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Hearing examiner verbally approves permit for Commercial Fishing Homeport

Gig Harbor’s much-anticipated Commercial Fishing Homeport moved forward once again after the city hearing examiner verbally indicated he would grant a shoreline permit for the dock’s construction.

The hearing lasted about 40 minutes. The examiner, Mark Scheibmeir, said the decision was a 10, “on a scale of one to 10, 10 being the easiest of shoreline permits to issue. … This was not a hard one.” 

Mitigation credits

His only question was why the city purchased so many mitigation credits to offset the impacts of the project. He noted that it appeared much higher than other jurisdictions’ OK’d projects.

A mitigation credit is another name for a Conservation Credit, which is a way of offsetting the environmental impacts of construction by financially supporting another environmental restoration project. 

The project involved the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and several other federal reviewers, project manager and lead engineer Drew McDonald explained. NOAA’s reviewer calculated the number of credits to offset the impacts of the project, based on a number of factors, particularly submerged aquatic vegetation.

“We’ve adjusted the scale of these credits based on where we found submerged aquatic vegetation,” McDonald said. “That is how we ended up with a rather large mitigation credit value. But with this, there’s no jeopardy decision … meaning the federal reviewer found that the project is going to have no long-term impact that can’t be offset by this credit purchase overall.”

“It’s an exciting moment for the city. It’s a long-awaited one,” Scheibmeir said toward the end of the hearing. “My only concern is … making sure that it achieves all environmental obligations and that’s been demonstrated. …  Perhaps even greater than what might’ve been expected in the past and without question, at least equal to the environmental impacts of the project.”

Ancich Park as seen from the eastern shore of Gig Harbor. City plans call for the Commercial Fishing Homeport on the right of this image.

Long-awaited homeport

Scheibmeir said he would formalize his decision in writing within a few days.

The city has planned the homeport since it bought the dock area at Ancich Waterfront Park in 2012, but the project hit snags throughout the permitting process. The Homeport will create a dock for up to 17 commercial fishing vessels, each measuring between 60 and 70 feet long. The project includes removing the old Jerkovich Pier, which is in rough shape and includes environmental hazards like creosote.

The Gig Harbor Commercial Fishermen’s Club has supported the project since its inception, and contributed $200,000 toward its success.