Truant Chelan County Gets A On Gma Report Balked At The Growth Guidelines But Now Meets State Prospectus

Sat., Jan. 3, 1998

By Dan Hansen danh@spokesman.com

One of Eastern Washington’s renegade counties has been brought back into the fold.

Chelan County, which for six years defied state law by refusing to comply with the Growth Management Act, recently received a glowing report from the state panel that reviews county plans.

“We applaud (the county’s) efforts,” the three-member Eastern Washington GMA hearings board wrote in a unanimous decision filed Dec. 17.

Perhaps so. But Chelan County’s turnaround won’t be applauded by groups that consider the GMA an infringement on property rights and local control.

Under the act, fast-growing counties are required to write land-use regulations for protecting farms and forests, wetlands and recreational areas. Urban growth is restricted to areas that have public utilities, roads and other necessary infrastructure.

Until last week’s ruling, orchard-rich Chelan County had been out of compliance with the GMA since 1991. It became the poster child for rebellious counties by refusing to designate agricultural areas worthy of protection from sprawl.

And while a citizens committee had recommended that no lots smaller than 40 acres be allowed in some forested areas, the county commission set the minimum lot size at 1 acre.

Environmental groups and some county residents fought back, filing appeals with the hearings board. County commissioners largely ignored the board on some matters and dragged their feet on others.

By 1995, county commissioners had written forest protection plans that satisfied state law. But the hearings board ruled that the county still was not adequately protecting farms.

The matter came to a head in 1995, when county officials filed suit in state and federal courts alleging the GMA is unconstitutional. Then-Gov. Mike Lowry responded in 1996 by withholding $140,000 a month in state road money.

No other county has been hit with state sanctions, although some have gone nearly as far as Chelan in defying the GMA. A change in the GMA resolved issues that led Gov. Gary Locke to consider sanctions against Ferry County earlier this year. Kittitas County officials remain defiant after at least eight trips to the hearings board.

The Chelan County dispute ended in September 1996, when voters replaced two anti-GMA commissioners. That gave the pro-planning forces a 2-1 majority on the board of commissioners.

Nine days after the new commissioners took office, the county fired the attorney who had led it into battle. Lowry lifted the sanctions, and the county received $866,000 in state payments and interest it had missed.

But the county spent more than $100,000 in legal fees.

Chelan County’s new regulations protect 48,000 acres of farm land.

“The commissioners even went beyond the recommendations of a citizen committee in protecting the environment, protecting the agricultural industry,” said Skip Chilberg, a member of the hearings board.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: GUIDELINES Under the Growth Management Act, fast-growing counties are required to write land-use regulations for protecting farms and forests, wetlands and recreational areas. Urban growth is restricted to areas that have public utilities, roads and other necessary infrastructure.

This sidebar appeared with the story: GUIDELINES Under the Growth Management Act, fast-growing counties are required to write land-use regulations for protecting farms and forests, wetlands and recreational areas. Urban growth is restricted to areas that have public utilities, roads and other necessary infrastructure.