2020-06-08-minutes-cds-study-session

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Legislative and Quasi -Judicial Hearinc;s Although the RCW and KCC sections referenced above do not discuss legislative or quasi-judicial hearings, the distinction between the two is an important part of this discussion because the annual docket is typically a mix of both. Legislative hearings obtain public input on legislative matters that affect a wide range of citizens, such as comprehensive plan amendments, budget adoption, development regulation amendments, etc. Legislative acts do not trigger constitutional due process rights and are therefore subject to fewer procedural requirements than quasi-judicial hearings. Quasi-judicial hearings, however, involve the legal rights of specific, identifiable parties. Quasi-judicial hearings include land use hearings for such things as zone changes, subdivisions, conditional use permits, etc. Quasi-judicial hearings require due process for the specific parties involved, and therefore tend to have stricter procedural requirements than legislative hearings. The annual docket typically includes amendments to the comprehensive plan or to development regulations that affect a wide range of citizens, and therefore those amendments are legislative in nature. KCC 15B.03.030 and 15.04.030 allow for citizens to submit applications for comprehensive plan or development regulation amendments by June 30th of any given year. While these applications may be legislative (such as a code change that affects a wide range of county citizens), applications submitted that affect an individual property (such as a land use designation or zone change) are quasi- judicial and therefore due process is required for the specific parties involved. Quasi-judicial hearings are particularly problematic during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to truly ensure that due process rights are preserved for the parties involved, notice must be appropriately provided, and the public must be given a chance to provide public testimony at the public hearing before a decision is made. Measures taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 such as social distancing and limiting the number of participants most likely run in opposition to ensuring these due process rights are protected. While remote hearings are being held by some jurisdictions on quasi-judicial matters, staff has significant concerns about whether these hearings can truly be accessed by all affected parties, and whether these parties can truly participate in a meaningful way. Conclusion and Request for Direction In accordance with state law and Kittitas County Code, the annual docket of comprehensive plan and development regulation amendments may be considered no more than once per year. They may be considered less frequently. The annual docket amendments to the comprehensive plan and development regulations typically contain a mix of legislative and quasi-judicial matters. Quasi-judicial hearings are particularly difficult to conduct during the COVID-19 pandemic due to significant due process issues. Therefore, staff presents the following alternatives for the docket and requests the Board's direction on how to proceed: 1. Postpone the entire annual docket until 2021. This should allow time to return to regular in- person hearings and the entire docket could be considered next year. 2. Move forward with the 2020 annual docket but limit the docket items to legislative matters. This would allow the county to conduct remote public hearings for these items that don't have the stricter due process requirements. 3. Move forward with the entire 2020 annual docket, including the applications for quasi-judicial matters.