BILL REQ. #:  S-3907.1 

Read first time 01/27/14.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.

     AN ACT Relating to on-water dwellings; amending RCW 90.58.270; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature recognizes that all Washington residents benefit from the unique aesthetic, recreational, and economic opportunities that are derived from the state's aquatic resources, including its navigable waters and shoreline areas. The legislature also recognizes that, as affirmed in chapter 212, Laws of 2011, existing floating homes are an important cultural amenity and an element of the state's maritime history and economy. The 2011 legislation, which clarified the legal status of floating homes, was intended to ensure the vitality and long-term survival of floating home communities.
     (2) The legislature finds that further clarification of the status of floating on-water residences that meet specific requirements and share important cultural, historical, and economic commonalities with floating homes, is necessary.
     (3) The legislature, therefore, intends to: Preserve the existence and vitality of current, floating on-water residences; establish greater clarity and regulatory uniformity for these residences; and respect the well-established authority of local governments to determine compliance with regulatory requirements applicable to their jurisdiction.

Sec. 2   RCW 90.58.270 and 2011 c 212 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Nothing in this ((statute)) section shall constitute authority for requiring or ordering the removal of any structures, improvements, docks, fills, or developments placed in navigable waters prior to December 4, 1969, and the consent and authorization of the state of Washington to the impairment of public rights of navigation, and corollary rights incidental thereto, caused by the retention and maintenance of said structures, improvements, docks, fills or developments are hereby granted: PROVIDED, That the consent herein given shall not relate to any structures, improvements, docks, fills, or developments placed on tidelands, shorelands, or beds underlying said waters which are in trespass or in violation of state statutes.
     (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as altering or abridging any private right of action, other than a private right which is based upon the impairment of public rights consented to in subsection (1) ((hereof)) of this section.
     (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as altering or abridging the authority of the state or local governments to suppress or abate nuisances or to abate pollution.
     (4) Subsection (1) of this section shall apply to any case pending in the courts of this state on June 1, 1971 relating to the removal of structures, improvements, docks, fills, or developments based on the impairment of public navigational rights.
     (5)(a) A floating home permitted or legally established prior to January 1, 2011, must be classified as a conforming preferred use.
     (b) A floating on-water residence that is permitted or legally established prior to July 1, 2014, must be classified as a conforming preferred use.
     (c) For the purposes of this subsection:
     (i) "Conforming preferred use" means that applicable development and shoreline master program regulations may only impose reasonable conditions and mitigation that will not effectively preclude maintenance, repair, replacement, and remodeling of ((existing)) floating homes ((and)), floating ((home)) on-water residences, and associated moorages by rendering these actions impracticable.
     (ii) "Floating home" means a single-family dwelling unit constructed on a float, that is moored, anchored, or otherwise secured in waters, and is not a vessel, even though it may be capable of being towed.
     (iii) "Floating on-water residence" means a vessel that is registered under chapter 88.02 RCW and: (A) Is used as a residence on the water and has detachable utilities; (B) whose owner or primary occupant has held a lease or sublease to use space in a marina as their primary residence since a date prior to July 1, 2014; and (C) is either capable of propulsion and steering or is without a means of self-propulsion and steering equipment or capability, but is capable of being towed.