[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to reconciling conflicting provisions in laws pertaining to cities and towns; and amending RCW 35A.63.110 and 35A.40.090.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 35A.63.110 and 1979 ex.s. c 18 s 34 are each amended to read as follows:

A code city which pursuant to this chapter creates a planning agency and which has twenty-five hundred or more inhabitants, by ordinance, shall create a board of adjustment and provide for its membership, terms of office, organization, jurisdiction. A code city which pursuant to this chapter creates a planning agency and which has a population of less than twenty‑five hundred may, by ordinance, similarly create a board of adjustment. In the event a code city with a population of less than twenty-five hundred creates a planning agency, but does not create a board of adjustment, the code city shall provide that the city legislative authority shall itself hear and decide the items listed in subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) of this section. The action of the board of adjustment shall be final and conclusive, unless, within ((~~ten~~)) twenty-one days from the date of the action, the original applicant or an adverse party makes application to the superior court for the county in which that city is located for a writ of certiorari, a writ of prohibition, or a writ of mandamus. No member of the board of adjustment shall be a member of the planning agency or the legislative body. Subject to conditions, safeguards, and procedures provided by ordinance, the board of adjustment may be empowered to hear and decide:

(1) Appeals from orders, recommendations, permits, decisions, or determinations made by a code city official in the administration or enforcement of the provisions of this chapter or any ordinances adopted pursuant to it.

(2) Applications for variances from the terms of the zoning ordinance, the official map ordinance or other land-use regulatory ordinances under procedures and conditions prescribed by city ordinance, which among other things shall provide that no application for a variance shall be granted unless the board of adjustment finds:

(a) the variance shall not constitute a grant of special privilege inconsistent with the limitation upon uses of other properties in the vicinity and zone in which the property on behalf of which the application was filed is located; and

(b) that such variance is necessary, because of special circumstances relating to the size, shape, topography, location, or surroundings of the subject property, to provide it with use rights and privileges permitted to other properties in the vicinity and in the zone in which the subject property is located; and

(c) that the granting of such variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity and zone in which the subject property is situated.

(3) Applications for conditional-use permits, unless such applications are to be heard and decided by the planning agency. A conditional use means a use listed among those classified in any given zone but permitted to locate only after review as herein provided in accordance with standards and criteria set forth in the zoning ordinance.

(4) Such other quasi judicial and administrative determinations as may be delegated by ordinance.

In deciding any of the matters referred to in subsections (1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section, the board of adjustment shall issue a written report giving the reasons for its decision. If a code city provides for a hearing examiner and vests in him the authority to hear and decide the items listed in subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) of this section pursuant to RCW 35A.63.170, then the provisions of this section shall not apply to such a city.

Sec. 2. RCW 35A.40.090 and 1973 1st ex.s. c 195 s 29 are each amended to read as follows:

((No code city shall incur an indebtedness exceeding three-fourths of one percent of the value of the taxable property in such city without the assent of three-fifths of the voters therein voting at an election to be held for that purpose nor, with such assent, to exceed two and one-half percent of the value of the taxable property therein except as otherwise provided in chapter 39.36 RCW and subject to the provisions of this chapter and shall have the authority and be subject to the constitutional and/or statutory limitations relating to levy of taxes. The term "value of the taxable property" shall have the meaning set forth in RCW 39.36.015.))

The provisions of general law contained in chapter 39.36 RCW relating to municipal indebtedness shall be applicable to code cities.