BILL REQ. #:  S-2142.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/05/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to allowing the conservation of unused agricultural lands with interim recreational uses; and amending RCW 36.70A.060 and 36.70A.177.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 36.70A.060 and 1998 c 286 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each county that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040, and each city within such county, shall adopt development regulations on or before September 1, 1991, to assure the conservation of agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands designated under RCW 36.70A.170. Regulations adopted under this subsection may not prohibit uses legally existing on any parcel prior to their adoption and shall remain in effect until the county or city adopts development regulations pursuant to RCW 36.70A.040. Such regulations shall assure that the use of lands adjacent to agricultural, forest, or mineral resource lands shall not interfere with the continued use, in the accustomed manner and in accordance with best management practices, of these designated lands for the production of food, agricultural products, or timber, or for the extraction of minerals. Counties and cities shall require that all plats, short plats, development permits, and building permits issued for development activities on, or within five hundred feet of, lands designated as agricultural lands, forest lands, or mineral resource lands, contain a notice that the subject property is within or near designated agricultural lands, forest lands, or mineral resource lands on which a variety of commercial activities may occur that are not compatible with residential development for certain periods of limited duration. The notice for mineral resource lands shall also inform that an application might be made for mining-related activities, including mining, extraction, washing, crushing, stockpiling, blasting, transporting, and recycling of minerals.
     (2) A county or city that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 may, upon written request by the property owner and following the procedures required in this chapter, amend its comprehensive plan and development regulations to allow agricultural lands that have not been in use for commercial production within the previous five years to be used for recreational activities, including fields for sports played on grass, provided that: (a) The lands are conserved for potential future agricultural use; (b) no permanent structures are erected on or beneath the lands; and (c) the county or city annually reviews this interim use and the potential productive agricultural use of the lands.
     (3) Each county and city shall adopt development regulations that protect critical areas that are required to be designated under RCW 36.70A.170. For counties and cities that are required or choose to plan under RCW 36.70A.040, such development regulations shall be adopted on or before September 1, 1991. For the remainder of the counties and cities, such development regulations shall be adopted on or before March 1, 1992.
     (((3))) (4) Such counties and cities shall review these designations and development regulations when adopting their comprehensive plans under RCW 36.70A.040 and implementing development regulations under RCW 36.70A.120 and may alter such designations and development regulations to insure consistency.
     (((4))) (5) Forest land and agricultural land located within urban growth areas shall not be designated by a county or city as forest land or agricultural land of long-term commercial significance under RCW 36.70A.170 unless the city or county has enacted a program authorizing transfer or purchase of development rights.

Sec. 2   RCW 36.70A.177 and 1997 c 429 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A county or a city may use a variety of innovative zoning techniques in areas designated as agricultural lands of long-term commercial significance under RCW 36.70A.170. The innovative zoning techniques should be designed to conserve agricultural lands and encourage the agricultural economy. A county or city should encourage nonagricultural uses to be limited to lands with poor soils or otherwise not suitable for agricultural purposes.
     (2) Innovative zoning techniques a county or city may consider include, but are not limited to:
     (a) Agricultural zoning, which limits the density of development and restricts or prohibits nonfarm uses of agricultural land;
     (b) Cluster zoning, which allows new development on one portion of the land, leaving the remainder in agricultural or open space uses;
     (c) Large lot zoning, which establishes as a minimum lot size the amount of land necessary to achieve a successful farming practice;
     (d) Quarter/quarter zoning, which permits one residential dwelling on a one-acre minimum lot for each one-sixteenth of a section of land; and
     (e) Sliding scale zoning, which allows the number of lots for single-family residential purposes with a minimum lot size of one acre to increase inversely as the size of the total acreage increases.
     (3) A county or city that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 may, upon written request by the property owner and following the procedures required in this chapter, amend its comprehensive plan and development regulations to allow agricultural lands that have not been in use for commercial production within the previous five years to be used for recreational activities, including fields for sports played on grass, provided that: (a) The lands are conserved for potential future agricultural use; (b) no permanent structures are erected on or beneath the lands; and (c) the county or city annually reviews this interim use and the potential productive agricultural use of the lands.