Lewis County adopts ordinance tightening standing rules for hearing-examiner appeals
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Summary
The Board of Commissioners on March 24 adopted Ordinance 1373 amending county code to clarify who has standing to appeal hearing-examiner land-use decisions; staff said appellants must have provided testimony related to the examiner’s criteria and exhausted administrative remedies.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously March 24 to adopt Ordinance 1373, which amends Lewis County Code chapter 2.25 to clarify who may appeal a hearing-examiner land-use decision.
Natalie Kamenicki, senior long-range planner, told the board the amendment “clarifies that in order to have standing to appeal the hearing-examiner decision, they must have provided written or oral testimony and that the testimony must be directly related to the criteria the examiner is using to make the decision and that all administrative remedies have been exhausted.” She said the change is intended to match state RCWs and improve accessibility and legal consistency.
Commissioner [moved the motion] and a second were offered before the board took a voice vote. The chair announced the motion carried 3–0 and the ordinance was adopted.
The ordinance makes no other substantial changes to chapter 2.25, according to staff. Kamenicki said the amendment is intended to ensure fair, transparent appeals and to help parties understand legal standing requirements before filing an appeal.
There was no public testimony during the hearing. Kamenicki asked that her opening statements be incorporated into the public hearing record and the chair agreed.
The adoption concludes the county’s public-hearing process for Ordinance 1373; staff incorporated the record and the ordinance will be added to the county code as described in the staff report.
