Skamania County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code

Skamania County health department;

Public utility district No. 1 of Skamania County;

Skamania County fire and school districts;

Community councils;

Outdoor recreation organizations located within the county;

Underwood conservation district;

Washington State Department of Transportation;

Washington State Departments of Game, Fisheries and Ecology;

Other relevant agencies and organizations as deemed necessary by the administrator.

Interpret in a zone classification and/or special purpose district any use not described in this title as an allowable, administrative review or conditional use, and deem it to be in general keeping with the uses authorized in such zone classifications and special purpose districts;

Interpret the provisions of this title in such a manner as to carry out the intent and purpose of the zoning map(s);

Interpret and/or administer the provisions of this title in such a manner as to carry out the intent and purpose of the Skamania County comprehensive plan A as it presently exists or is hereafter amended;

A record shall be kept by the planning director of such interpretations to facilitate equitable future administration and to permit periodic amendments to this title.

Because of special circumstances applicable to subject property, including size, shape, topography, location or surroundings, the strict application of the zoning ordinance is found to deprive subject property of rights and privileges enjoyed by other properties in the vicinity and under identical zone classification and/or special purpose district;

That the granting of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity and zone classification and/or special purpose district in which subject property is situated;

This section does not apply to any use that is subject to a conditional use permit.

There is created an office of hearing examiner to hear appeals from decisions of the planning director related to this title and to consider requests for variances, conditional use permits, and other quasi-judicial and administrative determinations as set forth by Chapter 36.70 RCW and Skamania County Code Chapter 2.80.

The office of the hearing examiner is created by the board of county commissioners. The hearing examiner shall interpret, review and implement land use regulations, hear appeals from permits, decisions or determinations made by a county official as set forth in this chapter, and review and hear other matters as provided for in the Skamania County Code and other county ordinances. The term "hearing examiner" shall likewise include the deputy hearing examiner.

The hearing examiner shall have all the authority provided by the laws of the state and shall operate pursuant to RCW 36.70.970 and Skamania County Code Chapter 2.80.

Applications for conditional uses. Conditional uses are those uses which may or may not be compatible with permitted uses in a specific zoning designation. If the hearing examiner determines that the use is not compatible with permitted or existing uses in the specific area of the proposed use, then the proposed use shall be denied. Alternatively, if the hearing examiner determines that the proposed use is compatible with permitted and existing uses in the specific area of the proposed use, then the proposed use may be approved or approved with conditions to make it compatible with the area.

Application for variances from the terms of this title, with the exception of minimum lot size/density and except for administrative variances ten percent or less (refer to Section 21.16.060); provided, that any variance granted shall be subject to such conditions as will assure that the adjustment thereby authorized shall not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitations upon other properties in the vicinity and zone in which the subject property is situated, and that the following circumstances are found to apply:

Revocation of conditional use permit. Noncompliance with any condition placed on a conditional use permit shall be grounds for revocation of the permit. Revocation of a conditional use permit shall be considered a land use action and reviewed by the hearing examiner. The following procedures shall be completed at least twenty days prior to the date of the revocation hearing:

Appeals of any decision of the planning director, or the director's designee, relating to this title. Any aggrieved person with standing may file an appeal on forms supplied by the planning department. Such appeals shall be filed in writing with the hearing examiner within fourteen calendar days of the date of the action being appealed, and must include the nonrefundable appeal fee as set by the board of county commissioners. Upon the filing of an appeal from an administrative determination the planning department shall set the time and place at which the matter will be considered. At least a ten-calendar-day notice of such time and place shall be given to the appeal applicant and the planning director (and the adverse parties of record in the case if not the same as the appeal applicant) together with a copy of the written appeal. The planning director shall transmit to the hearing examiner all of the records pertaining to the decision being appealed, together with such additional written report as the director deems pertinent. A notice of hearing shall be made pursuant to Section 21.16.090, Notice of hearing. In exercising the powers granted herein, the hearing examiner may reverse, affirm, or modify all or in part the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from, and may make such order, requirement, decision or determination as should be made and, to that end, shall have all the powers of the planning director from whom the appeal is taken, insofar as the decision on the particular issue is concerned.

The following statement shall appear at the top of the first page: "NOTICE OF ALLEGED PERMIT VIOLATION";

A brief description of the nature of the violation;

The name of the county department and staff member of that department to contact regarding the violation;

The date that the warning is issued;

That failure to correct the alleged violation or to contact the appropriate county department may result in a formal action to revoke any applicable permits or the imposition of a fine up to five hundred dollars per violation.