Opinion ID: 2595343
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Land Use Regulations

Text: The timeline of events is critical in deciding what land use regulations were in effect at the time the completed application was submitted. Kitsap County identified an IUGA on October 4, 1993. Soon after that, Residents sought review of the IUGA by the GMHB. On June 3, 1994, the GMHB concluded that the IUGA was not in compliance with the GMA and remanded it for compliance by October 3, 1994. Kitsap County did not amend the IUGA by October 3, 1994. On December 15, 1994, Partners submitted a completed preliminary plat application and PUD proposal. On December 29, 1994, Kitsap County adopted a comprehensive plan including final urban growth areas. On October 6, 1995, the GMHB determined that the 1994 comprehensive plan was invalid because it was inconsistent with the GMA. Because Kitsap County did not modify the IUGA until December 29, 1994, when it adopted a comprehensive plan pursuant to the GMA, the IUGA was not in effect at the time Partners submitted the completed application. Kitsap County was required to bring the non-complying IUGA into compliance by October 3, 1994. It did not. At the time the application was submitted, the period of remand had expired. Under current law, a non-complying regulation remains in effect during the period of remand. RCW 36.70A.300(4). [2] This allows the non-complying IUGA to remain in effect while it is being amended. In the current situation, Kitsap County missed the deadline for compliance; therefore, Partners' application was submitted at a time the IUGA was no longer in effect because the period of remand had expired. Thus, the application had to vest to the pre-existing rural 2.5 zoning. For these reasons, we hold that the former Kitsap County Zoning Ordinance applies because the IUGA was not in effect at the time the completed application was submitted.