Development rules on tap
Open House: Thurston County plans sessions to explain proposed critical-areas changes

“Thurston County has scheduled four open houses at which planners will answer questions and listen to concerns about proposed tougher development regulations on or near environmentally sensitive lands.

The first open house is set for 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound.

The proposed update to the critical-areas ordinance, which was adopted in 1994, could go before the county commissioners by early next year. The goal is to protect the areas and people living in them, county planning director Scott Clark said.

Those likely to be affected by the amendments are the 81,000 people living in unincorporated Thurston County a 634-square-mile area that could see its population spike to more than 100,000 by 2030, according to county staff members,” quoting The Olympian.