Title 53 — Title 53 PORT DISTRICTS

(1) Port districts are hereby authorized to be established in the various counties of the state for the purposes of acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation, development and regulation within the district of harbor improvements, rail or motor vehicle transfer and termina…

In areas which lack appropriate bodies of water so that harbor improvements cannot be established, port districts are hereby authorized to be established under the laws of the state, for the purposes for which port districts may be established under RCW 53.04.010, and such port d…

RCW 53.04.015 shall not be construed to repeal, amend or modify any law heretofore enacted providing a method of harbor improvement, regulation or control; acquisition, maintenance and operation of municipal airports; or industrial development; but shall be held to be an addition…

All elections with respect to any such port districts authorized by RCW 53.04.015 and 53.04.016 shall be held, conducted and the results canvassed in the same manner and at the same time as now or hereafter provided by law for other port districts.[ 1959 c 94 s 3.]

At any general election or at any special election which may be called for that purpose, the county legislative authority of any county in this state may, or on petition of ten percent of the registered voters of such county based on the total vote cast in the last general county…

A less than countywide port district with an assessed valuation of at least one hundred fifty million dollars may be created: (1) In a county that already has a less than countywide port district located within its boundaries; or (2) under the provisions of *RCW 53.04.025. Except…

Three commissioner districts, each with approximately the same population, shall be described in the petition proposing the creation of a port district under RCW 53.04.020, if the process to create the port district was initiated by voter petition, or shall be described by the co…

Within five days after an election held under the provisions of RCW 53.04.020, the board of county commissioners shall canvass the returns, and if at such election a majority of the voters voting upon the proposition shall vote in favor of the formation of the district, the board…

All expenses of elections for the formation of such port districts shall be paid by the county holding such election, and such expenditure is hereby declared to be for a county purpose, and the money paid out for such purpose shall be repaid to such county by the port district, i…

At any general election or at any special election which may be called for that purpose the county legislative authority of any county in this state in which there exists a port district which is not coextensive with the limits of the county, shall on petition of the commissioner…

If an area, not currently part of an existing port district desires to be annexed to a port district in the same county, upon receipt of a petition bearing the names of ten percent of the registered voters residing within the proposed boundaries of the area desiring to be annexed…

If a majority of all the votes cast at any such election upon the proposition of enlarging such port district shall be for the "Enlargement of the port of . . . . . ., yes" then and in that event the board of county commissioners shall enter an order declaring such port district …

Any port district now existing or which may hereafter be organized under the laws of the state of Washington is hereby authorized to change its corporate name under the following conditions and in the following manner:(1) On presentation of a petition to the commissioners of any …

Property may be acquired and owned by any port district, at least one boundary of which property is contiguous to or within one-quarter air mile of such port district and is also located in an adjacent port district, and such property may be transferred to the owning port distric…

A port district that is less than countywide, and that is located in a county with a population of less than ninety thousand and located in either the Interstate 5 or Interstate 90 corridor, may petition for annexation of an area that is contiguous to its boundaries, is not locat…

If a petition meeting the requirements set forth in RCW 53.04.150 is filed with the commission, the commission shall determine a date, time, and location for a hearing on the petition and shall provide public notice of that hearing and its nature by publishing the notice in one i…

At the hearing, the commission may determine to annex all or any portion of the proposed area described in the petition. Following the hearing, the commission shall by resolution approve or disapprove annexation. Upon passage of the resolution, the commission shall file, with the…

(1) By a majority vote of the commission, and with the written consent of all the owners of the property to be annexed, a port commission of a district that is less than countywide, and that is located in a county with a population of less than ninety thousand and located in eith…

No property within the territory annexed under RCW 53.04.150 through 53.04.180 may be taxed or assessed for the payment of any outstanding indebtedness of the port district as it existed before the annexation unless another law requires the tax or assessment.[ 1999 c 250 s 6.]

The necessity and desirability of coordinating the administration programs and operations of all the port districts in this state is recognized and declared as a matter of legislative determination.[ 1961 c 31 s 1.]

It shall be the duty of the port district commissions in the state to take such action to effect the coordination of the administrative programs and operations of each port district in the state and to submit to the governor and the legislature biennially a joint report or joint …

The port district commissions in this state are empowered to designate the Washington public ports association as a coordinating agency through which the duties imposed by RCW 53.06.020 may be performed, harmonized or correlated. The purposes of the Washington public ports associ…

Each port district which designates the Washington public ports association as the agency through which the duties imposed by RCW 53.06.020 may be executed is authorized to pay dues and/or assessments to said association from port district funds in any calendar year.[ 2010 c 198 …

The port district commissions are authorized to take such further action as they deem necessary to comply with the intent of this chapter, including the attendance at state and district meetings which may be required to formulate the reports provided for in RCW 53.06.020.[ 1961 c…

The financial records of the Washington public ports association shall be subject to audit by the state auditor. The financial records of any nonprofit corporation utilized by port districts shall be subject to audit by the state auditor to determine compliance with the contractu…

The Washington public ports association is authorized to create a federation of Washington ports to enable member ports to strengthen their international trading capabilities and market the region's products worldwide. Such a federation shall maintain the authority of individual …

Port districts are authorized to utilize the services of a nonprofit corporation for the purposes of providing training, education, and general improvement to the public sector management skills necessary to implement the economic development programs of port districts. Actions t…

In carrying out the purposes described in this and other chapters of this title, the legislature recognizes that any nonprofit corporation created or re-created for the purposes of this chapter, is a private nonprofit corporation contracting to provide services to which port dist…

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Commission" means the Washington utilities and transportation commission.(2) "Retail telecommunications services" means the sale, lease, license, or indivisible right …

A port district may acquire by purchase, for cash or on deferred payments for a period not exceeding twenty years, or by condemnation, or both, all lands, property, property rights, leases, or easements necessary for its purposes and may exercise the right of eminent domain in th…

A port district may construct, condemn, purchase, acquire, add to, maintain, conduct, and operate sea walls, jetties, piers, wharves, docks, boat landings, and other harbor improvements, warehouses, storehouses, elevators, grain-bins, cold storage plants, terminal icing plants, b…

A district may apply to the United States for permission to establish, operate, and maintain foreign trade zones: (1) Within the district; and (2) on property adjacent to but outside the district if the property is beyond the boundaries of any existing foreign trade zone grantee …

(1) A district may improve its lands by dredging, filling, bulkheading, providing waterways or otherwise developing such lands for industrial and commercial purposes. A district may also acquire, construct, install, improve, and operate sewer and water utilities to serve its own …

All actions heretofore taken by port districts in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, and the provisions of chapter 6, Laws of 1975 hereby made applicable thereto, relating to pollution control facilities or other industrial development, including, but not limited to,…

A port district may exercise all the powers relating to systems of sewerage authorized by RCW 35.67.010 and 35.67.020 for cities and towns.[ 1997 c 447 s 15.]Notes:Finding—Purpose—1997 c 447: See note following RCW 70.05.074.

Facilities constructed by a port district under authority of this chapter will be subject to taxation of leasehold interest pursuant to applicable laws as now or hereafter enacted.[ 1972 ex.s. c 54 s 3.]Notes:Severability—1972 ex.s. c 54: See note following RCW 53.08.040.

Neither this chapter nor anything herein contained shall be construed as a restriction or limitation upon any powers which a district might otherwise have under any laws of this state, but shall be construed as cumulative.[ 1972 ex.s. c 54 s 4.]Notes:Severability—1972 ex.s. c 54:…

In addition to other authority that a port district possesses, a port district may provide any public improvement as defined under RCW 39.89.020, but this additional authority is limited to participating in the financing of the public improvements as provided under RCW 39.89.050.…

(1) A district may establish local improvement districts within the district, and levy special assessments, in annual installments extending over a period not exceeding ten years on all property specially benefited by the local improvement, on the basis of special benefits, to pa…

Any notice given to the public or to the owners of specific lots, tracts, or parcels of land relating to the formation of a local improvement district shall contain a statement that actual assessments may vary from assessment estimates so long as they do not exceed a figure equal…

A district may improve navigable and nonnavigable waters of the United States and the state of Washington within the district; create and improve for harbor purposes new waterways within the district; and regulate and control all such waters and all natural or artificial waterway…

A district may fix, without right of appeal therefrom the rates of wharfage, dockage, warehousing, and port and terminal charges upon all improvements owned and operated by it, and the charges of ferries operated by it. It may fix, subject to state regulation, rates of wharfage, …

A district may lease all lands, wharves, docks and real and personal property owned and controlled by it, for such purposes and upon such terms as the port commission deems proper: PROVIDED, That no lease shall be for a period longer than fifty years with option for extensions fo…

Every lease of all lands, wharves, docks, and real and personal property of a port district for a term of more than one year shall have the rent secured by rental insurance, bond, or other security satisfactory to the port commission, in an amount equal to one-sixth the total ren…

(1) A port commission may, by resolution, authorize the managing official of a port district to sell and convey port district property having a value not exceeding the value limit in subsection (2) of this section. The authority must be in force for not more than one calendar yea…

Except in cases where the full purchase price is paid at the time of the purchase, every sale of real property or personal property under authority of RCW 53.08.090 or 53.25.110 shall be subject to the following terms and conditions:(1) The purchaser shall enter into a contract w…

A copy of all contract sales of port district property shall be filed with the county assessor within thirty days after the first payment is received by the port. The assessor shall place such property on the tax rolls of the county and the purchaser of such property shall become…

Port commissioners of any port district are hereby authorized to accept for and on behalf of said port district gifts of real and personal property and to expend in improvements and betterment such amount as may be necessary.[ 1921 c 39 s 4; RRS s 9705.]

(1) All material and work required by a port district not meeting the definition of public work in RCW 39.04.010 may be procured in the open market or by contract and all work ordered may be done by contract or day labor.(2)(a) All such contracts for work meeting the definition o…

The notice shall state generally the nature of the work to be done and require that bids be sealed and filed with the commission at a time specified therein. Each bid shall be accompanied by a bid proposal deposit in the form of a cashier's check, money order, or surety bid bond …