Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to adoption and ratification of the 2021 King County Countywide Planning Policies.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. On October 29, 2020, the Puget Sound Regional Council General Assembly adopted VISION 2050 and the Multicounty Planning Policies.
B. The Multicounty Planning Policies call for the Countywide Planning Policies to be updated, where necessary, before December 31, 2021.
C. On June 23, 2021, the Growth Management Planning Council approved Motion 21-1 recommending the 2021 King County Countywide Planning Policies to the King County council.
D. Technical changes made by the King County council streamline and strengthen the 2021 King County Countywide Planning Policies.
E. Workplan items relating to the Affordable Housing Committee and Growth Management Planning Council review of the four-to-one program implement VISION 2050 and the Countywide Planning Policies.
F. Changes to city of Sammamish growth targets reflect updated conditions that impact capacity in the jurisdiction.
SECTION 2. The 2021 King County Countywide Planning Policies, Attachment A to this ordinance, is hereby adopted by King County and ratified on behalf of the population of unincorporated King County.
SECTION 3.
A. Growth Management Planning Council Motion 21-1 included a workplan item for the Affordable Housing Committee of the Growth Management Planning Council. The County shall submit to the Affordable Housing Committee the following workplan items for review, consideration, and recommendation:
1. Monitor and report jurisdictional housing supply, housing affordability, housing needs and income-restricted housing levels, including disparities between subregions and comparisons to established subregional or jurisdictional affordable housing needs, through the Regional Affordable Housing dashboard and reporting;
2. Establish subregional or jurisdictional affordable housing needs, informed by local data and the data and methodology provided by the Washington state Department of Commerce;
3. Recommend to the Growth Management Planning Council an accountability and implementation framework for equitably meeting affordable housing needs across the region. The Affordable Housing Committee will consider, at a minimum, the range of development patterns chapter and housing chapter amendments proposed by Growth Management Planning Council members in June 2021 regarding understanding and accommodating housing need, holding jurisdictions accountable and allocating resources; and
4. Recommend to the Growth Management Planning Council any Countywide Planning Policy amendments necessary to implement their recommendations.
B. Complete its housing needs work by the end of 2022 and submit a staff report to the Growth Management Planning Council quarterly in 2022 to provide an update the on its progress.
SECTION 4.
A. The county's four-to-one program has been effective in implementing Growth Management Act goals to reduce sprawl and encourage retention of open space. There have been previous efforts to update the four-to-one program as part of the 2020 King County Comprehensive Plan update and 2021 Countywide Planning Policies update. There is a need to comprehensively review the Countywide Planning Policies ("the CPPs"), King County Comprehensive Plan ("KCCP") and King County Code ("KCC") to ensure the three documents are consistent and reflect countywide growth management goals, including collaboration with cities affected by the program.
B. The executive shall review the four-to-one program as follows:
1. Analyze all projects approved under the four-to-one program and evaluate the performance of those projects against the program's goals of reducing sprawl and preserving open space;
2. Consider the following potential amendments to the four-to-one program. The review shall also include proposed procedural improvements to make it clearer how four-to-one program projects are applied for, reviewed, approved and monitored after approval. The potential amendments to be considered include, but are not limited to:
a. whether the four-to-one program should require projects be contiguous with the 1994 urban growth area boundary, later adopted boundaries through subsequent joint planning processes between the county and cities, or some combination thereof;
b. whether the four-to-one program should allow reduced open space dedication if a proposal contains lands with high ecological value, such as lands that could provide for high-value floodplain restoration, riparian habitat or working resource lands;
c. whether the four-to-one program should allow for noncontiguous open space preservation;
d. whether the four-to-one program should allow facilities, such as roads or stormwater, that serve the new urban area to be located in the Rural Area;
e. whether the four-to-one program should allow nonresidential and multifamily residential projects; and
f. whether the four-to-one program should allow projects that are not likely to be annexed in a timely manner;
3. Develop and recommend to the county council changes to the CPPs, KCCP and KCC, in consultation with the IJT and based on Growth Management Planning Council review identified in subsection B.4 of this section; and
4. Submit to the Growth Management Planning Council in 2022 the following items for review, consideration and recommendation:
a. previously adopted goals and criteria of the four-to-one program;
b. findings of the analyses in subsection B.1. and 2. of this section; and
c. potential changes to the CPPs, KCCP and KCC necessary to implement improvements to the four-to-one program.
C. Executive staff shall regularly update and consult with the offices of the councilmembers representing the county on the GMPC, the chair and vice-chair of the local services committee, or its successor, and the chair and vice-chair of the mobility and environment committee, or its successor, throughout the process.
D. The executive recommended CPPs, KCCP and KCC changes and a GMPC motion that makes recommendations on the four-to-one program shall be completed no later than January 1, 2023, shall be included in the public review draft and State Environmental Policy Act environmental impact statement for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update, and shall be transmitted to the council as part of the 2024 Comprehensive Plan update.
SECTION 5. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to
any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance or the application of the provision to persons or circumstances is not affected.