#washington-state + #westport

a presentation that the project’s developer gave to the Washington State Parks Commission on Oct. 18, 2023. For the full presentation, see here. (Westport Golf Links, Inc.)

In the early 2000s, Mox Chehalis LLC had plans to develop land owned by the Port of Grays Harbor into a golf resort. 

The plans, which included a hotel and convention center, were met with resistance from Friends of Grays Harbor and other environmentalists, triggering a legal battle that dragged on for about six years.

In 2007, Friends of Grays Harbor and Mox Chehalis LLC signed a settlement agreement that limited the ability of the current and future owners to fill wetlands on the property for golf course development.

Further inspection of the site by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found that work carried out by Mox Chehalis included filling wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act.

To avoid future violations of the federal law, the Army Corps and Mox Chehalis formed a land covenant that, among other limitations, prohibited filling wetlands, clearing vegetation, changing the topography, and constructing buildings on about 114 acres of the land.

Washington purchased the property from Mox Chehalis and J.D. Financial Corp, which shared common ownership, in 2015 using a grant from the State Recreation and Conservation Office.

The environmental groups now suing to halt the project argue the state is subject to the restrictions on development in the settlement agreement and land covenant. 

And they say that Washington law prohibits the state from converting the property into a golf course because of how it was acquired with a Recreation and Conservation Office grant.