Top 10 Stories of 2014: Penalties for clearcut compound
Published 2:21 pm Tuesday, December 23, 2014
After 80 trees were toppled and more than an acre of waterfront was denuded of vegetation, all without a permit, it was a safe bet that penalties were sure to follow.
First up, San Juan County, which in February leveled a combined $3,000 in fines against Orca Dreams, an incorporated entity formed by David and Nancy Honeywell, owners of the former Mar Vista Resort, an 80-plus-acre shoreline property on San Juan Island’s west side, and against the contractor in charge of the infamous clearcut as well.
The $2,000 penalty levied against Allen Engle marks the first time the county enforced a newly established “double fine” rule against a contractor for professional negligence. The Honeywells would later reach an agreement with the county on a binding restoration plan for the denuded area, details of which they would later contest, and in late March submitted an application for a 271-foot dock.
The state Department of Ecology up the penalty ante in July, leveling $79,000 in fines of its own and issuing a “corrective order” that reinforces the restoration plan requirement and outlines when and how that plan should proceed. Those fines are also being contested before the state Pollution Control Hearings Board, a hearing is schedule for early May.
