FERRY COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
December 8, 2010
Chairwoman Tammy Stevens called the regular December 8, 2010 meeting of the Planning Commission to
order. Commissioners Lorna Johnson, Gary Howden, Bob Kirkham, Cathy Winchester, John Egge and
Mickey Woolley were also present. Irene Whipple was present from the Planning Department. Kenton
Carpenter attended as a guest.
o
Ed McKeen Reasonable Use Exemption
The Ferry County Planning Commission reviewed a reasonable use exception request submitted by
Edwin E. McKeen for the McKeen Living Trust to build no closer than 100‟ from the ordinary high
water mark of Curlew Lake. The McKeen Living Trust, et al owns Lot 18 of the Ed McKeen‟s
Replat of Ed McKeen‟s Curlew Lake Tracts located in Section 08, Township 37, Range 33. The
original subdivision that was approved in 1957 was comprised of very small lots. The replat was
approved in 2005; and even though it made some of the lots larger, it still did not meet the current
standards. A septic was approved and installed in 2005. Mickey Woolley made a motion to approve
the reasonable use exception to build a residential structure no closer than 100‟ from the ordinary
high water mark. This motion was based upon the topography, the size and configuration of the lot;
and the location of the septic system and the access road which do not allow maintaining for the 150‟
current setback, Bob Kirkham seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
The Planning Commission reviewed the minutes for the November 10th meeting. Mickey Woolley made
a motion to approve the minutes as written. Bob Kirkham seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously.
A discussion was held regarding the confidentially of drafts/suggestions that are submitted to the
Planning Commission for their consideration. The problem with submitting draft documents to the public
prior to the Planning Commission review is that the Planning Commission may not even decide to include
some/or all of the suggestion into the document. The Public Participation Plan was reviewed which states
that public review of and comment on all draft plans and ordinances shall be actively promoted. Lorna
Johnson made a motion that documents that have not been reviewed by the Planning Commission are not
to be submitted to the public until the Planning Commission reviews them. If the public attends the
meeting, they can get the documents at that time when the Planning Commission is reviewing them. Bob
Kirkham seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Brian Amsbary, our GMA attorney, reviewed our draft Critical Areas Ordinance and Comprehensive Plan
regarding Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas. He said that he did not have any big changes
but we would need a very good record, such as a Findings and Conclusions. Sharon Shumate is working
on a document summarizing the changes we made per the comments received on the draft ordinances.
The Planning Commission will hold a special meeting on January 5th regarding Fish and Wildlife Habitat
Conservation Areas and to review Ag Lands of Long Term Commercial Significance (if time allows).
Per Mr. Amsbary‟s suggestion, the Planning Commission reviewed Yakima County‟s Upland Wildlife
Habitat Conservation Areas. The Planning Commission made the following suggested changes to the
draft Critical Areas Ordinance for submittal to the Board of County Commissioners.
Section 9.00
o Add to the end: “To maintain viable populations of wildlife species, there must be
adequate environmental conditions for reproduction, foraging, resting, cover, and
dispersal of animals at a variety of scales across the landscape. Key factors affecting
habitat quality include the presence of essential resources such as food, water, and nest
building materials, the complexity of the environment, and the presence or absence of
predator species and diseases. Ferry County protects habitat for fish and wildlife species
using this ordinance and associated protection measures described below.
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Ferry County has a very high proportion of federal, state and other publicly and tribally
owned land. These lands are generally managed for the conservation of wildlife habitat.
Consequently, one of Ferry County‟s approaches to protecting all wildlife habitat types is
to depend on the management of these lands by the responsible entity (i.e. US. Forest
Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, etc.).”
Section 9.01
o 1st sentence: change “considered” to “classified”
o 2) after 3rd sentence add “Review of a Species and/or Habitat of Local Importance
application is a legislative action, and shall be processed during the Comprehensive Plan
amendment cycle.”
Section 9.03
o Heading: remove “- STREAMS, RIVERS AND LAKES”
o 1) add a heading before the last paragraph: “2) Mapped Habitat Areas”
o Change old “2)” to “3)” and delete “in Buffers” in the heading
o Renumber remainder subsections
o 4) 2nd paragraph, 1st sentence: Change “9.03(2)” to “9.03(3)”
o 9) change “9.03(3)” to “9.03(4)”
o Last sentence: change “9.03(2)” to “9.03(3)”
Section 9.04
o Delete 1st sentence and add “The approximate location and extent of Fish and Wildlife
Habitat Conservation Areas for Endangered, Threatened and Sensitive species are shown
on the County‟s critical area map titled “Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas of
Ferry County.” This map is to be used as a guide for the county and may be updated as
more detailed data become available. This map is a reference and does not provide a
final critical area designation.”
The Planning Commission continued their review of Agricultural Lands of Long-Term Commercial
Significance:
Dan Fagerlie, WSU Extension Agent submitted two U.S. Department of Agriculture 2007 Census
maps. One shows that Ferry County has no food processing plants and the other one shows that we
are tied for last place as #37 within Washington State for market value of crop and livestock products.
It was agreed that we need to add these figures to our Findings of Fact.
The Planning Commission reviewed two documents prepared by Tamara Stevens and Lorna Johnson
dated 12/8/10 regarding changes to the 6/9/2010 Draft Development Regulations Ordinance. They
made the following changes:
Page 2, 4th Whereas:
o Insert “Natural Resource Lands:” before (a)
o Delete (d)
Page 2, 5th Whereas:
o Delete and change to “The measures adopted through this ordinance are designed to meet
the goals and regulations of the Growth Management Act and the policies of the Ferry
County Comprehensive Plan.”
Page 2, 6th Whereas:
Change to read: “Ferry County is required by WAC 365-190-050 to consider as
Agricultural Resource Lands, land not already characterized by urban growth, land used
or capable of being used for agricultural production, and land that has long-term
commercial significance for agriculture.”
Page 2, 7th – 14th (all remaining)Whereas
o Delete
Page 2, Add a new Whereas, which will be #7
o Ferry County utilized the model provided for the County by then CTED, which was
developed by Lewis County. Review of agricultural land was based on the criteria found
in WAC 365-190-050 (3)c.
Page 2, Add a new Whereas, which will be #8
o Other counties have utilized the U.S. Agricultural Census for information to aid in
determining designation of Agricultural Lands of Long-Term Commercial Significance.
However, due to the effects of Title 7 of the United States Code, most tabulated items for
Ferry County are suppressed and coded with a „D‟ to protect confidentiality; thereby,
diminishing the usefulness of the U.S. Agricultural Census for Ferry County.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #9
o The “land in farms” figures from the U.S. Agricultural Census report that there are
749,452 acres in farms in Ferry County. However, there are, in fact, only 258,500 total
privately held acres in the county which includes the city of Republic, the Limited Areas
of More Intense Rural Developments (LAMRIDS), residential and recreational land, and
natural resource lands. The Census reports “in many instances, an entire American
Indian Reservation was reported as one farm.” This would remove 589,738 acres from
“land in farm”; leaving 159,714 acres reported as “land in farms”, which includes timber
tracts.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #10
o The U.S. Agricultural Census (American Indian Reservations, Vol. 2, Subject Series, Part
5) on page 23 reports information regarding the Colville Tribe. Figures show 1,344,170
acres as “land in farms” with the number of farms as 227. These figures include the
Reservation area in both Okanogan and Ferry Counties. The Natural Resources
Conservation Service soil surveys report 18 prime soil types in Northern Ferry County
and 49 prime soil types on the Colville Reservation located within Ferry County.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #11
o Pastured woodland and woodland not pastured (woodlots, timber tracts and sugarbush)
are included as “land in farms” reported in the U.S. Agricultural Census. All state and
federally managed forest lands or lands under current use taxation programs as either
designated forest or current use timber are designated as Forest Lands of Long-Term
Commercial Significance in Ferry County, and protected in Section 8 of this document.
The Assessor‟s office reports 134,499 acres in these programs, leaving 25,215 acres as
actual privately held “land in farms” under agricultural use.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #12
o The 21,360 acres of prime soils found in Northern Ferry County include lands in the
Urban Growth Area as well as platted lots, timber lands, and isolated pockets, it is clear
that this figure of prime soil acreage is not useful in substantiating acres used for
agricultural activity.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #13
o Ferry County‟s primary agricultural product is livestock (cattle) and is entirely dependent
upon public rangeland for grazing. The 1934 Taylor Grazing Act, the 1976 Federal Land
Policy and Management Act and the 1978 Public Rangeland Improvement Act provides
leased grazing which stabilizes the livestock industry dependent upon the public range,
o
prevents economic disruption, saves open space and western wildlife and has been the
mainstay of the rural western economy.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #14
o There are 470,151 acres of Colville National Forest grazing leases and 19,423 acres of
Washington State grazing leases within Ferry County.
Page 3, Add a new Whereas, which will be #15
o Ferry County has an Open Range Law and a Right to Farm Ordinance. Agricultural
activities are not limited to specific areas but take place on a county-wide basis.
Section 2.00, second paragraph
o Change to read: “It is Ferry County‟s intention that the Federal and State agencies
coordinate their land use planning for intermingled state and federal lands with Ferry
County‟s planning.”
Section 9.00
o Add a paragraph: “Agriculture in Ferry County today consists primarily of subsistence
farming in conjunction with ranching and hay production. Most of the agricultural
activities center around providing additional food resources for the farmer with possibly a
small income from sales of excess production. Cattle ranches comprise Ferry County‟s
major agricultural industry which is dependent upon federal and state grazing leases for
summer grazing. The grazing leases allow grazing on Federal and State forest lands for
only six months each year. During the six month grazing season, hay is produced on
private lands to sustain livestock through the balance of the year. Some ranchers sell
small quantities of hay to local subsistence farmers.”
Section 9.02, 5) c.:
o Change “slitting” to “splitting”
Section 9.03
o 1st paragraph, 2nd -3rd sentences: Change to read: “Farm lands of Ferry County are
primarily devoted to raising hay for feed for locally owned cattle. Other crop lands used
for grains, other animal products, orchards and local produce are limited.”
o 2nd paragraph: Change to read: “As required by WAC 365-190-050, Ferry County will
employ the United States Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation
Service‟s Land-Capability Classification System (Agricultural Handbook No. 210,
September, 1979) as a tool to identify Agricultural Lands of Long-Term Commercial
Significance, as well as past growing history (to the extent known) and the US Forest
Service Maps of the Colville National Forest, dated 1992.”
Section 9.04
o Last paragraph, 1st sentence: Change to read: “Approximately 99.996% of the county‟s
land in farm is non-irrigated as reported in the U.S. Agricultural Census.
o Last paragraph, 4th sentence: Change to read: “The potential of frost year round is often a
limitation for cultivated crops within Ferry County.”
Section 9.05
o 1st paragraph: Change to read: “Upon the review of the requirements of WAC 365-190050, the only Agricultural Lands of Long-Term Commercial Significance found to
currently exist in Ferry County are Federal and State grazing leases. Due to the role of
Ferry County‟s cattle industry as the major agricultural activity and the cattle industries
historical and imperative reliance on Federal and State grazing leases, all these public
grazing lease lands shall carry dual designation as Timber Lands of Long-Term
Commercial Significance and Agricultural Lands of Long-Term Commercial
Significance. The current total grazing lease lands are 470,151 acres in the Colville
National Forest and 19,423 acres on Washington State Department of Natural Resource
grazing lease lands.”
Gary asked that the following situation and question be submitted to Attorney Groen for his legal
opinion and reasoning:
Situation: Suppose the county designates all of the grazing allotment lands in the Colville
National Forest as Agricultural Land of Long-Term Commercial Significance. Said lands can
only be used for grazing for 6 months per year by Federal rule. Said lands have miles of edges
abutting private property. Historically, an allotment is considered private property.
Question: Do private lands that are contiguous with a forest service lands grazing allotment also
become Agricultural Lands of Long-Term Commercial Significance regardless of ownership?
If owned by the grazing allotment owner? What criteria breaks the chain? Is it ownership of
the abutting land that is different than ownership of the grazing allotment?
At the next meeting we will need to start with the Draft –New Appendix A-December 8, 2010 prepared
by Tamra Stevens.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.