Ellensburg Cement Prods., Inc. v. Kittitas County

Homer Gibson applied to Kittitas County for a conditional use permit (CUP) that would allow him to conduct rock crushing and other gravel and cement production related activities on his agricultural-zoned property. Kittitas gave notice that it would hold a public hearing on the CUP. Ellensburg Cement Products, Inc. objected to the CUP application and appealed Kittitas’s SEPA Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) under the county’s administrative appeal procedures. Kittitas first considered the SEPA appeal in a “closed record” hearing, and upheld the DNS. It then held an “open record” public hearing on the CUP, and granted Gibson’s application over Ellensburg Cement’s objections. Ellensburg Cement appealed both decisions to the superior court, which affirmed, and then to the Court of Appeals, which reversed. The Court of Appeals held that Kittitas was statutorily required to hold an “open record hearing” on the appeal of the SEP A DNS and that rock crushing was not a permissible conditional use under Kittitas’s relevant zoning regulations. After its review, the Supreme Court found no error with the appellate court’s decision and affirmed.

Ellensburg Cement Prods., Inc. v. Kittitas County