By Charlotte Persons
At the time of writing this article, three bills with a lot of local interest have passed both houses of the legislature and have been sent to the governor for his signature. To see the final versions of these bills, go to https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ and enter the bill number.
Mega Airport – Bill 1791 does away with the Commercial Aviation Coordination Council (CACC) that chose Thurston County last year as one of three possible sites for a mega airport. Instead, a new state commercial aviation work group will study airport capacity and report progress to the legislature and governor annually. The first report, by July 1, 2024, “shall include a list 7 of areas that will not have a further review as the areas are in conflict with the operations of a military installation.” All expectations are that Pierce and Thurston County will be included in those excluded areas due to their proximity to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, so none of the three sites chosen by the CACC will still be considered.
Local Planning – Bill 1181 adds many long-called-for requirements to counties’ and cities’ planning elements, including comprehensive plans. Some changes are:1) address environmental justice and fund outreach to overburdened communities; 2) mitigate and adapt to climate change AND measure and reduce greenhouse gases; 3) create multimodal transportation standards for local roads; 4) include active transportation (in other words, hiking and bicycles!); 5) enhance (not just conserve) fish and wildlife habitat; and 6) plan for sea level rise, landslides, wildfires, and other natural hazards aggravated by climate change. The Department of Commerce will help cities and counties in creating new parts of their plans by providing guidelines and model sections.
Middle Housing – Going beyond recent legislation, Bill 1110 adds requirements for cities to further increase the number of housing units permitted in single-family housing areas. For example, in cities that plan under the Growth Management Act and have populations between 25,000 and 75,000, two units of housing must be permitted on all single-family parcels and four units on all single-family parcels within .5 miles of a major transit route (bus route). The bill also further reduces parking requirements for new housing of all kinds.
Photo credit: Wood Ducks by Franklin Abbott, Audubon Photo Awards
