The purpose and intent of this article is to establish a process for reviewing and approving proposals to authorize siting of specific major industrial developments outside urban growth areas pursuant to RCW 36.70A.365 and the Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan. "Major industrial development" means a master planned location for a specific manufacturing, industrial, or commercial business that:
(1) 
Requires a parcel of land so large that no suitable parcels are available within an urban growth area; or
(2) 
Is a natural resource-based industry requiring a location near agricultural land, forest land, or mineral resource land upon which it is dependent.
The major industrial development shall not be for the purpose of retail commercial development or multitenant office parks.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)
Major industrial development applications shall be processed as Type III conditional use permits under this code, requiring an open record hearing before the hearing examiner. Additionally, a development agreement between the county and the applicant (and other parties, as necessary) is a mandatory element of a major industrial development application and shall be processed per Article XI of Chapter 18.40 JCC (Development Agreements). The open record public hearing before the hearing examiner shall, in an effort to consolidate the application review process, serve as the public hearing required before approval of a Type III permit and before adoption of a development agreement via ordinance or resolution. The development agreement shall not be adopted by the board of county commissioners until the hearing examiner approves the conditional use permit application. RCW 36.70A.365(3) states that final approval of a major industrial development shall be considered an adopted amendment to the Comprehensive Plan designating the major industrial development site on the Land Use Map as an urban growth area. If an application for a major industrial development in Jefferson County is approved as a conditional use by the hearing examiner, the conditional use approval in combination with the required board of county commissioners' adoption of the development agreement via ordinance or resolution shall be considered "final approval," the result of which shall amend the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map. Final approval of an application for a major industrial development and the corresponding amendment to the Land Use Map shall not be considered an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan for the purposes of RCW 36.70A.130(2) and may be considered at any time. JCC § 18.45.040, the standard process for amending the Comprehensive Plan, does not apply.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)
A major industrial development may be approved outside an urban growth area in Jefferson County under this section if the following criteria are met, in addition to other applicable regulations of this code not specifically referenced herein:
(1) 
The proposal must require for operation 40 or more acres, including acreage for required buffers;
(2) 
The proposal satisfies all the conditional use approval criteria listed in JCC § 18.40.530;
(a) 
When reviewing the project's "merit and value for the community as a whole," per JCC § 18.40.530(1)(j), consideration shall be given to the number of jobs created. The number of jobs per net acre of development, not including the required buffers, shall be typical for the type of industry proposed;
(b) 
When analyzing the potential "negative effects" and "cumulative effects of similar actions in the area," per JCC § 18.40.530(1)(l), consideration shall be given to the number and relative locations of major industrial developments permitted in Jefferson County and their subsequent or anticipated impacts;
(3) 
A development agreement is included in the application pursuant to Article XI of Chapter 18.40 JCC (Development Agreements);
(4) 
New infrastructure is provided for and/or applicable impact fees are paid;
(5) 
Transit-oriented site planning and traffic demand management programs are approved and implemented and the general development standards related to traffic as contained in JCC § 18.30.020(5) are met;
(6) 
Buffers are provided between the major industrial development and adjacent nonurban areas and managed according to an approved landscape plan, per JCC § 18.30.130, Landscaping/screening, except that buffers for major industrial developments shall be 50 feet of Screen-B landscaping for road frontages and 100 feet of Screen-A landscaping for interior lot lines along any portion adjacent to a nonurban area, including rural residential districts and designated resource lands, except as may be varied by the administrator under JCC § 18.30.130(2)(b);
(7) 
Bulk and dimensional standards for major industrial development urban growth areas are satisfied pursuant to Table 6-1 in JCC § 18.30.050;
(8) 
Environmental protection including noise, air and water quality has been addressed and provided for, per requirements of this code (Chapter 18.22 JCC, Critical Areas, and other applicable chapters) and other mitigative measures as appropriate through review under the State Environmental Policy Act per Chapter 43.21C RCW and Article X of Chapter 18.40 JCC, (State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Implementation);
(9) 
Provision is made to mitigate adverse impacts on designated agricultural lands, forest lands, and mineral resource lands via interior lot lines buffers per subsection (3) of this section and other case- or site-specific measures as determined through State Environmental Policy Act review;
(10) 
The plan for the major industrial development is consistent with the provisions to protect critical areas as presented in Chapter 18.22 JCC;
(11) 
Appropriate and suitable measures are established for the environmental remediation and/or restoration of the site in the case of future abandonment of the industrial or commercial operation, as determined through environmental review of the application and commensurate with the impacts of the specific use permitted;
(12) 
If phasing of development (per JCC § 18.15.625(1)) is contemplated by the applicant, the overall project plan, including general timelines for construction but illustrating building footprints and projected uses in lieu of design details to be submitted with future building permit applications, must be presented in the original application such that the overall plan is established through the conditional use permit and a development agreement; and
(13) 
For major industrial development applications made pursuant to JCC § 18.15.600(1), the county has determined, and entered findings that land suitable to site the major industrial development is unavailable within the urban growth area according to the current inventory of developable land within urban growth areas. Priority shall be given to applications for sites that are adjacent to or in close proximity to the urban growth area. For applications under JCC § 18.15.600(1) or (2), the county must also find that the proposal is appropriately defined as a major industrial development and should not be more appropriately categorized as some other type of land use application. The approving authority may use discretion in considering specific major industrial developments proposed for specific land use districts based on the nature of the proposed use and activity.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1; Ord. 14-18 § 4 (Exh. B))
Major industrial developments shall comply with Article VIII of Chapter 18.40 JCC (Conditional Uses), including provisions on the use of the property before the final decision (JCC § 18.40.550), the effective period of the permit and the expiration (JCC § 18.40.560), modification to the permit (JCC § 18.40.570), the validity of the permit when there is change in ownership of the land (JCC § 18.40.580), permit suspension or revocation (JCC § 18.40.590), and the requirement of an assurance device and/or additional conditions at county discretion (JCC § 18.40.540 and § 18.40.600).
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)
Pursuant to RCW 36.70A.365(3), final approval of an application for a major industrial development shall be considered an adopted amendment to the Comprehensive Plan designating the major industrial development site on the Land Use Map as an urban growth area. The urban growth area associated with a major industrial development shall be a limited urban growth area intended for the specific major industrial development and not to absorb future population and other goals of mixed-use urban growth areas. A decision of approval by the hearing examiner regarding the conditional use permit, in combination with the board of county commissioners' adoption via ordinance of the associated development agreement, shall be considered "final approval." Final approval of an application for a major industrial development shall not be considered an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan for the purposes of RCW 36.70A.130(2) and may be considered at any time.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)
(1) 
The county recognizes that economic and other considerations may necessitate that business plans for a major industrial development be characterized by phasing of development (i.e., a portion of the overall site plan is constructed first, followed at a later date by the next portion or rest of the site plan, depending on economic and other factors). The major industrial development urban growth area established in the original application process would delineate the overall site plan. For phasing of development to be approvable, the overall project plan, including general timelines for construction but illustrating building footprints and projected uses in lieu of design details to be submitted with future building permit applications, must be presented in the original application. Per JCC § 18.40.560, the proponent must file for the building permits or other necessary permits associated with the first phase of the development within three years of the effective date of the conditional use permit, unless the permit approval provides for a greater period of time.
(2) 
Expansion of the major industrial development beyond the boundaries of the original site plan and established urban growth area would require the full permit approval process described in this section of the code.
(3) 
Future use of the land is determined and bound by the original application and development agreement. Per JCC § 18.40.580, no other use is allowed without approval of an additional conditional use permit. A future application for a major industrial development that utilizes the same land area within the previously established urban growth area is approvable if the required code and statutory criteria are met. Final legislative approval following conditional use approval would be unnecessary in this case, as the urban growth area is already established on the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map. If the dimensions of the urban growth area must be modified, that process would be undertaken pursuant to JCC § 18.45.040.
(4) 
The owners of land zoned and used for major industrial development and/or the conditional use permittee and/or other entity as appropriate for particular circumstances shall be responsible for appropriate and suitable environmental remediation and/or restoration of the site in the case of abandonment of the industrial or commercial operation. The responsible part shall be identified in the development agreement and/or conditional use permit. The responsibility for appropriate and suitable environmental remediation and/or restoration will be determined through environmental review of the application and commensurate with the impacts of the specific use permitted. An environmental remediation and/or restoration plan shall be established in the development agreement and conditional use permit approval.
(5) 
Under certain circumstances, it may be deemed appropriate by the county that the major industrial development urban growth area, or a portion thereof, revert to the previous land use district, or in rare cases change to another land use district. A change to the Comprehensive Plan Land Use Map shall be considered as a Comprehensive Plan amendment application during the annual amendment cycle as governed in Chapter 18.45 JCC.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)
Chapter 36.70A RCW requires that development regulations are established to ensure that urban growth will not occur in nonurban areas adjacent to major industrial developments. Jefferson County rural land use districts are characterized by rural densities (i.e., one dwelling unit per five or more acres for rural residential and less dense for resource lands). In order to ensure that these controls remain effective, it should be noted that proximity to a major industrial development urban growth area or development or extension of infrastructure shall not provide a basis for a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change the land use district for property adjacent to a major industrial development to a land use district with greater development density or more intensive uses.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)
In order to ensure that the standards contained in this article, as applied to applications for major industrial developments, result in acceptable and desirable impacts to the physical and cultural landscape of Jefferson County, the county commissioners shall, upon the occurrence of five approved major industrial developments or the passage of five years from the date this section was adopted, whichever occurs first, hold a public hearing and take action to re-authorize, modify, suspend or delete this article. Any amendments for the UDC proposed by the county commissioners as a result of that public hearing shall be processed pursuant to Chapter 18.45 JCC.
(Ord. 8-06 § 1)