wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 2113 > Original Bill
A county or city that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 must submit the housing element required under RCW 36.70A.070(2) and any related development regulations to the department for a determination of housing element compliance. The housing element and any related development regulations do not take effect until the department issues a final decision determining that the housing element and any related development regulations comply with the laws and regulations identified in subsection (5) of this section.
Notice of intent to apply. (a) Not less than 120 days prior to applying for a determination of housing element compliance, the county or city must:
i. Notify the department in writing that it intends to apply; and
ii. Submit the proposed housing element and any related development regulations to the department.
The department shall promptly publish notice in the Washington State Register that a city or county has notified the department of its intent to apply for a determination of housing element compliance, and the department shall post a copy of the notice on the department's website.
The department shall review the proposed housing element and any related development regulations prior to final adoption by the county or city and advise the county or city of the actions necessary to receive a determination of compliance.
The department may consult with other relevant state agencies in making its determination.
Application procedures. (a) After taking final action to adopt a housing element and any related development regulations, a city or county must apply for a determination of compliance. A city or county must submit its application to the department within 10 days of taking final action.
An application must include, at a minimum, the following:
A cover letter from the legislative authority requesting a determination of housing element compliance;
A copy of the adopted ordinance or resolution taking the legislative action or actions required to adopt the housing element and any related development regulations;
A statement explaining how the adopted housing element and any related development regulations comply with the provisions of this chapter; and
A copy of the record developed by the city or county at any public meetings or public hearings at which action was taken on the housing element and any related development regulations.
For purposes of this subsection, the terms "action" and "meeting" have the same definitions as in RCW 42.30.020.
Review procedures. (a) Within 180 days of the date of receipt of an application, the department shall strive to issue a final decision determining whether the housing element and any related development regulations comply with the laws and regulations identified in subsection (5) of this section.
The department must issue its final decision in the form of a written statement, including findings of fact and conclusions, and noting the date of the issuance of its decision. The department's issued decision must conspicuously and plainly state that it is the department's final decision.
The department shall promptly publish its final decision as follows:
Notify the city or county in writing of its decision;
Publish a notice of action in the Washington State Register;
Post a notice of its decision on the agency website; and
Notify other relevant state agencies regarding the decision.
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The department shall issue a determination of housing element compliance unless it determines that the housing element or related development regulations, or both, are not consistent with any of the following:
The housing planning goal set forth in RCW 36.70A.020(4);
The housing element requirements set forth in RCW 36.70A.070(2);
Any rules adopted by the department applicable to the housing element; or
Chapter 43.21C RCW.
Within six months of the effective date of this section, the department shall publish a defined set of minimum objective standards that jurisdictions must meet in order to comply with this section.
The department's final decision may be appealed according to the following provisions:
The department's final decision may be appealed to the growth management hearings board by filing a petition as provided in RCW 36.70A.290.
A decision of the growth management hearings board concerning an appeal of the department's final decision must be based solely on whether the housing element and any related development regulations comply with the laws and regulations identified in subsection (5) of this section.
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The department shall publish and regularly update a local government housing element compliance list that includes, at minimum, the following information for each city or county that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040:
Whether the city or county has applied for a determination of housing element compliance and, if so, the date of the application; and
Whether the department has issued a final decision on housing element compliance for the city or county and, if so, the nature of the decision, the date that the decision was issued, and the status or outcome of any appeals.
The local government housing element compliance list must be made publicly available on the department's website.
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A city or county that is required or chooses to plan under RCW 36.70A.040 may not deny an affordable housing development, or approve an affordable housing development with conditions or restrictions that have a substantial adverse impact on the viability of the development or the degree of affordability of the development, unless at least one of the following conditions is met:
The city or county has received a final decision from the department determining that its housing element and any related development regulations comply with the laws and regulations identified in subsection (5) of this section by the deadlines in RCW 36.70A.130;
The city or county submits to the department an empirical study prepared by a public health and safety expert that clearly demonstrates, and the department finds and certifies, that the affordable housing development would have a significant, direct, and unavoidable adverse impact on public health and safety. The department must develop guidance to assist cities and counties on items to include in the study;
The denial of the affordable housing development, or the approval of the affordable housing development with conditions or restrictions that have a substantial adverse impact on the viability of the development or the degree of affordability of the development, is required in order to comply with specific state or federal law;
The affordable housing development or proposed development site is located outside an urban growth area, in a critical area, critical area buffer, or in an area where residential uses are not allowed by the applicable shoreline master program; or
The affordable housing development or proposed development site is located in an area where neither the local jurisdiction's comprehensive plan nor zoning ordinance permits residential or mixed uses.
For the purposes of this subsection, "affordable housing development" means a residential housing development where:
At least 20 percent of the units are for rental housing with monthly costs that do not exceed 30 percent of the monthly income of a household whose income is at 60 percent of the median household income adjusted for household size, for the county where the household is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development;
At least 20 percent of the units are for owner-occupied housing with monthly costs that do not exceed 30 percent of the monthly income of a household whose income is at 80 percent of the median household income adjusted for household size, for the county where the household is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development;
All of the units are for rental housing with monthly costs that do not exceed 30 percent of the monthly income of a household whose income is at 100 percent of the median household income adjusted for household size, for the county where the household is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development; or
All of the units are for owner-occupied housing with monthly costs that do not exceed 30 percent of the monthly income of a household whose income is at 120 percent of the median household income adjusted for household size, for the county where the household is located, as reported by the United States department of housing and urban development.
The department may adopt any rules necessary to implement this section.
(1) The growth management hearings board shall hear and determine only those petitions alleging either:
All requests for review to the growth management hearings board shall be initiated by filing a petition that includes a detailed statement of issues presented for resolution by the board. The board shall render written decisions articulating the basis for its holdings. The board shall not issue advisory opinions on issues not presented to the board in the statement of issues, as modified by any prehearing order.
All petitions relating to whether or not an adopted comprehensive plan, development regulation, or permanent amendment thereto, is in compliance with the goals and requirements of this chapter or chapter 90.58 or 43.21C RCW must be filed within sixty days after publication as provided in (a) through (d) of this subsection.
Except as provided in (c) and (d) of this subsection, the date of publication for a city shall be the date the city publishes the ordinance, or summary of the ordinance, adopting the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto, as is required to be published.
Promptly after adoption, a county shall publish a notice that it has adopted the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto.
Except as provided in (c) and (d) of this subsection, for purposes of this section the date of publication for a county shall be the date the county publishes the notice that it has adopted the comprehensive plan or development regulations, or amendment thereto.
c. For local governments planning under RCW 36.70A.040, promptly after approval or disapproval of a local government's shoreline master program or amendment thereto by the department of ecology as provided in RCW 90.58.090, the department of ecology shall publish a notice that the shoreline master program or amendment thereto has been approved or disapproved. For purposes of this section, the date of publication for the adoption or amendment of a shoreline master program is the date the department of ecology publishes notice that the shoreline master program or amendment thereto has been approved or disapproved.
d. For purposes of this section, the date of publication for a housing element and any related development regulations subject to the approval requirements in section 1 of this act is the date the department publishes its final decision determining housing element compliance in the Washington State Register.
All petitions relating to whether the department's final decision under section 1 of this act is clearly erroneous must be filed within 60 days after the department publishes its final decision on housing element compliance in the Washington State Register.
Unless the board dismisses the petition as frivolous or finds that the person filing the petition lacks standing, or the parties have filed an agreement to have the case heard in superior court as provided in RCW 36.70A.295, the board shall, within ten days of receipt of the petition, set a time for hearing the matter.
The board shall base its decision on the record developed by the city, county, or the state and supplemented with additional evidence if the board determines that such additional evidence would be necessary or of substantial assistance to the board in reaching its decision.
The board, shall consolidate, when appropriate, all petitions involving the review of the same comprehensive plan or the same development regulation or regulations.
Except as provided in subsections (5) through (7) of this section, comprehensive plans and development regulations, and amendments thereto, adopted under this chapter are presumed valid upon adoption.
Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, the burden is on the petitioner to demonstrate that any action taken by a state agency, county, or city under this chapter is not in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
In any petition under this chapter, the board, after full consideration of the petition, shall determine whether there is compliance with the requirements of this chapter. In making its determination, the board shall consider the criteria adopted by the department under RCW 36.70A.190(4). The board shall find compliance unless it determines that the action by the state agency, county, or city is clearly erroneous in view of the entire record before the board and in light of the goals and requirements of this chapter.
A county or city subject to a determination of invalidity made under RCW 36.70A.300 or 36.70A.302 has the burden of demonstrating that the ordinance or resolution it has enacted in response to the determination of invalidity will no longer substantially interfere with the fulfillment of the goals of this chapter under the standard in RCW 36.70A.302(1).
The shoreline element of a comprehensive plan and the applicable development regulations adopted by a county or city shall take effect as provided in chapter 90.58 RCW.
The greenhouse gas emissions reduction subelement required by RCW 36.70A.070 shall take effect as provided in RCW 36.70A.096.
The housing element required by RCW 36.70A.070(2) and any related development regulations take effect as provided in section 1(1) of this act.
(1)(a) Each comprehensive land use plan and development regulations shall be subject to continuing review and evaluation by the county or city that adopted them. Except as otherwise provided, a county or city shall take legislative action to review and, if needed, revise its comprehensive land use plan and development regulations to ensure the plan and regulations comply with the requirements of this chapter according to the deadlines in subsections (4) and (5) of this section.
(1) Adoption of ordinances, development regulations and amendments to such regulations, and other nonproject actions taken by a city to implement: The actions specified in section 2, chapter 246, Laws of 2022 unless the adoption of such ordinances, development regulations and amendments to such regulations, or other nonproject actions has a probable significant adverse impact on fish habitat; and the increased residential building capacity actions identified in RCW 36.70A.600(1), with the exception of the action specified in RCW 36.70A.600(1)(f), are not subject to administrative or judicial appeals under this chapter.
This act may be known and cited as the housing accountability act.