AN ACT Relating to authorizing cities, towns, and counties to enact water-efficient landscaping ordinances; and amending RCW 35.63.010, 35.63.060, 35.63.080, 35A.63.010, 35A.63.062, 36.70.020, and 36.70.750.

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

Sec. 1. Section 35.63.010, chapter 7, Laws of 1965 and RCW 35.63.010 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter the following terms shall have the meaning herein given them:

(1) "Appointive members" means all members of a commission other than ex officio members;

(2) "Board" means the board of county commissioners;

(3) "City" includes every incorporated city and town;

(4) "Commission" means a city or county planning commission;

(5) "Council" means the chief legislative body of a city;

(6) "Ex officio members" means the members of a commission chosen from among city or county officials;

(7) "Highways" include streets, roads, boulevards, lanes, alleys, viaducts and other traveled ways;

(8) "Mayor" means the chief executive of a city;

(9) "Municipality" includes every county and city; and

(10) "Water-efficient landscaping" means (a) the deliberate selection and use of varieties of grass seeds for lawns and ornamental plants in designing landscapes with low water use requirements while maintaining a traditional appearance; and (b) the specification of water use requirements for installed sprinkler systems used to irrigate lawns and ornamental plants.

Sec. 2. Section 35.63.060, chapter 7, Laws of 1965 as last amended by section 1, chapter 127, Laws of 1988 and RCW 35.63.060 are each amended to read as follows:

The commission may act as the research and fact finding agency of the municipality. To that end it may make such surveys, analyses, researches and reports as are generally authorized or requested by its council or board, or by the state with the approval of its council or board. The commission, upon such request or authority may also:

(1) Make inquiries, investigations, and surveys concerning the resources of the county, including but not limited to: (a) The use of water-efficient landscaping for future development; and (b) the potential for solar energy development and alternative means to encourage and protect access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems;

(2) Assemble and analyze the data thus obtained and formulate plans for the conservation of such resources and the systematic utilization and development thereof;

(3) Make recommendations from time to time as to the best methods of such conservation, utilization, and development;

(4) Cooperate with other commissions and with other public agencies of the municipality, state and United States in such planning, conservation, and development; and

(5) In particular cooperate with and aid the state within its territorial limits in the preparation of the state master plan provided for in RCW 43.21A.350 and in advance planning of public works programs.

Sec. 3. Section 35.63.080, chapter 7, Laws of 1965 as amended by section 4, chapter 170, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. and RCW 35.63.080 are each amended to read as follows:

The council or board may provide for the preparation by its commission and the adoption and enforcement of coordinated plans for the physical development of the municipality. For this purpose the council or board, in such measure as is deemed reasonably necessary or requisite in the interest of health, safety, morals and the general welfare, upon recommendation by its commission, by general ordinances of the city or general resolution of the board, may regulate and restrict the location and the use of buildings, structures and land for residence, trade, industrial and other purposes; the height, number of stories, size, construction and design of buildings and other structures; the size of yards, courts and other open spaces on the lot or tract; the density of population; the set-back of buildings along highways, parks or public water frontages; and the subdivision and development of land; may require water-efficient landscaping; and may encourage and protect access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems. A council where such ordinances are in effect, may, on the recommendation of its commission provide for the appointment of a board of adjustment, to make, in appropriate cases and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards established by ordinance, special exceptions in harmony with the general purposes and intent and in accordance with general or specific rules therein contained.

Sec. 4. Section 35A.63.010, chapter 119, Laws of 1967 ex. sess. and RCW 35A.63.010 are each amended to read as follows:

The following words or terms as used in this chapter shall have the meanings set forth below unless different meanings are clearly indicated by the context:

(1) "Chief administrative officer" means the mayor in code cities operating under the mayor-council and commission forms, the city manager in code cities operating under the council-manager forms, or such other officer as the charter of a charter code city designates as the chief administrative officer.

(2) "City" means an incorporated city or town.

(3) "Code city" is used where the application of this chapter is limited to a code city; where joint, regional, or cooperative action is intended, a code city may be included in the unrestricted terms "city" or "municipality".

(4) "Comprehensive plan" means the policies and proposals approved by the legislative body as set forth in RCW 35A.63.060 through 35A.63.072 of this chapter and containing, at least, the elements set forth in RCW 35A.63.061.

(5) "Legislative body" means a code city council, a code city commission, and, in cases involving regional or cooperative planning or action, the governing body of a municipality.

(6) "Municipality" includes any code city and, in cases of regional or cooperative planning or action, any city, town, township, county, or special district.

(7) "Ordinance" means a legislative enactment by the legislative body of a municipality; in this chapter "ordinance" is synonymous with the term "resolution" when "resolution" is used as representing a legislative enactment.

(8) "Planning agency" means any person, body, or organization designated by the legislative body to perform a planning function or portion thereof for a municipality, and includes, without limitation, any commission, committee, department, or board together with its staff members, employees, agents, and consultants.

(9) "Special district" means that portion of the state, county, or other political subdivision created under general law for rendering of one or more local public services or for administrative, educational, judicial, or political purposes.

Sec. 5. Section 35A.63.062, chapter 119, Laws of 1967 ex. sess. as amended by section 7, chapter 170, Laws of 1979 ex. sess. and RCW 35A.63.062 are each amended to read as follows:

The comprehensive plan may include also any or all of the following optional elements:

(1) A conservation element for the conservation, development, and utilization of natural resources.

(2) An open space, park, and recreation element.

(3) A transportation element showing a comprehensive system of surface, air, and water transportation routes and facilities.

(4) A public-use element showing general locations, designs, and arrangements of public buildings and uses.

(5) A public utilities element showing general plans for public and franchised services and facilities.

(6) A redevelopment or renewal element showing plans for the redevelopment or renewal of slum and blighted areas.

(7) An urban design element for general organization of the physical parts of the urban landscape.

(8) Other elements dealing with subjects that, in the opinion of the legislative body, relate to the development of the municipality, or are essential or desirable to coordinate public services and programs with such development.

(9) A solar energy element for encouragement and protection of access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems.

(10) A water-efficient landscaping element providing for efficient use of water for outdoor watering.

Sec. 6. Section 36.70.020, chapter 4, Laws of 1963 and RCW 36.70.020 are each amended to read as follows:

The following words or terms as used in this chapter shall have the following meaning unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:

(1) "Approval by motion" is a means by which a board, through other than by ordinance, approves and records recognition of a comprehensive plan or amendments thereto.

(2) "Board" means the board of county commissioners.

(3) "Certification" means the affixing on any map or by adding to any document comprising all or any portion of a comprehensive plan a record of the dates of action thereon by the commission and by the board, together with the signatures of the officer or officers authorized by ordinance to so sign.

(4) "Commission" means a county or regional planning commission.

(5) "Commissioners" means members of a county or regional planning commission.

(6) "Comprehensive plan" means the policies and proposals approved and recommended by the planning agency or initiated by the board and approved by motion by the board (a) as a beginning step in planning for the physical development of the county; (b) as the means for coordinating county programs and services; (c) as a source of reference to aid in developing, correlating, and coordinating official regulations and controls; and (d) as a means for promoting the general welfare. Such plan shall consist of the required elements set forth in RCW 36.70.330 and may also include the optional elements set forth in RCW 36.70.350 which shall serve as a policy guide for the subsequent public and private development and official controls so as to present all proposed developments in a balanced and orderly relationship to existing physical features and governmental functions.

(7) "Conditional use" means a use listed among those classified in any given zone but permitted to locate only after review by the board of adjustment, or zoning adjustor if there be such, and the granting of a conditional use permit imposing such performance standards as will make the use compatible with other permitted uses in the same vicinity and zone and assure against imposing excessive demands upon public utilities, provided the county ordinances specify the standards and criteria that shall be applied.

(8) "Department" means a planning department organized and functioning as any other department in any county.

(9) "Element" means one of the various categories of subjects, each of which constitutes a component part of the comprehensive plan.

(10) "Ex officio member" means a member of the commission who serves by virtue of his or her official position as head of a department specified in the ordinance creating the commission.

(11) "Official controls" means legislatively defined and enacted policies, standards, precise detailed maps and other criteria, all of which control the physical development of a county or any part thereof or any detail thereof, and are the means of translating into regulations and ordinances all or any part of the general objectives of the comprehensive plan. Such official controls may include, but are not limited to, ordinances establishing zoning, subdivision control, platting, and adoption of detailed maps.

(12) "Ordinance" means a legislative enactment by a board; in this chapter the word, "ordinance", is synonymous with the term "resolution", as representing a legislative enactment by a board of county commissioners.

(13) "Planning agency" means (a) a planning commission, together with its staff members, employees and consultants, or (b) a department organized and functioning as any other department in any county government together with its planning commission.

(14) "Variance". A variance is the means by which an adjustment is made in the application of the specific regulations of a zoning ordinance to a particular piece of property, which property, because of special circumstances applicable to it, is deprived of privileges commonly enjoyed by other properties in the same vicinity and zone and which adjustment remedies disparity in privileges.

(15) "Water-efficient landscaping" means (a) the deliberate selection and use of varieties of grass seeds for lawns and ornamental plants in designing landscapes with low water use requirements while maintaining a traditional appearance; and (b) the specification of water use requirements for installed sprinkler systems used to irrigate lawns and ornamental plants.

Sec. 7. Section 36.70.750, chapter 4, Laws of 1963 and RCW 36.70.750 are each amended to read as follows:

Any board, by ordinance, may establish classifications, within each of which, specific controls are identified, and which will:

(1) Regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between agriculture, industry, business, residence, and other purposes; and

(2) Regulate location, height, bulk, number of stories and size of buildings and structures; the size of yards, courts, and other open spaces; the use of water-efficient landscaping for future development; the density of population; the percentage of a lot which may be occupied by buildings and structures; and the area required to provide off-street facilities for the parking of motor vehicles.