Washington Administrative Code

(1) Each county or city comprehensive plan must be coordinated with, and consistent with, the comprehensive plans of other counties and cities that share common borders or related regional issues with that county or city. Determining consistency in this interjurisdictional contex…

(1) Each county and city planning under the act should circulate its proposed comprehensive plan to other counties and cities with which it shares a common border or has related regional issues. The proposed comprehensive plan should be accompanied by the relevant environmental d…

(1) RCW 36.70A.103 requires that state agencies comply with the local comprehensive plans and development regulations, and subsequent amendments, adopted pursuant to the act. An exception to this requirement exists for the state's authority to site and operate a special commitmen…

(1) Regional agencies and special purpose districts possess statutorily defined powers which include:(a) Planning;(b) Development;(c) Regulatory;(d) Facility management; and(e) Taxing functions.(2) Such entities include:(a) Regional air pollution control authorities;(b) Metropoli…

(1) Determining what facilities are essential public facilities.(a) The term "essential public facilities" refers to public facilities that are typically difficult to site. Consistent with countywide planning policies, counties and cities should create their own lists of "essenti…

(1) Comprehensive plans and development regulations adopted under the act should accommodate situations where the state has explicitly preempted all local land use regulations, as for example, in the siting of major energy facilities under RCW 80.50.110.(2) Where special statutes…

Requirements.(1) Secure community transition facilities are essential public facilities.(2) Counties and cities must either establish an essential public facility siting process, or amend their existing process to allow for the siting of secure community transition facilities, or…

(1) For shorelines of the state, the goals and policies of the Shoreline Management Act as set forth under RCW 90.58.020 are added as one of the goals of this chapter as set forth under RCW 36.70A.020 without creating an order of priority among the 15 goals. The goals and policie…

(1) This section defines the procedures used by the department to track and report the status of a county or city with completion of the review and revision requirement under RCW 36.70A.130, and to track any compliance orders issued by the growth management hearings board, or boa…

(l) Requirements.(a) Each county and city planning under the act must establish procedures for early and continuous public participation in the development and amendment of comprehensive plans and development regulations, including the participation of vulnerable populations and …

(1) Requirements.(a) Counties and cities must periodically take legislative action to review and, if needed, revise their comprehensive plans and development regulations to ensure the plan and regulations comply with the requirements of the act. This review and revision, required…

(1) Adoption of comprehensive plans and development regulations are "actions" as defined under State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). Counties and cities must comply with SEPA when adopting new or amended comprehensive plans and development regulations.(2) Integration of SEPA rev…

(1) State notification and comment.(a) The act requires each county or city proposing adoption of an original comprehensive plan or development regulation, or amendment, under the act, to notify the department of its intent at least 60 days prior to final adoption pursuant to RCW…

(1) Each county or city should provide for an ongoing process to ensure:(a) The comprehensive plan is internally consistent and consistent with the comprehensive plans of adjacent counties and cities. See WAC 365-196-500 and 365-196-510; and(b) The development regulations are con…

Each county or city planning under the act should develop a strategy for implementing its comprehensive plan. The strategy should describe the regulatory and nonregulatory measures (including actions for acquiring and spending money) to be used to implement the comprehensive plan…

(1) New development regulations may be adopted as the need for supplementing the initial implementation strategy becomes apparent.(2) Counties and cities should institute an annual review of growth management implementation on a systematic basis. To aid in this process, counties …

(1) For counties and cities subject to its terms, the act mandates the development of comprehensive plans and development regulations that meet statutory goals and requirements. These comprehensive plans and development regulations will take their place among existing laws relati…

(1) Where the legislature has spoken expressly on the relationship of the act to other statutory provisions, the explicit legislative directions shall be carried out. Examples of such express provisions are set forth in WAC 365-196-745.(2) Absent a clear statement of legislative …

(1) In developing and amending comprehensive plans and implementing regulations, counties and cities planning under the act should identify other statutes and legal authorities affecting subjects addressed in their comprehensive plans and development regulations.(2) To aid in thi…

(1) County and city planners should take advantage of data and analyses prepared by other governmental agencies and use it to shape the form and content of comprehensive plans and development regulations under the act where relevant.(2) Other governmental agencies should also use…

(1) In seeking to identify other relevant legal authorities, planners should refer to sources at all levels of government, including federal and state constitutions, federal and state statutes, federal and state administrative regulations, and judicial interpretations thereof.(2)…

(1) Comprehensive plans and development regulations adopted under the act are subject to the supremacy principle of Article VI, United States Constitution and of Article XI, Section 11, Washington state Constitution.(2) Counties and cities planning under the act are required to u…

(1) Counties and cities drafting or amending comprehensive plans and development regulations under the act should consider the effects of federal authority over land or resource use within the planning area, including:(a) Treaties with Native Americans;(b) Jurisdiction on land ow…

(1) When developing and amending comprehensive plans and development regulations under the act, counties and cities should consider existing state and regional regulatory and planning provisions affecting land use, resource management, environmental protection, utilities, or publ…

Some of the authorities in WAC 365-196-730 and 365-196-735 require planning for particular purposes for areas related by physical features, such as watersheds, rather than by political boundaries. Moreover, the environmental and ecological systems addressed in resource management…

(1) The legislature expressly amended numerous statutes outside of chapter 36.70A RCW that relate to the act. These amendments define the relationship of such existing statutes to comprehensive plans and development regulations under the act. Examples include:(a) RCW 19.27.097 (s…

(1) Development regulations under the act are specific controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city. Development regulations must be consistent with and implement comprehensive plans adopted pursuant to the act."Implement" in this context has a more a…

(1) Except for interim regulations, required development regulations must be enacted either by the deadline for adoption of the comprehensive plan or within six months thereafter, if an extension is obtained. The possibility of a time gap between the adoption of a comprehensive p…

(1) When adopting any development regulation intended to carry out a comprehensive plan, the proposing county or city should review its terms to ensure it is consistent with and implements the comprehensive plan and make a finding in the adopting ordinance to that effect.(2) If a…

(1) Requirements.(a) Counties and cities planning under RCW 36.70A.040 must adopt development regulations that assure the conservation of designated agricultural, forest, and mineral lands of long-term commercial significance. If counties and cities designate agricultural or fore…

(1) Regulations for subdivision approvals and dedications, must require that the county or city make written findings that "appropriate provisions" have been made for the public health, safety, and general welfare, including open spaces, drainage ways, streets or roads, alleys, o…

(1) Each applicant for a building permit of a building needing potable water shall provide evidence of an adequate water supply for the intended use of the building. Local regulations should be designed to produce enough data to make such a determination, addressing both water qu…

(1) The act requires the designation of critical areas and the adoption of regulations for the protection of such areas by all counties and cities, including those that do not plan under RCW 36.70A.040. The department has adopted minimum guidelines in chapter 365-190 WAC detailin…

(1) Upon approval of a watershed work plan, counties participating in the voluntary stewardship program pursuant to RCW 36.70A.710 are encouraged to reference and describe their participation in the program within their critical areas development regulations. Counties should ensu…

(1) Any county or city required to plan under the act is authorized to require, after reasonable notice to the public and a public hearing, property owners to provide their portion of reasonable relocation assistance to low-income tenants displaced by certain changes to residenti…

(1) Purpose.(a) The purpose of concurrency is to assure that those public facilities and services necessary to support development are adequate to serve that development at the time it is available for occupancy and use, without decreasing service levels below locally established…

(1) Counties and cities planning under the act are required to adopt procedures for fair and timely review of project permits under RCW 36.70B.020(4), such as subdivisions, binding site plans, planned unit developments, conditional uses, site-specific rezones which do not require…

(1) Counties and cities are encouraged to adopt further project review provisions to provide prompt, coordinated, and objective review and ensure accountability to applicants and the public, including expedited review for project permit applications for projects that are consiste…

(1) Counties and cities are encouraged to adopt further project review and code provisions to provide prompt, coordinated review and ensure accountability to applicants and the public by:(a) Expediting review for project permit applications for projects that are consistent with a…

(1)(a) Counties subject to the requirements of RCW 36.70A.215 and the cities within those counties that have populations of at least 20,000 must, for each type of permit application:(i) Identify the total number of project permit applications for which decisions are issued accord…

(1) Design review is a local government process adopted by ordinance by which projects are reviewed for compliance with design standards for the type of use.(2) Design review process:(a) Must be conducted concurrently, or otherwise logically integrated, with the consolidated revi…

(1) Counties and cities planning under the act are authorized to impose impact fees on development activities as part of public facilities financing. However, the financing for system improvements to serve new development must provide a balance between impact fees and other sourc…

In the drafting of development regulations, counties and cities must use the attorney general's process of evaluation issued pursuant to RCW 36.70A.370, to assure that governmental actions do not result in an unconstitutional taking of private property. Procedures for avoiding ta…

(1) Counties and cities planning under the act may not enact or maintain an ordinance, development regulation, zoning regulation or official control, policy, or administrative practice which treats a residential structure occupied by persons with handicaps differently than a simi…

(1) Counties and cities may not prohibit the use of a residential dwelling as a family day-care provider's home facility that is located in an area zoned for residential or commercial land uses. However, counties and cities may regulate such use as a conditional use. Counties and…

(1) Summary of requirements: Counties, cities, and local government entities or agencies may not adopt, impose, or enforce requirements on an affordable housing development that are different than the requirements imposed on housing developments generally, consistent with RCW 36.…

(1) Background.(a) The act calls on counties and cities to plan for and accommodate housing affordable to all economic segments of the population. Addressing the need for affordable housing will require a broad variety of tools to address local needs. This section describes certa…

(1) Religious organizations may host unsheltered people on property the organizations own or control, whether within buildings located on the property, or outside of buildings on the property consistent with RCW 35A.21.360, 36.01.290, and 35.21.915.(a) Counties and cities may not…

(1) For counties and cities planning under RCW 36.70A.040, the minimum residential parking requirements of RCW 36.70A.620 and 36.70A.622 shall apply.(a) For the purposes of this subsection, the following definitions should apply:(i) "Seniors" means individuals 65 years or older.(…

(1) For the purposes of this section, the definitions established in RCW 36.70A.696 apply.(2) Requirements: Within urban growth areas, counties and cities:(a) Must allow at least two accessory dwelling units on all lots that allow for single-family homes in the following configur…