A Woodinville couple yesterday sought, and will likely get, county permission to do what they’ve already been doing for two years: use the buildings in an Oak Harbor industrial park to grow and process marijuana.

Island County officials earlier this week pled ignorance of the apparent land-use infraction, despite repeated complaints from a neighbor, notice of the unapproved use from a reporter, and multiple stories in the Whidbey News-Times as early as 2014 detailing tenants in the buildings being kicked out to make way for marijuana operations.

“What is the point of laws if they are not enforced?” asked the neighbor, Mike Haun, owner of Precision Tire Factory & Auto Center. “It is so discouraging.”

Christina and Scott Hensrude for about three years have owned seven of the 11 buildings between 3143 and 3171 Goldie Road, on the west side of that road between Industrial Avenue and West Ault Field Road, said Scott Hensrude, 55, on Tuesday.

At a hearing Friday, in a process known as a site plan review, they sought county permission to convert the seven buildings away from rented commercial space, using 41,646 square feet for marijuana growing and 10,412 square feet for processing.

There’s just one problem: Five of the seven buildings in the six-acre complex have already been converted, without the permission of the county. Pot is also being grown in a sixth building.

At yesterday’s hearing, Hiller West, the county’s director of current-use planning and community development, posed no objections to the proposed conversion. Hearing Examiner Michael Bobbink said he will rule on the proposal within ten days. Unopposed reviews are usually granted.

A visit to the complex Monday revealed that five buildings are surrounded by high cyclone fencing rendered opaque by slats and topped with coils of razor wire. One man behind the fencing, who declined to give his name or be interviewed, confirmed that marijuana is being grown and processed there. Another man, who declined to come out from behind the fence, give his name or be interviewed, described himself as a tenant at the facility. The aroma of marijuana was present.

One of the two buildings not yet fenced has also been home to a grow operation for about six months, said Terry Boese, the tenant next door to the grow.

The buildings’ owner said he has no idea what is going on in the buildings, despite the fact that he collects rent from multiple tenants growing and processing pot there.

“I own those buildings, but I don’t go to them for months at a time,” Scott Hensrude said Tuesday. “I don’t know how long (the marijuana operation) has been up and running. I’m a landlord, an owner of properties. I’ve been very successful.”

West yesterday continued to insist the county has no knowledge of the unlawful use. On Tuesday, he said didn’t know the buildings were already being used for marijuana.

“If they’re doing it without site plan review, they’re doing it illegally,” he said. Though informed of the violation by a reporter, who documented the situation with photographs, he said the county lacks official knowledge until a complaint has been filed. And as of Tuesday, none had been filed, said county code-enforcement officer John Clark.

If a complaint is filed, then Clark must investigate, West said. A finding that the owner proceeded without site plan review would be a violation of the county’s land-use code, Clark said. It could lead to the county’s issuing a cease-and-desist order, imposing fines and possibly initiating legal action by the county’s prosecutor, West said.

“I have complained over and over again, for years,” Haun, the tire-store owner, testified under oath at yesterday’s hearing. “I have tried to make contact with the county enforcers, and they never got back to me. These guys have just done what they want and steamrolled everyone. Is it my responsibility to come down and enforce it?”

Bobbink said he will not be considering any land-use violations in his deliberations, because they are “extraneous.”

When asked after the hearing why he had approved the plan when he knew of prior violations, West replied, “Actually, I don’t have knowledge. There’s been no complaint filed.” Just having been told about the violation, even by credible sources, doesn’t equate to “knowledge,” he said. “People mention things to me all the time. That doesn’t mean I have evidence.”

Not all recreational-marijuana businesspeople take county approval as casually as the Hensrudes.

Lucas Jushinski waited “months and months, spent thousands and thousands on rent” while the county deliberated over his permits, he said.

“I didn’t consider going ahead without county approval,” he said. “I didn’t want the county to come in and close me down.” He finally got approval recently and planned to open Island Herb, a retail store in Freeland, last week.

Maureen Cooke, owner of Whidbey Island Cannabis Company, in the store’s early days suffered a stop-work order because she opened her store without a site plan approval.

The county has long had ample opportunity to learn what was going on at the Oak Harbor complex, formally known as North Whidbey Business Center. One former tenant there, Mark Calim of Mark’s Auto Repair, said in a May 2014 Whidbey News-Times story that he was essentially kicked out of his location to make way for marijuana-related enterprises. Another tenant, not-for-profit Garage of Blessings, said in June 2014 that it had gotten a letter from the property manager saying that its property would be fenced and that, as of July 2014, customers would lose access to a garage filled with the free, used items the charity gives away.

If Bobbink approves the conversion request, all the remaining tenants at 3161, 3159 and 3163 Goldie Road (two buildings, despite three addresses) will be forced to vacate. From north to south, they are: Whidbey Island Homebrew Supply, Valdez Construction, Arirang Garden Korean and Japanese Food, Garage of Blessings and Mobile Music, a car-stereo store. Most of the spaces in those buildings are already boarded up and either vacant or being used for marijuana grows.

County Commissioner Jill Johnson, who represents Oak Harbor, said the apparent land-use violations could warrant a closer look.

“This may be an indication we really need to monitor these grow operations and increase our level of enforcement,” she said. “We need to be able to monitor them, and that’s our responsibility.”

The Hensrudes bought the seven buildings as bank repossessions, Scott Hensrude said. At the time, space in the buildings was being leased to about 21 tenants in various businesses, he said. Recreational marijuana became lawful to grow, process, sell and use in Washington as November 2012.

Sales to the public on Whidbey began October 24, 2014. Separately, the City of Oak Harbor imposed a moratorium on marijuana in September 2013. It ended in late February 2014.