Local News

Commissioners Adopt a Moratorium on Development Around Airports

By NCBI
Apr 04, 2012

On Tuesday, the Okanogan County Commissioners adopted a resolution imposing a moratorium on development around the county's seven general aviation airports.

The moratorium, which was effective immediately, is in place around the Omak, Okanogan, Oroville, Tonasket, Twisp, Intercity (the smoke jumper) and Brewster airports.

The moratorium comes at the request of the Airport Technical Advisory Committee, that was formed to create an airport protection zone around the counties airports.

Planning Director Perry Huston said he told the Technical Advisory Committee that he would not recommend the moratorium, but that he would carry their recommendation forward to the County Commissioners. Huston said he felt it was not necessary.

The six month moratorium is imposed for the acceptance of applications for residential and commercial building permits, conditional use permits and land subdivision smaller than five acre lots, within the boundaries of the protection zones.

The resolution states that the Technical Advisory Committee was concerned that incompatible uses would be vested or sited adjacent to the airports during the period of time necessary for the creation, review and adoption of new zoning in those areas, and therefore the moratorium was necessary to make sure that didn't happen.

The Commissioners will be holding a public hearing on the moratorium on Monday April 23, 2012 at 11am, in the Hearing Room at the Virginia Granger Administration Building.

Huston said the question at the hearing will be whether to leave the moratorium in place as is, amend it, or rescind it.

Maps of the areas affected are available from the County Commissioners Office, that number is 422-7100.




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