INTRODUCTION

The Growth Management Act (GMA) mandates a “review timeline schedule” for each County within the State of Washington to review and update, if necessary, its Comprehensive Plan and development regulations for consistency and continued compliance with those portions of the GMA applicable to that particular County. Skamania County is one of ten counties in the State of Washington that is required to only partially plan under GMA. The scheduled review timeline for Skamania County to review and update, if necessary, is December 1, 2005. However, in 2006, the Washington State Legislature adopted a change in the GMA that allows a three (3) year extension to all of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 counties. By December 1, 2008, Skamania County is required to review and update, if necessary, its Comprehensive Plan and development regulations to be consistent and in continued compliance with GMA for Critical Areas.

GMA also requires local governments establish and broadly disseminate to the public a Public Participation Program identifying procedures providing for early and continuous public participation in the development and amendment of comprehensive land use plans and development regulations implementing such plans, only to the extent the County is required to plan under the GMA. In Skamania County, only Critical Areas and Natural Resource Lands GMA planning is required. Since the Natural Resource Lands review was completed on August 2, 2005, this Public Participation Program only applies to the 2006-2008 Critical Areas Update.

The 2006-2008 Critical Areas Update Process is a legislative process, not a quasi-judicial one. Any final action by the Board of County Commissioners through this process is a legislative action. Legislative action means the adoption of a resolution or ordinance following notice and a public hearing indicating at a minimum, a finding that a review and evaluation has occurred and identifying the revisions made, or that a revision was not needed and the reasons therefore. Since Skamania County is only partially planning under GMA, any legislative action taken by the Board of County Commissioners may be appealed to Superior Court as a legislative action. However, legislative actions do not meet the definition of “land use decision” and therefore cannot be appealed under the procedures in RCW 36.70C. Additionally, legislative actions in Skamania County cannot be appealed to the Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB) under the procedures in RCW 36.70A.290, since Skamania County is one of the ten counties in Washington State that is only partially planning under GMA and not within the GMHB jurisdiction.

This Public Participation Program describes the steps Skamania County will take to meet the requirements of RCW 36.70A.130(2)(a) by involving the community in its decisions regarding the 2006 Critical Areas Update Process.

Skamania County 2006-2008 Critical Areas Update Process

The 2006-2008 Critical Area Update is a growing process, as such, these pages will be continually updated to reflect the process. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Skamania County Planning & Community Development office at 509-427-3900, PO Box 790 Stevenson, Washington 98648.

SCHEDULE

INTRODUCTION