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<br /> <br />Chapter 2 LAND USE <br />KITTITAS COUNTY <br />Page 13 Comprehensive Plan <br /> GMA Compliance and Rural and Resource Lands Protections <br />A central tenet of the GMA that applies particularly to counties is the need to accommodate growth in a <br />manner that still provides for the protection of rural character, including the protection of forest, mineral and <br />agricultural resources. The protection of resource lands is primarily accomplished through a designation <br />process. <br />Although the issue is typically addressed in a variety of ways, a primary method for maintaining “rural <br />character” is by restricting population growth and densities through zoning and development regulations. <br />Between 2008-2013 Kittitas County made several amendments to its land use policies, development <br />regulations and zoning to ensure compliance with the GMAs requirement that all the areas in the County <br />outside of UGAs and LAMIRDS (Local Areas of More Intense Rural Development) are preserving the County’s <br />rural character. <br />In a major revision to the County’s Comprehensive Plan, Development Codes and Zoning Ordinance, the <br />County’s Board of Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2013-001 on February 11, 2013. This Ordinance <br />enacted several measures to ensure the County’s compliance with the rural character standards of GMA, <br />including: <br /> Eliminating densities less than one unit per five acres in the rural area (outside LAMIRDS and UGAs). <br /> Adoption of rural policies and designations to protect natural resource lands. <br /> A definition of rural character. <br /> Adoption of policies to prevent the provision of urban level services to rural areas. <br /> GENERAL GOALS AND POLICIES <br />The foundation of the Comprehensive Plan consists of the major goals and policies established by the <br />County during the planning process. It is upon these goals and policies that virtually the entire plan is based. <br />The planning process is an on-going process consisting of establishing, applying, monitoring and evaluating <br />goals and policies. Different goals may at times conflict requiring the County to weigh one goal against the <br />other in order to choose a policy direction. <br />Citizen participation has been a vital part of the planning process and has guided formation of goals, policies, <br />and objectives. The following general goals and policies in this chapter and elsewhere in the Comprehensive <br />Plan have been drawn from that process. <br /> Goals <br />LU-G1: UGAs shall be consistent with the following criteria: <br />a. Each UGA shall provide sufficient urban land to accommodate future population/employment <br />projections through the designated planning period; <br />b. Lands included within UGAs shall either be already characterized by urban growth or directly adjacent <br />to such lands; <br />c. Existing urban land uses and densities should be included within UGAs;