County Asks Feds, State To Listen Up Okanogan Passes Resolution Seeking Role In Land-Use Plans

Okanogan County commissioners asked state and federal agencies on Monday to let county officials pull up a chair when land-use decisions affecting county residents are discussed.

After hearing testimony from 28 people, commissioners unanimously approved a resolution asking state and federal agencies to consider the county’s “customs, culture, economic stability and environmental harmony.” The 43-page resolution defines those terms by outlining the importance of resource industries.

Commissioners also amended the county ordinance dealing with environmental impact statements required by the State Environmental Policy Act. The amendment requires all impact statements to include a “socioeconomic analysis,” including “discussion of any probable direct or indirect infringement of private property rights.”

In another environmental ordinance amendment, commissioners pledged to request federal and state agencies proposing changes that would “significantly affect the quality of both the natural and socioeconomic environment to agree to participate in joint planning.”

Commission Chairman Dave Schulz said the resolution and ordinance amendments will have the same effect as a separate ordinance proposal they put on a back burner. He said the proposed ordinance was too cumbersome and needed to be accompanied by an overhaul of the county comprehensive plan.

Schulz said the shelved ordinance, like Monday’s actions, did not assert county jurisdiction over the state or federal governments. He said some residents advocated a confrontational ordinance patterned after one in Catron County, New Mexico, but “we really distanced ourselves right from the beginning from the Catron County label.”

, DataTimes