Zone Change Application Process
Amendments to the Official Zoning Map are made once per year. The applications are usually submitted concurrently with a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA) by December 1st of each year in order to be consistent with the adopted County Comprehensive Plan. The applications will be reviewed under the requirements of SEPA (RCW 43.21) and evaluated for Comprehensive Plan and zoning compliance.
We do not allow "spot zoning" or changing the zone for one (or a few) parcels that is not contiguous with an already existing zone. For instance, if your home is zoned Rural Lands 5 and you wish you could re-zone it to a Commercial lot so you can run your business there, we cannot just rezone your lot. We would need to have some Commercial zoning nearby to be able to consider the re-zone request. If you don't know what zone you are in, or if you need to rezone to be able to do what you want to do on a parcel, please call our office to discuss your questions and options. You can reach the Benton County Planning Department at (509) 786-5612.
Application forms and fee information can be found on our Applications and Fees page.
After adoption of the Comprehensive Plan Amendments, Benton County staff will review the Zone Change applications, prepare staff reports for a public hearing before the Planning Commission and forward the Planning Commission's recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. The Commissioners will then conduct at least one open record hearing to consider and act upon the Planning Commission recommendation.
Current Zone Change Application Notices will be published on our Public Notices webpage.
