Brief Description: Including planning provisions in the growth management act for safe nonmotorized transportation routes to and from schools.

Sponsors: Representatives Anderson, Nixon, Tom, Rodne, Ericksen, Priest and Shabro.

Hearing Date: 3/17/05

Staff: Ethan Moreno (786-7386).

Background:

Enacted in 1990 and 1991, the GMA establishes a comprehensive land use planning framework for county and city governments in Washington. The GMA specifies numerous provisions for jurisdictions fully planning under the Act (planning jurisdictions) and establishes a reduced number of compliance requirements for all local governments.

Planning jurisdictions must adopt internally consistent comprehensive land use plans (comprehensive plans), which are generalized, coordinated land use policy statements of the governing body. Comprehensive plans must satisfy requirements for specified "elements" each of which is a planning subset of a comprehensive plan. The land use element of a comprehensive plan must, in part, designate the proposed distribution, general location, and extent of the uses of land, where applicable, for agriculture, housing, public facilities, and other land uses. The GMA includes a provision requiring coordination and consistency between the land use element, the mandatory capital facilities plan element, and the financing plan within the capital facilities plan element.

The GMA provides that requirements to incorporate any new or amended elements must be null and void until sufficient local government reimbursement costs are distributed by the state two or more years before the local government is required to satisfy recurring review and revision requirements mandated by the Act.

Planning jurisdictions must also identify lands useful for public purposes such as utility corridors, transportation corridors, and schools. Counties fully planning under the GMA must work with the state and the cities within its borders to identify areas of shared need for public facilities. The jurisdictions within the county must prepare a prioritized list of lands necessary for the identified public uses, including an estimated date by which the acquisition will be needed. The respective capital acquisition budgets for each jurisdiction must reflect the jointly agreed upon priorities and time schedule.

Summary of Bill:

Where applicable, the land use element of a comprehensive plan must provide for walkways, trails, paths, and other safe routes for nonmotorized transportation to and from existing and planned schools in areas that are within a one-mile radius of a school.

Existing requirements pertaining to identifying lands useful for public purposes are modified to specify that such lands include, where applicable, walkways, trails, paths, and other safe routes for nonmotorized transportation to and from existing and planned schools in areas that are within a one-mile radius of a school. Jurisdictions preparing a prioritized list of lands necessary for the identified public purposes may not classify nonmotortized transportation routes for existing schools as a higher or lower priority than such lands identified for planned schools.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Requested on March 14, 2005.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.