S-0653

AN ACT Relating to land use requirements for mobile home parks; adding new sections to chapter 35.63 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 35A.63 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 36.70 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 36.70A RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature declares it is in the public interest that communities and local governments provide a realistic and favorable climate for the private sector to provide additional affordable mobile home spaces that would be available to low and moderate-income tenants. These parks may also provide spaces for tenants who must relocate. Providing such support helps preserve and maintain low and moderate-income housing for many tenants who are seniors on fixed incomes, first-time family home buyers, or lower-income residents. Without such assistance tenants risk the loss of a self-sufficient lifestyle.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) A city, town, or municipal corporation requiring that existing mobile home parks be downzoned from their current underlying zone, shall one year prior to any downzoning implementation be in compliance with section 3 of this act.

(2) A city, town, or municipal corporation requiring relocation expenses to be paid under chapter 59.21 RCW, shall one year prior to the implementation of the relocation expense requirement be in compliance with section 3 of this act.

(3) A city, town, or municipal corporation providing low-income affordable housing as part of any land use document shall be in compliance with section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A city, town, or municipal corporation subject to section 2 of this act shall meet the following requirements. In providing higher density for more affordable mobile home parks, a mobile home park shall:

(1) Have a density up to seventeen units per gross acre;

(2) Be permitted in any zone where single-family residences are permitted;

(3) Be a minimum of one acre and may not be more than twenty acres in size;

(4) Have a minimum of four percent of the area as recreational or open space;

(5) Have a sanitary sewer system connected with a public system, if available. If an on-site system is used, it shall conform with all health and safety requirements of the local jurisdiction;

(6) Provide permanent electrical, water, and sewage disposal connections to each lot in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws;

(7) Provide access to the mobile home park over a publicly maintained street or road;

(8) Have streets with a minimum width of twenty feet, except one way streets shall have a minimum width of twelve feet;

(9) Have lots with a minimum size of fifteen hundred square feet;

(10) Have access and service streets constructed of gravel, bituminous surfacing, or better materials at a surface depth in compliance with local jurisdiction residential building codes;

(11) Provide internal streets which are privately owned;

(12) Provide and maintain at least two car parking spaces per mobile home lot;

(13) Have landscaping to serve as visual screening in buffer areas. Landscaping may consist of suitable groundcover, shrubs, and trees. The perimeter buffer area shall be a maximum of ten feet in width. Landscaping shall not obstruct safe sight distances at any street intersection;

(14) Have rules that govern the conduct of the residents in the mobile home park. The rules shall enhance the livability of the community and make the affordable housing mobile home park a more desirable place to live.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. All applicable city, town, or municipal corporation comprehensive plans, community plans, zoning codes, and other land use documents shall be amended to comply with section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If a city, town, or municipal corporation is unable to provide adequate land areas for low-cost, affordable mobile home parks, then it shall enter into an interlocal agreement with an adjacent city, town, or municipal corporation to provide adequate land areas to comply with section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) A city requiring that existing mobile home parks be downzoned from their current underlying zone, shall one year prior to any downzoning implementation be in compliance with section 7 of this act.

(2) A city requiring relocation expenses to be paid under chapter 59.21 RCW, shall one year prior to the implementation of the relocation expense requirement be in compliance with section 7 of this act.

(3) A city providing low-income affordable housing as part of any land use document shall be in compliance with section 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A city subject to section 6 of this act shall meet the following requirements. In providing higher density for more affordable mobile home parks, a mobile home park shall: