31.01.300 Overview of Plan objective.
Clallam County adopted its first comprehensive land use plan in 1967. With the significant growth that the County experienced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the County updated the Comprehensive Plan, and for the first time adopted zoning and land division controls.
Regulation of private property, however, did not receive immediate widespread support. Community opposition and court challenges resulted in limited land use controls until a new Comprehensive Plan and zoning ordinance were adopted in 1982.
The 1982 Comprehensive Plan provided planning objectives similar to this new Comprehensive Plan. Urban areas were designated around the three cities and around the principal rural community centers. Forestry zoning worked towards protecting forest lands from conversion to residential development. Rural policies identified appropriate densities and services to be expected within those areas.
The 1982 Comprehensive Plan, however, did not achieve many of the objectives that the Growth Management Act of 1990 intended to address. Some of the issues that the current Plan tries to address include:
•Setting larger parcel sizes for commercial forest areas to provide even greater protection to this resource base (80-acre lots vs. 20-acre lots);
•Limiting the size of urban areas to reasonable growth projections and planning for urban services to be provided to those areas in an efficient manner;
•Encouraging growth within urban growth areas as a priority over growth into rural areas;
•Conserving agricultural lands;
•Adopting a transportation plan that ties land use densities to transportation needs;
•Ensuring that capital facilities are planned to be provided at the time of development, or a financial commitment is in place to ensure they are provided in a timely manner;
•Adopting affordable housing goals and strategies;
•Adopting economic development goals and objectives;
•Reducing sprawling low-density development in rural areas and conserving the rural character of our rural areas;
•Recognizing and acknowledging the presence of tribal governments and their influence;
•Setting specific criteria for land use designations and specific criteria for amendment of the Plan; and
•Setting specific land use policies based on regional comprehensive plans developed from the regional setting, rather than from a centralized planning function.
This Comprehensive Plan, based on the requirements of the Growth Management Act (GMA), establishes a framework for coordinated and comprehensive planning which will help Clallam County and its cities to manage growth in a manner which best fits Clallam County.
The GMA calls for urban growth areas where urban development will be encouraged and can be supported with adequate public facilities and services. At the same time, the GMA discourages the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development and encourages conservation of rural character and resource lands. These four general land uses (urban, rural, industrial and natural resource) form the framework for more specific land use designations, which are found in one of four regional subarea plans.
The objective of the County-wide Comprehensive Plan is to identify the goals and policies for those issues that are of a County-wide nature, and provide the framework for adoption of regional comprehensive plans. Those issues that are of a County-wide nature are: forest and mineral lands, urban growth and sprawl, transportation, economic development, affordable housing, natural, historical and cultural resources, utilities and capital facilities.
The objective of regional comprehensive plans is to provide specific means to implement the general plan objectives of the County. Rural and urban land use policies should provide specific maps and strategies to implement the plan. Specific ways to implement transportation, housing, economic development, or public facility and service objectives should be sought in the regional plans.
The Comprehensive Plan should be a dynamic tool to address ongoing concerns, new information or new issues. Although this Plan seeks to achieve stability in land use regulations, it is expected that the Plan will need to be reviewed periodically to ensure it is meeting growth management objectives. Also, as new information might become available, such as water and sewage disposal studies, it might be necessary to amend this Plan.
The County will support business and industrial development which strengthens and diversifies the economic base, creates family wage jobs, develops and operates in a manner that promotes and protects the environment and efficiently uses our natural resources. Efforts should be focused on small- to medium-sized industries. The County should continue to be marketed for tourism and retirement. Infrastructure should be in place in order to attract industrial and commercial operations. Regulations should be consistent, fair, and timely.