Thurston County to continue gopher screening process

Thurston County officials announced Wednesday that they will move forward with a controversial screening process for the Mazama pocket gopher on properties before issuing development permits, despite a recent state board ruling that a portion of its process is out of compliance with the Growth Management Act.

The Thurston County commissioners met in executive session on Tuesday to discuss the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board’s May 12 decision on the 2015 gopher process, according to county manager Cliff Moore. After the closed session, they reconvened in open session.

“Essentially the board just directed staff to move forward with the portions of the process that were compliant with the Growth Management Act,” said associate planner Andrew Deffobis.

The screening process requires up to three site visits at least 30 days apart during June through October for properties in what’s known as “gopher soils.” It’s made up of about 104,000 acres in Thurston County’s jurisdiction, and does not include incorporated cities, tribal lands or Joint Base Lewis McChord, Deffobis said.

The state board found that the county’s Interim Screening Process resulted in de facto amendments to the county’s Critical Area Ordinance by placing controls on land use activities that differ substantially from the current Critical Area Ordinance adopted in 2012. It also determined that the county didn’t include public comment or participation in the change to the development regulation.

The state board’s ruling affects only the last portion of the permitting process: What happens if the gophers are living on property where someone wants to build a new home, rebuild a house or take on another activity that requires a county building permit?

“The County Commissioners are discussing options for dealing with the final step in the process if gophers are found on the property,” stated a news release issued Wednesday by the county.

In April 2014, four subspecies of the pocket gopher — known as the Olympia, Roy Prairie, Tenino and Yelm pocket gophers — were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

In a March 18 news release, the county stated that gopher reviews are done “in an effort to comply with state and federal endangered species laws, and to protect the County and its permit holders from liability under those laws.”

Fewer than 10 percent of screened applicants had gophers on their property in 2015, according to the county.

However, critics of the gopher screening process say it’s lengthy, expensive and has a chilling effect on property owners and potential building projects in the county.

This story was originally published June 1, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Thurston County to continue gopher screening process."