The board of county commissioners, after due deliberation and in the interest of conformity with the laws of this state, the Washington State Constitution and the United States Constitution, hereby establishes the private property owner administrative bill of rights set forth in this chapter.
(Ord. 96-12 (part), 1996)
For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions apply:
"Agency"
A department, agency, independent agency, or instrumentality of the United States or Washington State, including any military department, government corporation, government-controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the United States or Washington State government.
"Just compensation"
Compensation equal to the full extent of a property owner's loss, including the fair market value of the private property taken and business losses arising from a taking, whether the taking is by physical occupation or through regulation, exaction, or other means and shall include compounded interest calculated from the date of the taking until the date payment is tendered.
"Owner"
The owner or possessor of property or rights in property at the time the taking occurs, including when the statute, regulation, rule, order, guideline, policy, or action is passed or promulgated or the permit, license, authorization, or governmental permission is denied or suspended.
"Private property" (or "property")
All property protected under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the Third and Sixteenth Section of the Declaration of Rights of the Washington State Constitution, any applicable federal or state law, or this chapter, and includes:
1. 
Real property, whether vested or unvested, including estates in fee, life estates, estates for years, or otherwise; inchoate interests in real property such as remainders and future interests; personality that is affixed to or appurtenant to real property; easements; leaseholds; recorded liens; and contracts or other security interests in, or related to, real property;
2. 
The right to use water or the right to receive water, including any recorded liens on such water right;
3. 
Rents, issues, and profits of land, including minerals, timber, fodder, crops, oil and gas, coal, or geothermal energy;
4. 
Property rights provided by, or memorialized in, a contract;
5. 
Any interest defined as property under state law; or
6. 
Any interest understood to be property based on custom, usage, common law, or mutually reinforcing understandings sufficiently well-grounded in law to back a claim of interest.
"Taking of private property" ("taking" or "take")
Any action whereby private property is directly taken as to require compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Third and Sixteenth Sections of the Declaration of Rights of the Washington State Constitution or under this chapter, including by physical invasion, regulation, exaction, condition, or other means and shall not include a condemnation action filed by the United States or Washington State in an applicable court or an action filed by the United States or Washington State relating to criminal forfeiture.
(Ord. 96-12 (part), 1996)
1. 
In implementing and enforcing county regulations, each department shall comply with the applicable state and federal government laws, including laws relating to private property rights and privacy, and shall administer and implement the county regulations in a manner that has the least impact on private property owners' constitutional and other rights.
2. 
Each county department shall develop and implement procedures for ensuring that the constitutional and other legal rights of private property owners are protected when the department makes, or participates with other departments or agencies in the making of, any final decision that restricts the use of private property.
3. 
County employees may enter private property to collect information only when they have statutory authority or have written permission from the property owner. The county assessor's office, health department, building and fire safety and sheriff's office have statutory authority for normal conduct of their business. Any raw data collected from the property shall be made available at no cost, if requested by the private property owner. A county employee is not prohibited entry onto property for the purpose of obtaining consent or providing notice required by this chapter.
4. 
A county employee may not use data that is collected on privately owned property to implement or enforce county regulations, unless the county department has provided to the private property owner access to the information, a description of the manner in which the information was collected, and an opportunity to dispute the accuracy of the information and, if the private property owner disputes the accuracy of the information, the county department head has determined that the information is accurate.
5. 
A private property owner or their authorized representatives is entitled to an administrative appeal of the following actions that occur under county regulations:
a. 
A determination that a particular parcel of property is critical habitat of a listed species.
b. 
The finding of jeopardy in any consultation on a county department action affecting a particular parcel of property.
c. 
Any incidental take statement, and any reasonable and prudent measures included therein, issued in any consultation affecting a particular parcel of property.
d. 
The imposition of an administrative penalty.
e. 
The imposition of an order prohibiting or substantially limiting the use of the property.
Rules issued under this subsection shall provide that any administrative appeal of an action shall be heard and decided by the board of county commissioners applying normal policies and procedures adopted by the board of county commissioners for appeals. An owner of private property may receive compensation, if appropriate, subject to the provisions of this chapter.
6. 
A private property owner that, as a consequence of a final qualified county department action, is deprived of fair market value of property as determined by a qualified appraisal expert is entitled to receive compensation in accordance with the standards set forth in this chapter.
No later than ninety days after receipt of a final decision of a county department action that deprives a private property owner of fair market value or viable use of property for which compensation is required under this chapter, the private property owner may submit in writing a request to the department head for compensation in accordance with this chapter.
No later than one hundred eighty days after receipt of a request for compensation, the county department shall provide to the private property owner, where appropriate under the standards of this chapter, an offer to purchase the affected property of the private property owner at a fair market value, and an offer to compensate the private property owner for the difference between the fair market value of the property without those restrictions and the fair market value of the property with those restrictions.
No later than sixty days after the date of receipt of the county department's offers the private property owner shall accept one of the offers or reject both offers. If the private property owner rejects both offers, the private property owner may agree to binding arbitration and submit the matter to an arbitrator appointed by the department head from a list of arbitrators submitted to the county department by the American Arbitration Association. The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the real estate arbitration rules of the association. For purposes of this section an arbitration is binding on:
a.
The county department and a private property owner as to the amount, if any, of compensation owed to the private property owner; and
b.
Whether the private property owner has been deprived of fair market value or viable use of property for which compensation is required.
If the private property owner does not wish to accept either county offer or to be bound by arbitration he is free to pursue his cause with the courts.
A county department shall pay a private property owner any compensation required under the terms of an offer of the department head that is accepted by the private property owner, or under a decision of an arbitrator, out of currently available appropriations supporting the activities giving rise to the claim for compensation under this section not later than sixty days after the date of the acceptance or the date of the issuance of the decision, respectively. If insufficient funds are available to the department in the fiscal year in which the award becomes final, the agency shall either pay the award from appropriations available in the next fiscal year or promptly seek additional appropriations for such purpose.
(Ord. 96-12 (part), 1996)
No compensation shall be required by this chapter if the owner's use or proposed use of the property is a nuisance as commonly understood and defined by background principles of nuisance and property law, as understood within Washington State and bar an award of damages under this chapter, the county shall have the burden of proof to establish that the use or proposed use of the property is a nuisance.
(Ord. 96-12 (part), 1996)