Planning commissioners endorse sending recreation division and ecotourism policy suggestions to county commissioners

At the March 17 public hearing on the county’s comprehensive-plan update, several commissioners proposed discrete policy additions to the planning commission’s recommendation: creation of a county recreation division (with a full-time recreation manager) and explicit language authorizing ecotourism and nature-based, compatible uses on commercial agricultural lands.

One commissioner proposed a policy stating the county "shall establish a dedicated recreation division led by a full-time recreation division manager to provide professional coordination, planning, permitting and promotion necessary to responsibly manage the county’s rapidly growing recreation economy." The same motion included related performance standards to support recreation-based economic diversification.

A second proposed policy read in part: "Kittitas County shall authorize ecotourism and nature-based recreational enterprises on commercial agriculture and commercial portions of lands as a compatible secondary use," listing examples such as farm stays, guided wildlife observation and outdoor-education programs.

Commissioners said the measures reflect longstanding conversations about managing recreation and natural-resource compatibility and that the proposals could be forwarded as specific recommended changes to the Board of County Commissioners to consider alongside the broader comprehensive-plan recommendation. Staff flagged that the proposals may have implementation costs and suggested the commission identify whether items would require a budget request or reallocation of staff duties.

Next steps: Commissioners agreed to forward these suggested policy additions as part of the packet to the Board of County Commissioners and to work with staff to finalize wording and identify potential implementation impacts for the Board’s consideration.