CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1110
Chapter 332, Laws of 2023
68th Legislature
2023 Regular Session
GROWTH MANAGEMENT ACT—MINIMUM DEVELOPMENT DENSITIES IN RESIDENTIAL
ZONES
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 23, 2023
Passed by the House April 18, 2023 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 79 Nays 18
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
LAURIE JINKINS State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of certify that the attached is
Representatives ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE
BILL 1110 as passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate April 11, 2023
Yeas 35 Nays 14
BERNARD DEAN
DENNY HECK Chief Clerk
President of the Senate
Approved May 8, 2023 1:11 PM FILED
May 10, 2023
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1110
AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed Legislature - 2023 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Bateman, Barkis, Reed, Taylor, Riccelli, Berry, Fitzgibbon, Peterson,
Duerr, Lekanoff, Alvarado, Street, Ryu, Ramel, Cortes, Doglio, Macri,
Mena, Gregerson, Thai, Bergquist, Farivar, Wylie, Stonier, Pollet,
Santos, Fosse, and Ormsby)
READ FIRST TIME 02/24/23.
1 AN ACT Relating to creating more homes for Washington by
2 increasing middle housing in areas traditionally dedicated to single-
3 family detached housing; amending RCW 36.70A.030, 36.70A.280,
4 43.21C.495, and 43.21C.450; adding new sections to chapter 36.70A
5 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 64.34 RCW; adding a new section
6 to chapter 64.32 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 64.38 RCW;
7 adding a new section to chapter 64.90 RCW; and creating new sections.
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
9 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington is
10 facing an unprecedented housing crisis for its current population and
11 a lack of housing choices, and is not likely to meet the
12 affordability goals for future populations. In order to meet the goal
13 of 1,000,000 new homes by 2044, and enhanced quality of life and
14 environmental protection, innovative housing policies will need to be
15 adopted.
16 Increasing housing options that are more affordable to various
17 income levels is critical to achieving the state's housing goals,
18 including those codified by the legislature under chapter 254, Laws
19 of 2021.
20 There is continued need for the development of housing at all
21 income levels, including middle housing that will provide a wider
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 1 variety of housing options and configurations to allow Washingtonians
2 to live near where they work.
3 Homes developed at higher densities are more affordable by design
4 for Washington residents both in their construction and reduced
5 household energy and transportation costs.
6 While creating more housing options, it is essential for cities
7 to identify areas at higher risk of displacement and establish
8 antidisplacement policies as required in Engrossed Second Substitute
9 House Bill No. 1220 (chapter 254, Laws of 2021).
10 The state has made historic investments in subsidized affordable
11 housing through the housing trust fund, yet even with these historic
12 investments, the magnitude of the housing shortage requires both
13 public and private investment.
14 In addition to addressing the housing shortage, allowing more
15 housing options in areas already served by urban infrastructure will
16 reduce the pressure to develop natural and working lands, support key
17 strategies for climate change, food security, and Puget Sound
18 recovery, and save taxpayers and ratepayers money.
19 Sec. 2. RCW 36.70A.030 and 2021 c 254 s 6 are each amended to
20 read as follows:
21 Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
22 this section apply throughout this chapter.
23 (1) "Administrative design review" means a development permit
24 process whereby an application is reviewed, approved, or denied by
25 the planning director or the planning director's designee based
26 solely on objective design and development standards without a public
27 predecision hearing, unless such review is otherwise required by
28 state or federal law, or the structure is a designated landmark or
29 historic district established under a local preservation ordinance. A
30 city may utilize public meetings, hearings, or voluntary review
31 boards to consider, recommend, or approve requests for variances from
32 locally established design review standards.
33 (2) "Adopt a comprehensive land use plan" means to enact a new
34 comprehensive land use plan or to update an existing comprehensive
35 land use plan.
36 (((2))) (3) "Affordable housing" means, unless the context
37 clearly indicates otherwise, residential housing whose monthly costs,
38 including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed thirty
39 percent of the monthly income of a household whose income is:
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 1 (a) For rental housing, sixty percent of the median household
2 income adjusted for household size, for the county where the
3 household is located, as reported by the United States department of
4 housing and urban development; or
5 (b) For owner-occupied housing, eighty percent of the median
6 household income adjusted for household size, for the county where
7 the household is located, as reported by the United States department
8 of housing and urban development.
9 (((3))) (4) "Agricultural land" means land primarily devoted to
10 the commercial production of horticultural, viticultural,
11 floricultural, dairy, apiary, vegetable, or animal products or of
12 berries, grain, hay, straw, turf, seed, Christmas trees not subject
13 to the excise tax imposed by RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, finfish
14 in upland hatcheries, or livestock, and that has long-term commercial
15 significance for agricultural production.
16 (((4))) (5) "City" means any city or town, including a code city.
17 (((5))) (6) "Comprehensive land use plan," "comprehensive plan,"
18 or "plan" means a generalized coordinated land use policy statement
19 of the governing body of a county or city that is adopted pursuant to
20 this chapter.
21 (((6))) (7) "Cottage housing" means residential units on a lot
22 with a common open space that either: (a) Is owned in common; or (b)
23 has units owned as condominium units with property owned in common
24 and a minimum of 20 percent of the lot size as open space.
25 (8) "Courtyard apartments" means up to four attached dwelling
26 units arranged on two or three sides of a yard or court.
27 (9) "Critical areas" include the following areas and ecosystems:
28 (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers
29 used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation
30 areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous
31 areas. "Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas" does not
32 include such artificial features or constructs as irrigation delivery
33 systems, irrigation infrastructure, irrigation canals, or drainage
34 ditches that lie within the boundaries of and are maintained by a
35 port district or an irrigation district or company.
36 (((7))) (10) "Department" means the department of commerce.
37 (((8))) (11) "Development regulations" or "regulation" means the
38 controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or
39 city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, critical
40 areas ordinances, shoreline master programs, official controls,
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 1 planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and
2 binding site plan ordinances together with any amendments thereto. A
3 development regulation does not include a decision to approve a
4 project permit application, as defined in RCW 36.70B.020, even though
5 the decision may be expressed in a resolution or ordinance of the
6 legislative body of the county or city.
7 (((9))) (12) "Emergency housing" means temporary indoor
8 accommodations for individuals or families who are homeless or at
9 imminent risk of becoming homeless that is intended to address the
10 basic health, food, clothing, and personal hygiene needs of
11 individuals or families. Emergency housing may or may not require
12 occupants to enter into a lease or an occupancy agreement.
13 (((10))) (13) "Emergency shelter" means a facility that provides
14 a temporary shelter for individuals or families who are currently
15 homeless. Emergency shelter may not require occupants to enter into a
16 lease or an occupancy agreement. Emergency shelter facilities may
17 include day and warming centers that do not provide overnight
18 accommodations.
19 (((11))) (14) "Extremely low-income household" means a single
20 person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted
21 income is at or below thirty percent of the median household income
22 adjusted for household size, for the county where the household is
23 located, as reported by the United States department of housing and
24 urban development.
25 (((12))) (15) "Forestland" means land primarily devoted to
26 growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that
27 can be economically and practically managed for such production,
28 including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW
29 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, and that has long-term commercial
30 significance. In determining whether forestland is primarily devoted
31 to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land
32 that can be economically and practically managed for such production,
33 the following factors shall be considered: (a) The proximity of the
34 land to urban, suburban, and rural settlements; (b) surrounding
35 parcel size and the compatibility and intensity of adjacent and
36 nearby land uses; (c) long-term local economic conditions that affect
37 the ability to manage for timber production; and (d) the availability
38 of public facilities and services conducive to conversion of
39 forestland to other uses.
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 1 (((13))) (16) "Freight rail dependent uses" means buildings and
2 other infrastructure that are used in the fabrication, processing,
3 storage, and transport of goods where the use is dependent on and
4 makes use of an adjacent short line railroad. Such facilities are
5 both urban and rural development for purposes of this chapter.
6 "Freight rail dependent uses" does not include buildings and other
7 infrastructure that are used in the fabrication, processing, storage,
8 and transport of coal, liquefied natural gas, or "crude oil" as
9 defined in RCW 90.56.010.
10 (((14))) (17) "Geologically hazardous areas" means areas that
11 because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or
12 other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial,
13 residential, or industrial development consistent with public health
14 or safety concerns.
15 (((15))) (18) "Long-term commercial significance" includes the
16 growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for
17 long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land's
18 proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense
19 uses of the land.
20 (((16))) (19) "Low-income household" means a single person,
21 family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is
22 at or below eighty percent of the median household income adjusted
23 for household size, for the county where the household is located, as
24 reported by the United States department of housing and urban
25 development.
26 (((17))) (20) "Major transit stop" means:
27 (a) A stop on a high capacity transportation system funded or
28 expanded under the provisions of chapter 81.104 RCW;
29 (b) Commuter rail stops;
30 (c) Stops on rail or fixed guideway systems; or
31 (d) Stops on bus rapid transit routes.
32 (21) "Middle housing" means buildings that are compatible in
33 scale, form, and character with single-family houses and contain two
34 or more attached, stacked, or clustered homes including duplexes,
35 triplexes, fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, townhouses, stacked
36 flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage housing.
37 (22) "Minerals" include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic
38 substances.
39 (((18))) (23) "Moderate-income household" means a single person,
40 family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is
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 1 at or below 120 percent of the median household income adjusted for
2 household size, for the county where the household is located, as
3 reported by the United States department of housing and urban
4 development.
5 (((19))) (24) "Permanent supportive housing" is subsidized,
6 leased housing with no limit on length of stay that prioritizes
7 people who need comprehensive support services to retain tenancy and
8 utilizes admissions practices designed to use lower barriers to entry
9 than would be typical for other subsidized or unsubsidized rental
10 housing, especially related to rental history, criminal history, and
11 personal behaviors. Permanent supportive housing is paired with on-
12 site or off-site voluntary services designed to support a person
13 living with a complex and disabling behavioral health or physical
14 health condition who was experiencing homelessness or was at imminent
15 risk of homelessness prior to moving into housing to retain their
16 housing and be a successful tenant in a housing arrangement, improve
17 the resident's health status, and connect the resident of the housing
18 with community-based health care, treatment, or employment services.
19 Permanent supportive housing is subject to all of the rights and
20 responsibilities defined in chapter 59.18 RCW.
21 (((20))) (25) "Public facilities" include streets, roads,
22 highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic
23 signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems,
24 parks and recreational facilities, and schools.
25 (((21))) (26) "Public services" include fire protection and
26 suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation,
27 environmental protection, and other governmental services.
28 (((22))) (27) "Recreational land" means land so designated under
29 RCW 36.70A.1701 and that, immediately prior to this designation, was
30 designated as agricultural land of long-term commercial significance
31 under RCW 36.70A.170. Recreational land must have playing fields and
32 supporting facilities existing before July 1, 2004, for sports played
33 on grass playing fields.
34 (((23))) (28) "Rural character" refers to the patterns of land
35 use and development established by a county in the rural element of
36 its comprehensive plan:
37 (a) In which open space, the natural landscape, and vegetation
38 predominate over the built environment;
39 (b) That foster traditional rural lifestyles, rural-based
40 economies, and opportunities to both live and work in rural areas;
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 1 (c) That provide visual landscapes that are traditionally found
2 in rural areas and communities;
3 (d) That are compatible with the use of the land by wildlife and
4 for fish and wildlife habitat;
5 (e) That reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land
6 into sprawling, low-density development;
7 (f) That generally do not require the extension of urban
8 governmental services; and
9 (g) That are consistent with the protection of natural surface
10 water flows and groundwater and surface water recharge and discharge
11 areas.
12 (((24))) (29) "Rural development" refers to development outside
13 the urban growth area and outside agricultural, forest, and mineral
14 resource lands designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.170. Rural
15 development can consist of a variety of uses and residential
16 densities, including clustered residential development, at levels
17 that are consistent with the preservation of rural character and the
18 requirements of the rural element. Rural development does not refer
19 to agriculture or forestry activities that may be conducted in rural
20 areas.
21 (((25))) (30) "Rural governmental service