FINAL BILL REPORT
ESHB 1761
Synopsis as Enacted
C 6 L 93 E1
Brief Description: Clarifying and extending dates established under the growth management act.
By House Committee on Local Government (originally sponsored by Representatives H. Myers, Edmondson, Bray, Pruitt, Appelwick, R. Fisher, Wineberry, Peery, Wood, Eide, Cothern, Ogden, Jones, Ludwig, Riley, Ballard, Springer, Linville, Rayburn, Kessler, Brown, Long, Chandler, Foreman, Mastin, Johanson, Sehlin, L. Johnson, Morris, Karahalios, Lemmon, Hansen, Cooke and Forner).
House Committee on Local Government
Senate Committee on Government Operations
Background: The Growth Management Act was enacted in 1990 and 1991.
WHO MUST PLAN UNDER THE ACT
A county is required to plan under all the requirements of the Growth Management Act if either: (1) The county has a population of 50,000 or more and the population of the county has increased by 10 percent or more over the last 10 years; or (2) the county has a population of less than 50,000 and its population has increased by 20 percent or more over the last 10 years.
In addition, the governing body of a county may adopt a resolution requiring the county to plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act.
A city or town is required to plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act if the county in which it is located is subject to those requirements.
Once a county is required to plan under the Growth Management Act, by either meeting one of the two sets of population criteria or by the county legislative authority opting to plan under the Growth Management Act, the county and cities and towns in the county remain subject to the requirement to plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act.
PRIMARY REQUIREMENTS UNDER GROWTH MANAGEMENT ACT
The Growth Management Act includes a number of requirements for every county, city, and town that plans under all of the requirements of the act. In addition, the Growth Management Act includes a few requirements for other counties, cities, and towns in the state.
The primary requirements for counties, cities, and towns that plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act include:
(1)Each county, city, and town must identify and protect five different types of critical areas, including wetlands.
(2)Each county, city, and town must identify and conserve natural resource lands with long-term commercial significance for agriculture, forestry, or mineral resource extraction.
(3)Each county must adopt a countywide planning policy using a process agreed to by the county and cities and towns located in the county. The countywide planning policy provides a framework for the comprehensive plans that the county, cities, and towns adopt.
(4)Each county must designate urban growth areas within the county inside of which urban growth shall occur and outside of which urban growth shall not occur.
(5)Each county, city, and town must adopt a comprehensive plan that includes a variety of elements and designations of critical areas and natural resource lands. The comprehensive plan of a county must include its designations of urban growth areas. A comprehensive plan must be internally consistent. A comprehensive plan must be coordinated with, and consistent with, comprehensive plans of nearby jurisdictions and jurisdictions with related regional issues.
(6)Each county, city, and town must adopt development regulations implementing its comprehensive plan.
Counties, cities, and towns are given broad discretion under the Growth Management Act to adopt comprehensive plans and development regulations, which are presumed valid upon adoption.
Three separate growth planning hearings boards are established with authority to hear complaints over actions taken by counties, cities, and towns under the Growth Management Act and determine if a county, city, or town is in compliance with the requirements of the act. Each of the three separate boards has jurisdiction over counties, cities, and towns within separate geographic areas in the state.
Counties, cities, and towns that plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act may impose impact fees on development activities to finance certain public facilities the need for which is directly attributable to the development activity. Impact fees may not be imposed after July 1, 1993, unless the county, city, or town has adopted its comprehensive plan under the Growth Management Act. That is the same date when the counties, cities and towns that are initially required to plan under all the requirements of the Growth Management Act must have adopted their comprehensive plans.
Summary: The dates are clarified and in certain instances extended by which some of the actions under the Growth Management Act are required to have been taken by counties, cities, and towns that plan, or will become required to plan, under all the requirements of the Growth Management Act.
The deadline by which a county, city, or town must adopt its comprehensive plan is extended: (1) A county with a population of 50,000 or more that was initially required to plan under all the requirements of the Growth Management Act, and a city or town located in the county, must adopt its comprehensive plan by July 1, 1994. (2) A county with a population of less than 50,000 that was initially required to plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act, and a city or town located in the county, must adopt its comprehensive plan by January 1, 1995. However, the governor can reduce this extension by up to 180 days for a county under 50,000 population, or a city or town in such a county, if the governor finds that the county, city, or town is not making reasonable progress toward adopting its comprehensive plan. (3) Each other county, city, and town that plans under the Growth Management Act must adopt a comprehensive plan within four years of the date it becomes subject to these requirements.
Development regulations implementing the comprehensive plan must be adopted on or before the same date that the comprehensive plan is required to be adopted, but a jurisdiction may obtain an additional six month extension by sending a letter to the Department of Community Development indicating its need for the time extension.
The deadline by which urban growth areas must be designated is separated from the requirement for adopting the comprehensive plan and extended by three months. Counties that were initially required to plan under the Growth Management Act must adopt development regulations designating interim urban growth areas by October 1, 1993. Each other county must adopt development regulations designating interim urban growth areas within three years and three months of the date the county became subject to all the requirements of the Growth Management Act. Final urban growth areas are included in a county's comprehensive plan.
A county that begins planning under all the requirements of the Growth Management Act after June 1, 1991, must adopt a countywide planning policy within 14 months of the date when the county came under the requirements.
The governor may impose sanctions on a county, city, or town that fails to take actions required under the Growth Management Act by the dates such actions are required to have been taken. The sanction will be withholding of certain moneys that the state distributes to the county, city, or town. Prior to imposing sanctions, the governor must make a written finding that the county, city or town has not proceeded in good faith or has unreasonably delayed taking the required action. The governor must consult with the appropriate growth planning hearings board prior to imposing a sanction. The governor must consider the size of a county, city, or town relative to the requirements of the Growth Management Act, and the degree of technical and financial aid that was provided, when imposing a sanction on a county, city, or town that is not required to plan under all of the requirements of the Growth Management Act.
A county, city, or town may not impose impact fees after the date it is required to have adopted its comprehensive plan unless it has actually adopted its comprehensive plan.
Votes on Final Passage:
House 95 3
Senate 43 1 (Senate amended)
House (House refused to concur)
First Special Session
House 93 1
Senate 39 7 (Senate amended)
House 89 3 (House concurred)
Effective: June 1, 1993