(1) GMA Goals.

(2) Overview. It is more cost efficient to provide some public facilities and services when the population is concentrated, such as in an urban growth area. Through the designation of urban growth areas, Clallam County and other service providers can plan more cost effective and efficient services.

Growth increases the demand for new and/or improved public facilities and services. New residential growth may impact school facilities by having more school aged children without a corresponding increase in school facilities. Development can increase traffic levels on County roads and transit systems. Connections to water and sewer systems diminish the available capacity for future growth.

The overall purpose of this growth management plan is to identify urban areas where public facilities and services keep pace with growth so that service levels are not diminished; and plan for where facilities and services will be located.

(3) Definition. The Growth Management Act defines public facilities as streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreation facilities, and schools. Public services include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

(4) Schools. The West End regional planning area is serviced by the Quillayute Valley School District No. 402. Facilities include one elementary school with grades kindergarten through five, one middle school which includes grades six to eight, one high school with grades nine through twelve, and one alternative school. These facilities are currently located within the incorporated City of Forks. With 1,680 students currently being instructed and a projected annual growth rate of two (2) percent,⁵ there may be a need for future increases in school capacity over the twenty (20) year planning period. Due to the large rural nature of the West End Planning Region, location of future facility sites may need to be considered outside of the Forks urban growth area.

(5) Water. The City of Forks provides water for the City and some outlying residents in the immediate vicinity. The City’s reservoir storage capacity is 1.9 million gallons. With an estimated peak load of 800,000 gallons, the City has the capability to expand service to over twice its current customers. This exceeds the requirements of the Forks urban growth area far beyond the twenty (20) year planning period.

(6) Sewer. Only a small portion of the City of Forks is serviced by a municipal sewer system. Rural areas in the West End Region are served by both community and private septic systems.

(7) Parks and Recreation. Recreational opportunities are abundant in the West End Planning Region. The Olympic National Park forms the eastern boundary of the region and includes a strip along the Pacific Coast to the west. The Sol Duc, Calawah and Bogachiel Rivers all have boat launch facilities located throughout these river systems. Resort facilities like the ones located at Bear Creek and Three Rivers provide sports fishermen and recreationalists with ample opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in a resort type atmosphere. However, it is believed that these will be insufficient to meet the growing demand for such facilities as the tourist oriented sector of the economy continues to grow. Ball parks and other sports facilities are located at Beaver and within the incorporated City of Forks. Tillicum Park within the City of Forks provides fifteen (15) acres of ball fields, tennis courts and other recreational facilities serving the local community. There are no golf courses in the region. Resort facilities and golf courses are recognized as the only significant deficiencies over the twenty (20) year planning period.

(8) Fire Protection and Suppression. Fire protection in the West End Planning Region is provided by Clallam County Fire Protection District #1. Volunteer forces operate from stations in Forks, Beaver and Three Rivers. Response to emergency medical calls is provided by the hospital district which operates from Forks Community Hospital. The fire district has a mutual aid agreement with District #6, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Forest Service. The district also provides structure protection for Olympic National Park. Fire protection districts, like hospital and library districts, are junior taxing districts. Funding for these junior taxing districts comes from property taxes.

(9) Public Health. The Forks Community Hospital located in the City of Forks provides a broad range of basic health services in the West End planning area. However, no transitional senior care facilities exist on the West End. Additional care is provided through Clallam County’s Home Health Care Program and the Quillayute Tribal Indian Health Services. These facilities are needed to care for area residents through the twenty (20) year planning period. It is foreseeable that the projected growth will require further expansion in this area of service.

(10) Other Governmental Services. Clallam County provides no other direct governmental facilities within the West End planning area. Due to remote geographic conditions, consideration has been made in the past for satellite offices for some of the County’s services, such as law enforcement, health and community development. At this time, the most efficient use of these facilities is to continue basing them within Port Angeles.

One alternative to facility expansion is to pursue electronic networking technology as a means of expanding governmental resources and services to the residents of the West End and enhance interaction between those residents and the County seat in Port Angeles. As the population grows in the West End, the need for satellite facilities and increased services needs to be closely monitored.

(11) Financing. New development often pays for the cost of extending new public facilities and services. For example, if a development is proposed on a County road that is not adequate to handle additional traffic, the County is able to require the developer to pay the costs of improving the County road (called “mitigation”). Water and sewer systems are similarly financed. If a developer proposes to extend water and sewer to a property, it is the responsibility of the developer to pay the costs for extending those services.

Another way that development pays for the cost of extending new public facilities is through development fees. For example, the City of Forks requires anyone who hooks up to the sewer or water system to pay a connection fee. This fee is put into a special account for the eventual planning and upgrade of the system. This connection fee is in addition to requiring the developer to extend the actual collection or distribution lines.

This method of payment for public facilities and service extension is based on three (3) principles: (a) setting level of service standards for public facilities and services; (b) ensuring that public facilities and services necessary to support development are adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy and use (called “concurrency”); and (c) requiring development to pay fees for the new facilities rather than rely solely on property taxes or grants to fund development of these public facilities.