H-3976.1          _______________________________________________

                                  HOUSE BILL 2679

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1992 Regular Session

By Representatives R. Johnson, Spanel and Fraser

Read first time 01/23/92.  Referred to Committee on Judiciary.Preventing the otherwise unlawful subdivision of property by testamentary means.

     AN ACT Relating to property divisions; and amending RCW 58.17.040.

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

     Sec. 1.  RCW 58.17.040 and 1989 c 43 s 4-123 are each amended to read as follows:

     The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to:

     (1) Cemeteries and other burial plots while used for that purpose;

     (2) Divisions of land into lots or tracts each of which is one‑one hundred twenty‑eighth of a section of land or larger, or five acres or larger if the land is not capable of description as a fraction of a section of land, unless the governing authority of the city, town, or county in which the land is situated shall have adopted a subdivision ordinance requiring plat approval of such divisions:  PROVIDED, That for purposes of computing the size of any lot under this item which borders on a street or road, the lot size shall be expanded to include that area which would be bounded by the center line of the road or street and the side lot lines of the lot running perpendicular to such center line;

     (3) ((Divisions made by testamentary provisions, or the laws of descent;

     (4))) Divisions of land into lots or tracts classified for industrial or commercial use when the city, town, or county has approved a binding site plan for the use of the land in accordance with local regulations;

     (((5))) (4) A division for the purpose of lease when no residential structure other than mobile homes or travel trailers are permitted to be placed upon the land when the city, town, or county has approved a binding site plan for the use of the land in accordance with local regulations;

     (((6))) (5) A division made for the purpose of alteration by adjusting boundary lines, between platted or unplatted lots or both, which does not create any additional lot, tract, parcel, site, or division nor create any lot, tract, parcel, site, or division which contains insufficient area and dimension to meet minimum requirements for width and area for a building site; and

     (((7))) (6) Divisions of land into lots or tracts if:  (a) The improvements constructed or to be constructed thereon will be included in one or more condominiums or owned by an association or other legal entity in which the owners of units therein or their owners' associations have a membership or other legal or beneficial interest; (b) a city, town, or county has approved a binding site plan for all such land; and (c) the binding site plan contains thereon the following statement:  "All development of the land described herein shall be in accordance with the binding site plan, as it may be amended.  Upon completion, the improvements on the land shall be included in one or more condominiums or owned by an association or other legal entity in which the owners of units therein or their owners' associations have a membership or other legal or beneficial interest."