Wild Horse Wind Power - land use and adjudication

Our Council held a formal adjudicative proceeding regarding Wild Horse Wind Power project on March 7 and 8, 2005, in Ellensburg. On the evening of March 8, 2005, our Council also held a public hearing in Ellensburg.

Prior to the adjudicative hearing, the applicant entered into a Settlement Agreement with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on February 18, 2005. The applicant also entered into a Stipulation and Settlement Agreement with Kittitas County on March 7, 2005, before the adjudication began that day.

We convened an initial land use hearing at the Home Arts Building of the Kittitas County Fairgrounds in Ellensburg on April 22, 2004. We reconvened the hearing in Olympia on June 7, 2004.

Council Order No. 791, dated June 8, 2004, determined that the applicant's site was not consistent and in compliance with regional land use plans or zoning ordinances of Kittitas County. Our Council ordered the applicant to make all reasonable efforts to resolve land use inconsistencies with the County by August 30, 2004, or submit a request for preemption.

After two extensions of the deadline, our Council reconvened the land use hearing on March 7, 2005, in Ellensburg and accepted from the Kittitas County a Certification of Land Use Consistency.