WAC 365-190-020   Purpose.  The intent of this chapter is to establish minimum guidelines to assist all counties and cities statewide in classifying agricultural lands, forest lands, mineral resource lands, and critical areas. These guidelines shall be considered by counties and cities in designating these lands.

     Growth management, natural resource land conservation, and critical areas protection share problems related to governmental costs and efficiency. Sprawl and the unwise development of natural resource lands or areas susceptible to natural hazards may lead to inefficient use of limited public resources, jeopardize environmental resource functions and values, subject persons and property to unsafe conditions, and affect the perceived quality of life. It is more costly to remedy the loss of natural resource lands or critical areas than to conserve and protect them from loss or degradation. The inherent economic, social, and cultural values of natural resource lands and critical areas should be considered in the development of strategies designed to conserve and protect lands.

     In recognition of these common concerns, classification and designation of natural resource lands and critical areas is intended to assure the long-term conservation of natural resource lands and to preclude land uses and developments which are incompatible with critical areas. There are qualitative differences between and among natural resource lands and critical areas. Not all areas and ecosystems are critical for the same reasons. Some are critical because of the hazard they present to public health and safety, some because of the values they represent to the public welfare. In some cases, the risk posed to the public by use or development of a critical area can be mitigated or reduced by engineering or design; in other cases that risk cannot be effectively reduced except by avoidance of the critical area. Hence, classification and designation of critical areas is intended to lead counties and cities to recognize the differences among these areas, and to develop appropriate regulatory and nonregulatory actions in response.

     Counties and cities required or opting to plan under the Growth Management Act of 1990 should consider the definitions and guidelines in this chapter when preparing development regulations which preclude uses and development incompatible with critical areas (see RCW 36.70A.060). Precluding incompatible uses and development does not mean a prohibition of all uses or development. Rather, it means governing changes in land uses, new activities, or development that could adversely affect critical areas. Thus for each critical area, counties and cities planning under the act should define classification schemes and prepare development regulations that govern changes in land uses and new activities by prohibiting clearly inappropriate actions and restricting, allowing, or conditioning other activities as appropriate.

     It is the intent of these guidelines that critical areas designations overlay other land uses including designated natural resource lands. That is, if two or more land use designations apply to a given parcel or a portion of a parcel, both or all designations shall be made. Regarding natural resource lands, counties and cities should allow existing and ongoing resource management operations, that have long-term commercial significance, to continue. Counties and cities should encourage utilization of best management practices where existing and ongoing resource management operations that have long-term commercial significance include designated critical areas. Future operations or expansion of existing operations should be done in consideration of protecting critical areas.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.050. 91-07-041, § 365-190-020, filed 3/15/91, effective 4/15/91.]