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Easton Subarea Plan — Public Comment <br />PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE EASTON SUBAREA PLAN <br />What the Law Allows and Prohibits on Type 3 LAMIRD Land <br />Under the Growth Management Act and Kittitas County Code <br />To: Kittitas County Planning Department, Community Development Services and consultants, <br />As you update the Easton Subarea Plan, I am submitting this comment to request that the plan <br />include clear, enforceable language defining what can and cannot be built on Type 3 LAMIRD <br />land. The Growth Management Act, Kittitas County's Comprehensive Plan, and the County <br />Code already set these standards. They just need to be stated plainly in the subarea plan so <br />there is no ambiguity going forward. <br />This comment draws on the legal framework established by RCW 36.70A.070(5), RCW <br />36.70A.030(35), Kittitas County Code Chapter 17.15, the Critical Areas Ordinance (KCC Title <br />17A), the Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan, and relevant Growth Management Hearings <br />Board decisions. <br />1. WHAT STATE LAW SAYS ABOUT TYPE 3 LAMIRDs <br />The Growth Management Act created Type 3 LAMIRDs under RCW 36.70A.070(5) as a narrow <br />exception to general rural land use restrictions. The Legislature authorized counties to allow <br />limited new commercial development in rural areas, but only when all three of the following <br />conditions are met: <br />1. Isolated small-scale business. The development must be an isolated, small-scale <br />business. This is not aspirational language —it is a ceiling on what can be built. <br />2. Site previously occupied by an existing business. Under RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d), the <br />new development must utilize a site that was previously occupied by a business. <br />LAMIRD designations are tied to areas or uses in existence prior to 1991. This is a <br />threshold eligibility requirement, not a preference. <br />3. Conforms to rural character. The new business must conform to the rural character of <br />the area as defined by the county government. <br />These are conjunctive requirements. A proposal that fails any one of them is ineligible for Type <br />3 LAMIRD development. The Growth Management Hearings Board confirmed in People fora <br />Liveable Community v. Jefferson County (No. 03-2-0009c, 2003) that LAMIRDs are "intended to <br />be a one-time recognition of existing areas and uses and are not intended to be used <br />continuously to meet needs (real or perceived) for additional commercial and industrial lands." <br />2. THE HARD LIMITS: WHAT KITTITAS COUNTY CODE ALLOWS <br />Kittitas County implemented the GMA's Type 3 LAMIRD standards through KCC 17.15.070, <br />which governs the rural General Commercial zoning district. These are the binding dimensional <br />and intensity limits for any development on Type 3 LAMIRD land: <br />These limits exist to implement the GMA's "isolated small-scale business" standard. They are <br />not starting points for negotiation. They are the maximum development intensity the Legislature <br />intended for rural commercial land. Any proposal that exceeds these thresholds is, by definition, <br />not a small-scale business and cannot be approved under Type 3 LAMIRD authority. <br />Page 1 <br />