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Located in

San Juan Islands Conservation District
Friday Harbor, Washington 98250
Call 360.378.6621

Planning

The San Juan Islands Conservation District plays a role in the county planning process by bringing technical assistance to the planning process. Our primary concern are issues that effect the agricultural community, forest management and water quality issues. We are not a regulatory agency and do not provide assistance in drafting regulations.

If you are buying land or building or plan to build consider the site and its inherent properties first.
Use the Department of Ecology information to help you to help keep Washington Green.


UDC Terms

The Uniform Development Code defines various terms that are used in proposed plans:

Hamlet Activity Centers are residential areas that have some non-rural densities, and have small commercial centers which provide goods and services to surrounding rural and resource land uses. Hamlets are served by community water systems and may have community sewage treatment facilities, but have only rural governmental services. Proposed hamlets on Orcas include Deer Harbor, Orcas Village and Olga.
 
Island Centers are generally characterized by existing general commercial and general industrial uses and may also include some rural commercial and rural industrial uses. These centers may be served by community water systems, but have only rural governmental services. Island Centers differ from other Activity Centers in that they generally do not have a high density residential component included within the center boundaries, and new residential development (except where accessory to commercial or industrial use) should be prohibited. The commercial and industrial uses located in these centers provide goods and services island-wide. A good example is the intersection of West Beach Rd and Crow Valley Rd, where Island Hardware is located.
 
Unincorporated Urban Growth Areas (UGAs) are: 1) adjacent to incorporated towns, are or can be served by municipal water systems and municipal sewage treatment facilities, and contain or are appropriate for a mixture of uses including general commercial and general industrial and high density residential. All or a portion of these areas may be annexed into a town within the twenty year planning time frame; or 2) are non-municipal urban growth areas. I.e, they provide community sewage treatment facilities and community water systems services at non-rural or urban levels of service, and provide some other services similar to towns but have no incorporated core at present. UGAs provide a variety of housing types and residential densities, some of which are at urban-level densities, with the remainder conditioned to not preclude future upzoning. The UGAs are pedestrian-oriented with a compact village core.

Source Documents for Reference (Washington State and Federal)

Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A)

Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70B)

State Environmental Policy Act

Endangered Species Act

Shoreline Management Act