The comp plan is a guide for how the county will grow in the future. The new draft includes more protections for water.
Public will have more input on proposal
Right away, the working draft of Okanogan County’s comprehensive plan looks quite different from the existing plan — there’s a chapter devoted to groundwater, and the plan states that the county will consider wildfire-protection policy in land-use zoning.
Those changes are part of a deal worked out with two environmental groups that sued the county over the plan almost as soon as it was adopted at the end of 2014. The Methow Valley Citizens Council and Futurewise claimed that the plan didn’t address water quality and quantity or wildfire. The 2014 plan was the first complete overhaul in 51 years.
Last year, the county commissioners and county planners began going over the plan and invited comments from the public, particularly about how effectively it protects water. The commissioners expect to circulate a new draft of the plan for public review in late summer or early fall.
When it comes to wildfire, the working draft plan says the county will “prioritize the protection of people, structures, infrastructure, and unique ecosystems contributing to our way of life and the sustainability of the local and regional economy.” It also commits to developing mitigation strategies to reduce fire risk.
By contrast, planning for wildfire risk in the old plan was quite limited. That plan notes that the county’s planning commission held study sessions where they discussed the county’s wildfire protection plan and other plans that protect shorelines and critical areas. But in the end, the county commissioners decided to tackle the comp plan on its own because revising all the plans at once was “prohibitively complicated and was compromising the ability of the public to effectively participate,” they said in the 2014 plan.
The 2014 plan also took a different philosophy to wildfire protection. “The planning commission found that an incentive-based approach to fire hazard mitigation should be considered in the subdivision regulation and building codes,” it says.
The first goal in the new groundwater chapter states that the county will “make a clear, conscious connection between watershed planning and land use planning in Okanogan County.” It directs new growth to areas with municipal water systems and related infrastructure and away from areas “where it is obvious water is scarce.”
The plan recognizes that lands currently used for agriculture will be converted to other uses, which will place a different demand on water supply.
The plan also commits the county to finding ways to keep water rights from being transferred out of the county. It says the county will look for new opportunities for water storage and for money to support aquifer studies.
Using population forecasts
In the new draft, planning for where and how the county will grow is tied to different projections of population growth by 2040. The plan presents four alternatives:
• No change from the 2014 plan, which was based on modest population growth.
• Alternative 1, which anticipates the county’s population will fall by 2,600 (1,460 households).
• Alternative 2, which anticipates moderate population growth of 4,500 (2,500 households).
• Alternative 3, which anticipates a big increase in population of 16,800 (9,320 households).
What goes where
The comp plan creates general land designations, whereas specific uses are listed in the county’s zoning code. The zoning map shows individual parcels and includes a detailed list of activities — everything from single-family dwellings to apiaries to concrete plants — that are permitted, prohibited, or require a special permit.
The comp plan’s “rural” designation covers everything other than towns or cities and the areas they’ve earmarked for future expansion. As a result, rural lands encompass a wide diversity of uses, including residential, commercial, agricultural and recreational opportunities.
Cities define their own expansion areas where they plan to grow over the next two decades. The county will work with towns and cities to plan these areas, assessing elements such as the ability for cities to provide sewer, water and other public services.
Unincorporated areas such as Mazama or Methow are also expected to provide residential and commercial amenities. The new plan proposes clustering residences on larger parcels to use resources more efficiently and preserve open space and density of development.
The draft plan allows for parts of the county to do their own intensive planning. At present, the only “more completely planned area” is the Methow Valley — based on two plans that were developed over the past 40 years by residents in the Methow Review District, which goes from Gold Creek to Mazama. The plan has provisions for other communities to do their own specific planning.
State law also requires comp plans to designate and protect “resource lands” in three categories — agriculture, forest and minerals. The new draft notes that these lands exist in many areas, including irrigated orchards and farms on the valley floors and higher-elevation public lands leased for grazing.
Public land
Both the existing plan and the new draft expect federal and state land-management agencies to involve the county as early as possible in their decision-making.
The new plan states that it is the county policy that Washington state should consolidate its land holdings as much as possible to improve the efficiency of land management. The plan urges the state to divest of parcels that create a checkerboard pattern and to purchase only lands that would lead to more efficient management.
The old plan takes a firmer tone, stating, “The continued conversion of private land to public ownership will cause adverse impacts to the tax base and local economy if it continues unabated.”
The county commissioners have been holding work sessions on the plan over the past few months. The next phase will include “scoping,” where the public can submit topics they believe should be addressed in the environmental review of the plan. There will ultimately be an environmental impact statement that compares the four alternatives in the plan (the existing 2014 plan plus the three population estimates). That will be followed by more public hearings.
The commissioners will review the next comp plan draft at their meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 3 p.m.
