| Passed by the House April 14, 2011 Yeas 65 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate April 7, 2011 Yeas 47 ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Barbara Baker, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1783 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 62nd Legislature | 2011 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/17/11.
AN ACT Relating to houseboats and houseboat moorages; amending RCW 90.58.270; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature recognizes that existing
floating homes, as part of our state's existing houseboat communities,
are an important cultural amenity and element of our maritime history.
These surviving floating home communities are a linkage to the past,
when our waterways were the focus of commerce, transport, and
development. In order to ensure the vitality and long-term survival of
these existing floating home communities, consistent with the
legislature's goal of allowing their continued use, improvement, and
replacement without undue burden, the legislature finds that it is
necessary to clarify their legal status.
Sec. 2 RCW 90.58.270 and 1971 ex.s. c 286 s 27 are each amended
to read as follows:
(1) Nothing in this statute shall constitute authority for
requiring or ordering the removal of any structures, improvements,
docks, fills, or developments placed in navigable waters prior to
December 4, 1969, and the consent and authorization of the state of
Washington to the impairment of public rights of navigation, and
corollary rights incidental thereto, caused by the retention and
maintenance of said structures, improvements, docks, fills or
developments are hereby granted: PROVIDED, That the consent herein
given shall not relate to any structures, improvements, docks, fills,
or developments placed on tidelands, shorelands, or beds underlying
said waters which are in trespass or in violation of state statutes.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as altering or
abridging any private right of action, other than a private right which
is based upon the impairment of public rights consented to in
subsection (1) hereof.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as altering or
abridging the authority of the state or local governments to suppress
or abate nuisances or to abate pollution.
(4) Subsection (1) of this section shall apply to any case pending
in the courts of this state on June 1, 1971 relating to the removal of
structures, improvements, docks, fills, or developments based on the
impairment of public navigational rights.
(5)(a) A floating home permitted or legally established prior to
January 1, 2011, must be classified as a conforming preferred use.
(b) For the purposes of this subsection:
(i) "Conforming preferred use" means that applicable development
and shoreline master program regulations may only impose reasonable
conditions and mitigation that will not effectively preclude
maintenance, repair, replacement, and remodeling of existing floating
homes and floating home moorages by rendering these actions
impracticable.
(ii) "Floating home" means a single-family dwelling unit
constructed on a float, that is moored, anchored, or otherwise secured
in waters, and is not a vessel, even though it may be capable of being
towed.