Forests_green_space

1:17:57 address the two historic open space applications. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Hunter to run through the presentation. And we'll do our best to answer any questions that you may have. Thanks. Good morning, counselors. Again, my name is Hunter Decker. I'm the Clark County Forester for Public Works. And today, I'm going to present to you the 2025 current use assessment request for the open space classification. So what is open space? Open space program originates from the Open Space Taxation Act, which was created by the Washington state legislator to maintain, preserve, and conserve open space lands for the benefit of natural resources, scenic beauty, and the overall well-being of the public. So the program is governed by state law RCW 84.34 and WAC 458-30, along with Clark County

1:18:57 Code Chapter 3.08. The state program includes three classifications, open space land, farm and agriculture land, and timber land. And timber land was merged with our designated forest land program in 2024. So tonight's presentation only addresses the open space land classifications, not farm or timber. Next slide, please. So the current use applications are reviewed jointly by the Assessor's Office and Public Works. The applications are typically submitted toward the end of the calendar year, preceding the assessment year. And then the requests are processed in the same manner as the comprehensive plan amendment as required by RCW 84.34.037. This means the request must be reviewed by the Planning Commission before being forwarded to the Clark County Council for final approval.

1:19:56 And so this year makes the 35th year that the county has reviewed these applications for the assessment. Next slide, please. The current use program's been in place since 1970 and is intended to help preserve open space lands, the natural resources and scenic values that relate to the public benefit. Historically, Clark County has enrolled thousands of acres in open space. And so for example here, since I've been on, I got a couple numbers for 2019. We've had 8,796 acres enrolled over 582 owners. And then as of this year, with some updated numbers, we have -- sorry, it looks like this slide didn't get updated.

1:20:46 So the 2026 numbers are 8,171 acres and 584 owners, not 4,625 and 245. That was a -- Thanks for that correction. I was -- Miss correction there, yeah. And it was alarming me, so thank you. Yeah. So the right numbers here is only about a 7% difference where the acreage has decreased about 625 acres. And then the next slide, that number might also be incorrect as well just because of the last number. But the market value for open space land of April 28th of this year is 2,809,448,317.

1:21:42 And current use value is 2,821,280. And we could give you those updated numbers after this presentation. And next slide, please. So our open space categories versus the counties and the state, we've adopted most all of the program requirements that the state offers, but there are some that we haven't. And so what we have is included conservation enhancement of natural resources, stream protection, soil conservation, the enhancement of recreational opportunities, and historical sites. Next slide, please. And so for this review cycle, we have the -- we had three cases, the one being pulled.

1:22:40 So we have tonight for you two open space applications for the historical site application review is the fee was updated is now $2,282 for the processing and review. Next slide, please. We also have some approval criteria related to every application, although some like historical sites can be tracks less than five acres. And the second would be an effective noxious weed program, which the county noxious weed management program offers the applicants the ability to abide by the program. Next slide, please.

1:23:38 So historical sites in Clark County Code, it means applications for open space are based on the preservation of historical sites, and they'll only be limited to historical sites and land containing such structures. So as long as they are listed on the local, state, or national historical register and protected as such. And again, these could be less than five acres. Next slide. So our first application is the William Frederick Kauffman House. The applicant requested 0.52 acres located at 8104 Northeast 107th Avenue. The onsite review confirmed the presence of the Frederick Building Kauffman House, which was built in 1912 and is listed on our Clark County Heritage Register.

1:24:29 So based on the structure and meeting the code, we recommend approval of the 0.52 acres. Next slide, please. Here's kind of an overview slide that shows where the property is within the county outlined there in yellow. Next slide. Has a couple photos of the house where it's still intact and on the register. Next slide, please. Last application is O.P.S. 2026-02, the Bakery Building located at 506 Washington Street. This applicant requested 0.9 acres and historically was a blacksmith shop machinist in the late

1:25:25 1800s and then later became the Royal Bakery Building Company in 1911. And so this is also listed on our Clark County Heritage Register and meets the open space criteria. And we recommend to approve the 0.09 acres on that. Next slide shows an overview of where it's at located and the next slide, please, shows a couple historical picture and a current picture. And next slide, that'll conclude staff's presentation and happy to answer any questions. >> Are there any questions from council? >> Sure. >> Go ahead. >> Yeah, thank you for this. I'm just trying to learn a little bit more about what the advantages of to the landowner are of switching to open spaces or different taxation rate and what would be the difference

1:26:22 overall on impact to the county revenue or do you, yeah. >> Sure. Depending on which program and really it's kind of like looking towards the future. So if, you know, surrounding areas going to, say, expand in urban growth and then the, now the current use on those properties, the market rate is higher because homes could be built versus, you know, farming or such or protecting trees or with this program with the different qualifications and historical property, your land would then be taxed the same as that use currently. So and Kevin could explain more.

1:27:21 >> So what it does is it taxes it at the current use rather than its highest and best use. So like the example that Hunter gave, residential development versus agriculture, residential development would be a higher and better use, and so it would have a higher tax rate. And so that's the benefit to the owner of the property is they get a much lower tax rate. The assessor would have to answer the specifics about what that means, but it's generally a pretty substantial decrease, 70 to 80%. And that doesn't mean that there's an impact to the county. It means that that tax is redistributed throughout the taxing district. So the county still takes in the same amount of tax, it's just that that owner gets a lower rate. >> That makes sense, thank you. >> And also for reference, this RCW 8434 that Hunter mentioned is the same RCW where we've

1:28:18 been talking about public benefit rating system, so, and conservation futures. >> Okay, go ahead. >> Just a really quick question. So these can be any historic sites in the county, so not, only in unincorporated Clark County, correct? >> Anywhere in the county. >> Anywhere in the county, and they have to be listed on the local, state, or national historic register. >> Right, thank you. >> Go ahead. >> Yes, I have quite a few comments and questions on this one. You know, some of the nuance of this I was not able to read through the RCW in its entirety, but it's open space, right? But this one location is 0.09 acres, which I think is around 4,000 square foot of which the entire site is building.

1:29:15 There is no open space. So the other thing, your earlier question, I actually asked our county assessor to see what the impact is of all of the values that have been reduced to conform with the program. And the overall impact to the county is the median home pays about $10 a year to subsidize this program, essentially. So there is a public cost to it. Public benefit. I fully believe in historic preservation. The program has a penalty if you, basically, if you pull it out or if it, you know, one of the things I'm concerned with is historic preservation, the ultimate concern is demolition.

1:30:14 You know, and somebody could own a property for 25 years, essentially pay very, very little taxes for ten years. The other folks in the county cover that for them and then they could demolish the building and only have to pay back seven years of the forgiven tax on that. And you have to, I have to ask myself at this point, what was the public benefit? I mean, if the building's gone, we didn't really preserve anything. You know, so I'm supportive of going ahead and improving these at this time because it