BILL REQ. #:  S-1250.1 

Read first time 02/05/2007.   Referred to Committee on Government Operations & Elections.

     AN ACT Relating to growth in rural areas; adding a new section to chapter 36.70A RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) Population in western Washington is growing and will continue to grow. Models indicate that the central Cascades region can expect a doubling of the population within the next one hundred years.
     (2) The growth management act has used large lot zoning to discourage residential development of rural and resource lands. However, historical entitlement of smaller lots coupled with rapidly increasing real estate values have led to widespread development of nonurban lots of a variety of sizes, locations, and zoning categories. This problem is exacerbated by recent trends in the timber industry, resulting in ownership changes, accelerated harvesting regimes, and likely conversion of many properties to residential development in the near term. It is reasonable to assume that under a one hundred-year timeframe all nonurban lots are likely to be developed.
     (3) The increase in nonurban development has disproportionate undesirable impacts to landscape and watershed integrity, environmental functions, economic viability of resource lands, and public costs.
     (4) Additional approaches to managing rural growth are needed. Success will likely not come from a single strategy; rather, a multifaceted approach is required. Implementation of a region-wide or statewide transfer of development rights program could play a major role in finding a solution.
     (5) The most important component in building a successful transfer of development rights program is creating adequate receiving area capacity. Accommodating dramatic population growth while meeting resource conservation goals over the next one hundred years will require greatly increasing receiving area capacity. It is a regional goal to direct growth to urban areas, and therefore it is a priority to develop this receiving capacity primarily in urban areas. In addition, the potential for additional receiving areas in appropriate nonurban areas is being explored concurrently.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 36.70A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A county planning under RCW 36.70A.040 that meets the criteria in subsection (2) of this section may designate no more than one rural village in the rural area outside of limited areas of more intensive rural development established pursuant to RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d). For the purposes of this section, "rural village" is defined as a compact, environmentally friendly rural development created using transfer of development rights. Rural villages will be located in the rural area, and shall coexist with traditional rural land uses such as farming and forestry.
     (2) Under this chapter, a county may designate a rural village in the rural area outside of limited areas of more intensive rural development established pursuant to RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d) as follows:
     (a) Residential Development. The rural village may contain fifty to two hundred dwelling units and may include single-family detached or attached housing, multifamily housing, and accessory dwelling units. The maximum allowable lot size for single-family detached units is seven thousand square feet within a rural village.
     (b) Nonresidential Development. The rural village may include nonresidential development that is designed to serve the village population and nearby existing and projected rural residents.
     (c) Development Right Transfers. All rural village nonresidential square footage or dwelling units that exceed base zoning shall require the transfer or purchase of development rights from designated land within the rural area or natural resource lands ("sending areas") as follows:
     (i) For the purposes of this section, one transferable development right shall be allocated for each unrealized dwelling unit permitted by applicable development regulations, as calculated on a gross basis (allowed density x gross acreage of the property). In determining how these development rights transfer to the rural village, the county may consider local circumstances, but is encouraged to provide incentives to transfer or purchase development rights from existing nonconforming lots and authorize the transfer or purchase of development rights from larger properties that will provide landscape scale conservation benefits consistent with RCW 36.70A.011 and reduce transactions and acquisition costs helping to make the end product more affordable.
     (ii) At least one-half of the development rights included in a rural village shall be transferred from the rural area, with any remainder coming from resource lands. The county shall determine the appropriate ratio of rural and resource development rights.
     (iii) Each development right transferred from an existing rural lot nonconforming as to minimum lot size or density shall be given a 0.25 development rights bonus when used within a rural village.
     (d) Conservation Easements. Development rights purchased or transferred from sending area properties shall be extinguished with conservation easements held jointly by a nonprofit organization and the relevant local government. The conservation easement shall permanently restrict development of the property, but shall allow for typical rural land uses, including agriculture and working forestry. A stewardship fund established by endowment, contractually established annual homeowners association fees, or a perpetual resale fee shall be created for the sending area property to ensure capacity for stewardship and to monitor and enforce the conservation easement by the responsible parties.
     (e) Siting Criteria. A county shall establish the criteria for siting a rural village in the rural element of its comprehensive plan. The criteria shall be in keeping with local circumstances, RCW 36.70A.070(5)(c), and favor sites with limited visual impacts, proximity to existing transportation networks, limited need for service improvements, affordability of housing in the rural village, and appropriate environmental characteristics.
     (f) Designation. A rural village shall be designated in the rural element of the comprehensive plan. The regulations governing its development, including location of sending areas, shall be included in the county's development regulations. The rural village must comply with all relevant development regulations, including critical areas regulations and transportation concurrency requirements. The county may adopt level of service or concurrency standards to address the consolidation of traffic that will result from a rural village.
     (g) Boundaries. Clear boundaries shall be delineated for each rural village and shall not be expanded. Boundaries shall be buffered from surrounding land uses by physical barriers (e.g., river or undeveloped bluff) or a swath of permanently conserved land at least two hundred fifty feet wide. A conservation easement restricting development in this buffer shall be held jointly by a nonprofit organization and the relevant local government.
     (h) Public Services and Public Facilities.
     (i) Public services and public facilities shall be limited to those necessary to serve the rural village and shall be provided in a manner that does not permit low-density sprawl.
     (ii) New or improved infrastructure necessary to serve the rural village shall be provided or applicable impact fees paid. New or improved infrastructure may be provided by the applicant, the county, or by a public-private partnership.
     (iii) Transportation.
     (A) Multimodal site planning shall be implemented and may include, but is not limited to, neighborhood circulators; bicycle paths; and park and ride, community vanpool, and carshare parking spaces.
     (B) A pedestrian or nonmotorized transportation network of trails or walkways should connect residences to services and open space within and adjacent to the rural village.
     (C) Road capacity shall meet county standards and accommodate the projected needs of the rural village population, and necessary roadway improvements may include safety enhancements, site access projects, signage revisions, and traffic facility flow and management tools.
     (D) Counties shall develop innovative road standards for rural villages that are compatible with rural character and minimize impervious surfaces and storm water runoff.
     (iv) Water rights.
     (A) A community water system shall be appropriately sized to serve the rural village and shall rely on existing water law to obtain adequate water rights. Such water system shall incorporate efficiency and conservation measures designed to reduce water usage.
     (B) At the time of sale or transfer of the development rights from the sending area properties, conservation easements or covenants shall include provisions to forego the development of groundwater wells in the sending area properties for watering of lawns or noncommercial gardens, for single or group domestic uses, and for nonagricultural industrial uses. However, groundwater wells may be developed for stock-watering or industrial uses related to agricultural production as allowed under RCW 90.44.050.
     (v) Wastewater treatment. Counties are encouraged to authorize innovative techniques for wastewater treatment in rural villages, including, but not limited to, membrane bioreactor systems. Greywater reuse for flushing, irrigation, and other appropriate uses should be encouraged.
     (vi) Storm water management. Counties are encouraged to authorize innovative techniques for storm water management, including, but not limited to, bioswales and other natural storm water management systems and alternative uses for storm water that encourage water reuse, groundwater infiltration, or both.
     (i) Open Space. The rural village shall contain community open space. Uses of this open space may include, but are not limited to, community gathering space, village green, park, or rural resource use. A portion of the open space must function as a village green or gathering place able to accommodate the population of the rural village.
     (j) Green Building. All rural villages shall meet the master builders association of King and Snohomish counties built green - green communities three-star standard and the built green – homebuilder or multifamily (whichever is applicable) four-star standard. Equivalent or more stringent green building standards may be substituted for this requirement (e.g., leadership in energy and environmental design, green globes, or other recognized green building standards).
     (k) Native Vegetation. Disturbance of some native vegetation is likely unavoidable in the development of rural villages. However, maintaining forest cover and other native vegetation is important to the health of watersheds and the Puget Sound. Thus, to the maximum extent possible, clearing of native vegetation shall be avoided or mitigated.
     (i) The disturbance of native plants and forest cover on the development site shall be minimized.
     (ii) Disturbance of the development site shall be mitigated via on-site or off-site restoration or replanting of an area roughly equivalent in size to the cleared area via a fee paid to a qualified government or nonprofit land management organization.
     (iii) Native plant species for landscaping of nonlawn areas of private residences shall be used. Public rights-of-way, street planting strips, and common areas shall be replanted with a regionally appropriate native plant community and structure.
     (l) Design Standards. A county shall include in its development regulations design standards to protect the rural character of the area. At a minimum these design standards should address the following:
     (i) Utilities;
     (ii) Roadways and transportation;
     (iii) Visual impacts (e.g., protecting view corridors along roadways, ridgelines, hillsides, etc.); and
     (iv) Lighting and the preservation of dark skies.
     (m) Notice on Title. Each county designating a rural village pilot project shall require that all plats, short plats, development permits, and building permits issued for development activities within a rural village demonstration project contain a notice that the subject property is located in a rural area where a variety of traditional rural activities may occur that may generate sights, sounds, and smells associated with farming, forestry, and other traditional rural uses. In addition, the notice for lands within a rural village demonstration project shall advise that services in rural areas are often limited and consist of rural governmental services rather than urban governmental services. The notice shall run with the land.
     (3) A county may not issue groundwater well permits for any groundwater uses except stock-watering purposes, or agricultural industrial purposes allowed under RCW 90.44.050 on properties from which development rights have been sold or transferred (sending sites).
     (4) Any county intending to designate a rural village demonstration project shall notify the department. The department shall ensure that a maximum of three demonstration projects may be established under this section. Any county choosing to withdraw a demonstration project shall notify the department and the department may accept an alternate project.
     (5) The department shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature annually on the progress of any rural villages established under this section. Additionally, the department shall prepare a final report to be submitted no later than December 1, 2012, on the efficacy of this section in accomplishing the purposes of RCW 36.70A.011. In preparing this report, the department shall consult with sending and receiving area landowners, project developers, builders, the county, and any other interested individuals or organizations. The report shall:
     (a) Review the county adopted policies and regulations to enable rural village demonstration projects for consistency with the goals of section 1 of this act and RCW 36.70A.011;
     (b) Provide pertinent information on the permitting and development of the rural village demonstration projects;
     (c) Provide a project-specific analysis for each demonstration project looking at the effect of the rural village on the following:
     (i) Rural population capacity including the impacts of the transfers from resource lands;
     (ii) Land disturbance and impervious surfaces;
     (iii) Water resources and watershed health; and
     (iv) Wildlife habitat; and
     (d) Recommend whether additional rural villages should be authorized and, if so, whether changes should be made to this section to foster the purposes of rural villages and rural lands as described in section 1 of this act, RCW 36.70A.011, and 36.70A.070(5).
     (6) The authority of a county meeting the criteria of subsection (2) of this section to designate a rural village in its development regulations terminates on December 31, 2009. Any rural village designated under this authority shall be available for the approved uses as long as the rural village is in compliance with the conditions of approval adopted by the county.
     (7) This section applies to counties that are located within the Puget Sound regional council's planning area.
     (8) This section is intended to further the purposes of RCW 36.70A.070(5)(c), and should in no way be interpreted to alter the requirements therein.