Journal of the San Juans, July 17, 2013

Page 1

Newsmakers

And this year’s coveted ‘Finie’ award goes to… page 8

Island Scene

Spotlight shines on ‘First Lady’ of Flamenco, and friends page 9

Editorial

On this walk, every step counts; get revved up for Relay for Life page 7

Journal

The 75¢ Wednesday, July 17, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 29

of the San Juan Islands

www.sanjuanjournal.com

CAPR contests lawsuit decision

Habitat help for rockfish in court

Property rights group fights on in Open Meetings case

Journal staff report

Journal reporter

See Habitat, Page 7

Yacht fire sets new record

IOSA chalks up biggest cleanup effort ever in wake of boat fire By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor

The most costly fire ever on San Juan Island took place in what might be considered the smallest of spaces — 85 feet, to be precise. That’s the length of a luxury yacht — bow to stern — that was gutted and almost completely destroyed July 10, after flames grabbed hold of a below-deck cabin at the front end of the vessel, which was moored at Roche Harbor Resort marina. Advertised for sale by the Seattle office of

Ocean Marine, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of Ocean Alexander megayachts and motoryachts, the value of the yacht was listed at $5.4 million, according to Chief Steve Marler of San Juan Island Fire Department. The loss, Marler noted, exceeds that of the fire that destroyed five businesses in downtown Friday Harbor on the afternoon of May 9, 2002, and that left a quarter-block of town smoldering in a heap of debris. The loss from that fire — now the island’s second worst — totaled $2.5 million at the time. “One could argue over values between then and now,” he said, “but this stands as the largest singleloss in dollar value on San Juan Island for as far as our records go back.” Cleanup of fuel, oil and debris left in the wake See Record, Page 4

2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

Real Estate in the

our

green edit

io

Online

www.sanjuanjournal.com www.islandssounder.com www.islandsweekly.com

San Juan Islands

Properties Bought & Sold page 19

& flyerboard

See Decision, Page 4

Contributed photo / Jim Sherman

The fireboat Confidence sprays a stream of water on an 85-foot yacht fully engulfed in flames at Roche Harbor Resort at about 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 10.

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The Citizens’ Alliance for Property Rights has appealed the dismissal of its Open Public Meetings Act lawsuit against San Juan County to the state Court of Appeals in Seattle. CAPR, a statewide property rights organization with a chapter in San Juan County, had sought to invalidate the Critical Areas Ordinances because three of six county council members had attended a number of meetings with county employees and others to discuss various questions related to the CAO update. The original case also named three county council members as individual defendants; they were dismissed from the case before the final order. The notice of appeal brings the case back to life after Island County Superior Court Judge Alan Hancock in May issued a summary judgement order dismissing the lawsuit before trial. That decision said the state open public meetings act applies to subcommittees “only if a majority or quorum of the governing body is present” - a fact that was not refuted by CAPR, though CAPR

Check o ut

By Steve Wehrly

Threatened and endangered rockfish in the Salish Sea have an advocate in the Center for Biological Diversity, which on July 11 announced a legal effort to force the National Marine Fisheries Service to designate critical habitat necessary for protection of three species of rockfish. In 2010, the Fisheries Service listed the Puget Sound/Georgia basin populations of yelloweye rockfish and canary rockfish as threatened, and bocaccio rockfish as endangered, under the Endangered Species Act. With

July 2013

Published the third Wednesda y of each month by the Journal of the San Juan Islands, Islands’ Sounder and Islands’

Weekly

Exceptional Waterfront

Scott Rasmussen photo

Estate

Lanny Carver • carver@sanju 360-378-2101 • Cell: anislands.com 360-472-0922 www.lannycarver.com

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Windermere covers the Island (even the Outer Islands)

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Look inside for a free San Juan Island map with locations of represented homes for sale.

Free Map Inside!

With a QR code reader on your smartphone, you’ll be able to see the website of each property, including a photo gallery and directions. For island home buying videos and tips, see: BeOnSanJuan .com

50 Spring Street, (360)378-360

0 or (800)262-3596 • Open

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Real Estate in the San Juan Islands

See inside for June’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.


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