Sequim: Residents sue to stop Burnt Hill management plan

2006-02-20
by DIANE URBANI DE LA PAZ
Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM, WA-- Burnt Hill residents want peace and elk.

Instead, they say they have trash, trespassers, noise and no help from the state Department of Natural Resources' Burnt Hill Management Plan.

The plan allows multiple uses, including off-road vehicle recreation, on 5,100 acres of state land on Burnt Hill, south of U.S. Highway 101.

The Burnt Hill Home Owners Association, a group of 20 residents, filed a lawsuit against Natural Resources Jan. 30 in hopes of arresting the plan's progress toward adoption.

The residents ``never could have conceived of the DNR-sanctioned motocross motorcycle racing and other motorized uses daily causing great noise and other impacts,'' the suit states.

The Burnt Hill plan would turn the place into an ``ORV [off-road vehicle] destination,'' said Robert Groff, who moved to the hill eight years ago from the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.

``Lots of folks moved to Sequim because they fell in love with the small, quiet town,'' said Groff, 67.