|
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, September 12, 2005
Contact:
Don
Krupp, Chief Administrative Officer, 360-786-5440
Thurston
County
Appeals Growth Management Ruling
OLYMPIA
– Thurston County Commissioners have voted to appeal a ruling of the Western
Washington Growth Management Hearings Board to Superior Court.
The Hearings Board ruled in August that the county was out of
compliance with the state’s Growth Management Act on several fronts
including; lack of a variety of less dense zoning in the rural areas (like one
housing unit per ten acres or one per twenty), not enough set aside of
agricultural lands and that urban growth areas around the cities are too
large. The Hearings Board denied
an earlier request for reconsideration.
Thurston County Chief Administrative Officer Don
Krupp says there are several reasons why an appeal to Superior Court is
appropriate. “There are some
technical issues that we need to resolve, including whether the group 1,000
Friends of Washington (now Futurewise) has any standing to appeal growth
management decisions made in
Thurston
County
. Also up for question is whether
certain planning decisions made in 1994 can be challenged in 2005, eleven
years later.” Krupp says, “By
filing the appeal we protect our opportunity to address matters where we think
the Hearings Board has erred. It
is important for everyone to find out exactly what standards we are operating
under as we try to plan for the growth that we know is coming.”
At the same time, Krupp says county planners are
working to refine growth management plans in reaction to the Hearings Board
ruling. “While we continue the
appeal in court, we have concentrated county resources in reaction to the
earlier ruling. County employees
are working to resolve the differences between our current plans and the
issues of non-compliance raised by the Hearings Board.
If we are able to resolve any of those issues, they would be pulled
from the court appeal.”
Krupp says the county hopes to resolve the issues
in a timely manner. “We know
that the 6-month moratorium on new sub-divisions is a hardship for a lot of
Thurston
County
residents. The quicker we can
determine the proper solution to this, the quicker we can provide some
certainty to citizens who are directly impacted.”
Current schedules call for a report to Thurston
County Commissioners and the Growth Management Hearings Board on compliance
issues in January of next year.
| 