AN ACT Relating to
reconciling conflicting provisions in laws pertaining to cities and towns; and
amending RCW 35A.63.110 and 35A.40.090.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF
THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 35A.63.110 and 1979
ex.s. c 18 s 34 are each amended to read as follows:
A code city which
pursuant to this chapter creates a planning agency and which has twenty-five
hundred or more inhabitants, by ordinance, shall create a board of adjustment
and provide for its membership, terms of office, organization, jurisdiction. A
code city which pursuant to this chapter creates a planning agency and which
has a population of less than twenty‑five hundred may, by ordinance,
similarly create a board of adjustment. In the event a code city with a
population of less than twenty-five hundred creates a planning agency, but does
not create a board of adjustment, the code city shall provide that the city
legislative authority shall itself hear and decide the items listed in
subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) of this section. The action of the board of
adjustment shall be final and conclusive, unless, within ((ten)) twenty-one
days from the date of the action, the original applicant or an adverse party
makes application to the superior court for the county in which that city is
located for a writ of certiorari, a writ of prohibition, or a writ of
mandamus. No member of the board of adjustment shall be a member of the
planning agency or the legislative body. Subject to conditions, safeguards,
and procedures provided by ordinance, the board of adjustment may be empowered
to hear and decide:
(1) Appeals from
orders, recommendations, permits, decisions, or determinations made by a code
city official in the administration or enforcement of the provisions of this
chapter or any ordinances adopted pursuant to it.
(2) Applications for
variances from the terms of the zoning ordinance, the official map ordinance or
other land-use regulatory ordinances under procedures and conditions prescribed
by city ordinance, which among other things shall provide that no application
for a variance shall be granted unless the board of adjustment finds:
(a) the variance shall
not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitation
upon uses of other properties in the vicinity and zone in which the property on
behalf of which the application was filed is located; and
(b) that such variance
is necessary, because of special circumstances relating to the size, shape,
topography, location, or surroundings of the subject property, to provide it
with use rights and privileges permitted to other properties in the vicinity
and in the zone in which the subject property is located; and
(c) that the granting
of such variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or
injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity and zone in which the
subject property is situated.
(3) Applications for
conditional-use permits, unless such applications are to be heard and decided
by the planning agency. A conditional use means a use listed among those
classified in any given zone but permitted to locate only after review as
herein provided in accordance with standards and criteria set forth in the
zoning ordinance.
(4) Such other quasi
judicial and administrative determinations as may be delegated by ordinance.
In deciding any of the
matters referred to in subsections (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section, the
board of adjustment shall issue a written report giving the reasons for its
decision. If a code city provides for a hearing examiner and vests in him the
authority to hear and decide the items listed in subdivisions (1), (2), and (3)
of this section pursuant to RCW 35A.63.170, then the provisions of this section
shall not apply to such a city.
Sec. 2. RCW 35A.40.090 and 1973
1st ex.s. c 195 s 29 are each amended to read as follows:
((No code city shall
incur an indebtedness exceeding three-fourths of one percent of the value of
the taxable property in such city without the assent of three-fifths of the
voters therein voting at an election to be held for that purpose nor, with such
assent, to exceed two and one-half percent of the value of the taxable property
therein except as otherwise provided in chapter 39.36 RCW and subject to the
provisions of this chapter and shall have the authority and be subject to the
constitutional and/or statutory limitations relating to levy of taxes. The
term "value of the taxable property" shall have the meaning set forth
in RCW 39.36.015.))
The
provisions of general law contained in chapter 39.36 RCW relating to municipal
indebtedness shall be applicable to code cities.
