Critical-Areas Ordinance Ok’d County Agrees On Less-Limited Plan To Protect Fragile Lands

After six hours of public debate, Spokane County commissioners reached a compromise on how to protect environmentally fragile lands.

The 3-0 vote came just before midnight Tuesday and approves - as of March 26 - a critical-areas ordinance required by the state Growth Management Act.

Five items will be sorted out and then approved March 26, said Commissioner Steve Hasson.

Commissioner John Roskelley joined Hasson and Phil Harris in approving a less-restrictive version of the ordinance, penned last August by two dozen citizens on an advisory committee.

“I felt like we had reached a balance,” Roskelley said. “We had compromised.”

Commissioners rejected the county planning commission’s version of the ordinance, which featured wider riparian buffers and cracked down on wetlands development.

State regulators gave Spokane County a September 1992 deadline to pass the ordinance, but the debate has been so rancorous that the process has dragged.

“I’m happy because maybe we’re going to get something done,” said senior county planner Paul Jensen. “When you’ve got such diverse viewpoints and they’re so far apart, it’s hard to find where that middle is.”

Roskelley supported the more restrictive measure but voted with his counterparts, fearing further delays.

“We needed the ordinance,” he said. “We were out of compliance.”

Agreed Hasson, “We had waited long enough.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONTENTIOUS AREAS Citizens have two weeks to comment on five areas, the first, the most controversial, and the remaining four because they pose potential legal pitfalls: Stream buffer widths The appeals process Who qualifies as a wetlands specialist Whether state and federal regulations supersede county rules What should be penalties for violations