no changes in circumstances; and there was no notice provided <br />to the Appellants of a change in the law or policy, violating Equal <br />Protection and is patently unfair. She said there is no evidence in <br />the record that the variance would be detrimental to the public <br />welfare or does it present a risk to public health and safety. She <br />submitted additional information into the record (Exhibits #1 – #3). <br />The Board asked questions of Ms. Shallbetter and for clarification <br />of information she provided during her testimony. <br /> <br />MARK KIRKPATRICK, ENCOMPASS ENGINEERING & SURVEYING said he has been <br />working with the applicant since 2012 and is very familiar with the <br />area. He said he was a member of the County’s Road Variance <br />Committee but did not sit in on the matter. He explained how he <br />never had the notion that they would have to apply for a variance <br />until after they had applied for Preliminary Short Plat. He said he <br />was on the Road Variance Committee and felt one of the benefits to <br />being on it was how he could obtain knowledge and share it with his <br />office and clients. He said he relies greatly on input from the Fire <br />Chiefs, Fire Marshal, etc. He submitted a letter into the record <br />from Fire District #7 Chief Jay Wiseman (Exhibit #4). He recommended <br />creating a process to protect clients, himself, and business in