2026-03-30-cds-study-session-supporting-documents

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3/1/2026 SUBMITTED VIA ONLINE COMMENT FORM PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE EASTON SUBAREA PLAN AVAILABLE ON THE PROJECT WEBSITE What the Law Allows and Prohibits on Type 3 LAMIRD Land (KittitasCounty2026.com) Comment #005 To: Kittitas County Planning Department, Community Development Services and consultants, As you update the Easton Subarea Plan, I am submitting this comment to request that the plan include clear, enforceable language defining what can and cannot be built on Type 3 LAMIRD land. The Growth Management Act, Kittitas County's Comprehensive Plan, and the County Code already set these standards. They just need to be stated plainly in the subarea plan so there is no ambiguity going forward. This comment draws on the legal framework established by RCW 36.70A.070(5), RCW 36.70A.030(35), Kittitas County Code Chapter 17.15, the Critical Areas Ordinance (KCC Title 17A), the Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan, and relevant Growth Management Hearings Board decisions. 1. WHAT STATE LAW SAYS ABOUT TYPE 3 LAMIRDs The Growth Management Act created Type 3 LAMIRDs under RCW 36.70A.070(5) as a narrow exception to general rural land use restrictions. The Legislature authorized counties to allow limited new commercial development in rural areas, but only when all three of the following conditions are met: 1.Isolated small-scale business. The development must be an isolated, small-scale business. This is not aspirational language—it is a ceiling on what can be built. 2.Site previously occupied by an existing business. Under RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d), the new development must utilize a site that was previously occupied by a business. LAMIRD designations are tied to areas or uses in existence prior to 1991. This is a threshold eligibility requirement, not a preference. 3.Conforms to rural character. The new business must conform to the rural character of the area as defined by the county government. A proposal that fails any one of them is ineligible for Type 3 LAMIRD development. The Growth Management Hearings Board confirmed in People for a Liveable Community v. Jefferson County (No. 03-2-0009c, 2003) that LAMIRDs are "intended to be a one-time recognition of existing areas and uses and are not intended to be used continuously to meet needs (real or perceived) for additional commercial and industrial lands." 2. THE HARD LIMITS: WHAT KITTITAS COUNTY CODE ALLOWS Kittitas County implemented the GMA's Type 3 LAMIRD standards through KCC 17.15.070, which governs the rural General Commercial zoning district. These are the binding dimensional and intensity limits for any development on Type 3 LAMIRD land: These limits exist to implement the GMA's "isolated small-scale business" standard. They are not starting points for negotiation. They are the maximum development intensity the Legislature intended for rural commercial land. Any proposal that exceeds these thresholds is, by definition, not a small-scale business and cannot be approved under Type 3 LAMIRD authority. 3. SITE ELIGIBILITY: THE PRE-EXISTING BUSINESS REQUIREMENT Not every parcel within a Type 3 LAMIRD boundary is automatically eligible for new commercial development. RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d) requires that the site be one "previously occupied by an existing business." This means: Recommended subarea plan language: "No new commercial development shall be approved on Type 3 LAMIRD land unless the applicant demonstrates, through documented evidence including historical aerial photography and county records, that the specific parcel was previously occupied by a commercial business. Vacant or undeveloped land within a LAMIRD boundary does not satisfy this requirement." 4. RURAL CHARACTER CONFORMANCE: WHAT THE STANDARD REQUIRES Even when a proposal meets the size limits and site eligibility test, it must also conform to rural character. RCW 36.70A.030(35) defines rural character through seven criteria. Kittitas County has adopted its own local definition: rural character is "the predominant visual landscape of open spaces, mountains, forests, and farms and the activities which preserve such features." Any new development on Type 3 LAMIRD land must satisfy all of the following: -Open space and natural landscape predominate over the built environment (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(a)) -Traditional rural lifestyles and rural-based economies are fostered, not displaced (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(b)) -Visual landscapes traditionally found in rural areas are maintained (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(c)) -Compatibility with wildlife and fish habitat (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(d)) -No inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(e)) -No requirement for extension of urban governmental services (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(f)) -Protection of natural surface water flows and groundwater recharge/discharge areas (RCW 36.70A.030(35)(g)) Additionally, Comprehensive Plan Policies T-P44 and RR-P2 discourage uses incompatible with resource lands and airports. The Easton area includes working forest land managed by the Washington State Department of NaturalThe subarea plan should explicitly require compatibility review for any proposal adjacent to resource lands or airport operations. The GMA and Comprehensive Plan also prohibit strip commercial development along highway corridors. The subarea plan should include language preventing the clustering of commercial uses that would create a pattern of highway-oriented commercial sprawl.