From the Olympian:

About 100 people came to a meeting Thursday night at Nisqually Middle School on proposed changes to the county’s rural zoning. Many of them were terrified that the new rules will wipe out their retirement funds, which are invested in land they hoped to one day develop.

Thursday’s meeting was the second of four public workshops meant to allow county residents to brainstorm ways the county could best rezone parts of the rural land. A state board ruled in July that the rules violate state law by encouraging sprawl.

Some areas now zoned to allow one home per 5 acres will have to be rezoned to allow one home per 10 or 20 acres, according to the board that issued the July ruling. Rural areas zoned more densely, including some land around shores and lakes zoned to allow one home per 1 or 2 acres, will have to be rezoned to a lower density or grouped into a special high-density rural classification, the board said.

County officials are appealing the ruling, but planners are going forward with their efforts to comply with the findings in case the appeal fails. Otherwise, the county will face legal action by the state and could lose state funding.

The article also links to a map of the urban growth areas in Thurston County.