History
In early 2005, Whatcom County adopted an update of its Comprehensive Plan. Futurewise, a statewide public interest group, challenged portions of the County’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning code before the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. On September 20, 2005 the Board ruled that Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning regulations do not comply with the Growth Management Act (GMA). The Board’s findings were related to three topics: Rural Density, Urban Density, and Limited Areas of More Intense Rural Development (LAMIRDs).
An intervener in the case, Gold Star Resorts Inc., appealed the Hearings Board decision to Whatcom County Superior Court, and in 2006 the court reversed the Hearings Board decision on the rural density and LAMIRD issues (the Court was silent on the urban density issue).
In 2006 PDS staff had prepared draft comprehensive plan amendments to address the urban density and LAMIRD issues and discussed the draft amendments with the Planning Commission in May and June of that year. The project was placed on hold when the Superior Court decision reversed the Hearings Board decision on those issues. In 2007 the County rezoned about 1,700 acres of UR3 zoned land within the Ferndale and Everson UGAs to UR4, which has resolved the urban density issue.
On August 27, 2007, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington reversed the 2006 Superior Court decision and reinstated the 2005 Hearings Board decision. Though Whatcom County has resolved the Urban Growth Area density issue, the County now must address the remaining two issues from the Hearings Board decision: rural density and LAMIRDs.
|
