Grant County planning panel recommends mitigation bank to offset shrubsteppe impacts

The Grant County Planning Commission voted Jan. 7 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve Unified Development Code Amendment P 25-0196, a countywide process to certify and regulate shrubsteppe mitigation banks. Bill Bailey moved for the recommendation and Patty Jackson seconded; the motion passed with four in favor, one opposed and one abstention/recusal.

Development Services Director Jim Anderson-Cook described the amendment as creating a county-managed registry and an Interagency Review Team (IRT) to evaluate proposals and set mitigation ratios. Reading from interagency comments, Anderson-Cook said the county "will ultimately maintain the registry of all mitigation banks operating within its borders" and that the county "will determine the ultimate mitigation ratios." He told the commission that WDFW comments were incorporated into the draft.

Commissioner Sandra Marcusen said she could not support the proposal and called it "a land grab," arguing the measure felt like a directive rather than law. Planning Manager Michelle Mercer responded the amendment establishes a voluntary program that gives landowners an avenue to preserve property and generate revenue, not a mandatory land designation. The commission's recommendation included eight findings of fact and will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for final action.