HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-009 - Ord. Adopting Amendments to the Mason County Countywide Planning Policies ORDINANCE NUMBER -05.Ooq
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ORDINANCE ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO THE MASON COUNTY
COUNTYWIDE PLANNING POLICIES
WHEREAS, the Washington State Growth Management Act'(RCW 36.70A.130) requires each
county, including Mason County, to take legislative action to review and revise its
comprehensive plan and development regulations to ensure that the plan and regulations
continue to comply with the requirements of the Act; and . `
WHEREAS, the County is in the process of updating the comprehensive plan through the
periodic review process and according to the deadline outlined by RCW 36.70A.130(5)(b); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to RCW' 36.70A.210, the County legislative authority must adopt
countywide planning policies in cooperation with the city; and
WHEREAS, under RCW 36.70A.210,, countywide planning policies are written policy
statements used solely for establishing a countywide framework from which county and city
comprehensive plans are developed and adopted ensuring that city and county
comprehensive plans are consistent; and
WHEREAS, on June 27, 2024 a draft Countywide Planning Policies document was reviewed by
County staff and Fire Districts with recommendations provided by invitees; and
WHEREAS, on July 11, 2024 a revised draft Countywide Planning Policies document was also
reviewed by state agencies, PUDs, tribes, ports, the Economic Development Council, and the
City of Shelton; and
WHEREAS, on August 19, 2024 the Mason County Planning Advisory Commission held a work
session to review the Countywide Planning Policies draft based on input provided by
stakeholders during the June 27, 2024 and July 11, 2024 meetings; and
WHEREAS, on October 7, 2024 the Mason County Planning Advisory Commission held a duly
advertised public hearing to review the draft Countywide Planning Policies,staff presentation,
public comment received prior to and during the hearing, and to deliberate; and'
WHEREAS,on November 6, 2024 the Mason County Planning Advisory Commission held a duly
advertised special meeting to continue the public hearing from October 7, 2024; and
WHEREAS, after review and discussion of the public comment the Planning Advisory
Commission made revisions to the draft Countywide Planning Policies and made a motion to
recommend to the Board of County Commissioners the approval of the Mason County
Countywide Planning Policies as amended; and
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WHEREAS, the amendments remove non-policy language for placement in other chapters of
the Comprehensive plan, clarify the previously adopted policies, incorporate public comment
and reflect changes in the Growth Management Act; and
WHEREAS,,the Board of County Commissioners considered the updated Policies at a duly
advertised public hearing on January 21, 2025; and
WHEREAS,the Board of County Commissioners took public testimony from interested parties,
considered all the written and oral arguments,testimony and comments presented; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners also considered the Staff Report and
recommendations of the Mason County Planning Advisory Commission; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners find that the amendments to the Mason
County Countywide Planning Policies complies with all applicable requirements of the Growth
Management Act, the Comprehensive Plan, and the Mason County Code, and that it is in the
best public interest,-' and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT HEREBY ORDAINED, the Mason County Board of Commissioners
hereby approves and ADOPTS amendments to the Mason County Countywide Planning
Policies as shown in Attachment 1 effective January 21, 2025.
DATED this 2lt day of Q 2025.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
MASON COUNTY,WASHINGTON
ATTEST:
Randy Neathe ' , Commissioner
McKenzie Smit , Cler<of the Board
APPROVED AS TO FORM: Sharon Trask, Commissioner
1 r
Tim Whitehead,�,W_fDPA Pat Tarzwell, Commissioner
z
Attachment 1
Page 1 of 14
Countywide Planning Policies
Attachment 1
Page 2 of 14
The Role of the Countywide Planning Policies .............................................................................................. 3
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Planning Policies............................................................................................................................................ 6
1: URBAN GROWTH ................................................................................................................................... 6
2: REDUCE SPRAWL ................................................................................................................................... 7
3: TRANSPORTATION ................................................................................................................................. 7
4: HOUSING ............................................................................................................................................... 8
5: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................................. 9
6: PROPERTY RIGHTS ............................................................................................................................... 10
7: PERMITS .............................................................................................................................................. 10
8: RESOURCE INDUSTRIES ....................................................................................................................... 11
9: OPEN SPACE ........................................................................................................................................ 11
10: ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................................. 12
11: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ...................................................................................................................... 12
12: FACILITIES/SERVICES ......................................................................................................................... 12
13: HISTORIC PRESERVATION .................................................................................................................. 13
14: CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESILIENCY .................................................................................................. 13
15: SHORELINES OF THE STATE................................................................................................................ 14
Attachment 1
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The Role of the Countywide Planning Policies
• These countywide planning policies shall be the foundation for the Mason County
Comprehensive Plan.
• As required by RCW 36.70A.120, all elements of the Comprehensive Plan and implementing
regulations, including zoning maps, zoning regulations, and any amendments, shall be consistent
with and implement these policies.
• As required by RCW 36.70A.120, all planning, land use permitting actions, and capital budgeting
decisions shall be made in conformity with the adopted Comprehensive Plan.
• The Mason County Comprehensive Plan shall reference and be coordinated with the following
functional plans: Shoreline Master Plan, Drainage, Floodplain, Economic Development, Parks and
Recreation, Transportation, Watershed, Hazard Mitigation Plan, Puget Sound Action Plan, the
functional plans of Schools and Special Districts and any other functional or subarea plans
adopted by Mason County. All disputes over the proper interpretation of other functional plans
and all implementing regulations, including zoning maps and zoning regulations, shall be
resolved in favor of the interpretation which most clearly achieves Countywide Planning Policies.
A definition section will be incorporated into the final Comprehensive Plan document with
definitions for technical terms that are clearly articulated in Mason County Code or state or
federal statutes. If a specific term is not defined or referenced, it takes its normal and customary
meaning within the context of how it is used.
Attachment 1
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Table 1. Crosswalk - Countywide Planning Policies and Comprehensive Plan Chapter
Comprehensive Plan
Element
Development Regulations
Countywide Planning
Policy
Policy Statement
Chapter 3 Land Use MCC 17.07; 17.10-17.17;
17.20-17.35; 17.70
#1 URBAN GROWTH Encourage development in urban areas where adequate public facilities and services exist,
or which can be provided in an efficient manner.
Chapter 3 Land Use MCC 17.02; 17.05; 17.70;
17.90
#2 REDUCE SPRAWL Reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density
development.
Chapter 6 Transportation MCC Title 12 #3 TRANSPORTATION Encourage efficient multimodal transportation systems that are based on regional
priorities and coordinated with county and city comprehensive plans.
Chapter 4 Housing MCC 17.11; 17.90 #4 HOUSING Encourage the availability of affordable housing to all economic segments of the
population of this state, promote a variety of residential densities and housing types, and
encourage preservation of existing housing stock.
Chapter 5 Economic
Development
MCC 2.78; 17.07; 17.24 #5 ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Encourage economic development throughout the County that is consistent with adopted
comprehensive plans, promote economic opportunity for all residents of this County,
especially for unemployed and for disadvantaged persons, promote the retention and
expansion of existing businesses and recruitment of new businesses, recognize regional
differences impacting economic development opportunities, support safe and healthy
working environments and living wages, and encourage growth in areas experiencing
insufficient economic growth, all within the capacities of the County's natural resources,
public services, and public facilities.
Chapter 3 Land Use MCC 17.01 #6 PROPERTY RIGHTS Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation having been
made. The property rights of landowners shall be protected from arbitrary and
discriminatory actions.
Chapter 3 Land Use & Chapter 5
Economic Development
MCC 15.05 #7 PERMITS Applications for both state and local government permits should be processed in a timely
and fair manner to ensure predictability.
Chapter 7 Rural MCC 8.52; 17.02 #8 NATURAL RESOURCE
INDUSTRIES
Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber,
agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive forestlands
and productive agricultural lands, and discourage incompatible uses.
Chapter 3 Land Use, Chapter 7
Rural, & Chapter 8 Parks
MCC 16.23; 17.07; 17.10;
17.26
#9 OPEN SPACE Retain open space, enhance recreational opportunities, conserve fish and wildlife habitat,
increase access to natural resource lands and water develop new parks and recreation
facilities and maintain existing.
Chapter 3 Land Use & Chapter
7 Rural
MCC 8.52 Resource
Ordinance/Shorelines
#10 ENVIRONMENT Protect the environment and enhance the County's high quality of life, including, but
not limited to, air and water quality, and the availability of water.
See Public Involvement Plan MCC 15.09.060 #11 PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
Encourage the involvement of residents, property owners, and business owners in the
planning process and ensure coordination between communities and jurisdictions to
reconcile conflicts.
Attachment 1
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Chapter 9 Utilities MCC Title 13, Title 6 #12 PUBLIC FACITILES
AND SERVICES
Ensure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be
adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy
and use without decreasing current service levels below locally established
minimum standards.
Chapter 3 Land Use MCC 17.40 #13 HISTORIC
PRESERVATION
Identify and encourage the preservation of lands, sites, and structures that have historical
or archaeological significance.
Chapter 11 Climate Resilience
and Hazard Mitigation
#14 CLIMATE CHANGE
AND RESILIENCY
Ensure that comprehensive plans, development regulations, and regional policies, plans,
and strategies under RCW 36.70A.210 and chapter 47.80 RCW adapt to and mitigate the
effects of a changing climate; prepare for climate impact scenarios; foster resiliency to
climate impacts and natural hazards; protect and enhance environmental, economic, and
human health and safety; and advance environmental justice.
See Mason County Shoreline
Master Program
MCC 17.50 #15 SHORELINES OF
THE STATE
For shorelines of the state, the goals and policies of the shoreline management act as set
forth in RCW 90.58.020 shall be considered an element of the county's or city's
comprehensive plan.
Attachment 1
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Introduction
This chapter presents the Countywide Planning Policies used to develop Mason County’s Comprehensive
Plan. The policies in this document are organized and numbered based on the fifteen goals adopted in
Washington’s State’s Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A) to guide counties and cities in the
development and adoption of comprehensive plans. Table 1 shows which Chapter of the County
Comprehensive Plan provides additional information, statistics, maps, and other detail related to each
policy.
Planning Policies
Mason County's Comprehensive Plan addresses each of the fifteen GMA goals according to the vision
shared by County residents. The following discussion identifies the Countywide Planning Policies for
Mason County organized by the GMA goal they address.
1: URBAN GROWTH
GMA encourages concentrating development where adequate public facilities and services exist, or
which can be provided within a reasonable amount of time. In conjunction with the City of Shelton,
Mason County has adopted County-Wide Planning Policies (CWPP), some of which deal specifically with
the issue of urban growth and are designed to ensure growth can be supported by adequate public
infrastructure and services.
1.1. Maintain Urban Growth Areas around the incorporated City of Shelton and two
unincorporated areas of Belfair and Allyn. Prioritize urban growth where infrastructure exists
or is planned, as identified in an approved Capital Facilities Plan, or services can be reasonably
and economically extended; where development does not conflict with natural resource uses;
where there is a sufficient supply of developable land to support urban densities and urban
growth forecasted for the 20-year planning cycle; and where the community’s vision has
identified its area as an Urban Growth Area.
1.2. Coordinate planning, zoning, and development standards in the Shelton Urban Growth Area
with the City of Shelton to ensure consistency in development patterns, logical transition from
urban to rural uses, adequate provision of infrastructure and services, and to facilitate
annexation as envisioned in the Growth Management Act.
1.3. Mixed-use developments, multi-family developments, employment centers, and other urban
land uses are encouraged within designated Urban Growth Areas to make efficient use of
urban-level infrastructure and services and to protect rural character in the remainder of the
County.
1.4. Encourage development in Urban Growth Areas where:
• infrastructure exists or is planned; or
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• infrastructure is provided by the developer according to locally established minimum
urban standards.
1.5. Encourage development in Urban Growth Areas where:
• services, such as public transit, emergency response, fire protection, schools, and
other public services, have adequate capacity; or
• services can be expanded through County action or via private investment from the
developer.
2: REDUCE SPRAWL
GMA discourages the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low density
development. Several of Mason County's CWPPs are designed to reduce the impacts of growth, including
sprawl, in areas outside of Urban Growth Areas. Rural areas now exist throughout Mason County and
contribute to a large measure of the quality of life enjoyed by residents. These areas are characterized by
low housing densities, wilderness and recreational living opportunities, and open space. Other rural
qualities include tranquility, low traffic volumes, natural views, privacy, and rural enterprise.
2.1. Designate rural areas in Mason County. Rural areas include those portions of the County that
lie outside designated growth areas, master planned communities, homeowner’s associations,
and destination resorts, and may have lower standards of infrastructure and service that
reflect and maintain this rural character. Intensive development is discouraged in these rural
areas due to the difficulty of providing cost-effective services and because rural areas are
character-defining features of Mason County.
2.2. Rural development and accompanying water availability, including permit exempt wells, shall
be consistent with protection of natural surface water flows and groundwater recharge.
2.3. Protect the County’s rural character, lifestyles, and values.
2.4. Establish Level of Service standards, timely development of essential infrastructure and
provision of services, and adherence to design standards for rural and urban areas.
2.5. Establish a rural land use system that provides for continued vitality of activity centers that
may become Urban Growth Areas or incorporated communities. The categories of these areas
include rural activity centers, hamlets, commercial centers, industrial areas, and tourist and
recreational areas.
3: TRANSPORTATION
GMA encourages the development of efficient, multi-modal transportation systems that are based on
regional priorities and are coordinated with county and city comprehensive plans.
3.1. Coordinate multimodal transportation systems with neighboring counties, Tribes, and the City
of Shelton to encourage efficiency and align transportation with regional priorities.
3.2. Establish Level of Service standards that encourage densities in Urban Growth Areas where
services such as public transit, sidewalks, car-pooling, etc., are available.
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3.3. Establish multimodal Level of Service standards, timely development of essential
infrastructure, and adherence to design standards for rural and Urban Growth Areas.
3.4. Protect functions of designated high-volume corridors by restricting individual access points.
3.5. Promote safety and security for the multimodal transportation system.
3.6. Promote interconnecting street networks which provide alternative efficient routes.
3.7. Develop policies and encourage use of varied multi-modal transportation alternatives that
support health and wellbeing through physical activity by providing bikeways, sidewalks, trails,
public transit, and system connectivity as appropriate to location and terrain, especially in
Urban Growth Areas, and accommodating the young, aging, and disabled.
3.8. Ensure that cooperative planning efforts continue with the Peninsula Regional Transportation
Policy Organization and the County’s Citizen Advisory Panel on the Transportation
Improvement Program, and that policies of the County and the organization are consistent and
coordinated, with the Comprehensive Plan as the guiding document for Mason County.
3.9. The County and the City and Urban Growth Area should work cooperatively with the Mason
County Transit Authority (MCTA) to provide equitable public transit throughout the County.
3.10. Local and County transportation plans should consider non-motorized methods of
transportation, in addition to rail, marine, and aviation transportation as an integral part of the
area’s transportation system.
3.11. Incorporate technological advances into transportation systems planning by encouraging
coordination among jurisdictions and Mason County Transit where feasible and applicable.
3.12. Encourage the development of transportation funding resources that support land use goals
and strategies.
3.13. Protect transportation assets through proper operations, maintenance, and preservation
activities to provide safe, efficient, and reliable movement of people, goods, and services.
4: HOUSING
GMA requires the County to make adequate provision for affordable housing to all economic segments
of the population, promotes a variety of residential densities and housing types, and encourages the
preservation of existing housing stock.
4.1. Incentivize affordable housing, promote a variety of residential densities and housing types,
with a diversity of both rental and homeownership options, and encourage the preservation of
existing housing stock.
4.2. Coordinate processes for supporting affordable housing between Mason County and the City
of Shelton. Define and establish the need for affordable housing countywide through creation
of a collaborative City/County Housing Plan that provides for a mix of housing types for
housing at all income levels.
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4.3. Encourage affordable housing through innovation including infill housing incentives, variety of
lot sizes, mixed use, multifamily units, and density bonuses for affordable units. Selecting
innovative techniques to support affordable housing should meet other Countywide Planning
Policies for urban and rural development.
4.4. Encourage affordable housing in rural areas by utilizing the supply of existing smaller lots
which can meet applicable development regulations; by ensuring the lots retain their
conforming status, and by allowing manufactured housing, mobile homes, micro or tiny homes
and other options in both urban and rural areas.
4.5. Encourage the preservation of historic structures for use as, or conversion to, single or multi-
family housing.
4.6. As part of a comprehensive program to address affordability, eliminate barriers to construction
of affordable housing in local regulations and policies. Prior to adoption of any new ordinance
or regulation affecting homebuilding, evaluate the impact on the provision of affordable
housing options.
4.7. Affordable housing for households making below 80 percent of the Area Median Income
should be focused within the City of Shelton and unincorporated Urban Growth Areas with
convenient access to public transportation, major employment centers, and public services.
4.8. Assess affordable housing needs in both urban and rural contexts and develop strategies to
address housing affordability that reflect local definitions of affordable housing, urban and
rural values, cost and availability of land, infrastructure cost and availability, the capacity of
public services, private property rights, and broad-based public involvement.
4.9. Housing plans and policies should prevent or mitigate the physical, economic, and cultural
displacement of low-income households due to planning, public investments, private
development, and market pressures.
5: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
GMA encourages economic development that is consistent with adopted comprehensive plans,
promotes economic opportunity for all residents of the County, especially for unemployed and
disadvantaged persons, promotes safe and healthy working conditions for all, and encourages growth in
areas experiencing insufficient economic growth, all within the capacities of the County's natural
resources, public services, and public facilities.
5.1. Encourage economic development throughout the County that is consistent with the adopted
Comprehensive Plan and promote economic opportunity for all residents of the County,
especially for unemployed and disadvantaged persons, including encouraging investment in
areas experiencing slower economic growth, all within the capacities of Mason County's
natural resources, public services, and public facilities.
5.2. Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries including productive timber,
agriculture, aquaculture, mining, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of
productive natural resources or potentially productive natural resources and discourage
incompatible uses. Assure that adjacent land uses do not contribute to the demise of the long-
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term commercially productive resource extraction and agricultural lands and the resource-
based industries associated with these areas. Support natural resource-based industries to
shift towards more sustainable and regenerative practices in the context of a changing climate.
5.3. Establish coordinated incentives to promote economic development consistent with Vision
Statements and Goals for each Urban Growth Area.
5.4. Promote economic development activities where services needed by such activities already
exist or can be easily and economically provided. Coordinate with service providers to review
economic development activities as early as possible.
5.5. Promote economic development where off-site impacts, such as transportation, can be
effectively managed.
5.6. In environmentally sensitive areas, ensure land use permit processes control activities that
may have a detrimental effect on public health, safety, or the environment, consistent with
state and federal requirements.
5.7. Increase economic vitality in Mason County by stimulating the creation of jobs in tourism,
trades, and other areas that provide livable wages in safe and healthy work environments and
that promote economic diversity, stabilization, and maintenance of a high-quality
environment.
5.8. Support school district, post-secondary, and higher education efforts including vocational
education training, and education of a highly trained, technically skilled, multilingual
population that aligns with key economic development opportunities and industry sectors.
5.9. Facilitate investment in tourism by prioritizing establishment of hotels, event centers, and
other tourist facilities within the Urban Growth Areas.
6: PROPERTY RIGHTS
GMA states, "Property rights of landowners shall be protected from arbitrary and discriminatory actions.
Further, private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation having been
made.”
6.1. Non-conforming uses, structures, and parcels shall be allowed alterations and expansions
when appropriate.
6.2 If private property must be acquired for public purposes, provide fair and market-based
compensation negotiated during the acquisition process.
7: PERMITS
Both GMA and Mason County express that applications for land use and planning permits be processed
in a timely and fair manner to ensure predictability.
7.1. Applications for permits should be processed in a timely and fair manner to ensure
predictability.
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8: RESOURCE INDUSTRIES
GMA recommends Counties maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries including
productive timber, agriculture, aquaculture, mining, and fisheries industries, and encourage the
conservation of productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and provide mitigation
opportunities for incompatible uses.
8.1. Maintain an inventory of productive or potentially productive natural resource and agricultural
lands and ensure ongoing regulatory protections for those lands.
8.2. Discourage the siting of incompatible land uses near natural resources, agricultural lands, and
aquaculture farms.
8.3. Provide mitigation for incompatible land uses sited near natural resources and agricultural
lands.
9: OPEN SPACE
GMA encourages the retention of open space and the development of recreational opportunities. GMA
further encourages conservation of fish and wildlife habitat, and increased access to natural resource
lands, water, and developed parks. GMA also requires mapping of open space corridors, with
consideration given to habitat connectivity across jurisdictions.
9.1. Designate and map open space areas in coordination with the City of Shelton and
unincorporated Urban Growth Areas. Criteria for designation shall include:
provides multiple use open space
environmentally unique and/or fragile
separates incompatible land uses
consistency with the UGA’s vision statement
traditional cultural places and landscapes
9.2. Provide accessible public open space and protect environmentally important areas without
compromising private property rights and treaty rights.
9.3. Identify and prioritize open space areas, both urban and rural, for protection through
acquisition, conservation easements, life estates, conveyance to a land trust, and/or another
method of conservation. Assure that private property rights and treaty rights are protected.
9.4. Encourage increased access to publicly owned natural resource lands. Protect existing public
access to shorelines and water. Encourage acquisition of lands to provide additional public
shoreline and water access, especially in underserved areas.
9.5. Encourage retention/maintenance of open space and the development of recreational
opportunities like parks and public-use recreation areas.
9.6. Create public and community access to land for the purpose of growing food.
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10: ENVIRONMENT
GMA strives to protect the environment and enhance the quality of life, including air and water quality,
and the availability of water.
10.1. To protect public health and water quality, septic systems and/or appropriate alternative
disposal systems will be installed where appropriate in rural areas, according to adopted
County health codes. Alternative sewage collection and treatment systems should be
considered as an option when public health is in jeopardy, and/or to correct environmental
damage and when consistent with land use designations in the Comprehensive Plan.
Development permits and/or franchises for sewage treatment systems should be granted
when consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
10.2. Mason County and the City of Shelton shall protect drinking water supplies from
contamination, ensure that water for development is both legally and physically available, and
identify and reserve future supplies.
10.3. In environmentally sensitive areas, ensure land use permit processes control activities that
may have a detrimental effect on public health, safety, environment, and physical integrity of
the area consistent with state and federal requirements.
10.4. Encourage water reuse and reclamation for large-scale potable water users, such as golf
courses, parks, and schools.
10.5. Consider the use of low impact development management strategies for land use and
stormwater management for protecting water quality.
10.6. Discourage the siting of incompatible land uses in and near natural resources and critical areas
as defined by WAC 365-190-030 as well as agriculture lands defined by RCW 84.34.
10.7. Plan for and implement clean up of Mason County’s contaminated sites.
11: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
GMA encourages the involvement of residents, property owners, and business owners in the planning
process and coordination between communities and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts.
11.1. Encourage the widespread community involvement in the planning process and coordinate
between communities and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts.
11.2. Mason County and the City of Shelton will maintain joint procedures for review of land
development activities within the City’s Urban Growth Area.
11.3. Ensure public participation is widespread to community members.
12: FACILITIES/SERVICES
GMA strives to ensure that public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be
adequate to serve the development at the time of occupancy without decreasing the level of service
provided.
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12.1. Ensure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development are
adequate to serve the development at the time of occupancy without decreasing current
levels below locally established minimum standards. Consider assessing development fees in
the form of environmental mitigation fees or impact fees for public services.
12.2. Mason County and the City of Shelton, shall maintain a cooperative regional process to site
essential public facilities of regional and statewide importance. Such facilities will be located to
protect environmental quality, optimize access and usefulness to all jurisdictions, and
equitably distribute benefits and burdens throughout the region or county.
12.3. Major public facilities that generate substantial travel demand should be sited along or near
major transportation and public transit corridors.
12.4. Sharing of corridors for major utilities, trails, and other transportation rights of way is
encouraged.
12.5. Advance waste reduction efforts through support of state and federal programs, public
information and education programs, and other available, appropriate methods.
13: HISTORIC PRESERVATION
GMA states that jurisdictions should, "identify and encourage the preservation of lands, sites, and
structures that have historical, cultural, or archeological significance”.
13.1. Support the efforts of the Mason County Historic Preservation Commission created to identify
and actively encourage the conservation of Mason County's historic resources (MCC 17.40).
13.2. Identify and encourage the preservation of lands, sites, and structures that have historical or
archeological significance through enforcement of regulations that implement the State's goals
and objectives for historic preservation at the local level.
13.3. Consult with Tribes and other government entities to ensure the protection of archeologically
and culturally significant lands, sites, and structures.
14: CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESILIENCY
GMA requires jurisdictions to ensure that comprehensive plans, development regulations, and regional
policies and plans address climate change and natural hazards, foster resiliency, advance environmental
justice, and protect and enhance environmental, economic, and human health in the face of a changing
climate.
14.1. Continue coordinated hazard mitigation and community resilience planning efforts with the
City of Shelton, Public Utility Districts 1 and 3, all fire districts serving Mason County and other
interested agencies.
14.2. Plan for and consider the impacts of climate change on communities and industries in Mason
County, including sea level rise, flooding, wildfires, and extreme weather events, on both
existing and new development. Prioritize mitigating the impacts on vulnerable populations and
overburdened communities within the planning period.
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14.3. Support efforts to increase the resilience of public services and infrastructure, including
transportation, utilities, emergency response, and others, by preparing for disasters and
coordinating planning for continuity of operations, infrastructure and system recovery.
15: SHORELINES OF THE STATE
GMA strives to implement the Shoreline Management Act through consistency with a local Shoreline
Master Program.
15.1. Implement the Mason County or City Shoreline Master Program, as necessary.