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Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat is the purpose of this project? What is the purpose of this project?The purpose of this project is to achieve compliance with the GMA. What is the Growth Management Act?The GMA was adopted into law by the Washington State Legislature in 1990. It provides a comprehensive framework to local jurisdictions for managing growth, including guidance for designating, sizing, and providing services to urban and rural areas. What is a comprehensive plan?A comprehensive plan guides the location, density and intensity of future development, conserves natural resources, and ensures adequate public infrastructure to serve future residents and employees. It includes policies about how future growth should occur and a map identifying locations for residential, commercial, industrial, and other land uses. A comprehensive plan must show that adequate infrastructure and services to support future land use are planned and financed. A comprehensive plan provides property owners with predictability about future land use patterns and guides local government decision-makers. Who says the County's Comprehensive Plan is out of compliance?The Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board What is the Growth Management Hearings Board?The GMA established Growth Management Hearings Boards to hear disputes arising from the adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations. There are three Growth Management Hearings Boards: the Eastern Board for counties and cities east of the Cascade Mountains; the Central Puget Sound Board for the four Central Puget Sound counties and the cities within these counties; and the Western Board for all other counties and cities west of the Cascade Mountains. The Eastern Board hears disputes from Kittitas County. How is the County out of compliance?The County is out of compliance with regard to certain provisions of the GMA including: Case No. 07-1-0004c
Case No. 07-1-0015
How will the County achieve compliance?To meet the requirements of state law, the County must:
What is an Urban Growth Area (UGA)?
RCW 36.70A.110 The county and each city within the county shall include areas and densities sufficient to permit the urban growth that is projected to occur in the county or city for the succeeding twenty-year period. Urban growth should be located first in areas already characterized by urban growth that have adequate existing public facility and service capacities to serve such development, second in areas already characterized by urban growth that will be served adequately by a combination of both existing public facilities and services and any additional needed public facilities and services that are provided by either public or private sources, and third in the remaining portions of the urban growth areas. An urban growth area may include territory that is located outside of a city
only if such territory already is characterized by urban growth whether or not
the urban growth area includes a city, or is adjacent to territory already
characterized by urban growth, or is a designated new fully contained community
as defined by
RCW 36.70A.350 How will the County validate the size of the Kittitas Urban Growth Area?The County will review previous studies, identify gaps, and develop recommendations to retain or contract the current UGA boundaries. The County will coordinate options and recommendations with the City of Kittitas. How will new land use designations and zoning be determined in County rural areas?In order to determine and evaluate potential amendments to the land use designations and "Rural Element" of the Comprehensive Plan and the County's zoning map and development regulations for rural development, it must first be determined what is "rural character" and "rural development" in the context of Kittitas County. To do this, existing and past land use patterns and landscapes need to be assessed, issues necessary to protect or enhance "rural" in Kittitas County should be identified, and change that is occurring to rural land uses must be analyzed. In order to fulfill these actions, County staff have identified
twelve subareas What are Urban lands?Urban lands are those with growth and development patterns that are intensive enough to be incompatible with rural and resource uses. Urban lands encompass all cities, including rural cities and their designated expansion areas. Areas designated as UGAs must meet the following criteria:
What are Resource lands?Resource lands include lands that have long-term commercial significance, including agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands. What are Rural lands?Rural lands are lands where open space and the natural environment predominate over the built environment. Rural lands do not include incorporated rural towns or cities, but can include existing rural communities. What is a LAMIRD?LAMIRD stands for Limited Areas of More Intense Rural Development and is a subset under the Rural land use designation. This is a designation allowed under the GMA for lands that historically (pre-1990) were developed as small towns or crossroads activity centers. Who will make decisions about changes to the County's Comprehensive Plan?Ultimately, decisions about changes to the County's Comprehensive Plan are made by the Kittitas County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The Kittitas County Planning Commission also plays a role in planning matters by making recommendations about the Comprehensive Plan to the BOCC. What is the public's role in the process?The County is seeking comments from interested members of the public as it
considers the issues related to compliance. Through a
proactive Public Involvement Plan What happens if the County doesn't comply?If the County doesn't make the Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations compliant with state law, the County is at risk of being ineligible for certain state funds. In addition, without an approved Comprehensive Plan, property owners and the public have less predictability about the future direction of the County in terms of land use and public services. When will the County's Comprehensive Plan be updated?The County plans to make the current Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulation compliant with state law by mid-September 2012. Like other counties and cities in Washington, the County must update its Comprehensive Plan. This project is not a formal update. The County's next update is due on or before June 30, 2017, and every eight years thereafter. How is the County going to get this done before mid-September 2012?The County expects recommendations by the Planning Commission in August and final adoption by the BOCC in September. Prior to that, the County plans the following activities:
What happens after this?Kittitas County must update its entire Comprehensive Plan in 2017. At that time, the County will update population projections, review urban growth areas, and make policy revisions that reflect the County's updated vision for the future. What is SEPA?
SEPA (Chapter 43.21C RCW)
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(EWGMHB) hears disputes arising from the adoption of comprehensive plans. In
2007 the Kittitas Comprehensive Plan was appealed to the EWGMHB. Over the lasts
few years, the County has amended the Comprehensive Plan to comply with the
decision by the EWGMHB. The EWGMHB issued an
