Commission Votes To Open Scablands To Development

Whitman County commissioners voted 2-1 Monday to open some of Eastern Washington’s scablands to planned residential development.

Pullman Republican Nora Mae Keifer voted against the amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan, while farmers Les Wigen of LaCrosse and Hollis Jamison of Garfield, also Republicans, supported the changes.

“I can’t really see how this is going to hurt Whitman County in any way,” Jamison said in a telephone interview. “I think we’ve got to look toward the future to a certain extent, we just can’t say no to everything. The times are changing.”

Monday’s decision to approve the controversial changes in the county’s subdivision ordinance came despite growing public opposition in recent weeks and conflict-of-interest allegations lodged by opponents.

The land proposed for potential subdivisions includes the hillsides above the Snake River, the shores of Rock Lake and other western and southern reaches of Whitman County’s remote scablands.

With the population of farmers aging and the agricultural economy sagging, some landowners are requesting the option of developing the untillable land that is mostly used for grazing now. But sportsmen, environmentalists and other outdoor enthusiasts decried potential development in the uniquely beautiful and largely uninhabited scablands, which provide access to many of Whitman County’s waterways.

There were farmers for and against the changes, Wigen said, but in the end he was convinced now was the time for changes in the 1978 comprehensive plan.

“It’s been tight agriculture (use) for 21 years, and I think it’s time we take a look at having some low-density development in our area,” Wigen said in a telephone interview. He added that any new development would likely be slow and methodical because there are “a lot of hoops to jump through” and a number of environmental protections built into the wording of the amendments.

“I really don’t think there’s going to be bulldozers taking off tomorrow morning,” he said.

The proposal would allow minimum 200-acre developments in some of the county’s remote southern and western reaches, with a maximum density of one house every 20 acres. Each development will have to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the county commissioners before final approval.

Pullman’s Keifer said phone calls and letters from her constituents ran 75 against the proposal to only a handful in support, but she said she voted against changes because of a series of nagging uncertainties.

“I think there are so many things still hinging that it was premature for us to move forward,” she said.

Specifically, Keifer said approving more development was putting “the cart before the horse,” because there already are long statewide delays in processing water permits.

Plus, approving additional housing in the rural areas could leave the county vulnerable to a lawsuit still pending in Thurston County.

Last fall, a judge there found Whitman County out of compliance with critical ordinances in the Growth Management Act. Whitman County is appealing the decision.