Eastern Washington Rural-Related Cases

Rural Centers

• A county's decision to allow "designated rural service centers" is restrained by the same prohibition against urban growth outside the urban growth areas. New residential development in these centers must be limited to rural densities and non-residential growth must be limited to uses dependent by their very nature on a rural location and functionally and visually compatible with the surrounding rural/resource land character. Wenatchee Valley Mall Partnership, et al. v. Douglas County, EWGMHB 96-1-0009, Final Decision and Order (Dec. 10, 1996).
• Commercial uses within a Rural Service Area are restricted to those uses dependent upon a rural area or to serve the needs of the residents of the rural area. Woodmansee, et al. v. Ferry County, EWGMHB 95-1-0010, Order on Compliance (Apr. 16, 1997).

Rural Element

• The Growth Management Act specifically differentiates between agricultural resource lands and rural lands. County residents who desire a rural lifestyle should have the opportunity to purchase rural homesites in rural areas that do not have long-term commercial value as agricultural land. Save Our Butte Save Our Basin Society, et al. v. Chelan County, EWGMHB 94-1-0015, Final Decision and Order (Aug. 8, 1994).
• A county's decision to allow "designated rural service centers" is restrained by the same prohibition against urban growth outside the urban growth areas. New residential development in these centers must be limited to rural densities and non-residential growth must be limited to uses dependent by their very nature on a rural location and functionally and visually compatible with the surrounding rural/resource land character. Wenatchee Valley Mall Partnership, et al. v. Douglas County, EWGMHB 96-1-0009, Final Decision and Order (Dec. 10, 1996).