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Home My WebLink About2020-06-08-minutes-cds-study-sessionKITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CDS Study Session Regular Meeting Monday June 8, 2020 -1:30 PM Commissioners' Auditorium 205 West 5th Room 109 - Ellensburg 1. Call to Order 2. CDS Operations Update 3. Discuss Request for Letter of Support for Upper Naneum Creek Farm Conservation Easement 4. Other business 5. Adjourn Created on 6/5/2020 4:13:06 PM KITTITAS COUNTY CDS STUDY SESSION MINUTES COMMISSIONERS' AUDITORIUM, 205 WEST STH ROOM 109 - ELLENSBURG Regular Meeting MONDAY 1:30 PM June 8, 2020 Board members present: Chairman Brett Wachsmith, Vice -Chairman Cory Wright, and Laura Osiadacz Others: Dan Carlson, Lindsey Ozbolt(CDS) Meeting was called to order at 1:30 pm CDS Operational Update Director Carlson briefed the board on the current CDS operations, he stated that all departments are keeping busy while remaining to provide the bulk of our services remotely. One update for the Planning Department is a procedure to start recording final plats. This new procedure will require some leg work for the planning staff but will ensure us to move forward with signing final mylars for Long Plats. Discuss Request for Letter of Support for Upper Naneum Creek Farm Conservation Easement Forrtera recently contacted Flood Control District and requested a letter of support for Upper Nanuem Creek Farm Conservation Easement. After a brief meeting with the Planning Director, Flood Plain Manager, and Commissioner Wachsmith, it was agreed that if there is a letter of support that it should come from the Board of County Commissioners. The board has asked Director Carlson to arrange follow- up meeting with Forterra, staff, and Board of County Commissioners to discuss benefits, developmental rights, etc. before making any final decisions. Meeting adjourn at 2:14 pm hdOXIMS:11ulIl8Jlr 1 2020-6-8 MINUTES KITTITAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON Brett Wachsmith, Chairman 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" Fax (509) 962-7682 U171TAS L'OMT4 Memorandum June 22, 2020 To: Board of County Commissioners From: Dan Carlson, AICP Director, Community Development Services RE: Request for Direction Regarding 2020 Annual Docket Background According to RCW 36.70A. 1 30(2)(a), a county may revise its comprehensive plan no more frequently than once every year. This RCW allows counties to amend its comprehensive plan less frequently than once per year. According to KCC 15B.03.010, proposed amendments of the comprehensive plan are considered by the county board of commissioners no more frequently than once per year. This code section allows the county to amend its comprehensive plan less frequently than once per year. KCC 15B.03.030 provides for docketing as follows: "Any interested person, including applicants, citizens, county commission and board members, and staff of other agencies may suggest plan or development regulation amendments. The suggested amendments shall be docketed with the planning department for annual consideration by the Kittitas County planning commission and board of county commissioners. For purposes of this section, docketing refers to compiling and maintaining a list of suggested changes to the comprehensive plan in the planning department in a manner that will ensure such suggested changes will be considered by Kittitas County and will be readily available for review by the public. Docketing for the calendar year shall be taken from January 1 st to June 30th of each calendar year. Amendments docketed after June 30th shall be considered in the following calendar year. Amendments to the comprehensive plan docketed by June 30th shall be approved or denied by the board of county commissioners on or before December 31st of that same calendar year." KCC 15B.04.020 allows for amendments to development regulations to be docketed for annual consideration, but also allows for development regulation amendments to be considered more frequently as long as public participation requirements prescribed in the same chapter are followed. KCC 15B.04.030 allows for docketing of development regulation amendments as follows: "For purposes of this section, docketing refers to compiling and maintaining a list of suggested changes to the development regulation(s) in the planning department in a manner that will ensure such suggested changes will be considered by Kittitas County and will be readily available for review by the public. Docketing for the calendar year shall be taken from January 1st to June 30th of each calendar year. Amendments docketed after June 30th shall be considered in the following calendar year. Amendments to development regulations docketed by June 30th shall be approved or denied by the board of county commissioners on or before December 31 st of that same calendar year." COMMUNITY PLANNING • BUILDING INSPECTION • PLAN REVIEW • ADMINISTRATION • PERMIT SERVICES • CODE ENFORCEMENT 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.