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[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 92-23-065, § 365-195-610, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-620
Submissions to state.
(l) Each county or city proposing adoption of a comprehensive plan or development regulations shall notify the department of its intent at least sixty days prior to final adoption. Notification shall be made by filing with the department five complete copies of the plan or development regulation(s). In addition, copies shall be provided to other state agencies identified on a list distributed by the department to planning jurisdictions. State agencies including the department many provide comments, during the public review process prior to adoption.
(2) Each county or city planning under the act shall transmit a complete and accurate copy of its comprehensive plan or development regulations to the department within ten days after final adoption.
(3) Any proposed amendments for permanent changes to a comprehensive plan or development regulation shall be submitted to the department in the same manner as initial plans and development regulations. Adopted amendments shall be transmitted to the department in the same manner as the initial plans and regulations.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-620, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-620, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-630
Amendment.
(1) Each plan should provide for an ongoing process of evaluation to ensure internal and interjurisdictional consistency of comprehensive plans and continuous consistency of development regulations with such plans. This evaluation should be an integral part of the amendment process.
(2) Each comprehensive plan shall contain provisions governing its amendment. Amendments to the plan shall not be considered more frequently than once every year, except in cases of emergency. The amendment process shall include a requirement that all proposed amendments in any year be considered concurrently so that the cumulative effect of the various proposals can be ascertained.
(3) Each county that designates urban growth areas shall review, at least every ten years, its designated urban growth areas, and the densities permitted within both the incorporated and unincorporated portions of each urban growth area. In conjunction with this review, each city located within the county shall review the densities permitted within its boundaries, and the extent to which the urban growth occurring within its urban growth area has located within its boundaries and the extent to which such growth has located within the unincorporated portions of the urban growth area. The urban growth areas and densities permitted in urban growth areas shall be revised to accommodate the urban growth projected to occur in the county for the succeeding twenty-year period.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 92-23-065, § 365-195-630, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-640
Record of process.
(1) Whenever a provision of the comprehensive plan or development regulations is based on factual data, that data or a clear reference to its source should be made a part of the record of adoption.
(2) The record should contain a complete exposition of how the public participation requirements were met.
(3) All public hearings should be recorded and tape recordings kept of the proceedings.
(4) The record which accompanies any amendment to the comprehensive plan or development regulations should conform to the same requirements as the initial plan and regulations.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 92-23-065, § 365-195-640, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-700
Background.
For local jurisdictions subject to its terms, the Growth Management Act mandates the development of comprehensive plans and development regulations that meet statutory goals and requirements. These plans and regulations will take their place among existing laws relating to resource management, environmental protection, regulation of land use, utilities and public facilities. Many of these existing laws were neither repealed nor amended by the act.
This circumstance places responsibilities both on local growth management planners and on administrators of preexisting programs to work toward producing a single harmonious body of law.
The need to consider and recognize other laws should profoundly influence, limit and shape planning and decision making under the act. At the same time, in recognition of the broad and fundamental changes intended by creation of the growth management scheme, prior programs should be interpreted and directed, to the maximum extent possible, in a manner consistent with the products of the comprehensive new land use management system.
The far-reaching nature of the act and the wide variety of possible outcomes under its authority dictate that identification of all the points of contact between its products and other laws will have to be elaborated over time. The entire process of determining how the act fits into the overall legal framework will, of necessity, be an incremental one. Nonetheless, for growth management to succeed, this process must begin at the outset.
At the planning stage, this means that a conscious effort to address the requirements of other existing law is needed as an essential initial step in the process. This need poses an unprecedented challenge to all governmental entities - municipalities, counties, regional authorities, special districts and state agencies - to communicate and collaborate. The act is a mandate to government at all levels to engage in coordinated planning and cooperative implementation.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-700, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-700, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-705
Basic assumptions.
(1) Where the legislature has spoken expressly on the relationship of the act to other statutory provisions, the explicit legislative directions shall be carried out. Examples of such express provisions are set forth in WAC 365-195-750.
(2) Absent a clear statement of legislative intent or judicial interpretation to the contrary, it should be presumed that neither the act nor other statutes are intended to be preemptive. Rather they should be considered together and, wherever possible, construed as mutually consistent.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-705, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-710
Identification of other laws.
(1) In the development of their comprehensive plans and implementing regulations, cities and counties planning under the act should attempt to identify other statutes and legal authorities affecting subjects addressed by the plans and regulations.
(2) To aid in this identification, state agencies, regional authorities, special districts and utilities should implement programs to inform the planning entities of relevant programs and provisions within their jurisdiction or expertise. Every effort should be made to provide this information before the plan drafting process is complete.
(3) Opportunities to comment on draft comprehensive plans or on related SEPA documents should be used by commenting agencies as additional occasions for advising planning jurisdictions of preexisting programs and related legal authorities.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-710, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-710, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-715
Integrating external considerations.
(1) Agencies administering existing programs have already generated data, performed analyses and developed effective approaches to many of the challenges posed by the act. Planners should take advantage of such experience and use it to shape the form and content of plans and regulations under the act where relevant.
(2) Governmental entities with expertise in subjects affecting or affected by the act and private companies which provide public services should, as practicable, offer assistance to counties and cities planning under the act in formulating their plans and regulations, through model ordinances, model plan provisions, direct drafting assistance, or other technical advice.
(3) The drafting of comprehensive plans and development regulations should involve the identification of other related laws, an evaluation of any potential areas of conflict and an effort to avoid such conflicts. Where the text of outside sources can appropriately serve local needs, consideration should be given to adoption of that text in local plans or regulations.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-715, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-720
Sources of law.
(1) In seeking to identify other relevant legal authorities, planners should refer to sources at all levels of government, including federal and state Constitutions, federal and state statutes, federal and state administrative regulations, and judicial interpretations thereof.
(2) The categories set forth in WAC 365-195-725 through 365-195-755 are an attempt to assist planners by highlighting various kinds of external legal provisions with which planning under the act should be concerned. Some of the categories overlap. The listing is not exhaustive. It is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the informational efforts of state agencies, regional authorities, special districts and utilities.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-720, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-720, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-725
Constitutional provisions.
(1) Local plans and regulations adopted under the act are subject to the supremacy principle of Article VI, United States Constitution and of Article XI, Section 11, Washington state Constitution.
(2) Counties and cities planning under the act are required to use a process established by the state attorney general to assure that proposed regulatory or administrative actions do not unconstitutionally infringe upon private property rights. This process is set forth in a publication entitled, "State of Washington, Attorney General's Recommended Process for Evaluation of Proposed Regulatory or Administrative Actions to Avoid Unconstitutional Takings of Private Property," first published in February 1992. Review and updating of this process by the attorney general is required on at least an annual basis to maintain consistency with changes in case law.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-725, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-730
Federal authorities.
(1) The drafting of plans and development regulations under the act should involve a consideration of the effects of federal authority over land or resource use within the planning area, including:
(a) Treaties with Native Americans;
(b) Jurisdiction on land owned or held in trust by the federal government;
(c) Federal statutes or regulations imposing national standards;
(d) Federal permit programs and plans.
(2) Examples of such federal standards, permit programs and plans are:
(a) National ambient air quality standards, adopted under the Federal Clean Air Act;
(b) Drinking water standards, adopted under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act;
(c) Effluent limitations, adopted under the Federal Clean Water Act;
(d) Dredge and fill permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers under the Federal Clean Water Act;
(e) Licenses for hydroelectric projects issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
(f) Plans created under the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act;
(g) Recovery plans and the prohibition on taking listed species under the Endangered Species Act.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-730, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-735
State and regional authorities.
(1) The drafting of plans and development regulations under the act should involve a consideration of numerous state and regional regulatory and planning provisions affecting land use, resource management, environmental protection, utilities, or public facilities including:
(a) State statutes and regulations imposing statewide standards;
(b) Programs involving state-issued permits or certifications;
(c) State statutes and regulations regarding rates, services, facilities and practices of utilities, and tariffs of utilities in effect pursuant to such statutes and regulations;
(d) State and regional plans;
(e) Regulations and permits issued by regional entities;
(f) Locally developed plans subject to approval or review by state or regional entities.
(2) Examples of statewide standards are:
(a) Water quality standards and sediment standards, adopted by the department of ecology under the state Water Pollution Control Act;
(b) Drinking water standards adopted by the department of health pursuant to the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act;
(c) Minimum functional standards for solid waste handling, adopted by the department of ecology under the state Solid Waste Management Act;
(d) Minimum cleanup standards under the Model Toxics Control Act;
(e) Statutory requirements under the Shoreline Management Act and implementing guidelines and regulations adopted by the department of ecology;
(f) Standards for forest practices, adopted by the forest practices board under the state Forest Practices Act;
(g) Minimum requirements for flood plain management, adopted by the department of ecology under the Flood Plain Management Act.
(h) Minimum performance standards for construction pursuant to the state building code;
(i) Safety codes, such as the electrical construction code, adopted by the department of labor and industries.
(3) Examples of programs involving state issued permits or certifications are:
(a) Permits relating to forest practices, issued by the department of natural resources;
(b) Permits relating to surface mining reclamation, issued by the department of natural resources;
(c) National pollutant discharge elimination permits and waste discharge permits, issued by the department of ecology;
(d) Water rights permits, issued by department of ecology under state surface and ground water codes;
(e) Hydraulic project approvals, issued by departments of fisheries and wildlife under the state fisheries code;
(f) Water quality certifications, issued by the department of ecology;
(g) Operating permits for public water supply systems, issued by the state health department;
(h) Site certifications developed by the energy facility site evaluation council.
(i) Permits relating to the generation, transportation, storage or disposal of dangerous wastes, issued by the department of ecology.
(4) Examples of state and regional plans are:
(a) State implementation plan for ambient air quality standards under the Federal Clean Air Act;
(b) State transportation policy plan;
(c) Instream resource protection regulations for water resource inventory areas adopted under the Water Resources Act of 1971;
(d) Ground water management area programs, adopted pursuant to the ground water code;
(e) Puget Sound water quality management plan adopted by the puget sound water quality authority.
(f) State outdoor recreation and open space plan;
(g) State trails plan.
(5) Examples of regulations and permits issued by regional entities are:
(a) Solid waste disposal facility permits issued by health departments under the Solid Waste Management Act;
(b) Regulations adopted by regional air pollution control authorities.
(c) Operating permits for air contaminant sources issued by regional air pollution control authorities.
(6) Examples of locally developed plans subject to approval or review by state or regional agencies are:
(a) Shorelines master programs, approved by the department of ecology;
(b) The consistency requirement for lands adjacent to shorelines of the state set forth in RCW 90.58.340.
(c) Coordinated water system plans for critical water supply service areas, approved by the state health department;
(d) Plans for individual public water systems, approved by the state health department;
(e) Comprehensive sewage drainage basin plans, approved by the department of ecology;
(f) Local moderate risk waste plans, approved by the department of ecology;
(g) Plans required to be filed with the utilities and transportation commission in accordance with WAC 480-100-251.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-735, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-740
Regional perspective.
Some of the above authorities require planning for particular purposes for areas related by physical features, such as watersheds, rather than by political boundaries. Moreover, the systems addressed in resource management, service by utilities, fish and wildlife management and pollution control are generally not circumscribed by city and county lines. Planning entities should attempt to identify those subject areas which by law or logic require a regional planning approach and, where this is the case, work toward creating collaborative processes involving all agencies with jurisdiction in the relevant geographical area. This approach, where followed, should assist in achieving interjurisdictional consistency.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-740, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-745
Special siting statutes.
(1) Plans and regulations adopted under the act should accommodate situations where the state has explicitly preempted all local land use regulations, as for example, in the siting of major energy facilities under RCW 80.50.110.
(2) Where special statutes relate specifically to the setting aside of designated areas for particular purposes and under particular management programs, local land use regulations adopted under the act should be consistent with those purposes and programs. Examples in this category are the statutes relating to:
(a) Natural resource conservations areas;
(b) Natural area preserves;
(c) Seashore conservation area;
(d) Scenic rivers.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-745, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-750
Explicit statutory directions.
(1) In approving the Growth Management Act, the legislature expressly amended numerous existing statutes. On the matters they address, these amendments define the relationship of such existing statutes to comprehensive plans and development regulations under the act. Examples are:
(a) RCW 19.27.097 (state building code - evidence of adequate supply of potable water.)
(b) RCW 35.13.005 (annexation of unincorporated areas - prohibited beyond urban growth areas)
(c) RCW 35.58.2795 (municipal corporations - six-year transit plan consistent with GMA comprehensive plans)
(d) RCW 35.77.010 (city streets - six-year comprehensive street program consistent with GMA comprehensive plans)
(e) RCW 35A.14.005 (annexation by code cities - prohibited beyond urban growth areas)
(f) RCW 36.81.121 (county roads - six-year comprehensive road program consistent with GMA comprehensive plans)
(g) RCW 36.94.040 (sewerage, water, drainage systems - incorporation of relevant comprehensive plan provisions into sewer or water general plan)
(h) RCW 56.08.020 (sewer districts - district comprehensive sewer plan consistent with urban growth area restrictions)
(i) RCW 57.16.010 (water districts - district comprehensive water plan consistent with urban growth area restrictions)
(j) RCW 58.17.060 (short plats - written findings about appropriate provisions for infrastructure)
(k) RCW 58.17.110 (subdivisions - written findings about appropriate provisions for infrastructure)
(l) RCW 58.18.440 (land development - authority of GMA planning entities to require relocation assistance)
(m) RCW 86.12.200 (comprehensive flood control management plans - may be incorporated into comprehensive plans under the act)
(2) Approval of the act included the creation of a new chapter (chapter 47.80 RCW) authorizing and assigning duties to regional transportation planning organizations (RTPO's). These organizations were expressly given responsibilities for ensuring the consistency of transportation planning throughout a region containing multiple local governmental jurisdictions.
(3) Approval of the act included the addition of new sections (RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090) concerning impact fees on development in counties or cities that plan under the GMA. These sections explicitly authorize and condition the use of such fees as part of the financing of public facility system improvements needed to serve new development.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-750, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-755
Voluntary interjurisdictional planning efforts.
Needs for regional and interagency planning coordination have in some areas been responded to in the past by innovative voluntary planning efforts, such as the timber, fish and wildlife agreement and the Chelan agreement regional water resource planning process. Such efforts can provide a valuable source of prior analysis and serve as the basis for plan provisions which accomplish interjurisdictional consistency. Counties and cities planning under the GMA should evaluate such work for possible incorporation into their plans and regulations.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-755, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-760
Integration of SEPA process with creation and adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations.
(1) The SEPA process is supplementary to other governmental decision-making processes, including the processes involved in creating and adopting comprehensive plans and development regulations under the act. The thoughtful integration of SEPA compliance with the overall effort to implement the act will provide understanding and insight of significant value to the choices growth management requires.
(2) The growth management process is designed to proceed in phases, moving, by and large, from general policy-making to more specific implementation measures. Phased review available under SEPA can be integrated with the growth management process through a strategy which identifies the points in that process where the requirements of the two statutes are connected and seeks to accomplish the requirements of both at those points.
(3) In an integrated approach major emphasis should be placed on the quality of SEPA analysis at the front end of the growth management process - the local legislative phases of plan adoption and regulation adoption. The objective should be to create nonproject impact statements and progressively more narrowly focused supplementary documents which are sufficiently informative that subsequent environmental analysis at the individual project stage will, ordinarily, need to be neither extensive nor time consuming.
(4) While not compromising SEPA's basic aim of ensuring consideration of environmental impacts in advance of development, this approach can serve the goal that project applications be processed in a timely manner.
(5) In the creation of SEPA documents, maximum advantage should be taken of relevant prior environmental analysis through identification and incorporation of statements prepared by other lead agencies in connection with other plans or projects.
(6) Planners are encouraged to consult the "SEPA/GMA Workbook" published by the department in January of 1993. The workbook deals in detail with the integration of the two statutory processes.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-760, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-765
State agency compliance.
(1) RCW 36.70A.103 declares that state agencies shall comply with the local comprehensive plans and development regulations and amendments thereto adopted pursuant to the act.
(2) The department construes the provision for state agency compliance to require that each state agency must meet local siting and building requirements when it occupies the position of an applicant proposing development, except where specific legislation explicitly dictates otherwise. Generally this means that the development of state facilities is subject to local approval procedures and substantive provisions, including zoning, density, setbacks, bulk and height restrictions.
(3) RCW 36.70A.210(4) provides that adopted county-wide planning policies shall be adhered to by state agencies. Consistent with other statutory mandates, state programs should be administered in a manner which does not interfere with implementation of the county framework for interjurisdictional consistency.
(4) Overall, the broad sweep of policy contained in the act implies a requirement that all programs at the state level accommodate the outcomes of the growth management process wherever possible. State agencies are rarely concerned solely with the rote application of fixed standards. The exercise of statutory powers, whether in permit functions, grant funding, property acquisition or otherwise, routinely involves such agencies in discretionary decision-making. The discretion they exercise should now take into account the new reality of legislatively mandated local growth management programs.
(5) After local adoption of plans and regulations under the act, state agencies are encouraged to review their existing programs in light of the local plans and regulations. Within relevant legal constraints, this review should lead to redirecting the state's actions in the interests of consistency with the growth management effort.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-765, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-770
Compliance by regional agencies and special districts.
(1) Regional and special purpose government entities possess statutorily defined powers which include planning, development, regulatory, facility management and taxing functions. Such entities include regional air pollution control authorities, metropolitan municipal corporations, fire protection districts, port districts, public utility districts, school districts, sewer districts, water districts, irrigation districts, flood control districts, diking and drainage districts, park and recreation districts.
(2) Except where any specific enactment may state the contrary, the department interprets the GMA as requiring that regional agencies and special districts comply with the comprehensive plans and development regulations developed under the act.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-770, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-800
Relationship to comprehensive plans.
(1) Development regulations under the Growth Management Act are specific controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city. Such regulations must be consistent with comprehensive plans developed pursuant to the act and they must implement those comprehensive plans.
"Implement" in this context has a more affirmative meaning than merely "consistent" (See WAC 365-195-210(5).) "Implement" connotes not only a lack of conflict but sufficient scope to carry out fully the goals, policies, standards and directions contained in the comprehensive plan.
(2) The legislature has specifically provided that the designation of interim urban growth areas shall be in the form of development regulations. Such interim designations shall generally precede the adoption of comprehensive plans.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-800, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-800, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-805
Implementation strategy.
Each county or city planning under the act should develop a detailed strategy for implementing its comprehensive plan. The strategy should describe the regulatory and nonregulatory measures (including actions for acquiring and spending money) to be used in order to apply the plan in full. The strategy should identify each of the specific development regulations needed.
(1) Selection. In determining the specific regulations to be adopted, jurisdictions may select from a wide variety of types of controls. The strategy should include consideration of:
(a) The choice of substantive requirements, such as the delineation of use zones; general development limitations concerning lot size, setbacks, bulk, height, density; provisions for environmental protection; urban design guidelines and design review criteria; specific requirements for affordable housing, landscaping, parking; levels of service, concurrency regulations and other measures relating to public facilities.
(b) The means of applying the substantive requirements, such as methods of prior approval through permits, licenses, franchises, or contracts.
(c) The processes to be used in applying the substantive requirements, such as permit application procedures, hearing procedures, approval deadlines, and appeals.
(d) The methods of enforcement, such as inspections, reporting requirements, bonds, permit revocation, civil penalties, and abatement.
(2) Identification. The strategy should include a list of all regulations identified as development regulations for implementing the comprehensive plan. Some of these regulations may already be in existence and consistent with the plan. Others may be in existence, but require amendment. Still others will need to be written.
(3) Adoption schedule. The strategy should include a schedule for the adoption or amendment of the development regulations identified. Individual regulations or amendments may be adopted at different times. However, all of the regulations identified should be adopted by the applicable final deadline for adoption of development regulations.
(4) The implementation strategy for each jurisdiction should be in writing and available to the public. A copy should be provided to the department. Completion of adoption of all regulations identified in the strategy will be construed by the department as completion of the task of adopting development regulations for the purposes of deadlines under the statute.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-805, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-810
Timing of initial adoption.
(1) Except for interim regulations, required development regulations must be enacted either by the deadline for adoption of the comprehensive plan or within six months thereafter, if an extension is obtained. The possibility of a time gap between the adoption of a comprehensive plan and the adoption of development regulations pertains to the time frame after the initial adoption of the comprehensive plan. Subsequent amendments to the plan should not face any delay before being implemented by regulations. After adoption of the initial plan and development regulations, such regulations should at all times be consistent with the comprehensive plan. Whenever amendments to comprehensive plans are adopted, consistent implementing regulations or amendments to existing regulations should be enacted and put into effect concurrently. (See WAC 365-195-865.)
(2) To obtain an extension of the deadline for adopting development regulations, a county or city must notify the department of its need by letter prior to the initial deadline. Six-month extensions will be obtained whenever such letters are timely received, but no extensions will result from requests received after the initial deadline.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-810, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-810, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-815
Review for compliance.
(1) When adopting any development regulation intended, in part, to carry out a comprehensive plan, the proposing jurisdiction should review its terms to ensure that it is consistent with and implements the comprehensive plan and make a finding to that effect.
(2) When the implementation strategy has been completely developed, the proposing jurisdiction should review the total package to ensure that such implementation is consistent with the comprehensive plans of other counties or cities with which it shares common borders or related regional issues.
(3) Planning jurisdictions should consider the use or creation of regional entities (county-wide or broader) to provide an interjurisdictional overview of consistency issues raised by comprehensive plans and development regulations.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-815, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-820
Submissions to state.
(l) Development regulations may be submitted to the department and other state agencies for comment individually as they are drafted. Except as set forth in subsection (2) of this section, the statutory requirement to notify the department of the intent to adopt development regulations at least sixty days prior to final adoption will apply each time any implementing regulation or amendment is proposed for adoption.
(2) The department construes the sixty-day notice requirement as inapplicable to interim regulations for natural resource lands and critical areas, and to regulations or amendments which are merely procedural or ministerial.
(3) Counties and cities should provide the department with notice of intent sixty days prior to adopting interim growth areas.
(4) Separate notice should be provided to the department of all preexisting regulations that are to be included in the implementation strategy without change.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-820, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93; 92-23-065, § 365-195-820, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]
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365-195-825
Regulations specifically required by the act.
(1) Conservation of natural resource lands.
(a) Lands designated as agricultural, forest and mineral lands of long-term commercial significance are collectively referred to as natural resource lands.
(b) "Conservation" in this context is construed to mean measures designed to assure that the natural resource lands will remain available to be used for commercial production of the resources designated.
(c) Classification, designation and designation amendment. The department has adopted minimum guidelines in chapter 365-190 WAC, detailing the process involved in establishing a natural resource lands conservation program. Included are criteria to be considered before any designation change should be approved. (See WAC 365-190-040 (2)(g).)
(d) Initial adoption and subsequent review.
(i) The act requires the designation of natural resources lands by all counties and cities. The adoption of development regulations for the conservation of such lands by jurisdictions planning under the act is required to occur prior to the adoption of comprehensive plans.
(ii) Upon the adoption of the comprehensive plans, such designations and regulations must be reviewed and, where necessary altered, to ensure consistency with the plans.
(e) Review upon adoption of other development regulations.
(i) In connection with the adoption of the total package of development regulations implementing the comprehensive plan, each planning jurisdiction must again review the regulations for conserving natural resource lands to ensure consistency.
(ii) If any regulations for conserving natural resource lands are by their terms effective only in the interim before the regulations implementing comprehensive plans are adopted, the subject must be covered in the development regulation package, so that there will be no gap in the effectiveness of a natural resource lands conservation program.
(f) Statutory limitations.
(i) Prior uses. Regulations for the conservation of natural resource lands may not prohibit uses legally existing on any parcel prior to their adoption.
(ii) Adjacent lands. Such regulations shall assure that the use of lands adjacent to designated natural resource lands does not interfere with the continued use, in the accustomed manner and in accordance with the best management practices, of the natural resource lands.
(iii) Plats and permits. Counties and cities shall require that all plats, short plats, development permits, and building permits issued for development activities on, or within three hundred feet, of designated natural resource lands contain a notice that the subject property is within or near designated agricultural lands, forest lands, or mineral resource lands on which a variety of commercial activities may occur that are not compatible with residential development for certain periods of limited duration.
(g) Relationship to comprehensive plans. The act does not explicitly require that comprehensive plans address the conservation of natural resource lands. However, because the required natural resource lands regulations must be consistent with the comprehensive plans, logic dictates that each comprehensive plan should set forth the underlying policies for the jurisdiction's natural resource lands program. In pursuing the natural resource industries goal of the act, such policies should identify nonregulatory measures for assuring the conservation of the designated lands as well as regulatory approaches. When such policies are incorporated into the plan (either as a separate element or as a part of the land use element), the consistency of the regulations can be readily assessed.
(h) Relationship to other programs. In designing development regulations and nonregulatory programs to conserve designated natural resource lands, counties and cities should endeavor to make such regulations and programs fit together with regional, state and federal resource management programs applicable to the same lands. Local plans and policies may in some respects be adequately implemented by adopting the provisions of such other programs as part of the local regulations.
(2) Protection of critical areas.
(a) Critical areas include the following areas and ecosystems: Wetlands, areas of critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas, frequently flooded areas and geologically hazardous areas.
(b) "Protection" in this context is construed to mean measures designed to preserve the structure, values and functions of the natural environment or to safeguard the public from hazards to health and safety.
(c) Classification, designation and designation amendment. The department has adopted minimum guidelines in chapter 365-190 WAC detailing the process involved in establishing a program to protect critical areas.
(d) Initial enactment and subsequent review.
(i) The act requires the designation of critical areas and the adoption of regulations for the protection of such areas by all counties and cities. For jurisdictions planning under the act this is required to occur prior to the adoption of comprehensive plans.
(ii) Upon the adoption of the comprehensive plans, such designations and regulations must be reviewed and, where necessary altered, to ensure consistency with the plans.
(e) Review upon adoption of other development regulations.
(i) In connection with the adoption of the total package of development regulations implementing the comprehensive plan, each planning jurisdiction must again review the regulations for protecting critical areas to ensure consistency.
(ii) If any regulations for protecting critical areas are by their terms effective only in the interim before the regulations implementing comprehensive plans are adopted, the subject must be covered in the development regulation package, so that there will be no gap in the effectiveness of a critical area protection program.
(f) Relationship to comprehensive plans. The act does not explicitly require that comprehensive plans address the protection of critical areas. However, because the required critical area regulations must be consistent with the comprehensive plans, logic dictates that each comprehensive plan should set forth the underlying policies for the jurisdiction's critical areas program. In pursuing the environmental protection and open space goals of the act, such policies should identify nonregulatory measures for protecting critical areas as well as regulatory approaches. When such policies are incorporated into the plan (either in a separate element or as a part of the land use element), the consistency of the regulations can be readily assessed.
(g) Relationship to other programs. In designing development regulations and nonregulatory programs to protect designated critical areas, counties and cities should endeavor to make such regulations and programs fit together with regional, state and federal programs directed to the same environmental, health, safety and welfare ends. Local plans and policies may in some respects be adequately implemented by adopting the provisions of such other programs as part of the local regulations.
(3) Interim urban growth area designations.
(a) The adoption of interim urban growth area designations shall be preceded by public notice, public hearing, compliance with SEPA and compliance with RCW 36.70A.110.
(b) The department construes compliance with RCW 36.70A.110 for interim growth areas to require the same consultation and attempted agreement process as is required for the adoption of final urban growth areas. Where an interim urban growth area is adopted without the agreement of any affected city, the county will prepare a written justification.
(4) Subdivisions.
(a) Regulations for subdivision approvals, including approvals of short subdivisions, shall require written findings that "appropriate provisions" have been made for the public health, safety, and general welfare, including open spaces, drainage ways, streets or roads, alleys, other public ways, transit stops, potable water supplies, sanitary wastes, parks and recreation, playgrounds, schools and schoolgrounds.
(b) Counties and cities may add other items related to the public health, safety and general welfare to the specific listing above, such as protection of critical areas, conservation of natural resource lands and affordable housing for all economic segments of the population.
(c) In drafting such regulations, "appropriate provisions" should be defined in a manner consistent with the requirements of other applicable laws and with any level of service standards or planning objectives established by the jurisdiction for the facilities involved.
(d) The definition of "appropriate provisions" could also cover the timing within which the facilities involved should be available for use, requiring, for example, that such timing be consistent with the definition of "concurrency" in this chapter. (See WAC 365-195-210(4).)
(5) Potable water.
(a) Each applicant for a building permit of a building necessitating potable water shall provide evidence of an "adequate water supply" for the intended use of the building. By statute such evidence may be in the form of a water right permit from the department of ecology, a letter from an approved water purveyor stating the ability to provide water, or another form sufficient to verify the existence of an adequate water supply.
(b) Receipt of one of the statutory forms of evidence may not provide enough information for building departments to determine whether the proposed water supply is, in fact, adequate. Local regulations should be designed to produce enough data to make such a determination, addressing both water quality and water quantity issues.
(c) Planning jurisdictions should give consideration to guidelines promulgated by the departments of ecology and health on what constitutes an "adequate water supply." In addition, Attorney General's Opinion, AGO 1992 No. 17, should be consulted for assistance in determining what substantive standards should be applied.
(d) If the department of ecology has adopted rules on this subject, or any part of it, local regulations should be consistent with those rules.
(e) Counties and cities may impose conditions on building permits requiring connection to an existing public water system where the existing system is willing and able to provide safe and reliable potable water to the applicant with reasonable economy and efficiency.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, § 365-195-825, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]
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365-195-830
Optional authorizations.
(1) Relocation assistance.
(a) Any county or city required to plan under the act is authorized to require property owners to provide their portion of reasonable relocation assistance to low-income tenants displaced by certain changes to residential property. The changes include demolition, substantial rehabilitation (whether due to code enforcement or any other reason), change of use and removal of use restrictions in an assisted-housing development.
(b) The regulations implementing the relocation assistance program shall be governed by the provisions of RCW 59.18.440.
(c) "Low-income tenants" means tenants whose combined total income per dwelling unit is at or below fifty percent of the median income, adjusted for family size, in the county where the tenants reside.
(d) For purposes of determining eligibility, the department shall annually inform counties and cities of the appropriate dollar limits to use for median income, adjusted for family size, in different areas within the state. In deciding on these limits, the department will refer to the county-by-county family income figures published annually by the federal department of housing and urban development. As soon as the federal figures become available each year, the department will review them and advise counties and cities promptly ofthe appropriate dollar limits and their effective dates. (continued)