Skagit County to reorganize Title 14 development code; public review and hearing set

Skagit County planning staff presented a reorganization and limited rewrite of Title 14 — the county’s development regulations — that planners say is primarily mechanical: splitting very long chapters, standardizing terms and moving substantive rules out of definitions so the code is easier for staff, applicants and the public to use.

Ryan Walters, the county’s planning consultant, told the Board of County Commissioners the update is “very much mechanical. We're not trying to achieve substantive outcomes, except in a couple of areas which I'll highlight.” Walters laid out a new structure of seven divisions, broke the long zoning chapter into many shorter chapters and said the rewrite emphasizes tables for comparing uses and separate sections for use standards.

The reorganizatio…