2018-01-23 EMAIL - RE_ Hearing Examiner Bainbridge Island - Rich Appeal Pre-Hearing OrderFrom:James E. Haney
To:"David@soundlawcenter.com"
Cc:jeremie@liptonlawgroup.com; Roz Lassoff; Joe Levan
Subject:RE: Hearing Examiner Bainbridge Island - Rich Appeal Pre-Hearing Order
Date:Tuesday, January 23, 2018 5:27:28 PM
Attachments:2373_001.pdf
ORDER DISMISSING MOTION TO CLARIFY.PDF
Dear Mr. Ortman,
I think there may be some misunderstanding here as to where this matter is in the process. The issues laid out in the
prehearing order you attached were actually decided by Hearing Examiner Smith in his March 9, 2017 appeals
decision in this matter. A copy of that decision is attached. Subsequent to that decision, the Riches filed a "motion
to clarify" with Hearing Examiner Smith, seeking to have Project Condition 11 invalidated. Hearing Examiner
Smith dismissed the motion to clarify on August 8, 2017. A copy of the order dismissing the motion is attached.
What is currently before the Hearing Examiner is an appeal filed by the Riches on October 17, 2017, in which they
argue that a letter sent to them by Peter Corelis, the City's Development Engineer, on October 4, 2017 was an
appealable decision imposing new requirements on their Vegetation Management Permit. The City filed a Motion
to Dismiss that appeal on November 6, 2017 and the Riches responded through their attorneys on November 13,
2017. The matter was set for hearing on November 15, 2017 and then continued to December 14, 2017, at which
time it was stricken on the basis of a tentative settlement reached by the parties. The parties have been negotiating
the final language of that settlement ever since. If Hearing Examiner Hunter does not have copies of the October 17,
2017 appeal, the City's November 6, 2017 Motion to Dismiss and Prehearing Brief, and the Riches' November 15,
2017 Response, I can certainly provide those.
Based on the above pleadings, if this matter does go to hearing the issues are not those that are set out in Hearing
Examiner Hunter's prehearing order. Instead, the City believes the issues are as follows:
1. Was Mr. Corelis' October 4, 2017 letter an appealable decision or simply a request for additional information?
2. Does the Hearing Examiner have the authority to hold the City in contempt? (the City believes that the Riches'
motion for contempt has been withdrawn, but lists this as an issue just in case it has not).
3. Was the request for information in Mr. Corelis' October 4, 2017 letter justified under Project Condition No. 11
and the City's stormwater regulations?
4. Is the validity of Project Condition 11 properly before the Hearing Examiner in this appeal?
5. Are the Riches required to submit a drainage plan that complies with Project Condition 11 before they can
clear their property?
I hope this email will be helpful to Hearing Examiner Hunter in understanding the issues in this case and in issuing a
new prehearing order.
James E. Haney | Attorney at Law
Ogden Murphy Wallace P.L.L.C.
901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3500 Seattle, WA 98164
phone: 206.447.7000 | Fax 206.447.0215
jhaney@omwlaw.com | www.omwlaw.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: David E. Ortman [mailto:david@soundlawcenter.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 4:49 PM
To: jeremie@liptonlawgroup.com; James E. Haney <jhaney@omwlaw.com>; rlassoff@bainbridgewa.gov
Subject: Hearing Examiner Bainbridge Island - Rich Appeal Pre-Hearing Order
Importance: High
TO: Jeremie Lipton, Attorney for Appellants
Via email to: jeremie@liptonlawgroup.com
James Haney, Attorney for City
Via email to: jhaney@omwlaw.com
Roz Lassoff, Clerk to the Hearing Examiner
Via email to: rlassoff@bainbridgewa.gov
[For file]
Attached is the Hearing Examiner's Pre-Hearing Order for the Rich Appeal.
Please provide an email response that you have received this PHO. Thank you.
David E. Ortman
Attorney-at-Law
Sound Law Center
4500 Ninth Avenue NE, Suite 300
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 233-1908