Island County commissioners adopted a one-year emergency moratorium April 15 on development within unincorporated areas zoned as mixed-use rural areas of more intensive rural development.

On Whidbey Island, the mixed-used RAID zones that fall under the moratorium are the commercial areas of Clinton, Ken’s Korner, Bayview, Greenbank, Cornet Bay and Deception Pass. Five areas on Camano Island are also impacted. With a few exceptions, the moratorium prevents the county from accepting, processing, reviewing or issuing any land use or building applications or permits for any construction, use change or land divisions.

The county is in the process of updating the Comprehensive Plan; one of the goals is to maximize housing density in mixed-use RAIDs and possibly other denser areas in the unincorporated county. The moratorium will ensure that projects don’t move forward before the new rules are adopted.

On Tuesday, the commissioners passed the emergency moratorium in a 2-1 vote. Island County Commissioners Jill Johnson and Melanie Bacon voted in favor while Commissioner Janet St. Clair vote against it. The mixed-use RAID zones in the county development code are named rural center, rural village and Camano Gateway Village.

A public hearing on the moratorium will be held within 60 days. Based on public input, the commissioners can continue the moratorium for the full 12 months or they could change their minds. People will be able to attend and comment in person or virtually. Written comments can be sent to commentbocc@islandcountywa.gov or compplan@islandcountywa.gov.

Neither the staff nor commissioners discussed any specific projects that the moratorium might impact. But it likely means that the out-of-state company that owns the Ken’s Korner Shopping Plaza will be unable to build more mini-storage units. One of the tenants, the Red Apple grocery store, is currently fighting in court against the landlord’s attempt to evict it. The Ken’s Korner management company previously told The Record that it was looking at potential options for converting empty space into self storage.

Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson first proposed the idea of the moratorium last week. At the meeting this week, she said it will be better for both the community and for developers if projects wait until land-use rules are changed. She said developers will be able to maximize the value of their projects because they will have “greater opportunities in the future.”

“I just think hit the pause, get the maximum density in place and then allow applications under the greatest land use potential in these zones is the most responsible course of action,” she said.

Staff explained that the county has to plan for increased housing densities as part of the state-mandated comprehensive plan amendment. In addition, a specific percentage of future housing must be planned for lower-income people, which means multi-family housing.

The county has limited unincorporated areas that can accommodate denser housing. Assistant Planning Director Emily Neff explained during the meeting that an analysis showed such areas as mixed-use RAIDs are not being fully utilized; greater housing densities will likely be allowed, or even required, once the comp plan amendments are adopted at the end of the year.

But in the meantime, she said, allowing a project to go forward under current density rules would inhibit the development potential of the area.

Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks explained that it’s an unusual statutory provision that allows the commissioners to adopt an emergency moratorium without notice. The provision exists, he said, so that commissioners can freeze development so that planned zoning changes aren’t undermined before they are enacted.

Nevertheless, St. Clair voted against the moratorium.

“I’m not opposed to this. I am nervous that we rushed into this a little bit in order to preserve the housing capacity for the future, which I fully understand and agree with,” she said. “It does go against my value of transparency and process.”

But the other commissioners pointed out that the community has been providing feedback on the comp plan updates for months. Neff said that if the county held public hearings and gave notice of the moratorium, people would submit applications to circumvent its intentions.

Bacon said the moratorium is a necessary step to follow the community’s wishes when it comes to planning for the future.

“The citizens have told us that they want the dense areas denser in order to protect the wild areas,” she said. “They have been very clear about this. So it’s our job to adopt a comp plan, ultimately, that will allow that to occur.”