Hearing examiner’s decision to be challenged in Superior Court

Sedro-Woolley resident Annie Janicki is a woman on a mission.

Janicki filed an appeal Thursday to take a Sedro-Woolley hearing examiner’s decision regarding Deluxe Recycling and Disposal to Skagit County Superior Court.

The appeal comes three months after Janicki filed the original appeal in protest to a Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS). The MDNS was issued in March by the city’s planning department for a building permit filed by Deluxe owner Larry McCarter.

Janicki told the Courier-Times last month that she filed the original appeal because she was concerned that the MDNS did not effectively address the impacts the proposed Deluxe facility may have in the area.

An MDNS — part of the State Environmental Policy Act — means no adverse environmental impacts will occur if a new structure complies with a city’s requested mitigation plans. The city’s planning department issued 27 mitigated items.

The hearing examiner, Don Largen, announced his decision last month as he ruled in favor of the City of Sedro-Woolley. Janicki and her attorney Tom Moser are taking that decision to Skagit County Superior Court to retry the examiner’s decision.

McCarter said he didn’t have a comment about the hearing examiner’s decision being taken to Superior Court.

“We didn’t want to have to do this,” said Mary McGoffin, Janicki’s daughter.

McGoffin also serves as the spokeswoman for S.W.O.R.D.S (Sedro-Woolley Objects to Refuse Disposal Site), a local group opposed to the facility.

Janicki’s cost for the first appeal was $10,000, McGoffin said. Now S.W.O.R.D.S and other Sedro-Woolley community members are working to raise another $10,000 to take the appeal to Superior Court which they didn’t want to do, McGoffin said.

“It’s unfortunate we have to be doing this at all,” she said. “It’s not how we want to be spending our time and money this summer.”

Sedro-Woolley City Supervisor and Attorney Eron Berg said it’s frustrating for the city to receive a victory at the hearing examiner’s level and have to see the city’s expenditures spent on the “appeal of an appeal.”

Berg said he’s surprised to see the hearing examiner’s decision go to Superior Court since Largen did such a thorough job of reviewing the records and listening to the arguments.

“Annie Janicki is the one who can control the review process at this point,” he said. “We’re kind of passengers on this ride.”

• To see the entire petition filed by Janicki, visit Petition For Relief Under The Land Use Act