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Kittitas County removes proposed five‑year requirement for wetland consultants in critical‑areas update
Summary
During the June 2, 2026 hearing, the Kittitas County Board adopted updates to critical areas and development regulations tied to the comprehensive plan but struck a planning‑commission proposal that would have required wetland professionals to have five years' experience.
Kittitas County commissioners adopted updates to the county's critical areas and development regulations on June 2, 2026 as part of the comprehensive plan update process, but removed a planning‑commission recommendation that would have required wetland consultants to hold five years of experience.
Staff told the board the planning commission voted 4‑0 to recommend adoption with two amendments: (1) add language to the qualified professional definition to require wetland scientist certification and five years of experience; and (2) revise mapping language so county wetland maps would be updated periodically as new information becomes available. "The planning commission came down and fell down 5 years as enough experience for a qualified professional," staff said when describing the commission's recommendation.
Commissioners and staff debated the five‑year threshold. Opponents raised concerns that a strict five‑year requirement could limit entry‑level professionals' ability to gain experience. Staff and a county speaker also noted practical workarounds: the county maintains a list of qualified professionals and many local consultants already meet a five‑year threshold. "The county does provide to the customers a list of qualified professionals that do have that qualification," a staff member said during the discussion.
After deliberation, the board amended the proposal to remove the explicit five‑year experience requirement from the code while leaving the other planning commission amendments intact. The board recorded the motion as passing; staff said they will post the final regulatory documents to the county website and return materials at the June 16 closed‑record hearing for final adoption of related plan documents.
The change affects how the county verifies expertise on wetland and critical‑areas reports for permit reviews; staff said the code will continue to require certification and professional standards while allowing flexibility on the specific experience metric.
