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The Planning Commission is requested to evaluate the submitted CARs at the regularly <br />scheduled open public meeting on August 9, 2016, and to provide a recommendation to the <br />BOCC identifying which CARs, if any, should be included as part of the Comprehensive Plan <br />update process. <br />The procedures outlined in the CAR application form notes that this staff report shall analyze <br />whether each proposal meets the criteria included in the proposal form and how it meets the <br />criteria. The criteria are listed below, with the staff analysis further below. <br />i. The proposal is consistent with RCW 36. 70A, the Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan, <br />and the County -Wide Planning Policies for Kittitas County; <br />ii. The proposal responds to a change in conditions beyond the property owner's control <br />applicable to the area within which the subject property lies; <br />iii. The proposal bears a substantial relationship to the public health. safety, welfare, and <br />protection of the environment; and <br />iv. The proposal has community -wide benefit. <br />Once the BOCC has reviewed the Planning Commission recommendation and indicated which, <br />if any, CAR applications to include in the Comprehensive Plan update process, the application(s) <br />that are included will be further analyzed in the Comprehensive Plan update process. <br />Analysis <br />Two CARs were submitted during the application period. CAR 2016-001 relates to affordable <br />housing (see Attachment A). CAR 2016-002 relates to solar energy farms, specifically when <br />located in agricultural or rural lands (see Attachment B). Four public comments were received <br />(see Attachment C for a summary of the comments and the specific comments). Six <br />Comprehensive Plan advisory group recommendations and corresponding comments were <br />sought to inform this process (see Attachment D for CAR 2016-001 and Attachment E for CAR <br />2016-002). The advisory groups recommended inclusion of the topics (i.e., evaluation of <br />affordable housing and uses on agricultural lands), recognizing that the specifics would be <br />evaluated later in the update process if they were included. <br />The GMA outlines fourteen planning goals to guide the development and adoption of <br />comprehensive plans and development regulations. Two of these goals relate to the CARs, as <br />noted below: <br />RCW 36.70A.020 (underline added for emphasis): <br />(4) Housing. Encourage the availability of affordable housing to all economic segments of the <br />population of this state, promote a variety of residential densities and housing types, and <br />encourage preservation of existing housing stock. <br />(8) Natural resource industries. Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, <br />including productive timber, agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of <br />productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage incompatible uses. <br />69799 <br />