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OVERVIEW: The UDC is Title 18 of the
Jefferson County Code (JCC). It contains the regulatory
provisions that implement the Comprehensive Plan including land use
development standards and prescriptive criteria.
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Page last updated: 6/10/2010
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Code Interpretations
While every effort is made to prepare
and adopt clearly written regulatory language, additional
clarification is sometimes needed for site-specific application or
when the larger 'playing field' changes. Evaluation and
analysis of unique situations, related issues, case law and
legislative changes may drive the UDC Administrator to issue a
formal interpretation of a particular section of the code.
Code interpretations do not change the laws in effect but serve as a
courtesy to clarify understanding of how the laws apply.
View existing code interpretations via the
Laserfiche WebLink under 'Permits - Long Range Planning'.
Unifying the Development Code
July 2006 - The web version of the UDC is housed
through an independent code publishing service,
Code
Publishing OnLine. The
UDC is Title 18 of the Jefferson County Code (JCC).
Section titles of the UDC correspond with the JCC. Previously
used section titles (e.g., Section 1, Section 2, etc.) are no
longer utilized.
The 2005-2006 UDC Omnibus Code Amendment
Package was adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on
July 10, 2006, excluding proposed provisions for mineral
resource extraction and noise disturbance. Visit the
UDC Omnibus page for more information.
UDC Quick Links
UDC Background
On
December 18, 2000, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the
Unified Development Code (UDC) as the set of implementing
regulations for the Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan. The
effective date of the UDC was January 16, 2001. This web page
contains information related to the history and process involved in
the adoption of the UDC as well as a complete and updated PDF copy of
the UDC.
THE
HISTORY BEHIND THE UDC
In August 1998, after years of hard
work by dedicated county citizens and countless hours of public
review, discussion and debate, Jefferson County adopted its
Comprehensive Plan consistent with the Washington state Growth
Management Act (GMA). Adoption of the Jefferson County Comprehensive
Plan laid the groundwork for land use planning and management in the
county over
the next 20 years. The Plan strikes a balance between growth,
lifestyle preferences, economic development, and protection of
natural resources and the environment. The Plan called for sweeping
changes in land use management, including adopting new "streamlined"
development regulations, incorporating measurable performance
standards for new development, increasing the opportunities for
rural economic development, and basing the regulation of critical
(or environmentally sensitive) areas on the best available science.
The next
step was to implement many of the provisions of the Plan by
translating the goals, policies and action strategies outlined in
the Plan into new development regulations. Until those development
regulations could be completed, the County adopted interim measures,
called the Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) to temporarily serve as
the Comprehensive Plan implementing regulations. However, the ICO
was only intended to be a temporary bridge to Plan implementation
and it did not address the key provisions of the Plan. Nevertheless,
the ICO was in effect for more than two and one-half years and many
of the key provisions of the Plan, such as increased economic
development opportunities and streamlined permitting, were yet to be
implemented. In fact, some potential economic development
opportunities in the county had been lost since adoption of the Plan
because they were not allowed under the ICO. So, beginning in June
2000, the County initiated development of a Unified Development
Code, or UDC, which included regulations for a wide variety of land
use activities combined into one integrated document.
WHAT IS THE UDC?
The goal of the
UDC is to implement the key provisions of the Plan through three
major themes:
-
Provide for increased economic development opportunities
-
Provide for increased levels of environmental protection
-
Produce a streamlined, less costly, and more
efficient development permitting system
The UDC
includes revisions to zoning, critical areas, land division, permit
review processes, comprehensive plan amendment procedures, and
development and performance standards for a wide variety of land use
activities in the county. Consultants, along with staff from the
Departments of Community Development, Environmental Health, and
Public Works, as well as the Prosecuting Attorney's office, worked
intently with the Planning Commission and the Board of County
Commissioners between June and November of 2000 to prepare
recommendations on the proposed UDC. In response to the public
comments received during Planning Commission review, a Final Draft
of the UDC was prepared for the Board that contained significant
changes from the first draft. The Department of Community
Development worked closely with the Planning Commission, other
County departments, the public and the Board to work out the "kinks"
involved in adopting such sweeping new regulations and making sure
that they "fit" the culture and character of Jefferson
County.
The UDC is comprised of 10 sections or
chapters. It serves to replace and combine almost 30 different
existing County ordinances, resolutions and sets of regulations,
including the ICO, into one combined and integrated document. The
UDC will serve as the main easy-to-find source for all of the
County's major land use regulations in a more user-friendly format.
The chapters of the UDC are laid out in a manner that combines
aspects of both traditional zoning and the use of "performance"
standards and overlay districts that allow increased flexibility for
rural economic development while ensuring that the rural character
of the county is maintained.
THE GOALS OF THE
UDC
Adoption of the UDC implements significant Comprehensive
Plan provisions by opening new doors for economic development, and
allowing new streamlined permitting, environmental protection, and
affordable housing measures to go into effect. Some of the major
recommended highlights of the UDC include:
Increased Economic
Development Opportunities
-
Allows
almost 20 new named small-scale recreational and tourist uses in
rural areas with accompanying performance standards to maintain
rural character, including provisions for streamlining approvals
for certain uses
-
Establishes standards for more than ten named home
businesses and more than a dozen new cottage industries allowed in
rural areas, including provisions for exempting certain uses from
the review process
-
New
performance standards for more than 40 different rural land uses
and activities to ensure clear and predictable standards for new
development
-
Expands
the range of economic development opportunities allowed in the
West End
-
Establishes residential clustering provisions in rural
areas and allowance for Planned Rural Residential Developments (PRRDs), including provisions for density bonuses
-
Includes
a new provision on Site Plan Approval Advance Determinations (SPAADs) providing for land use approval of certain applications
without the expense of engineered building plans
-
Provides
increased range of uses allowed in resource industrial districts
-
Allows
for mixed use development in rural village centers (RVC)
Streamlined Permitting Procedures
-
The UDC
is much more user friendly to read than existing codes and
assorted interpretations
-
Since
the performance and development standards are more prescriptive it
makes it clear to an applicant what the development requirements
are, thereby removing the vagueness of the existing code
-
New
discretionary permitting system for selected land uses that
recognizes some conditional uses would be minor and would not
require a public hearing
-
Includes
a clear and easily understandable use table by land use district
and provides 'flexibility" for the administrator to "classify"
un-named uses on the use table
-
New
application forms using a consolidated "Master Land Use
Application (MLA) form" to expedite project development reviews
-
The
noticing requirements for certain uses have been eliminated or cut
in half and the UDC eliminates the costly and time consuming
"notice to title provisions" of the resource lands ordinances and
the "pending SEPA threshold determinations" because of the
adequacy of the environmentally sensitive areas section of the
UDC
-
The
County (rather than applicants) will now prepare adjacent property
owner lists (APOs) using its Geographic Information System
(GIS) database, resulting in reduced cost to applicants
-
New
Comprehensive Plan amendment "docketing" process
-
Allows
Boundary Line Adjustment's to occur across land use zones
-
Creates
an enforcement policy with emphasis on resolution at the
administrative level only involving the Prosecuting Attorney and
court system as a last resort
-
Provides
for a new appeal mechanism on enforcement issues
-
Enhanced
environmental protection
-
Clearer
provisions for regulated and exempt activities in environmentally
sensitive areas such as wetlands and fish and wildlife habitat
areas and their buffers
-
Increased buffers required for wetlands and fish and
wildlife habitat areas to meet the "best available science"
requirement of the Comprehensive Plan and the GMA
-
Discretionary authority to require habitat management plans
for sensitive species
-
Includes
new clearing and grading provisions
-
Reduced
impervious surface coverage in rural residential districts and
implementation of a new stormwater permit
-
Requires
on-site infiltration of stormwater in saltwater intrusion areas
-
Prohibits new asphalt batch plants in rural residential
districts
-
New
performance standards and provisions for mineral extraction and
processing
-
Moves
the County closer to meeting the requirements of the Endangered
Species Act regarding protection of Puget Sound salmon
More
Affordable Housing
-
Increases the maximum allowed size of Accessory Dwelling
Units (ADUs) from the current 800 square feet to 1250 square feet
to more easily accommodate manufactured homes
-
Allows
duplexes by right in rural residential districts subject to
underlying density requirements
-
Allows
duplexes and triplexes in Rural Village Centers
-
Provisions for appropriately-scaled Residential Care and
Assisted Living Facilities in rural residential areas
-
Maintains limited density exemptions for pre-existing and
approved but unbuilt septic systems
UDC Amendments
Note on Amendments:
There may be lag time between the adoption of an
ordinance amending the UDC and the physical updating of the sections
through the code publishing service. The
County Commissioners' office houses the official version of the
Jefferson County Code. ORDINANCES
THAT HAVE AMENDED THE UDC SINCE ADOPTION (DEC. 2000)
| Ordinance No. |
Date |
Subject of
Amendment |
|
03-0702-01 |
7/2/01 |
On-site
Sewage Systems; SPAADs |
|
07-1224-01 |
12/24/01 |
Master Planned Resorts;
Development Agreements |
|
02-0311-02 |
3/11/02 |
Major Industrial Developments |
|
04-0422-02 |
4/22/02 |
Groundwater
Protection
(housekeeping) |
|
07-0723-02
|
7/23/02 |
Seawater Intrusion Issues |
|
09-0923-02 |
9/23/02 |
Seawater Intrusion Issues |
| 18-1213-02 |
12/23/02 |
Forest
Transition Overlay District, Comprehensive Plan Amendment
Application Deadline, Glen Cove Light Industrial District and
Stormwater Standards, Brinnon Subarea Plan |
| 21-1220-02 |
12/20/02 |
|
02-0210-03 |
2/10/03 |
Delay of 2001 Stormwater Standards
until 7/1/03 |
|
03-0303-03 |
3/3/03 |
Interim Official
Controls (Development Regulations) for Marrowstone Island
Pursuant to RCW 36.70A.390 |
|
05-0428-03 |
4/28/03 |
Implement a
Settlement Agreement between Jefferson County and the Washington
Environmental Council |
|
06-0609-03 |
6/9/03 |
Seawater Intrusion
Issues |
|
06-0510-04 |
5/10/04 |
Agricultural Activities & Accessory Uses |
|
10-0823-04
|
8/23/04 |
UDC Appendix D: Implementing Development Regulations for
Irondale & Port Hadlock UGA |
|
This list
is not up to date |
Additionally, the following Ordinance adopted in 2003
supplements UDC Section 1 with specific procedures for public
hearings conducted by the Hearing Examiner for certain types of land
use permits:
More Information
Online access to Title 18 JCC is provided
through:
Hard copies of Title 18 JCC are available from:
Code
Publishing Company
9410 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle WA 98115-2844
Phone: 206-527-6831
/ 800-551-2633
Fax:
206-527-8411
Email:
codepublishing@qwest.net
Copies of JCC Volume I and Volume II
(which contains Title 18) are currently provided at Code
Publishing's current price ($0.10 per page, subject to change). Customers receive updates directly from Code Publishing. For more information, contact:
Long-Range
Planning
Department of Community Development
621
Sheridan Street
Port Townsend WA 98368
Phone: 360-379-4450
Fax:
360-379-4451 | 
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