| On July 20, the Washington State Supreme Court, by an overwhelming 8-1 vote, ruled in favor of Apple Tree Point Partners, appellants in the Apple Tree Point case. The landowners asked the Supreme Court to determine what land use regulations applied to its proposed Kingston development.
The court found that the former Kitsap County zoning ordinance applied because at the time in question, the interim urban growth area (IUGA) had not been amended within the period of remand from the growth management hearings board and was therefore not in effect. As a result, land use permits were governed by pre-existing zoning ordinances and not by the IUGA and Growth Management Act.
The Supreme Court also upheld the Court of Appeals’ ruling that the application was vested under the zoning laws in effect when the application was submitted, reversing the lower court’s holding that, because the development is incompatible with the GMA, it couldn’t be approved.
The Supreme Court also ruled that since no GMA plan or regulation was in effect on the date the application was submitted, the decision to approve or deny the plat and planned unit development must be based on Kitsap County’s pre-GMA zoning ordinances. It then remanded the case back to the trial court for review of the county commissioners’ decision not to require an environmental impact statement.
The decision could have a far-reaching impact on local development applications that were rejected under the same rulings — most notably, the Whitehorse development between Kingston and Indianola — as well as others in the state. | 
