H-1570.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1962

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Representative Dunshee

Read first time 02/09/2001.  Referred to Committee on Local Government & Housing.

Creating incentives for the transfer of development rights.

    AN ACT Relating to creating incentives for the transfer of development rights; and amending RCW 36.70A.177.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 36.70A.177 and 1997 c 429 s 23 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, which limits the density of development and restricts or prohibits nonfarm uses of agricultural land;

    (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 city or county may develop incentive programs to transfer development rights from agricultural or open spaces zones to higher densities in urban zones.

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