By Brian MIttge, The Chronicle, 1/8/2002
Lewis County's deliberately paced reworking of its growth plans continues with public hearings this month, as officials pin their eyes on the eventual goal of resubmitting plans to the state hearings board March 15.
County commissioners Monday extended the comment period for the county's draft environmental impact statement on growth management to Jan. 31, thus allowing those who speak at upcoming public hearings to add their comments to that part of the public record.
The DEIS includes a summary of how various plans for population growth and development could affect the environment, both natural and human.
The study is an overview of the recent natural history of the county, including how development has contributed to and affected flooding, results of development plans, and broad comments about possible future outcomes.
It was written on contract by Donald B. Largen.
The county is trying to overcome the rejection of parts of its rural growth plans from the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board.
Water
Just as water is necessary for human life, it is also the very blood of future development, the DEIS indicates.
However, legal and physical water supplies are limited, with growth in Mossyrock, Salkum and other communities already strangled by a lack of water, the study says.
The Chehalis Basin is closed to issuance of new surface water rights, and state rules mean the Cowlitz is also effectively closed, the study says. Older rights may be transferred, but at this point state and county agencies are unsure exactly how much water is legally available.
Treatment of wastewater is also a factor in development.
In general, most East Lewis County areas are suitable for a simple on-site septic system, while areas in the west usually require more expensive designed systems, the study concludes. Site-specific soil, water table conditions and topography can very dramatically even in adjacent lots, however.
Of 400 new requests for septic systems in 2001, about 80 percent require designed systems, Lewis County workers reported in the DEIS.
Contaminated water must also be considered as the county plans growth patterns, the study said.
Chemicals and other pollutants foul water at:
-- The intersection of Hamilton and Labree roads between Chehalis and Napavine, where perchloroethylene contaminates the shallow aquifer.
-- The intersection of Jackson Highway and Forest-Napavine Road, where high levels of volatile organic compounds have been measured in the shallow aquifer.
-- The intersection of State Route 122 and U.S. Highway 12, where elevated levels of nitrates have been found in some shallow wells.
-- The Hamilton Lake area, identified as a federal Superfund site owing to contamination from high levels of volatile organic compounds.
-- Mineral, where elevated levels of arsenic in the water mean all new wells in a specified area must be tested for the toxic chemical.
Growth
The Growth Management Act requires most new development to be concentrated in urban areas, allowing efficient transportation, water and sewer service, and reducing the effect on natural and rural areas.
Lewis County's plan, the DEIS notes, has a primary goal of contributing to a rural economic recovery and diversified economy ''in a planned and controlled manner,'' as required by the GMA.
The county has had no end of trouble gaining approval for its plans about such small developed areas as Randle, Onalaska, Packwood, Adna and Mary's Corner.
The GMA requires such ''Limited Areas of More Intense Rural Development,'' or LAMIRDS, to be limited to primarily infill development, in order to prevent low-density sprawl into the rural environment.
Under successive plans, the county has increased its number of these areas from 38 to 44, but has decreased their total area from just over 9,870 to 8,890, the DEIS notes.
The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, in several critical reviews of the county's growth planning, said the LAMIRD boundaries were too big
In general, only those sites developed on or before July 1, 1993, are considered in use, because that was the date the GMA became applicable to Lewis County.
Lot size
The standard minimum lot size under the county's new plan is 10 acres, up from a base of 5 acres in the December 2000 plan that was rejected by the state hearings board.
Lot size, determined by a countywide zoning map, varies from 5 to 20 acres in residential areas and up to 80 acres per lot in long-term resource lands.
Of importance to the board is a variety of rural densities, something the DEIS notes is part of Lewis County's rural character.
The plan also identifies ''Agricultural Protection Zones,'' to protect those areas traditionally used as farms but not located in prime farming areas such as bottomlands or areas identified as Class A or B farmlands.
It can be difficult to make a living at farming alone in these areas, the DEIS notes.
The county's plans include allowing limited non-farming uses to supplement farm income, such as construction, transportation, and machinery repair.
For loan purposes owners should be able to have the farm appraised at higher non-farm levels, the county's plan suggests.
Farms 40 acres or larger should also be allowed to have a clustered ''farm activity center,'' no larger than 15 percent of total land size, where several generations of the family can live, the DEIS says.
Planning for future industry
To promote future large industry and job growth, the county has identified two large ''industrial land banks.''
One is a 1065-acre parcel near the Centralia Steam Plant northeast of Centralia. This is the preferred location.
The second is a 1,026-acre parcel at the Interstate 5-Highway 12 intersection southeast of Napavine.
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Brian Mittge covers local government for The Chronicle. He may be reached by e-mail at bmittge@chronline.com, or by telephoning 807-8237.
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