NEWS-TIMES WHIDBEY
School nurses hard at work. A10
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 1 | WWW.WHIDBEYNEWSTIMES.COM | 75¢
Big Rock for Sale
Building permit fees increased for the new year By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
A woman and two children are pictured on top of the Big Rock, a glacial erratic in Coupeville. The picture is believed to date to around the early 1900s. The rock, which was deposited in Coupeville about 15,000 years ago, was recently put up for sale along with the 28-unit apartment complex behind it.
Giant stone goes with apartments By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter
A Central Whidbey landmark and arguably Coupeville’s very first tourist attraction has been put up for sale. The massive rock, commonly known as Big Rock, went on the market last month along with the 28-unit apartment building complex behind Coupeville Coffee and Bistro on South Main Street. Owner Michael Johnson is selling the entire development, which includes six two-story buildings, a onestory triplex and an old rental house that’s about 100 years old. He bought the property in 1999 and, in 12 years of
ownership, he said it remains a successful venture despite the sluggish economy. He is selling the property solely for personal health reasons. Johnson is well aware that any potential sale would include much more than just apartments. The enormous rock has been long thought to hold the title as the largest of its kind in Western Washington and has attracted crowds for about 100 years. “It was kinda a local landmark,” Johnson said.
Long history Over the years, the mysterious colossus has lured everyone from curious sightseers to scientists. It was
“It’s not going anywhere. Whoever buys this gets the rock as a bonus.” -- Nancy Conard, Coupeville mayor
so well visited that wooden steps were built so people had access to the summit, said Rick Castellano, executive director for the Island County Historical Society Museum in Coupeville. Historical photos, which refer to the geological titan as the “Rock of Ages,” date back to the early 1900s, he said. One shows a woman
“It’s something unique and should be kept.” -- Lillian Dean Huffstetler, longtime town resident
with two children standing at the top and looking south with binoculars or possibly taking a picture. “It was quite a tourist attraction,” Castellano said. While it’s not clear when the stairs disappeared, Coupeville resident Lillian SEE ROCK, A4
Building permit fees in Island County in 2012 are now pegged to a standardized format used by many jurisdictions in the state and across the nation. The change, however, results in an increase in building permit fees that will have to be paid by anyone building a new house or adding on to an existing home in the county. Island County commissioners discussed and adopted the proposal, with a 2-1 vote, at one of their final meetings of 2011. While county officials had discussed increases in both land-use and building fees, they didn’t touch land-use charges this time around. Andy Griffin, the building official, explained that the county’s building permit valuation schedule for residential construction hasn’t been adjusted in 10 years. It’s set at $95 a square foot. It’s used with a fee schedule to set the cost of building permits; the larger the project, the greater the fee. Griffin studied the issue and found that most nearby jurisdictions, including Oak Harbor, follow the building valuation data published by the International Code Counsel, known as the ICC. The valuation is based on the national average of value per square foot. The ICC currently sets the value at $102.01 per square foot. The ICC updates the value twice a year, but the commissioners decided only to update the county’s valuation to the ICC schedule once a year. Griffin said the change will average an extra $100 for each permit. A building permit for a 1,920-squarefoot home, for example, will increase from $2,699 to $2,853. The fees are meant to cover the county’s cost of
“It’s $100 here, a $100 there. Eventually that home doesn’t get built.” -- Gary Wray, local builder
administering permits, examining plans, inspecting and regulating construction projects. The fees currently aren’t covering the cost, which means taxpayers are essentially subsidizing development. There was a $50,000 hole in the budget for the building department side of county planning in 2011, which was filled from the current expense fund. Griffin said the fee increase is estimated to bring in an extra $40,000 next year, which will go a long way toward filling the gap. “It would be a benefit to have equity with other jurisdictions and to reduce uncertainty,” Commissioner Helen Price Johnson said. Representatives from the building and real estate industries attended a December commissioners’ meeting and expressed some reservations about the fee increase. Jason Joiner, president of Whidbey Island Association of Realtors, said the group has long supported the idea of a fee for service. In other words, the county should be able to charge a fee to cover the cost of its service. Gary Wray, a local builder, agreed. “I don’t feel the citizens, the taxpayers in the county, SEE PERMITS, A4