Thurston County commissioners extend local COVID-19 emergency declaration through May
Thurston County commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to amend and extend a resolution declaring the outbreak of COVID-19 a local emergency through May 31. The board’s original resolution would have expired Wednesday.
As of Tuesday, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services had reported 81 county residents with confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 and one related death. Seventy-two residents diagnosed with COVID-19 have been counted as “recovered” or “recovering,” meaning they aren’t hospitalized and have been released from public health monitoring.
Declaring a local emergency allows the county to make emergency purchases, activates its Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, and streamline other actions needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19.
The amended resolution now includes that all county facilities are closed to public access through May 15, except for the Sheriff’s Office, Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, District Court, Superior Court, the Clerk’s Office, and county trails. Commissioners voted 2-1 last week to officially reopen county trails, which had been officially closed but still were being used.
Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order put in place March 23 currently lasts until May 4. If the governor doesn’t extend that order, Thurston’s resolution states that the local emergency proclamation and changes to hours for county offices and departments will be rescinded without requiring board action, according to a press release from the county.
Also on Tuesday, the board unanimously voted to pass an ordinance extending the expiration dates for some development-related building applications and approvals.
The move is aimed at potential economic impacts of COVID-19, such as the potential to delay reviews, public hearings, and other requirements for the approval of development projects, according to a county press release.
Under the ordinance, all of the following are extended automatically to Sept. 30 of this year:
Building permit expiration dates
Land Use Applications — response to additional information requests
Preliminary Plats
Final Plats
Short Plats
Short Plats in relation to zoning requirements
Special Use Permits
Reasonable Use Exception
The Olympia Master Builder’s Association had requested the board consider extending deadlines of permit applications to July 31 in light of COVID-19, County Manager Ramiro Chavez said at the meeting Tuesday.
“Considering no construction is going on, it would be impossible for those individuals who have a permit to exercise that construction if it’s not allowed, so extending those permits, I believe, is a good thing for you to consider,” Chavez said.
Commissioner Gary Edwards had previously suggested extending the deadlines further, to the end of 2020.
“I want to commend the CPED (Community Planning & Economic Development) folks for adding 60 days to this request from the Olympia Master Builders,” Edwards said Tuesday. “But, just so we don’t have to mess with it again, I’d like to extend it to the end of the year. But, I’m willing to go ahead with this and then go through it again if we need to.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 8:22 AM.
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