S-3601               _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 6254

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1990 Regular Session

By Senators Nelson, DeJarnatt, McCaslin, Hayner and Rasmussen

Read first time 1/10/90 and referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

AN ACT Relating to plats and short plats; and amending RCW 58.17.060 and 58.17.110.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 6, chapter 271, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 330, Laws of 1989 and RCW 58.17.060 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1)  The legislative body of a city, town, or county shall adopt regulations and procedures, and appoint administrative personnel for the summary approval of short plats and short subdivisions or alteration or vacation thereof.  When an alteration or vacation involves a public dedication, the alteration or vacation shall be processed as provided in RCW 58.17.212 or 58.17.215.  Such regulations shall be adopted by ordinance and may contain wholly different requirements than those governing the approval of preliminary and final plats of subdivisions and may require surveys and monumentations and shall require filing of a short plat, or alteration or vacation thereof, for record in the office of the county auditor:  PROVIDED, That such regulations must contain a requirement that land in short subdivisions may not be further divided in any manner within a period of five years without the filing of a final plat, except that when the short plat contains fewer than four parcels, nothing in this section shall prevent the owner who filed the short plat from filing an alteration within the five-year period to create up to a total of four lots within the original short plat boundaries:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That such regulations are not required to contain a penalty clause as provided in RCW 36.32.120 and may provide for wholly injunctive relief.

          An ordinance requiring a survey shall require that the survey be completed and filed with the application for approval of the short subdivision.

          (2) Cities, towns, and counties shall include in their short plat regulations and procedures pursuant to subsection (1) of this section provisions for considering sidewalks and other planning features that assure safe walking conditions for students who walk to and from school.

(3) Cities, towns, and counties shall include in their short plat regulations and procedures requirements for a lot numbering system and a house address system.

        Sec. 2.  Section 11, chapter 271, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 3, chapter 330, Laws of 1989 and RCW 58.17.110 are each amended to read as follows:

          The city, town, or county legislative body shall inquire into the public use and interest proposed to be served by the establishment of the subdivision and dedication.  It shall determine if appropriate provisions are made for, but not limited to, the public health, safety, and general welfare, for open spaces, drainage ways, streets, alleys, other public ways, water supplies, sanitary wastes, parks, playgrounds, sites for schools and schoolgrounds, and shall consider all other relevant facts, including sidewalks and other planning features that assure safe walking conditions for students who walk to and from school, and determine whether the public interest will be served by the subdivision and dedication.  If it finds that the proposed plat makes appropriate provisions for the public health, safety, and general welfare and for such open spaces, drainage ways, streets, alleys, other public ways, water supplies, sanitary wastes, parks, playgrounds, sites for schools and schoolgrounds and all other relevant facts, including sidewalks and other planning features that assure safe walking conditions for students who walk to and from school, and that the public use and interest will be served by the platting of such subdivision, then it shall be approved.  If it finds that the proposed plat does not make such appropriate provisions or that the public use and interest will not be served, then the legislative body may disapprove the proposed plat.  Dedication of land to any public body, may be required as a condition of subdivision approval and shall be clearly shown on the final plat.  A lot numbering system and a house address system shall be required as a condition of subdivision approval and shall be clearly shown on the final plat.  The legislative body shall not as a condition to the approval of any plat require a release from damages to be procured from other property owners.