Woodinville Water District v. King County

A King County Hearing Examiner granted Woodinville Water District a conditional use permit to expand its nonconforming use of its facility in rural King County. A condition of the permit stated that “[n]o expansion of site employment beyond 35 permanent employees shall occur without issuance of a new conditional use permit.” The District contends on appeal that the hearing examiner lacked authority to impose the condition because it was not reasonably calculated to achieve legitimate land use goals and operated instead to impermissibly regulate the operation of the District’s business. The…