The Skagit County Board of Commissioners approved several changes to county planning policy Monday, and prepared to consider more.

Notably, the three commissioners decided to allow larger accessory dwelling units in unincorporated Skagit County, increasing the maximum size from 900 square feet to 1,200.

Also referred to as mother-in-law apartments, accessory dwelling units are small houses sitting on the same lot as a main home.

Commissioner Ron Wesen said he decided to vote on the change after conversations on the sizes of mobile homes, which can serve as inexpensive ADUs.

“It’s very difficult to get a double-wide down to 900 square feet,” he said.

County staff proposed maintaining the 900-square-foot size limit. A larger size means more bedrooms, which means more people, which means larger impacts on things such as roads and septic systems.

Wesen, however, said a 300-square-foot increase isn’t likely to mean another bedroom. And even if it does, he said septic systems must be built to handle the number of bedrooms in a proposed project.

Commissioner Lisa Janicki said she preferred to keep the size at 900 square feet, but was willing to compromise.

The commissioners also did away with a rule capping an ADU at 50% the size of the main house.

Other policy changes approved Monday included adding restaurants to the list of approved additional uses for properties in some rural areas, and expanding public notification of mining operations to properties within a quarter mile of the proposed site.

Others changes were minor, and dealt with clarifying definitions in the Comprehensive Plan or changing development rules for specific properties.

Later in the day, the commissioners were introduced to eight new proposed amendments.

Returning this year is a proposal from land developer Bill Sygitowicz to add provisions to county policy for fully contained communities.

Should this proposal be approved, it would not mean a fully contained community would be built. But it would create a process for how to apply, review and approve such communities.

Sygitowicz, through his corporation Skagit Partners, has made this request several times in recent years, but has yet to receive approval.

In December, the commissioners decided to have the county Growth Management Act Steering Committee first look at Sygitowicz’ proposal. This decision, however, came after the July 1 deadline for submission to be included in the 2022 docket.

The committee has yet to weigh in, and Wesen said he doesn’t see the commissioners taking action on this issue before they have its input.

Another proposed amendment would allow for complete replacement of residential buildings without requiring a new critical areas review, said Jenn Rogers, assistant long range planner with the county.

Currently, rules require a new review if a substantial part of the building is demolished and replaced, she said.

Also, residents of Guemes Island have made a proposal that would require the county to help protect wells by monitoring seawater intrusion on the island.

Wells on the island frequently fall victim to seawater intrusion, and the Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee has been asking the county for assistance.

Janicki said while it may not come through the docket process, the commissioners have an obligation to address these issues.

“There’s something really broken in our process, so I think we need to rise above this and look at it holistically,” she said. “We’re missing the big picture here.”

Other proposed amendments would allow for small wind turbines on residential land and for the construction of farmworker housing on land zoned for agriculture.

Before any of these proposals can be approved, the commissioners need to determine whether they belong on the docket for consideration, Rogers said.

County staff will put together recommendations for the commissioners by May 9, she said.

On May 24, applicants will be able to address the commissioners in a public hearing.

The commissioners are set to determine which issues to docket on June 14. At that point, staff and the county Planning Commission will study the proposals, she said.

More information on each of the 2022 proposals is available at skagitcounty.net/2022cpa.

— Reporter Brandon Stone: bstone@skagitpublishing.com, 360-416-2112, Twitter: @Brandon_SVH

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