Employment trends, population dynamics and the impact of tourism on the local economy are described in a recent study that local government officials are using for a joint economic development planning project.

Called the “Hovee Report,” the $30,000 document – paid for with $10,000 each from the City of Port Townsend, Jefferson County and Port of Port Townsend – provides a snapshot of the local economy near the close of 2010. And although local government managers hardly describe the report as revelatory, they say it gives them a “go-to” document chock full of useful baseline data.

“We’ve got something that we can build on,” said Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons. “We’ve got a foundation, in terms of baseline data.”

Port of Port Townsend executive director Larry Crockett echoed Timmons.

“I think it’s good because it shows some of the raw data,” Crockett said. “For instance, it shows income and where it’s coming from. The salary and wage data shows that salaries are down, but transfers, i.e. retirement payments, are up.”

That information, Crockett said, confirms that the majority of Port Townsend residents are older or aging – a trend many say is likely to continue.

“What I got from the report is that our location is our biggest liability, and our biggest asset,” said Timmons. “It also confirmed what I knew. I saw it as a validation of what I was trying to say for quite some time.”

At its simplest, the report presents employment and population data derived from state and federal sources; analyzes the area’s economic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis); acknowledges economic development data gathered by WSU Team Jefferson; and rehashes data found in previous economic development studies from 2002 and 2007, in some cases juxtaposing the data with new economic realties.

“What it [the Hovee Report] does, is it gives a snapshot of our current economy,” said Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley. “It validates this idea of having a diversity of economic clusters and it validates the clusters that Team Jefferson has been working on.”

[VIEW THE HOVEE REPORT FROM THE LINK POSTED BELOW THE STORY].

Not GMA planning

What the final draft of the Hovee Report doesn’t do, however, is deal with land use and infrastructure issues. By contrast, a preliminary draft of the Hovee Report, issued in August 2010, incorporates information on future land use and infrastructure needs based on employment trends and job growth. Specifically, the document reports that one of the key constraints to future commercial growth in unincorporated Jefferson County is a lack of sewer service.

The preliminary draft also includes the findings of a 2007 business-needs questionnaire where respondents said factors limiting future commercial growth were a lack of customer access, housing availability and cost, land or space cost, quality K-12 education, public sewer service, public water service, and predictability of the land use code process. While much of the other survey answers appear in the final Hovee Report, the information above was omitted.

Morley said much of the land use data found in the preliminary report was built on an “aggressive growth analysis.” He said also that assumptions made on employment trends and the impact of job growth on future land use needs may have been flawed – or at least worthy of reassessment given the economy's current state. Moreover, Morley said – and Timmons concurred – that the intent of the Hovee Report was to focus on generating baseline economic development data rather than wrangling with politically charged land use questions.

“This is not GMA [Growth Management Act] planning, this is economic development planning,” Morley said.

Morley said land use questions will be addressed in the future during the county’s comprehensive plan amendment process.

Combined resources

The city, port and county agreed to embark on joint economic development planning in January 2010 after the city threatened to sue the county over the county’s decision to rezone 24 acres at Jefferson County International Airport from rural residential to airport essential public facility. The rezoning included changes to the county’s development regulations, which means non-aviation light industrial and manufacturing uses are now allowed on the port-owned acreage.

The county’s desire to rezone the property, however, sparked threats of a lawsuit from the city – the city citing state Growth Management Act violations. Ultimately, the city backed down and the three agencies pledged to move forward with joint economic development planning. A memorandum of understanding was signed Feb. 10, 2010 in which the city, port and county agreed to create a tri-agency economic development plan and authorized the $30,000 for the Hovee Report, to be followed by a series of public economic development workshops.

The Hovee Report was issued in October 2010, followed by a Team Jefferson economic report issued in November.

With the first series of community outreach meetings complete, members of Team Jefferson and senior level staff at the city, county and port will plot a course toward producing a joint economic development plan.

Click here to view the Hovee Report online.