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Land Use and Rual Element
The Rural Character of Jefferson County is important and must be protected. The purpose of the Land
Use and Rural Element is to have goals and policies in place to guide how the land is used and developed
in order to protect rural character, foster economic opportunities, conserve natural resources and
protect critical areas.
What about this element is most important or stands out most for you and why?
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Current Land Use and Rural Goals:
1. Ensure consistency between the Growth Management Act, the County-wide Planning Policy, this
Comprehensive Plan, land use and zoning maps, the Unified Development Code, Western
Washington Growth Management Hearings Board decisions, other related policies and
regulations, and all land use, environmental and development decisions and approvals.
2. Establish land use goals and policies in the Land Use Element of this plan that are internally
consistent with and reflective of the goals and policies of all other elements of the Plan.
3. Ensure that rural residential development preserves rural character, protects rural community
identity, is compatible with surrounding land uses, and minimizes infrastructure needs.
4. Establish and maintain the size and configuration of the county’s Rural Village Centers and
provide for the development of appropriately scaled commercial uses.
5. Establish and maintain the location and size of the County’s Rural Crossroads to provide access
to a limited range of non-residential uses.
6. Foster home-based businesses or cottage industries in order to provide economic and
employment opportunities outside of Rural Village Centers.
7. Foster economic development in rural areas which is small-scale recreational or tourist-related
and that relies on a rural location and setting.
8. Support the continued existence and economic viability of legally established land uses which
become nonconforming as a result of Comprehensive Plan adoption.
9. Limit the establishment or expansion of urban-style development and infrastructure to areas
designated for urban growth.
10. Identify and designate sufficient land area within the county for industrial uses and economic
development.
11. Recognize and contain the following areas and uses of more intensive industrial development
within boundaries that may allow for limited areas of infill development.
12. Locate new natural resource-based industries in rural lands and near the resource upon which
they are dependent, in accordance with RCW 36.70A.365.
13. Conserve and manage the forest, agriculture, aquaculture, and mineral resources of Jefferson
County for sustainable natural resource-based economic activities that are compatible with
surrounding land use.
14. Preserve the functions and values of critical environmental areas and protect development from
the risks of environmental hazards.
15. Support opportunities to provide a variety of affordable housing types for county residents.
16. Identify and designate lands for both public purposes and essential public facilities.
17. Ensure that transportation is safe, efficient, multi-modal, and based on levels of service that
correspond to the land use densities in the Comprehensive Plan.
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18. Preserve rural character and promote rural lifestyle.. Rural character is defined by local rural
lifestyle, opportunity to live and work in rural areas, local rural visual landscapes, resource
productivity, environmental quality, and significant areas of open space.
19. Ensure that development is accomplished in a manner which protect the long-term habitability,
historically significant areas and natural beauty of Jefferson County.
20. Preserve and protect the rural character of the land and the identities of existing rural
communities through rural land uses and densities.
21. Encourage residential land use and development intensities that protect the character of rural
areas, avoid interference with resource land uses, and minimize impacts upon environmentally
sensitive areas.
22. Foster sustainable natural resource-based industry in rural areas through the conservation of
forest lands, agricultural lands, mineral lands, and aquaculture lands in order to provide
economic and employment opportunities that are consistent with rural character.
23. Maintain the viability of Port Ludlow as Jefferson County’s only existing Master Planned Resort
(MPR) authorized under RCW 36.70A.362.
24. Provide for the siting of Master Planned Resorts (MPRs), pursuant to the adoption of
development regulations consistent with the requirements of the Growth Management Act
(RCW 36.70A.360), in locations that are appropriate from both an economic and environmental
perspective.
25. To manage stormwater to improve drainage, control stormwater quality and quantity, protect
shellfish beds, fish habitat and other natural resources and to reduce nonpoint sources of
pollution.
26. Protect life and property from flood hazards and retain the flood storage capacity of rivers and
streams.
27. To improve the base of information on the uses, existing conditions, and vulnerability of surface
waters in the county.
28. To protect and enhance the water quality of surface waters in Jefferson County.
Which one of these goals is most important or stands out for you and why?
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What would you like to see changed or added and why?
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How might we do that?
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Name:_____________________________________________________________________________
Address:___________________________________________________________________________
Email:_____________________________________________________________________________