Planning and Development Services

Annual Comprehensive Plan Amendments

Petitions for the 2015 Docket

The Growth Management Act provides that “each comprehensive land use plan and development regulations shall be subject to continuing review and evaluation” and requires Skagit County to annually accept petitions for amendments or revisions to our Comprehensive Plan, in addition to the more comprehensive periodic update. Skagit County implements this requirement through Skagit County Code Chapter 14.08, which describes the process for such annual amendments.

Resolution R20150390 to Establish the Docket for the 2015 Comprehensive Plan Amendments (December 14, 2015)
Supplemental Staff Report (November 18, 2015)
Public comments on dock eting (October 29, 2015)
Department Memo on Annual Comprehensive Plan Amendments 2015 Docket (October 7, 2015)
Notice of Availability (October 8, 2015)
UGA Expansion Proposals for the County's 2015 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket (September 8, 2015)
Staff Memo on Initial List of Proposals for the Docket (August 20, 2015)

The following proposals to amend the Comprehensive Plan policies, map, or development regulations were received by July 31, 2015 and are being considered for the 2015 Comprehensive Plan Amendment Docket.

Number	Petitioner	Petitioner's Description
Policy and/or code amendments
NC-1	Ellen Bynum/June Kite, Friends of Skagit County	Amend Conservation and Reserve Developments (CaRD) policies and code to require: 1. CaRDs be allowed only in UGAs. 2. CaRDs have a cap that limits the scale of the development in relationship to the reserve land size. 3. CaRDs that exist currently in Skagit County have permanent easements on the reserved portion of the parcels which are NOT reserved for future development but instead provide permanent protection on that portion of the land.
NC-2	Carol Ehlers	Reduce lot coverage maximum of 35% in Rural Reserve, Skagit County Code (SCC) 14.16.320(5)(g), to protect rural character and reduce impervious surface in conformance with new Department of Ecology stormwater requirements.
NC-3	Carol Ehlers	Administrative uses in Rural Reserve, 14.16.320(3)(h) & (i), regarding outdoor storage of processed and unprocessed natural materials, should become hearing examiner rather than administrative special uses.
NC-4	Carol Ehlers	Amend Comprehensive Plan Chapter 6, Shoreline Master Program Element, Objective 14 and related policies regarding mining, to prohibit mining within 100’ (200’?) of the shoreline of a fish bearing stream or lake, or where the mining silt will drain into such waters.
NC-5	Carol Ehlers	Amend the Critical Areas Ordinance, SCC 14.24.320, aquifer recharge areas prohibited activities, by expanding the scope of the code provisions to Category II aquifer recharge areas in addition to Category I areas which are already covered. Amendment would protect drinking water and property values in these areas.
NC-6	Randy Good	Amend the Comprehensive Plan to create standing citizen committees to work with the Planning Commission on review and suggested changes to the Countywide Planning Policies, Comprehensive Plan and codes.
NC-7	Randy Good	Amend sections of the Comprehensive Plan to implement Skagit County’s policy of no loss of agricultural lands.
NC-8	Roger Mitchell	Amend SCC 14.06, Permit Procedures, to require a geohazards checklist similar to a SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) checklist for every planning and permitting project proposal.
NC-9	Roger Mitchell	All County GIS maps regularly and routinely used for planning and permitting purposes under the Growth Management Act and Comprehensive Plan, and any derivative planning, should be updated on a regularly scheduled interval. The recommended interval for scheduled updates is three years, or less.
NC-10	Roger Mitchell	At the time of each permit application, the County must provide permit applicants with all required, applicable, and most current County GIS maps.
NC-11	Roger Mitchell	PDS must perform a good faith analysis of the impacts of all County planning projects on a range of metrics including cost/ benefit, economic impacts, property tax impacts, sales tax impacts, increases or decreases in monitored inventories (e.g. acres of agricultural land, acres of forest land, acres of each land use designation, etc.), water usage, and changes to individual property rights.
NC-12	Roger Mitchell	Establish a permanent, standing, Rural Advisory Board – analogous to the Agriculture Advisory Board and the Forest Advisory Board – that reports to, and serves at the pleasure of, the Board of County Commissioners.
NC-13	Roger Mitchell	Amend the Rural Element of the Comprehensive Plan to state that water access for rural property owners is a fundamental right that needs to be protected and preserved.
NC-14	Roger Mitchell	The Comprehensive Plan must expressly state that, as a highest priority, the County will take all reasonable measures to protect and ensure equitable distribution of water resources for beneficial use by the citizens of Skagit County. In doing so, the County must rely on best available and true science.
NC-15	Ed Stauffer	Adopt by reference in the Skagit County Comprehensive Plan and the Countywide Planning policies, the Skagit County Comprehensive Plan in place prior to April 1, 1990, and designate it as the default plan in the event RCW 36.70A the Growth Management Act, is rescinded.
NC-16	Ed Stauffer	Review the required tasks per RCW 36.70A for identifying land use areas in Skagit County. Recognize that Skagit County manifests "regional differences" to large urban jurisdictions. Bring forth, under land use and rural elements, the defining characteristics of rural residential uses as they are described in GMA. Complete the required work of describing the unincorporated residential land uses legal prior to GMA. These existing legal five acre residential parcels prior to GMA were not identified or mapped as required.
NC-17	Ed Stauffer	Address the amendment submittals generated by staff, citing the source of the proposal, in the context of proposals submitted by constituents of Skagit County elected officials. The GMA implementation process and subsequent legislative process have been heavily dominated and influenced by grants, consultants, and public private partnerships representing typically urban interest. Our local officials must recognize local issues in our Comprehensive Plan.
Land Use/Zoning Map Amendments
PL13-0299	City of Sedro-Woolley Additional paper attachments are available by contacting Planning & Development Services, 360/416-1320.	The proposal seeks to add land to the Sedro-Woolley urban growth area (UGA) to accommodate the projected employment growth and population growth over the 20-year planning horizon (2016 to 2036). The city’s recently-completed Buildable Land & Land Capacity Analysis Report indicates that the city needs land to accommodate an additional 359 jobs and 128 residents beyond what the existing UGA can accommodate. The proposal seeks to add land to the UGA and change County zoning within the unincorporated portion of the UGA to enable the city to meet GMA Steering Committee-adopted population and jobs growth. The proposal is a continuation and modification to the proposal submitted by the city in 2013.
PL15-0363	Pit 1, LLC, C/O Lake Erie Trucking (Bill Wooding)	Expand the Mineral Resource Overlay (MRO) to the parcel boundaries of four parcels on Fidalgo Island currently designated Rural Resource-NRL and partially included in the MRO. Size of proposed MRO expansion is approximately 23 acres. If approved, the property owner will seek a special use permit from the County to expand the Lake Erie Pit.
PL15-0378	Robert Houston Foist, Concrete Concepts & Design LLC	Redesignate P72958 in the Edison Rural Village from Rural Village Residential to Rural Village Commercial (RVC), to allow small retail or services businesses permitted in that designation and zone. The parcel contains two metal buildings not intended for residential use and is adjacent to other parcels designated RVC.
PL15-0379	Martin Chamberlain, Edison Granary	Redesignate portion of P48536 in the Edison Rural Village from Rural Village Residential to Rural Village Commercial. Applicant seeks to convert the existing granary building on site into a community events space, grange hall, and seasonal weekly farmers’ market to support local producers and growers in the area. Parcel is adjacent to parcels zoned Rural Village Residential and Rural Business; southern portion of subject parcel zoned Ag-NRL is not proposed for change.
PL15-0383	Bill Sygitowicz, Skagit Partners, LLC	The proposal seeks to redesignate approximately 1,200 acres of land bordered by Old Highway 99 on the west, Kelleher Rd. on the south, and F&S grade road on the west, to an unincorporated urban growth area (UGA). The land is currently zoned predominantly Rural Resource-NRL (RRc-NRL) with a Mineral Resource Overlay; as well as Rural Reserve (approximately 49 acres) and Ag-NRL (approximately 7 acres). Approximately 600 acres of the site would be developed for residential use as well as a school, community center, parks and trails. The remainder would remain undeveloped and in open space. The proposal seeks an increase of 10,000 people to the proposed 20-year population allocation for Skagit County (from 155,452 to 165,452), with the entire increase allocated to the proposed Avalon UGA.