BILL REQ. #:  H-0828.1 

Read first time 01/27/11.   Referred to Committee on Local Government.

     AN ACT Relating to the authorization of a sustainable development alternative for managing residential development in rural areas using transferable development rights; amending RCW 36.70A.011, 43.21C.031, 36.145.020, and 36.145.100; reenacting and amending RCW 36.70A.030; 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   The legislature recognizes that:
     (1) A multifaceted approach to growth management is required to address the conversion of farms, forests, and rural areas to other uses, and to manage residential development in rural areas;
     (2) Current provisions of chapter 36.70A RCW provide few alternatives for counties to manage growth in the rural areas outside of limited areas of more intense rural development under RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d), and fully contained communities under RCW 36.70A.350, other than traditional large lot subdivisions (e.g. five-lot and ten-lot subdivisions) and "rural cluster" subdivisions;
     (3) The legislature desires to create a mechanism on a demonstration basis to allow certain counties to authorize a sustainable development alternative for residential development in rural areas as an alternative to limited areas of more intense rural development, fully contained communities and existing, traditional subdivision techniques in order to facilitate management of residential growth in rural areas, to promote preservation of open space, and to minimize and/or reduce the conversion of designated resource lands;
     (4) The implementation of a local, region-wide and/or statewide transfer of development rights program can play a significant role in developing sustainable development options for residential development in the rural areas. The most important component in building a successful transfer of development rights program is creating adequate receiving area capacity. Increasing receiving area capacity will accommodate dramatic expected population growth while meeting resource conservation goals over the next one hundred years; and
     (5) The demonstration projects authorized by this act are intended to explore the use of rural receiving areas to support strategies for transfer of development rights and to provide certain counties options for authorizing sustainable residential development in the rural areas.

Sec. 2   RCW 36.70A.011 and 2002 c 212 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The legislature finds that this chapter is intended to recognize the importance of rural lands and rural character to Washington's economy, its people, and its environment, while respecting regional differences. Rural lands and rural-based economies enhance the economic desirability of the state, help to preserve traditional economic activities, and contribute to the state's overall quality of life.
     The legislature finds that to retain and enhance the job base in rural areas, rural counties must have flexibility to create opportunities for business development. Further, the legislature finds that rural counties must have the flexibility to retain existing businesses and allow them to expand. The legislature recognizes that not all business developments in rural counties require an urban level of services; and that many businesses in rural areas fit within the definition of rural character identified by the local planning unit.
     ((Finally,)) The legislature finds that in defining its rural element under RCW 36.70A.070(5), a county should foster land use patterns and develop a local vision of rural character that will: Help preserve rural-based economies and traditional rural lifestyles; encourage the economic prosperity of rural residents; foster opportunities for small-scale, rural-based employment and self-employment; permit the operation of rural-based agricultural, commercial, recreational, and tourist businesses that are consistent with existing and planned land use patterns; be compatible with the use of the land by wildlife and for fish and wildlife habitat; foster the private stewardship of the land and preservation of open space; and enhance the rural sense of community and quality of life.
     The legislature further finds that rural conservation development demonstration projects as authorized by section 4 of this act are consistent with the findings of this section and will promote sustainable residential development as a means of managing residential growth in the rural areas and protecting designated resource lands of long-term commercial significance.

Sec. 3   RCW 36.70A.030 and 2009 c 565 s 22 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Adopt a comprehensive land use plan" means to enact a new comprehensive land use plan or to update an existing comprehensive land use plan.
     (2) "Agricultural land" means land primarily devoted to the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural, floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, finfish in upland hatcheries, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial significance for agricultural production.
     (3) "City" means any city or town, including a code city.
     (4) "Comprehensive land use plan," "comprehensive plan," or "plan" means a generalized coordinated land use policy statement of the governing body of a county or city that is adopted pursuant to this chapter.
     (5) "Critical areas" include the following areas and ecosystems: (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous areas.
     (6) "Department" means the department of commerce.
     (7) "Development regulations" or "regulation" means the controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, critical areas ordinances, shoreline master programs, official controls, planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and binding site plan ordinances together with any amendments thereto. A development regulation does not include a decision to approve a project permit application, as defined in RCW 36.70B.020, even though the decision may be expressed in a resolution or ordinance of the legislative body of the county or city.
     (8) "Forest land" means land primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, and that has long-term commercial significance. In determining whether forest land is primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, the following factors shall be considered: (a) The proximity of the land to urban, suburban, and rural settlements; (b) surrounding parcel size and the compatibility and intensity of adjacent and nearby land uses; (c) long-term local economic conditions that affect the ability to manage for timber production; and (d) the availability of public facilities and services conducive to conversion of forest land to other uses.
     (9) "Geologically hazardous areas" means areas that because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial, residential, or industrial development consistent with public health or safety concerns.
     (10) "Long-term commercial significance" includes the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land's proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of the land.
     (11) "Minerals" include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic substances.
     (12) "Public facilities" include streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems, parks and recreational facilities, and schools.
     (13) "Public services" include fire protection and suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation, environmental protection, and other governmental services.
     (14) "Recreational land" means land so designated under RCW 36.70A.1701 and that, immediately prior to this designation, was designated as agricultural land of long-term commercial significance under RCW 36.70A.170. Recreational land must have playing fields and supporting facilities existing before July 1, 2004, for sports played on grass playing fields.
     (15) "Rural character" refers to the patterns of land use and development established by a county in the rural element of its comprehensive plan:
     (a) In which open space, the natural landscape, and vegetation predominate over the built environment;
     (b) That foster traditional rural lifestyles, rural-based economies, and opportunities to both live and work in rural areas;
     (c) That provide visual landscapes that are traditionally found in rural areas and communities;
     (d) That are compatible with the use of the land by wildlife and for fish and wildlife habitat;
     (e) That reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development;
     (f) That generally do not require the extension of urban governmental services; and
     (g) That are consistent with the protection of natural surface water flows and groundwater and surface water recharge and discharge areas.
     (16) "Rural development" refers to development outside the urban growth area and outside agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.170. Rural development can consist of a variety of uses and residential densities, including clustered residential development, at levels that are consistent with the preservation of rural character and the requirements of the rural element. Rural development does not refer to agriculture or forestry activities that may be conducted in rural areas. A rural conservation development demonstration project as provided under section 4 of this act is a permitted form of rural development.
     (17) "Rural governmental services" or "rural services" include those public services and public facilities historically and typically delivered at an intensity usually found in rural areas, and may include domestic water systems, fire and police protection services, transportation and public transit services, and other public utilities associated with rural development and normally not associated with urban areas. Rural services do not include storm or sanitary sewers, except as otherwise authorized by RCW 36.70A.110(4).
     (18) "Urban governmental services" or "urban services" include those public services and public facilities at an intensity historically and typically provided in cities, specifically including storm and sanitary sewer systems, domestic water systems, street cleaning services, fire and police protection services, public transit services, and other public utilities associated with urban areas and normally not associated with rural areas.
     (19) "Urban growth" refers to growth that makes intensive use of land for the location of buildings, structures, and impermeable surfaces to such a degree as to be incompatible with the primary use of land for the production of food, other agricultural products, or fiber, or the extraction of mineral resources, rural uses, rural development, and natural resource lands designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.170. A pattern of more intensive rural development, as provided in RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d), is not urban growth. When allowed to spread over wide areas, urban growth typically requires urban governmental services. "Characterized by urban growth" refers to land having urban growth located on it, or to land located in relationship to an area with urban growth on it as to be appropriate for urban growth.
     (20) "Urban growth areas" means those areas designated by a county pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110.
     (21) "Wetland" or "wetlands" means areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland sites, including, but not limited to, irrigation and drainage ditches, grass-lined swales, canals, detention facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, farm ponds, and landscape amenities, or those wetlands created after July 1, 1990, that were unintentionally created as a result of the construction of a road, street, or highway. Wetlands may include those artificial wetlands intentionally created from nonwetland areas created to mitigate conversion of wetlands.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 36.70A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A county in the Puget Sound basin with a population between five hundred thousand and seven hundred fifty thousand, and which is required or choosing to plan under RCW 36.70A.040, may designate one rural conservation development demonstration project that meets the criteria set forth in this section. For the purposes of this section, "rural conservation development demonstration project" and "demonstration project" mean a compact rural development created using transfer of development rights as identified in this section, and established by the authorizing county's comprehensive plan policies and development regulations.
     (2) A demonstration project shall be located in the rural area, and be designed as provided in this section to co-exist with traditional rural land uses such as farming and forestry. A demonstration project meeting the criteria of this section shall neither constitute "urban growth," nor lands "characterized by urban growth" for purposes of citing adjacent or nearby lands as new urban growth areas pursuant to RCW 36.70A.110(2), nor do they violate rural character provisions of RCW 36.70A.070(5)(c)(iii). A demonstration project meeting the requirements of this section, and meeting the comprehensive plan policies and development regulation of an authorizing county, shall constitute a permitted form of "rural development" under RCW 36.70A.030(16).
     (a) Location. A county may approve a demonstration project on a site in the rural area, outside of limited areas of more intensive rural development established pursuant to RCW 36.70A.070(5)(d), with a minimum of seven hundred fifty contiguous acres. A portion of the proposed site of a demonstration project site must be located within three miles of a state or federal highway. The county's comprehensive plan policies and/or development regulations for a demonstration project should favor sites that are capable of limiting visual impacts of the development to the general public and adjoining uses, enjoy proximity to existing transportation networks that have capacity or can be made concurrent through the proposal, demonstrate limited need for public service improvements, and are outside areas identified as high priority for protection and restoration by the department of ecology's watershed characterization process. A demonstration project shall not be allowed on lands designated by a county pursuant to chapter 36.70A RCW as either agricultural, forest, or mineral lands of long-term commercial significance. A county may not simultaneously process a request to de-designate designated resource lands of long-term commercial significance and a proposal for those same lands to be considered for a demonstration project.
     (b) Residential development. A demonstration project may include a combination of two or more of the following types of residential dwelling units: Single-family detached housing; single-family attached housing; multifamily housing; and accessory dwelling units. A demonstration project may include age-restricted residential housing. The average lot size for single-family detached housing units within a demonstration project shall not exceed seven thousand square feet.
     (c) Nonresidential development. The demonstration project may include nonresidential development that is designed and sized to serve only the projected population of the demonstration project and nearby existing and projected rural residential population.
     (d) Authorized number of residential development units. A county may authorize a demonstration project containing up to one thousand six hundred residential dwelling units. The total number of authorized residential dwelling units shall include the number of development rights vested by the property owner under the applicable base zoning, approved prior plats, vested subdivision/permit applications, and/or existing legal subdivisions and shall be referred to as the "base number of units." Any additional residential units in a demonstration project above the base number of units and up to the total number of dwelling units approved by the authorizing county, not to exceed the total residential units authorized for a demonstration project under this section, shall be allowed only through the transfer of development rights as provided in this section. At least one-third of the units authorized in a demonstration project must originate from rural-zoned property, which may include the base number of units associated with the demonstration project property.
     (e) Transfer of development rights. For purposes of this section, the authorizing county's transfer of development rights program must identify rural-zoned lands or lands designated as natural resource lands of long-term commercial significance that are eligible as transfer of development rights sending sites. A demonstration project authorized under this section shall be an authorized receiving area for transfer of development rights from certified sending sites. For purposes of this section, each demonstration project residential unit that exceeds the base number of units as provided under this section shall require the transfer of one development right from a certified sending site.
     (f) Conservation easements. Development rights transferred from sending sites shall be extinguished by a conservation easement recorded against the sending property. The conservation easement shall be held by either a nonprofit organization, the county authorizing the demonstration project, or jointly by a nonprofit organization and the authorizing county, as may be provided by the enabling county's transfer of development rights program. The conservation easement shall permanently restrict development of the sending property, but must allow for typical rural and resource land uses, including but not limited to agriculture and working forestry. A stewardship fund established by endowment or other mechanism established by the county authorizing a demonstration project shall be created to monitor and enforce the conservation easement or easements for all sending properties to ensure capacity for stewardship of such conservation easement lands.
     (g) Process. A county authorized to approve a demonstration project shall adopt such comprehensive plan policies and development regulations to supplement the requirements of this act as the county deems necessary and appropriate. Any comprehensive plan policies and/or development regulations adopted by a county pursuant to this section may consider and reflect local circumstances for determining how to implement this section in a manner that preserves existing rural character. A county authorized to approve a demonstration project under this act may designate a demonstration project receiving site either in the rural element of its comprehensive plan, through adoption of a subarea plan for the demonstration project, and/or through a development agreement, and it may enact and rely upon comprehensive plan policies, development regulations, and/or development agreements as provided under chapter 36.70B RCW, expressly for the purpose of approving a demonstration project. The demonstration project must comply with all relevant development regulations, including critical areas regulations and transportation concurrency requirements; provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall control over conflicting provisions of chapter 36.70A RCW, if any; provided, further, that through a development agreement a county may approve development standards particular to the demonstration project, and different from the county's existing development regulations, if the county finds that such regulations will facilitate preservation of rural character and will not adversely impact the public health, safety, and welfare.
     (h) External boundaries. Clear external boundaries shall be delineated for each demonstration project and shall not be expanded. The demonstration project shall provide a perimeter buffer within the boundaries of the demonstration project for the benefit of surrounding land uses along the external boundary, which buffer may consist of physical features upon or abutting the demonstration project site, such as a river or undeveloped bluff or ravine, or a designated corridor of undeveloped land that must be permanently conserved. The perimeter buffer around the demonstration project must average at least two hundred feet wide, and at no point may be less than one hundred feet wide; provided, however, that the authorizing county may approve a reduction in the minimum average buffer width in response to a buffer enhancement and stewardship plan demonstrating that the reduced buffers provide an equivalent buffer function and value to that of the standard buffer width. Nothing in this section obviates the need to comply with all applicable critical area regulations and preexisting riparian buffer requirements. Perimeter buffers shall be permanently conserved by conservation easement recorded as provided for in the same manner as conservation easements for transferred development rights.
     (i) Public services and public facilities.
     (i) Design and size--in general. Public services and public facilities shall be designed and sized for the demonstration project consistent with the definition of "rural governmental services" as provided in RCW 36.70A.030(17).
     (ii) Provision for required infrastructure. The county's development regulations, or any development agreement authorizing a demonstration project, shall address how new and/or improved infrastructure necessary to serve the demonstration project shall be provided, which may include how such infrastructure is to be provided by either the applicant, the county, or by a public-private partnership.
     (iii) Transportation. A demonstration project must comply with the county's applicable transportation concurrency requirements to ensure that the demonstration project will not result in roads operating below adopted levels of service. Legal instruments shall be recorded granting to the general public the right to access and utilize the transportation facilities described in (i)(iii) (A) through (C) of this subsection to the extent such facilities are included as part of a demonstration project. A covenant shall be recorded on title to land included within a demonstration project that prohibits an owner or owners from protesting annexation to a transit service district. A county's approval of a demonstration project should call for a transportation management plan to encourage the reduction in potential greenhouse gas emissions that addresses, at a minimum, the following components: (A) A multimodal implementation plan that may include, but is not necessarily limited to, neighborhood circulators; bicycle paths; electric vehicle charging stations; and park and ride, community vanpool, and car-share parking spaces; (B) a pedestrian and nonmotorized transportation network of trails and walkways that shall connect residences to public services and open spaces within and adjacent to the demonstration project. For the purposes of this section, walkways are lanes for pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles that provide a space to travel within the public right-of-way or within easements/tracts that is separated from roadway vehicles; (C) road capacity that meet the county's applicable growth management act concurrency requirements; and (D) innovative road standards developed by the county for a demonstration project that the county determines are compatible with rural character and minimize impervious surfaces and storm water runoff.
     (iv) Water supply. A demonstration project must be served by an existing public water purveyor.
     (v) Wastewater treatment. Counties are encouraged to authorize innovative techniques for wastewater treatment in a demonstration project, including, but not limited to, the use of membrane bioreactor systems. The demonstration project should encourage water conservation and grey water reuse for flushing, irrigation, and/or other appropriate uses.
     (vi) Storm water management. The authorizing county shall include in its development regulations, or in a development agreement approving a demonstration project, storm water management standards that are consistent with the then most current department of ecology storm water manual or the equivalent standard adopted by the county. The authorizing county shall require "low impact development" techniques as appropriate and feasible for the site, which may include, but are not limited to, bio swales and other natural storm water management systems and alternative uses for storm water that encourage water reuse, groundwater infiltration, or both.
     (vii) Critical areas regulations. A demonstration project shall be subject to the county's then current, adopted critical areas regulations adopted pursuant to chapter 36.70A RCW.
     (j) Open space. The demonstration project shall contain community open space for public use, which may include community gathering space, village green, parks, trails, a community farm, a community forest, and/or a farmers' market space. A minimum of seventy percent of the gross site area of a demonstration project shall be set aside as designated open space. Instruments shall be recorded against the property as necessary to ensure that open space is retained in perpetuity, and must be open and accessible to the public. A stewardship fund established by endowment, homeowners' association fees, perpetual resale fees, or other mechanism as may be authorized by a county approving a demonstration project, shall be created to monitor and ensure capacity for stewardship of such publicly open and accessible open space within a demonstration project.
     (k) Green building and energy. A county authorizing a demonstration project should encourage the incorporation of "green" building standards, such as the national association of home builders' gold-level green building guidelines or substantial equivalent. To the maximum extent practicable, a demonstration project shall use building materials sourced from Washington state. A county authorizing a demonstration project should also encourage the utilization of renewable on-site energy generation, renewable energy credits, and/or other means to reduce green house gas emissions, when compared to typical rural cluster developments.
     (l) Native vegetation. The authorizing county shall include in its development regulations or in a development agreement authorizing a demonstration project, provisions to minimize and mitigate for the clearing of native vegetation within a demonstration project. 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, except in situations where native species conflict with power lines and other utilities, in which case noninvasive nonnative species shall be used as a substitute.
     (m) Design standards. The authorizing county shall include in its development regulations or in a development agreement authorizing a demonstration project design standards to protect the rural character of the area and design standards to foster interaction among residents and a sense of place. At a minimum, design standards to protect rural character should address how to minimize and mitigate impacts from the following: (i) Utilities; (ii) roadways and transportation; (iii) visual impacts to sensitive viewsheds, such as roadways, ridgelines, hillsides, etc.; and (iv) lighting and the preservation of dark skies. Design standards to foster interaction and a sense of place may include elements to encourage multimodal transportation options, public gathering spaces, views of the surrounding landscape, use of local materials, and attention to historic features.
     (n) Notice on title. A county designating a demonstration project shall require that all plats, short plats, site plans, development permits, building permits, and/or other permits/approvals issued or granted for development activities within a 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 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.
     (o) Environmental review. A county's review and approval of a demonstration project shall address and provide for environmental protection consistent with the provisions of the state environmental policy act, chapter 43.21C RCW. A county may process a demonstration project as a "planned action" under chapter 43.21C RCW as authorized by this section.

Sec. 5   RCW 43.21C.031 and 1995 c 347 s 203 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) An environmental impact statement (the detailed statement required by RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c)) shall be prepared on proposals for legislation and other major actions having a probable significant, adverse environmental impact. The environmental impact statement may be combined with the recommendation or report on the proposal or issued as a separate document. The substantive decisions or recommendations shall be clearly identifiable in the combined document. Actions categorically exempt under RCW 43.21C.110(1)(a) do not require environmental review or the preparation of an environmental impact statement under this chapter. In a county, city, or town planning under RCW 36.70A.040, a planned action, as provided for in subsection (2) of this section, does not require a threshold determination or the preparation of an environmental impact statement under this chapter, but is subject to environmental review and mitigation as provided in this chapter.
     An environmental impact statement is required to analyze only those probable adverse environmental impacts which are significant. Beneficial environmental impacts may be discussed. The responsible official shall consult with agencies and the public to identify such impacts and limit the scope of an environmental impact statement. The subjects listed in RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c) need not be treated as separate sections of an environmental impact statement. Discussions of significant short-term and long-term environmental impacts, significant irrevocable commitments of natural resources, significant alternatives including mitigation measures, and significant environmental impacts which cannot be mitigated should be consolidated or included, as applicable, in those sections of an environmental impact statement where the responsible official decides they logically belong.
     (2)(a) For purposes of this section, a planned action means one or more types of project action that:
     (i) Are designated planned actions by an ordinance or resolution adopted by a county, city, or town planning under RCW 36.70A.040;
     (ii) Have had the significant impacts adequately addressed in an environmental impact statement prepared in conjunction with (A) a comprehensive plan or subarea plan adopted under chapter 36.70A RCW, ((or)) (B) a fully contained community, a master planned resort, a master planned development, or a phased project, or (C) a rural conservation development demonstration project as authorized under section 4 of this act;
     (iii) Are subsequent or implementing projects for the proposals listed in (a)(ii) of this subsection;
     (iv) Are located within an urban growth area, as defined in RCW 36.70A.030 except in the case of a rural conservation development demonstration project as authorized under section 4 of this act;
     (v) Are not essential public facilities, as defined in RCW 36.70A.200; and
     (vi) Are consistent with a comprehensive plan adopted under chapter 36.70A RCW.
     (b) A county, city, or town shall limit planned actions to certain types of development or to specific geographical areas that are less extensive than the jurisdictional boundaries of the county, city, or town and may limit a planned action to a time period identified in the environmental impact statement or the ordinance or resolution adopted under this subsection.

Sec. 6   RCW 36.145.020 and 2010 c 7 s 201 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Community facilities districts are authorized to be formed for the purposes authorized under this chapter. Community facilities districts may ((only)) include either (a) land within urban growth areas designated under the state growth management act, located in portions of one or more cities, towns, or counties when created in accordance with this chapter. A district may include one or more noncontiguous tracts, lots, parcels, or other properties meeting the requirements of this chapter, or (b) land within counties that is outside of designated urban growth areas but which has been included within the boundaries of a rural conservation development demonstration project approved by a county pursuant to section 4 of this act when the district is created in accordance with this chapter.
     (((1))) (2) To form a community facilities district, a petition must be presented to the applicable legislative authorities. The petition must:
     (a) Designate and describe the boundaries of the district by metes and bounds or reference to United States townships, ranges, and legal subdivisions;
     (b) Be executed by one hundred percent of all owners of private property located within the boundaries of the proposed district. The property owners must include a request to subject their property to the assessments, up to the amount included in the petition and authorized under this chapter;
     (c) Include a certification by the petitioners that they want to voluntarily submit their property to the authority of the district under this chapter to approve the petitioner's request to submit their property to the assessments, up to the amount included in the petition and authorized under this chapter;
     (d) Include a general explanation of the objective and plan of the district and describe the specific facilities that the district anticipates financing;
     (e) Declare the district will be conducive to public health, safety, and welfare;
     (f) Assert that the purpose for forming the district will be a benefit to the land located in the district;
     (g) Be accompanied by an "obligation" signed by at least two petitioners who agree to pay the costs of the formation process;
     (h) Include a list of petitioners or representatives thereof who are willing and able to serve on the board of supervisors. All petitioners within a proposed district who are natural persons, or natural persons who are designated representatives of petitioners, are eligible to include their name on the list of eligible supervisors. The petitioners may nominate qualified professions to serve on the board of supervisors in lieu of the petitioners or representatives of the petitioners;
     (i) If it proposes a special assessment, include: (i) A diagram showing each separate lot, tract, parcel of land, or other property in the district; (ii) the acreage of the property; (iii) the name and address of the owner or reputed owner of each lot, tract, parcel of land, or other property as shown on the tax rolls of the county assessor; (iv) a preliminary assessment roll showing the special assessment proposed to be imposed on each lot, tract, parcel of land, or other property; and (v) a proposed method or combination of methods for computing special assessments, determining the benefit to assessed property or use from facilities or improvements funded directly or indirectly by special assessments under this chapter; and
     (j) Include an explanation of what security will be provided to ensure the timely payment of assessments and the timely payment of bonds issued by the district.
     (((2))) (3) The petition must be filed with the auditor of each county in which property included within the proposed district is located. The auditor for the county in which the largest geographic portion of the proposed district is located must be the lead auditor for the purposes of this section. Within thirty days of the lead auditor's receipt of the petition, the lead auditor must confirm that the petition has been validly executed by one hundred percent of all owners of the property located within the proposed district, including confirmation by the auditors of all other counties with whom the petition was filed. Within ten days of the lead auditor's finding that the petition either does or does not contain the required signatures, the lead auditor must either (a) transmit the petition, together with a certificate of sufficiency attached thereto, to each legislative authority petitioned for formation of the district; or (b) return the petition to the petitioners with a list of property owners who must sign the petition in order to comply with this section. There are no restrictions on the number of petitions that may be submitted by one or more property owners.
     (((3))) (4) A petition may be amended for any reason if the amendment is signed by one hundred percent of the owners of property located within the district proposed in the amended petition.

Sec. 7   RCW 36.145.100 and 2010 c 7 s 501 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Through the use of district revenue derived through special assessments and bonds authorized under this chapter, and((,)) consistent with the terms and conditions of a petition approved in accordance with this chapter, a community facilities district may finance all or a portion of the following costs, expenses, and facilities whether located inside or outside the boundaries of an approved district:
     (a) The cost, or any portion thereof, of the purchase, finance, lease, sublease, construction, expansion, improvement, or rehabilitation of any facility with an estimated life of five years or longer;
     (b) The planning and design work that is directly related to the purchase, construction, expansion, improvement, or rehabilitation of a facility, including engineering, architectural, planning, and inspection costs;
     (c) Facilities listed in RCW 35.43.040 to the extent not specified in this section;
     (d) Sanitary sewage systems, including collection, transport, storage, treatment, dispersal, effluent use, and discharge;
     (e) Drainage and flood control systems, including collection, transport, diversion, storage, detention, retention, dispersal, use, and discharge;
     (f) Water systems for domestic, industrial, irrigation, municipal, or community facilities purposes, including production, collection, storage, treatment, transport, delivery, connection, and dispersal;
     (g) Highways, streets, roadways, and parking facilities, including all areas for vehicular use for travel, ingress, egress, and parking;
     (h) Areas for pedestrian, equestrian, bicycle, or other nonmotor vehicle use for travel, ingress, egress, and parking;
     (i) Pedestrian malls, parks, recreational facilities, and open-space facilities for the use of members of the public for entertainment, assembly, and recreation;
     (j) Landscaping, including earthworks, structures, lakes, and other water features, plants, trees, and related water delivery systems;
     (k) Public buildings, public safety facilities, and community facilities;
     (l) Publicly owned natural gas transmission and distribution facilities, facilities for the transmission or distribution of electrical energy, and limited communications facilities, specifically poles, trenches, and conduits, for use of any communications provider;
     (m) Street lighting;
     (n) Traffic control systems and devices, including signals, controls, markings, and signage;
     (o) Systems of surface, underground, or overhead railways, tramways, buses, or any other means of mass transportation facilities, including passenger, terminal, station parking, and related facilities and areas for passenger and vehicular use for travel, ingress, egress, and parking;
     (p) Library, educational, and cultural facilities; ((and))
     (q) Facilities similar to those listed in this section; and
     (r) Transferable development rights.
     (2) The district may not finance public or private residential dwellings, nonprofit facilities as defined in RCW 43.180.300, health care facilities as defined in RCW 70.37.020, higher education institutions as defined in RCW 28B.07.020, or economic development activities as defined in RCW 43.163.010.