Buying Land in Klickitat County, Washington

Two regulatory worlds in one county: the Gorge Scenic Area and everywhere else

Klickitat County's southern edge, along the Columbia River, falls within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, created by federal statute and jointly administered with Oregon through the bi-state Columbia River Gorge Commission. Within that boundary, Klickitat County is required to adopt and administer land-use ordinances consistent with the Gorge Commission's Management Plan -- land-use designations there include categories like 'General Management Area Small Woodland,' with minimum parcel sizes (20 acres in that example) set by the Management Plan rather than ordinary county zoning. Development inside the Scenic Area requires Gorge Commission permit review before a county building permit can issue, with an expedited review process taking at least 30 days and standard review at least 72 days -- and where Scenic Area rules conflict with county rules, the Scenic Area rules control.

Outside the Scenic Area boundary, ordinary Klickitat County zoning and the county's Comprehensive Plan (adopted under the Growth Management Act as a voluntary planning county, with a Comprehensive Plan history dating back to 1977-1979 versions and undergoing a more recent update) apply instead. The practical first step for any Klickitat County land evaluation is confirming which of these two regulatory regimes actually governs the parcel -- the answer changes everything from minimum lot size to permit timeline.

A long wind-energy history, now colliding with a solar/BESS backlash

For roughly two decades, Klickitat County was one of Washington's most wind-energy-receptive rural counties outside the Scenic Area, hosting the Big Horn Wind Farm (roughly 200 MW across 133 turbines) and the Windy Point wind facility (roughly 400 MW), and creating its own Energy Overlay Zone (EOZ) specifically to designate areas suited for wind development. That history is real and ongoing for existing projects and EOZ-sited proposals.

But the county's posture toward newer utility-scale solar and battery energy storage (BESS) development shifted sharply and recently. The Board of County Commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on new BESS siting in September 2024 (Resolution 09124). Through 2025, the county's Planning Commission and Project Advisory Committee developed a new Industrial-Scale BESS & Solar Ordinance that went through multiple public drafts (versions dated as late as December 2025 were located during this research pass) -- legal commentary described the proposal's extensive setbacks, mandatory agrivoltaics-integration requirements, and complex application standards as functioning as a near-total ban on new utility-scale solar and BESS permitting at the county level. Notably, the draft ordinance separately maintains an outright prohibition on industrial-scale solar specifically within the Goldendale and Centerville valleys, regardless of the ordinance's other provisions.

As of this research pass, the Planning Commission was still in deliberations on a final version, with a hearing continuation scheduled in mid-December 2025 -- meaning the ordinance's exact final form was not yet confirmed. See the dedicated wind-solar-leasing page below for the full timeline and what it means for a landowner with existing or prospective solar/wind lease interest.

Why a local near-ban doesn't necessarily end large-project development

Washington's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) holds the authority to site large-scale wind and solar energy facilities in rural areas even where local zoning restricts or bars them -- one 2025 investigative report identified roughly 400 Washington jurisdictions, Klickitat County among them, that now have policies restricting wind or solar development. The practical effect of Klickitat County's restrictive new ordinance, if finalized as proposed, is less likely to be a complete end to new utility-scale solar or BESS development in the county than a shift in which permitting pathway developers pursue -- pushing large projects toward the state EFSEC process, which can override local restrictions, rather than county permitting. If you're evaluating land specifically for its solar or BESS lease potential, confirm both the current county ordinance status and whether any pending project nearby is pursuing county or EFSEC permitting.