BILL REQ. #:  H-1554.1 

Read first time 02/18/2005.   Referred to Committee on Local Government.

     AN ACT Relating to agricultural zoning that supports family farm ownership; amending RCW 36.70A.030 and 36.70A.177; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that for many counties the adoption of zoning maps and development regulations that identify and protect agricultural resource lands of commercial significance is problematic. Complexities arise from the growth management act and rulings by the growth management hearings boards that do not allow counties to consider other important factors when designating agricultural resource lands of commercial significance. The legislature intends to give counties flexibility in the establishment of zoning maps and development regulations to assure there is a viable agricultural industry in this state.

Sec. 2   RCW 36.70A.030 and 1997 c 429 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Adopt a comprehensive land use plan" means to enact a new comprehensive land use plan or to update an existing comprehensive land use plan.
     (2) "Agricultural land" means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, finfish in upland hatcheries, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production.
     (3) "City" means any city or town, including a code city.
     (4) "Comprehensive land use plan," "comprehensive plan," or "plan" means a generalized coordinated land use policy statement of the governing body of a county or city that is adopted pursuant to this chapter.
     (5) "Critical areas" include the following areas and ecosystems: (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous areas.
     (6) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.
     (7) "Development regulations" or "regulation" means the controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, critical areas ordinances, shoreline master programs, official controls, planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and binding site plan ordinances together with any amendments thereto. A development regulation does not include a decision to approve a project permit application, as defined in RCW 36.70B.020, even though the decision may be expressed in a resolution or ordinance of the legislative body of the county or city.
     (8) "Forest land" means land primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, and that has long-term commercial significance. In determining whether forest land is primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, the following factors shall be considered: (a) The proximity of the land to urban, suburban, and rural settlements; (b) surrounding parcel size and the compatibility and intensity of adjacent and nearby land uses; (c) long-term local economic conditions that affect the ability to manage for timber production; and (d) the availability of public facilities and services conducive to conversion of forest land to other uses.
     (9) "Geologically hazardous areas" means areas that because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.
     (10) "Long-term commercial significance" ((includes)) is determined by the local jurisdiction, taking into account a reasonable expectation of profitability in producing crops and/or agricultural products that historically have been shown to be commercially viable within the region or which can reasonably be expected to be commercially viable within the region, the current and projected needs of the industry to assure long-term viability, the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for long-term commercial production, ((in)) consideration ((with)) for legal access to sufficient water necessary for commercial viability, the land's proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of the land.
     (11) "Minerals" include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic substances.
     (12) "Public facilities" 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.
     (13) "Public services" include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.
     (14) "Rural character" refers to the patterns of land use and development established by a county in the rural element of its comprehensive plan:
     (a) In which open space, the natural landscape, and vegetation predominate over the built environment;
     (b) That foster traditional rural lifestyles, rural-based economies, and opportunities to both live and work in rural areas;
     (c) That provide visual landscapes that are traditionally found in rural areas and communities;
     (d) That are compatible with the use of the land by wildlife and for fish and wildlife habitat;
     (e) That reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development;
     (f) That generally do not require the extension of urban governmental services; and
     (g) That are consistent with the protection of natural surface water flows and ground water and surface water recharge and discharge areas.
     (15) "Rural development" refers to development outside the urban growth area and outside agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.170. Rural development can consist of a variety of uses and residential densities, including clustered residential development, at levels that are consistent with the preservation of rural character and the requirements of the rural element. Rural development does not refer to agriculture or forestry activities that may be conducted in rural areas.
     (16) "Rural governmental services" or "rural services" include those public services and public facilities historically and typically delivered at an intensity usually found in rural areas, and may include domestic water systems, fire and police protection services, transportation and public transit services, and other public utilities associated with rural development and normally not associated with urban areas. Rural services do not include storm or sanitary sewers, except as otherwise authorized by RCW 36.70A.110(4).
     (17) "Urban growth" refers to growth that makes intensive use of land for the location of buildings, structures, and impermeable surfaces to such a degree as to be incompatible with the primary use of land for the production of food, other agricultural products, or fiber, or the extraction of mineral resources, rural uses, rural development, and natural resource lands designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.170. A pattern of more intensive rural development, as provided in RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d), is not urban growth. When allowed to spread over wide areas, urban growth typically requires urban governmental services. "Characterized by urban growth" refers to land having urban growth located on it, or to land located in relationship to an area with urban growth on it as to be appropriate for urban growth.
     (18) "Urban growth areas" means those areas designated by a county pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110.
     (19) "Urban governmental services" or "urban services" include those public services and public facilities at an intensity historically and typically provided in cities, specifically including storm and sanitary sewer systems, domestic water systems, street cleaning services, fire and police protection services, public transit services, and other public utilities associated with urban areas and normally not associated with rural areas.
     (20) "Wetland" or "wetlands" means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities, or those wetlands created after July 1, 1990, that were unintentionally created as a result of the construction of a road, street, or highway. Wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands.

Sec. 3   RCW 36.70A.177 and 2004 c 207 s 1 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 and development regulations, which limit((s)) the density of development and ((restricts or prohibits nonfarm uses of agricultural land and may allow accessory uses that support, promote, or sustain)) support incidental nonfarm home-based and similar small businesses to supplement on-farm income and sustain family farm ownership, agricultural operations, and production, in addition to those as provided in subsection (3) of this section;
     (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) Accessory uses allowed under subsection (2)(a) of this section shall comply with the following:
     (i) Accessory uses shall be located, designed, and operated so as not to interfere with natural resource land uses and shall be accessory to the growing of crops or raising of animals;
     (ii) Accessory commercial or retail uses shall predominately produce, store, or sell regionally produced agricultural products from one or more producers, products derived from regional agricultural production, agriculturally related experiences, or products produced on-site. ((Accessory commercial and retail uses shall offer for sale predominantly products or services produced on-site)) Development regulations may also permit home-based or similar small nonfarm businesses that supplement on-farm income to sustain family farm ownership; and
     (iii) Accessory uses may operate out of existing or new buildings with parking and other supportive uses consistent with the size and scale of existing agricultural buildings on the site but shall not otherwise convert agricultural land to nonagricultural uses.
     (b) Accessory uses may include compatible commercial or retail uses including, but not limited to:
     (i) Storage and refrigeration of regional agricultural products;
     (ii) Production, sales, and marketing of value-added agricultural products derived from regional sources;
     (iii) Supplemental sources of on-farm income that support and sustain on-farm agricultural operations and production;
     (iv) Support services that facilitate the production, marketing, and distribution of agricultural products; and
     (v) Off-farm and on-farm sales and marketing of predominately regional agricultural products and experiences, locally made art and arts and crafts, and ancillary retail sales or service activities.