BILL REQ. #:  S-0220.1 

Read first time 01/21/13.   Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

     AN ACT Relating to ensuring growth management hearings board members meet qualifications relating to land use experience; and amending RCW 36.70A.250.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 36.70A.250 and 2010 c 211 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A growth management hearings board for the state of Washington is created. The board shall consist of seven members qualified by experience or training in matters pertaining to land use law or land use planning and who have experience in the practical application of those matters. All seven board members shall be appointed by the governor, two each residing respectively in the central Puget Sound, eastern Washington, and western Washington regions, plus one board member residing within the state of Washington. At least three members of the board shall be admitted to practice law in this state and be engaged in the legal profession with a focus on land use at the time of his or her appointment, one each residing respectively in the central Puget Sound, eastern Washington, and western Washington regions. At least three members of the board shall have been a city or county elected official, one each residing respectively in the central Puget Sound, eastern Washington, and western Washington regions. After expiration of the terms of board members on the previously existing three growth management hearings boards, no more than four members of the seven-member board may be members of the same major political party. No more than two members at the time of their appointment or during their term may reside in the same county.
     (2) Each member of the board shall be appointed for a term of six years. A vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the governor for the unexpired portion of the term in which the vacancy occurs. Members of the previously existing three growth management hearings boards appointed before July 1, 2010, shall complete their staggered, six-year terms as members of the growth management hearings board created under subsection (1) of this section. The reduction from nine board members on the previously existing three growth management hearings boards to seven total members on the growth management hearings board shall be made through attrition, voluntary resignation, or retirement.