H-2138

AN ACT Relating to buildable lands; amending RCW 43.62.035; and adding a new chapter to Title 36 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds and declares land use planning needs to ensure that an adequate supply of land appropriate for development is actually available for development. Land use planning that restricts the supply of developable land tends to cause land prices to rise, making affordable housing impossible and economic growth difficult.

(2) Comprehensive plans and development regulations may identify undeveloped land for particular uses. However, those uses may never be realized and the assumption that land will actually be used for such purposes may be misplaced.

(3) The legislature finds and declares local governments planning under chapter 36.70A RCW need to analyze whether sufficient available land for development exists in order to provide for both residential and nonresidential needs of the population in those jurisdictions. Merely regulating land so as to allow for the development is insufficient. Specifically, local jurisdictions planning under chapter 36.70A RCW must inventory lands available for development and adjust plans or development regulations if insufficient land is available to meet the population projections for the following twenty years.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. This chapter applies to counties with a population of seventy-five thousand or more population which plan under all the requirements of chapter 36.70A RCW and the cities within such counties.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Lands available for development" are lands that are suitable for development and likely to be on the market within the time period provided in RCW 36.70A.110. "Lands available for development" include both vacant land and developed land likely to be redeveloped. Land that is developed with a building currently occupied and determined habitable by the local jurisdiction may not be considered developed land likely to be redeveloped.

(2) "Suitable for development" means the lands:

(a) Are not within any critical area or governed by any development regulation designed to protect critical areas adopted under RCW 36.70A.060, regardless of whether any development may occur on the lands;

(b) Are serviced by all utilities necessary for development or the capital facilities element of the county, city, or town's comprehensive plan adopted under RCW 36.70A.070 within the following five years; and

(c) May be developed without causing the level of service on a transportation facility to decline below the standards adopted in the transportation element of the comprehensive plan.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) A comprehensive plan must provide sufficient lands available for development within the urban growth areas established under RCW 36.70A.110 to accommodate estimated residential and nonresidential needs for the following twenty years.

(2) Beginning with the next periodic review under RCW 36.70A.130 or any other review of an urban growth area or comprehensive plan, but at least by July 1, 1999, a county shall:

(a) Inventory the supply of lands available for development within the urban growth area;

(b) Determine the density of development likely to occur on lands inventoried under (a) of this subsection, by considering all regulations applicable to the lands and the market for land available for development;

(c) Determine the actual density and the actual average mix of types of residential and nonresidential development which have occurred within the urban growth area since the last periodic review or five years, whichever is greater;

(d) Conduct an analysis of housing need by type and density range to determine the amount of land needed for each needed housing type for the next twenty years;

(e) Conduct an analysis of nonresidential development needed to serve the commercial, office, retail, industrial, and public service and facility needs of the population for the next twenty years; and

(f) Compare the inventory in (a) and (b) of this subsection with the needs determined in (d) and (e) of this subsection.

(3) If the determination required by subsection (2) of this section indicates the urban growth area does not contain sufficient lands available for development to accommodate projected needs for twenty years at the actual developed density that has occurred since the last periodic review, the county shall take one or more of the following actions:

(a) Amend its urban growth area to include sufficient land available for development to accommodate projected needs for twenty years at the actual developed density during the period since the last periodic review or within the last five years, whichever is greater. As a part of this process, the amendment shall include sufficient land reasonably necessary to accommodate the siting of new public school facilities;

(b) Amend its comprehensive plan or development regulations to include new, incentive-based measures that demonstrably increase the likelihood that development will occur at densities sufficient to accommodate the projected needs for twenty years without expansion of the urban growth area; or

(4) A county that adopts incentive-based measures under subsection (3)(b) of this section must monitor and record the level of development activity and development density following the date of the adoption of the new measures. If the monitoring shows that development has not occurred at densities sufficient to accommodate the project needs, the county must, at its next review under subsection (2) of this section, amend its urban grown area as provided in subsection (3)(a) of this section.

(5) If the determination required by subsection (2) of this section indicates the urban growth area within a city or town does not contain sufficient lands available for development to accommodate residential and nonresidential needs for twenty years at the actual developed density that has occurred since the last periodic review, the city or town shall amend its comprehensive plan or development regulations to include new, incentive-based measures that demonstrably increase the likelihood that development will occur at densities sufficient to accommodate projected needs for twenty years without expansion of the urban growth area. A city or town that takes this action must monitor and record the level of development activity and development density following the date of the adoption of the new measures.

(6) Amendments must comply with the requirements of chapter 36.70A RCW.

(7) In establishing that actions and measures adopted under subsections (3) and (5) of this section demonstrably increase the likelihood of higher density development, the county, city, or town shall at a minimum ensure that land zoned for development is in locations appropriate for the types of development identified under subsection (2) of this section and is zoned at density ranges that are likely to be achieved by the market using the analysis in subsection (2) of this section. Actions or incentive-based measures, or both, are adopted as part of development regulations and are available to all applicable properties within the zone, are not negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and may include, but are not limited to:

(a) Financial incentives for higher density development, including, but not limited to removal of fees associated with development;

(b) Removal or easing of approval standards or procedures;

(d) Authorization of housing types not previously allowed by the comprehensive plan or development regulations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A county shall annually update the inventory and determinations required by section 4(2) of this act and take any steps required by section 4 (3) and (4) of this act. A city or town shall also take any steps required by section 4(5) of this act based on the annual inventory and determinations.

Sec. 6. RCW 43.62.035 and 1995 c 162 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

The office of financial management shall determine the population of each county of the state annually as of April 1st of each year and on or before July 1st of each year shall file a certificate with the secretary of state showing its determination of the population for each county. The office of financial management also shall determine the percentage increase in population for each county over the preceding ten-year period, as of April 1st, and shall file a certificate with the secretary of state by July 1st showing its determination. At least once every ((~~ten~~)) five years beginning in 2001 the office of financial management shall prepare twenty-year growth management planning population projections required by RCW 36.70A.110 for each county that adopts a comprehensive plan under RCW 36.70A.040 and shall review these projections with such counties and the cities in those counties before final adoption. The county and its cities may provide to the office such information as they deem relevant to the office's projection, and the office shall consider and comment on such information before adoption. Each projection shall be expressed as a reasonable range developed within the standard state high and low projection. The middle range shall represent the office's estimate of the most likely population projection for the county. If any city or county believes that a projection will not accurately reflect actual population growth in a county, it may petition the office to revise the projection accordingly. The office shall complete the first set of ranges for every county by December 31, 1995.

A comprehensive plan adopted or amended before December 31, 1995, shall not be considered to be in noncompliance with the twenty-year growth management planning population projection if the projection used in the comprehensive plan is in compliance with the range later adopted under this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 5 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 36 RCW to be codified to follow chapter 36.70D RCW.