Brief Description: Changing provisions relating to limited development of rural areas.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections (originally sponsored by Senators Sheldon and Rockefeller).

Hearing Date: 3/28/05

Staff: Ethan Moreno (786-7386).

Background:

Enacted in 1990 and 1991, the Growth Management Act (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

Comprehensive Land Use Plans
Among other requirements, 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 mandates for specified planning elements, such as land use and housing, each of which is a subset of a comprehensive plan. Counties fully planning under the GMA must also include a rural element within their comprehensive plan.

The rural element must specify provisions for lands not designated for urban growth, agriculture, forest, or mineral resources. Such provisions include:

• allowing counties to consider local circumstances when establishing patterns of rural densities and uses;
• permitting specific development, varieties of densities, uses, essential public facilities, and rural government services;
• requiring measures governing rural development, including measures to protect an area's rural character; and
• permitting limited areas of more intensive rural development (LAMIRDs), including necessary public facilities and public services to serve limited areas.

"Public facilities" are defined in the GMA to 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. "Public services" are similarly defined to include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.

Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development
Subject to statutory requirements, counties may permit three types of LAMIRDs providing for the following:

• rural development - allowing the infill, development, or redevelopment of existing commercial, industrial, residential, or mixed-use areas;
• recreational and tourist uses - allowing intensification of development on lots containing, or new development of, small-scale recreational or tourists uses; and
• nonresidential/cottage industry - allowing intensification of development on lots containing isolated nonresidential uses or new development of isolated cottage industries and isolated small-scale businesses.

In addition to other provisions governing LAMIRDs, the GMA specifies that public services and public facilities within the second type of LAMIRD (i.e., recreational and tourist use LAMIRDs), must be limited to those necessary to serve the recreation or tourist use and must be provided in a manner that does not permit low-density sprawl.

Summary of Bill:

Growth Management Act provisions for public services and facilities in qualifying limited areas of more intensive rural development (LAMIRDs) are modified. An example of a permitted public service or facility within the second type of LAMIRD (i.e., recreational and tourist use LAMIRDs) is a connection to an existing sewer line where the connection serves only the recreational or tourist use and is not available to adjacent nonrecreational or nontourist use parcels.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

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