6296-S

AN ACT Relating to payment for improvements to state-owned or operated transportation facilities; amending RCW 36.70A.020, 36.70A.030, 36.70A.070, 36.70A.280, 82.02.050, 82.02.060, 82.02.070, and 82.02.090; and adding a new section to chapter 36.70A RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 36.70A RCW to read as follows:

State-owned or operated transportation facilities are a critical component of a region's transportation system. The legislature recognizes that failure to enlist the cooperation of local governments in securing appropriate mitigation for state-owned or operated transportation facilities will increase traffic congestion, create longer commuter peak periods, and decrease economic productivity. This chapter provides that concurrent transportation improvements or strategies be made to accommodate the impacts of new development. The financial burden of maintaining and improving regional transportation facilities, including those transportation facilities owned or operated by the state, necessitates cooperative program planning and cost sharing for mitigation of those impacts caused by new development.

Sec. 2. RCW 36.70A.020 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The following goals are adopted to guide the development and adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations of those counties and cities that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040. The following goals are not listed in order of priority and shall be used exclusively for the purpose of guiding the development of comprehensive plans and development regulations:

(1) Urban growth. Encourage development in urban areas where adequate public facilities and services exist or can be provided in an efficient manner.

(2) Reduce sprawl. Reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development.

(3) Transportation. Encourage efficient multimodal transportation systems that are based on regional priorities and coordinated with county and city comprehensive plans.

(4) Housing. Encourage the availability of affordable housing to all economic segments of the population of this state, promote a variety of residential densities and housing types, and encourage preservation of existing housing stock.

(5) Economic development. Encourage economic development throughout the state that is consistent with adopted comprehensive plans, promote economic opportunity for all citizens of this state, especially for unemployed and for disadvantaged persons, and encourage growth in areas experiencing insufficient economic growth, all within the capacities of the state's natural resources, public services, and public facilities.

(6) Property rights. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation having been made. The property rights of landowners shall be protected from arbitrary and discriminatory actions.

(7) Permits. Applications for both state and local government permits should be processed in a timely and fair manner to ensure predictability.

(8) Natural resource industries. Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber, agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage incompatible uses.

(9) Open space and recreation. Encourage the retention of open space and development of recreational opportunities, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and water, and develop parks.

(10) Environment. Protect the environment and enhance the state's high quality of life, including air and water quality, and the availability of water.

(11) Citizen participation and coordination. Encourage the involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure coordination between communities and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts.

(12) Public facilities and services. Ensure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development shall be adequate to serve the development at the time the development is available for occupancy and use without decreasing current service levels below locally established minimum standards. However, when state-owned or operated transportation facilities are located within local governmental jurisdictional boundaries, the state department of transportation and the appropriate local government entity shall collaboratively establish the level of service standards.

(13) Historic preservation. Identify and encourage the preservation of lands, sites, and structures, that have historical or archaeological significance.

Sec. 3. RCW 36.70A.030 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Adopt a comprehensive land use plan" means to enact a new comprehensive land use plan or to update an existing comprehensive land use plan.

(2) "Agricultural land" means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production.

(3) "City" means any city or town, including a code city.

(4) "Comprehensive land use plan," "comprehensive plan," or "plan" means a generalized coordinated land use policy statement of the governing body of a county or city that is adopted pursuant to this chapter.

(5) "Critical areas" include the following areas and ecosystems: (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous areas.

(6) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.

(7) "Development regulations" means any controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, official controls, planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and binding site plan ordinances.

(8) "Forest land" means land primarily useful for growing trees, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, for commercial purposes, and that has long-term commercial significance for growing trees commercially.

(9) "Geologically hazardous areas" means areas that because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.

(10) "Long-term commercial significance" includes the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land's proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of the land.

(11) "Minerals" include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic substances.

(12) "Public facilities" include streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreational facilities, and schools.

(13) "Public services" include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

(14) "State-owned or operated transportation facilities" include, but are not limited to, the state ferry system and all routes designated as part of the state highway system.

(15) "Transportation improvements" include the physical, operational, or service changes to a transportation system for capacity enhancement.

(16) "Urban growth" refers to growth that makes intensive use of land for the location of buildings, structures, and impermeable surfaces to such a degree as to be incompatible with the primary use of such land for the production of food, other agricultural products, or fiber, or the extraction of mineral resources. When allowed to spread over wide areas, urban growth typically requires urban governmental services. "Characterized by urban growth" refers to land having urban growth located on it, or to land located in relationship to an area with urban growth on it as to be appropriate for urban growth.

((~~(15)~~)) (17) "Urban growth areas" means those areas designated by a county pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110.

((~~(16)~~)) (18) "Urban governmental services" include those governmental services historically and typically delivered by cities, and include storm and sanitary sewer systems, domestic water systems, street cleaning services, fire and police protection services, public transit services, and other public utilities associated with urban areas and normally not associated with nonurban areas.

((~~(17)~~)) (19) "Wetland" or "wetlands" means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities. However, wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands, if permitted by the county or city.

Sec. 4. RCW 36.70A.070 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

The comprehensive plan of a county or city that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 shall consist of a map or maps, and descriptive text covering objectives, principles, and standards used to develop the comprehensive plan. The plan shall be an internally consistent document and all elements shall be consistent with the future land use map. A comprehensive plan shall be adopted and amended with public participation as provided in RCW 36.70A.140.

Each comprehensive plan shall include a plan, scheme, or design for each of the following:

(1) A land use element designating the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of land, where appropriate, for agriculture, timber production, housing, commerce, industry, recreation, open spaces, public utilities, public facilities, and other land uses. The land use element shall include population densities, building intensities, and estimates of future population growth. The land use element shall provide for protection of the quality and quantity of ground water used for public water supplies. Where applicable, the land use element shall review drainage, flooding, and storm water run-off in the area and nearby jurisdictions and provide guidance for corrective actions to mitigate or cleanse those discharges that pollute waters of the state, including Puget Sound or waters entering Puget Sound.

(2) A housing element recognizing the vitality and character of established residential neighborhoods that: (a) Includes an inventory and analysis of existing and projected housing needs; (b) includes a statement of goals, policies, and objectives for the preservation, improvement, and development of housing; (c) identifies sufficient land for housing, including, but not limited to, government-assisted housing, housing for low-income families, manufactured housing, multifamily housing, and group homes and foster care facilities; and (d) makes adequate provisions for existing and projected needs of all economic segments of the community.

(3) A capital facilities plan element consisting of: (a) An inventory of existing capital facilities owned by public entities, showing the locations and capacities of the capital facilities; (b) a forecast of the future needs for such capital facilities; (c) the proposed locations and capacities of expanded or new capital facilities; (d) at least a six-year plan that will finance such capital facilities within projected funding capacities and clearly identifies sources of public money for such purposes; ((~~and~~)) (e) a requirement to reassess the land use element if probable funding falls short of meeting existing needs and to ensure that the land use element, capital facilities plan element, and financing plan within the capital facilities plan element are coordinated and consistent; and (f) the six-year street, road, or transit program contained within the transportation element of the comprehensive plan as required by RCW 36.70A.070(6)(c)(ii).

(4) A utilities element consisting of the general location, proposed location, and capacity of all existing and proposed utilities, including, but not limited to, electrical lines, telecommunication lines, and natural gas lines.

(5) Counties shall include a rural element including lands that are not designated for urban growth, agriculture, forest, or mineral resources. The rural element shall permit land uses that are compatible with the rural character of such lands and provide for a variety of rural densities.

(6) A transportation element that implements, and is consistent with, the land use element. The transportation element shall include the following subelements:

(a) Land use assumptions used in estimating travel;

(b) Facilities and services needs, including:

(i) An inventory of air, water, and land transportation facilities and services, including transit alignments, to define existing capital facilities and travel levels as a basis for future planning;

(ii) Level of service standards for all arterials and transit routes to serve as a gauge to judge performance of the system. These standards should be regionally coordinated. Local governments shall adopt level-of-service standards set jointly by the state department of transportation and the appropriate local government entity for state-owned or operated transportation facilities located within the local government's jurisdictional boundaries;

(iii) Specific actions and requirements for bringing into compliance any facilities or services that are below an established level of service standard;

(iv) Forecasts of traffic for at least ten years based on the adopted land use plan to provide information on the location, timing, and capacity needs of future growth;

(v) Identification of system expansion needs and transportation system management needs to meet current and future demands;

(i) An analysis of funding capability to judge needs against probable funding resources;

(ii) A multiyear financing plan based on the needs identified in the comprehensive plan, the appropriate parts of which shall serve as the basis for the six-year street, road, or transit program required by RCW 35.77.010 for cities, RCW 36.81.121 for counties, RCW 47.05.030 for the state, and RCW 35.58.2795 for public transportation systems;

(iii) If probable funding falls short of meeting identified needs, a discussion of how additional funding will be raised, or how land use assumptions will be reassessed to ensure that level of service standards will be met;

(d) Intergovernmental coordination efforts, including an assessment of the impacts of the transportation plan and land use assumptions on the transportation systems of adjacent jurisdictions;

(e) Demand-management strategies.

After adoption of the comprehensive plan by jurisdictions required to plan or who choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040, local jurisdictions must adopt and enforce ordinances which prohibit development approval if ((~~the development causes~~)) the level of service on a transportation facility ((~~to decline~~)) is or would be below the standards adopted in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan, unless transportation improvements or strategies to accommodate the impacts of development are made concurrent with the development. These strategies may include impact fees under chapter 82.02 RCW, increased public transportation service, ride sharing programs, demand management, and other transportation systems management strategies. If a development application is approved, impact fees may only be assessed for those transportation improvements reasonably related to service needs created by that development. For the purposes of this subsection (6) "concurrent with the development" shall mean that improvements or strategies are in place at the time of development, or that a financial commitment is in place to complete the improvements or strategies within six years.

The transportation element described in this subsection, and the six-year plans required by RCW 35.77.010 for cities, RCW 36.81.121 for counties, and RCW 35.58.2795 for public transportation systems, must be consistent.

Sec. 5. RCW 36.70A.280 and 1991 sp.s. c 32 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A growth planning hearings board shall hear and determine only those petitions alleging ((~~either~~)): (a) That a state agency, county, or city is not in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, or chapter 43.21C RCW as it relates to plans, regulations, and amendments thereto, adopted under RCW 36.70A.040; ((or)) (b) that the twenty-year growth management planning population projections adopted by the office of financial management pursuant to RCW 43.62.035 should be adjusted; (c) that the level-of-service standard adopted for state-owned or operated transportation facilities under RCW 36.70A.070 should be amended; or (d) that an impact fee assessed for impacts to a state-owned or operated transportation facility violates RCW 82.02.050.

(2) A petition may be filed only by the state, a county or city that plans under this chapter, a person who has either appeared before the county or city regarding the matter on which a review is being requested or is certified by the governor within sixty days of filing the request with the board, or a person qualified pursuant to RCW 34.05.530.

(3) For purposes of this section "person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental subdivision or unit thereof, or public or private organization or entity of any character.

(4) When considering a possible adjustment to a growth management planning population projection prepared by the office of financial management, a board shall consider the implications of any such adjustment to the population forecast for the entire state.

The rationale for any adjustment that is adopted by a board must be documented and filed with the office of financial management within ten working days after adoption.

If adjusted by a board, a county growth management planning population projection shall only be used for the planning purposes set forth in this chapter and shall be known as a "board adjusted population projection". None of these changes shall affect the official state and county population forecasts prepared by the office of financial management, which shall continue to be used for state budget and planning purposes.

Sec. 6. RCW 82.02.050 and 1993 sp.s. c 6 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) It is the intent of the legislature:

(a) To ensure that adequate facilities are available to serve new growth and development;

(b) To promote orderly growth and development by establishing standards by which counties, cities, and towns may require, by ordinance, that new growth and development pay a proportionate share of the cost of new facilities or improvements to existing facilities, including state-owned or operated transportation facilities, needed to serve new growth and development; and

(c) To ensure that impact fees are imposed through established procedures and criteria so that specific developments do not pay arbitrary fees or duplicative fees for the same impact.

(2) Counties, cities, and towns that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 are authorized to impose impact fees on development activity as part of the financing for public facilities, provided that the financing for system improvements to serve new development must provide for a balance between impact fees and other sources of public funds and cannot rely solely on impact fees.

(3) The impact fees:

(a) Shall only be imposed for system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development;

(b) Shall not exceed a proportionate share of the costs of system improvements that are reasonably related to the new development; and

(4) Impact fees may be collected and spent only for the public facilities defined in RCW 82.02.090 which are addressed by a capital facilities plan element of a comprehensive land use plan adopted pursuant to the provisions of RCW 36.70A.070 or the provisions for comprehensive plan adoption contained in chapter 36.70, 35.63, or 35A.63 RCW. After the date a county, city, or town is required to adopt its comprehensive plan and development regulations under chapter 36.70A RCW, continued authorization to collect and expend impact fees shall be contingent on the county, city, or town adopting or revising a comprehensive plan in compliance with RCW 36.70A.070, and on the capital facilities plan identifying:

(a) Deficiencies in public facilities serving existing development and the means by which existing deficiencies will be eliminated within a reasonable period of time;

(b) Additional demands placed on existing public facilities by new development; and

If the capital facilities plan of the county, city, or town is complete other than for the inclusion of those elements which are the responsibility of a special district, the county, city, or town may impose impact fees to address those public facility needs for which the county, city, or town is responsible or on behalf of the state department of transportation to mitigate impacts to state-owned or operated transportation facilities.

Sec. 7. RCW 82.02.060 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 44 are each amended to read as follows:

The local ordinance by which impact fees are imposed:

(1) Shall include a schedule of impact fees which shall be adopted for each type of development activity that is subject to impact fees, specifying the amount of the impact fee to be imposed for each type of system improvement. The schedule shall be based upon a formula or other method of calculating such impact fees. In determining proportionate share, the formula or other method of calculating impact fees shall incorporate, among other things, the following:

(a) The cost of public facilities and improvements to them necessitated by new development;

(b) An adjustment to the cost of the public facilities for past or future payments made or reasonably anticipated to be made by new development to pay for particular system improvements in the form of user fees, debt service payments, taxes, or other payments earmarked for or proratable to the particular system improvement;

(d) The cost of existing public facilities improvements; and

(e) The methods by which public facilities improvements were financed;

(2) May provide an exemption for low-income housing, and other development activities with broad public purposes, from these impact fees, provided that the impact fees for such development activity shall be paid from public funds other than impact fee accounts;

(3) Shall provide a credit for the value of any dedication of land for, improvement to, or new construction of any system improvements provided by the developer, to facilities that are identified in the capital facilities plan and that are required by the county, city, or town as a condition of approving the development activity;

(4) Shall allow the county, city, or town imposing the impact fees to adjust the standard impact fee at the time the fee is imposed to consider unusual circumstances in specific cases to ensure that impact fees are imposed fairly, if the state department of transportation concurs insofar as state-owned or operated transportation facilities are impacted;

(5) Shall include a provision for calculating the amount of the fee to be imposed on a particular development that permits consideration of studies and data submitted by the developer to adjust the amount of the fee;

(6) Shall establish one or more reasonable service areas within which it shall calculate and impose impact fees for various land use categories per unit of development;

(7) May provide for the imposition of an impact fee for system improvement costs previously incurred by a county, city, ((or)) town, or the state to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously constructed improvements provided such fee shall not be imposed to make up for any system improvement deficiencies.

Sec. 8. RCW 82.02.070 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 46 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Impact fee receipts shall be earmarked specifically and retained in special interest-bearing accounts. Separate accounts shall be established for each type of public facility for which impact fees are collected. All interest shall be retained in the account and expended for the purpose or purposes for which the impact fees were imposed. Annually, each county, city, or town imposing impact fees shall provide a report on each impact fee account showing the source and amount of all moneys collected, earned, or received and system improvements that were financed in whole or in part by impact fees.

(2) Impact fees for system improvements shall be expended only in conformance with the capital facilities plan element of the comprehensive plan.

(3) Impact fees shall be expended or encumbered for a permissible use within six years of receipt, unless there exists an extraordinary and compelling reason for fees to be held longer than six years. Such extraordinary or compelling reasons shall be identified in written findings by the governing body of the county, city, ((or)) town, or when the impact fee is for a state-owned or operated transportation facility, the state.

(4) Impact fees may be paid under protest in order to obtain a permit or other approval of development activity.

(5) Each county, city, or town that imposes impact fees shall provide for an administrative appeals process for the appeal of an impact fee; the process may follow the appeal process for the underlying development approval or the county, city, or town may establish a separate appeals process. However, the growth planning hearings board within which the state-owned or operated transportation facility is located shall review appeals of impact fees assessed for impacts to state-owned or operated transportation facilities. The impact fee may be modified upon a determination that it is proper to do so based on principles of fairness. The county, city, or town may provide for the resolution of disputes regarding impact fees by arbitration.

Sec. 9. RCW 82.02.090 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 17 s 48 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following definitions shall apply in RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.090:

(1) "Development activity" means any construction or expansion of a building, structure, or use, any change in use of a building or structure, or any changes in the use of land, that creates additional demand and need for public facilities.

(2) "Development approval" means any written authorization from a county, city, or town which authorizes the commencement of development activity.

(3) "Impact fee" means a payment of money imposed upon development as a condition of development approval to pay for public facilities needed to serve new growth and development, and that is reasonably related to the new development that creates additional demand and need for public facilities, that is a proportionate share of the cost of the public facilities, and that is used for facilities that reasonably benefit the new development. "Impact fee" does not include a reasonable permit or application fee.

(4) "Owner" means the owner of record of real property, although when real property is being purchased under a real estate contract, the purchaser shall be considered the owner of the real property if the contract is recorded.

(5) "Proportionate share" means that portion of the cost of public facility improvements that are reasonably related to the service demands and needs of new development.

(6) "Project improvements" mean site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development project and that are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the project, and are not system improvements. No improvement or facility included in a capital facilities plan approved by the governing body of the county, city, or town shall be considered a project improvement.

(7) "Public facilities" means the following capital facilities owned or operated by government entities: (a) Public streets and roads, including state-owned or operated transportation facilities as defined in RCW 36.70A.030; (b) publicly owned parks, open space, and recreation facilities; (c) school facilities; and (d) fire protection facilities in jurisdictions that are not part of a fire district.

(8) "Service area" means a geographic area defined by a county, city, town, or intergovernmental agreement in which a defined set of public facilities provide service to development within the area. Service areas shall be designated on the basis of sound planning or engineering principles.

(9) "System improvements" mean public facilities that are included in the capital facilities plan and are designed to provide service to service areas within the community at large, in contrast to project improvements.