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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 10, 2006
| Contact: |
Jennifer Hayes, Senior Planner, 360-786-5477 for Rural
Rezoning Project
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Nancy Pritchett, Associate Planner, 360-754-3355x6474 for
LAMIRD Project |
Second
County
Workshop On Rural Rezoning to be held Thursday Night
OLYMPIA – The second of four scheduled
workshops on rural planning will be held Thursday night at Nisqually Middle
School in Lacey and is aimed at residents and property owners of the northeast
area of Thurston County, including the outskirts of Lacey, the Boston Harbor
and Johnson Point areas, Nisqually Valley, and East Olympia. However, any
interested citizen is invited to attend.
About 120 people participated in the first
workshop, held last night at the Griffin Fire Station,
Thurston
County
. Senior Planner
Jennifer Hayes says, "The turnout was huge. Unfortunately we had to turn
away several dozen folks due to the capacity of the room. We hope people who
were turned away will attend an upcoming workshop and/or e-mail us their
input. We want everyone who wants to participate to be included.” The people
who did participate in the first workshop, including residents from the
Steamboat
Island
area as well as citizens from Tenino, Maytown, and other areas throughout the
county, worked in small groups with a facilitator to identify a wide range of
ideas for the types of lands to be considered for rezoning.
Hayes says, “Ideas generated by the participants ranged from rezoning
lands with a lot of wetlands and other sensitive areas, to taking suggestions
for voluntary rezoning with incentives. One group was able to draw specific
areas they thought should be considered on the maps we provided. All of the
ideas were just the types of information we need so that we can be responsive
to citizens when we come up with the proposed study areas." People also expressed concerns about the equity of
rezoning, and how property values would be affected.
Planners are continuing to work on state-mandated revisions to rural
zoning. In July, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruled
that zoning in the rural parts of
Thurston
County
did not provide enough variety of densities, which in other
jurisdictions includes areas such as one housing unit per 10 acres or one per
20. The Hearings Board also asked
the planners to review rural areas that are denser than one housing unit per
five acres and define them as “Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural
Development” (LAMIRDSs) if they meet specific criteria; otherwise they must
be rezoned.
The County held two open houses on the project in
December 2005. Questions and answers from those open houses will be posted on
the Thurston County GMA Compliance website (http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/GMA/)
soon.
Input from this month’s workshops will be used
to develop rezone study area proposals with the Planning Commission, which
will in turn be presented to the Board of County Commissioners in February.
Also at the workshops, neighbors and interested parties will be able to
discuss LAMIRDs.
Hayes says the workshops include an information
session followed by facilitated small group work.
Anyone interested may attend the workshop, although people from the
local area are especially encouraged to attend.
NORTHEAST AREA WORKSHOP
·
6:30 – 9:00 PM, Thursday, January 12th, Nisqually
Middle School Commons, 8100 Steilacoom Road S.E., Lacey, WA
The current project schedule calls for the
Thurston County Commissioners to consider public comment and then establish
rezone study areas in February. A
draft zoning ordinance would be written in the spring and public hearings
regarding a final ordinance would be held next fall.
For more information on the Rural Rezoning or
LAMIRD projects, county residents can visit the county’s web site at http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/GMA/.
Those interested may also call Jennifer Hayes at 360-786-5477 for
information about the Rural Rezoning project or Nancy Pritchett at
360-754-3355x6474 for information about the LAMIRD project.
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