State grant pays to simplify Grant County regulations

EPHRATA - Simplifying Grant County's development regulations is hoped to save people time and money on their building projects by reducing unneeded steps.

One example of a possible change is eliminating a county-required hearing if someone wants the distance changed between a proposed building and a road.

"Today that would require a hearing, those are the kinds of things we could probably do at an administrative level," said Damien Hooper, Grant County's long range planning manager.

The situation would likely apply if the requested distance is minor and there aren't huge impacts to neighboring properties, he said.

This is just one reason why the eight-year old Unified Development Code will be streamlined this year with the help of a $125,000 grant from the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

The work is also hoped to streamline certain permit requirements and come up with more tools in zoning codes to meet the county's "unique needs," he said.

Grant County is a rural agricultural county that's experienced fairly significant residential and industrial growth and has a significant tourism base, he said.

Having a code that's flexible enough to accommodate all of the land uses is "a massive undertaking," he said.

Most of the grant money will be used to hire a consultant, and the grant's applicants, Grant County and the City of Ephrata, will each have staff and supplies going toward the project, Hooper said.

A group of possibly seven to nine county residents will likely be selected by county commissioners in the near future to serve on a steering committee for the project, Hooper said.

The group will review the current code for improvements and it's hoped they'll review code changes before approval, he said.

The final draft of the streamlined code must be delivered to CTED by June 2009.

Grant County and Ephrata applied for the money together. As a result, the two entities will also work on establishing joint development regulations within Ephrata's Urban Growth Area, Hooper said.

The work with Ephrata will hopefully help future work with joint development regulations involving other UGAs in Grant County, he said.