OS-21-00035 KCT Staff Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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COMMUNITY PLANNING  BUILDING INSPECTION  PLAN REVIEW  ADMINISTRATION  PERMIT SERVICES  CODE ENFORCEMENT  FIRE INVESTIGATION KITTITAS COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 411 N. Ruby St., Suite 2, Ellensburg, WA 98926 CDS@CO.KITTITAS.WA.US Office (509) 962-7506 “Building Partnerships – Building Communities” OC-21-00035 KCT OPEN SPACE CURRENT USE APPLICATION STAFF REPORT TO: Kittitas Board of County Commissioners FROM: Jeremy Johnston, Planning Official DATE: November 8, 2021 SUBJECT: KCT Open Space Current Use Application (OC-21-00035) I. GENERAL INFORMATION Proposal: On January 21, 2021 Kittitas Conservation Trust submitted an application for Change of Classification or Use for one tax parcel totaling 40.33 acres to receive Open Space benefits as defined in RCW 84.34.020(8)(a). The application has been reviewed by Assessor staff for ownership, parcel numbers, and legal descriptions, and Community Development Services staff for land use and critical areas assessment. Location: The parcel is located at the West half of Section 31, Township 20 N Range 16 E. The map number is 20-16- 31030-0009, and the parcel number is 385135. No street address is given in County Records for the property, but it is located on Mcdonald Rd adjacent to I-90. The subject property is located approximately .5 miles southeast of Cle Elum. The Yakima River runs along the northern border of the property. Access is achieved via Mcdonald Rd. II. SITE INFORMATION Site Characteristics: Utilizing Aerial Photography, analysis indicates the site is predominately a riparian region with deciduous undergrowth and forest. No structures exist on the property. The topography is essentially flat. Critical areas review indicates that almost the entire northern portion of the property is located in the Floodway and the FIRM floodplain Panel is 5300950261B. The parcel qualifies as a Shoreline of the State, with this section being delineated in the shoreline master program as Rural Conservancy. A type 2 stream converges with a type 4 stream along the southern half of the parcel. Three types of wetlands are shown to exist on the subject property; PEMCx (Palustrine Emeraent Seasonally Flooded excavated), PABHx (Palustrine Aquatic Bed Permanently Flooded Excavated) ( and PUBHx (Palustrine Unconsolidated Bottom Permanently Flooded Excavated). The parcel was created by process of combination of 5 smaller parcels. The parcel is currently in the Rural 5 zone. III. CRITERIA ANALYSIS The applicant provided a narrative statement describing the history of the parcel and outlining the Conservation Easement Management Plan (See Index # 4). The narrative explains the Washington State Department of Ecology identified a need for BPA to mitigate for some wetland impacts related to wetland impacts to a Supplementation and Research Facility built in Cle Elum. BPA pursued a mitigation option that prescribed the acquisition of property with wetlands and certain actions to protect these wetlands through a Conservation Easement. BPA acquired the subject property and negotiated with the Kittitas County Conservation Trust to own and manage it while maintaining a perpetual BPA Easement. This resulted in a Deed of Conservation Easement between BPA and the KC Conservation Trust and the creation of the Eagle Bend Preserve and Conservation Easement Management Plan (See Index # 4). Most of the parcel contains a variation of wetland activity ranging from Category 1 to Category 2 with native vegetation species (See Index # 7). The Wetland Report indicated Riverine Aquatic Bed Wetlands and Riverine Emergent Wetlands and Open Water Wetlands.