Critical areas debate could go to court

YAKIMA, Wash. -- One thing is certain about Yakima County's latest proposal to protect environmentally sensitive areas -- no matter what happens, someone will file an appeal.

The proposed changes to the county's critical areas ordinance -- developed during a year of negotiation with people challenging the original document -- focus primarily on protecting upland wildlife habitat in parts of the county, including the Wenas Valley and the ridges above Cowiche and Moxee.

Hundreds showed up, almost all opposing the idea, at a hearing Monday at the Yakima Convention Center.

As a result, the issue is expected to be back in the lap of a state land-use appeals board, which urged the participants to try the negotiation route.

"We will go there," commented Commissioner Rand Elliott, referring to the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board. "It's just a matter of how many things we will talk about."

The issue may even find its way to Superior Court and, perhaps, the Washington State Supreme Court.

"The county commis-sioners are in a no-win situation," observed Gene Jenkins, president of the Yakima County Farm Bureau and an intervener in the case.

Jenkins said his group will appeal if commissioners adopt the outcome of the negotiation.

"We are prepared, if necessary, to go to court,"
he added.

Groups on both sides of the issue -- those who fear erosion of property rights and those who say the county needs to do more to protect sensitive species and their habitats -- are likely to appeal the outcome.

Commissioners can approve the result of the negotiation, modify it or reject it following a series of study sessions on the controversial document over the next 45 days.

Commissioners are allowing written comments on the proposal through July 21.

Commissioners will consider the issues on July 30, Aug. 18, 24 and 31. Each session will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the county conference center at North First Street and Lincoln Avenue.

The sessions are open to the public but no comment will be allowed.

Robert Beattey of Seattle, legal director of Futurewise, an organization that represents preservationists in the Wenas Valley, north of Selah, said he is optimistic that the settlement will substantially reduce the number of issues that could reach the growth board. Issues for which the agreement ultimately stands, will be dismissed from the appeal process.

The negotiation covered 18 issues that dealt with habitat protection.

"For both the county and organizations like Futurewise and private property owners, it is an expensive thing to litigate these cases," Beattey said. "Any resolution we can get that saves some percent of the cost is good. So, yeah, I'm optimistic."

But Elliott seemed less convinced about the outcome.

"I suspect when we get done with upland habitat, there are parties who won't be happy about it," he said. "The commissioners will have to go through it and decide where to draw the line."

* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.