S-1281.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5190
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By Senate Housing (originally sponsored by Senators Trudeau,
Lovelett, Braun, Frame, Hasegawa, Hunt, Kuderer, Liias, Nguyen,
Nobles, Pedersen, Shewmake, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 02/09/23.
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, and
4 43.21C.495; adding new sections to chapter 36.70A RCW; adding a new
5 section to chapter 64.34 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 64.32
6 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 64.38 RCW; adding a new section
7 to chapter 64.90 RCW; and creating a new section.
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 shortage for its current population
11 and without significant action will not meet its goal of creating
12 1,000,000 homes by 2044.
13 Increasing housing options that are more affordable to various
14 income levels is critical to achieving the state's housing goals,
15 including those codified by the legislature under chapter 254, Laws
16 of 2021.
17 There is continued need for the development of housing at all
18 income levels, including middle housing that will provide a wider
19 variety of housing options and configurations to allow Washingtonians
20 to live near where they work.
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 1 To unlock opportunity for Washingtonians it is necessary to lift
2 bans on the development of modest home choices in cities near job
3 centers, transit, and amenity-rich neighborhoods.
4 Homes developed at higher densities and gentle density housing
5 types are more affordable by design for Washington residents both in
6 their construction and reduced household energy and transportation
7 costs.
8 While creating more housing options, it is essential for cities
9 to identify areas at higher risk of displacement and establish
10 antidisplacement policies as required in Engrossed Second Substitute
11 House Bill No. 1220 (chapter 254, Laws of 2021).
12 The state has made historic investments in subsidized affordable
13 housing through the housing trust fund, yet even with these historic
14 investments, the magnitude of the housing shortage requires both
15 public and private investment.
16 In addition to addressing the housing shortage, allowing more
17 housing options in areas already served by urban infrastructure will
18 reduce the pressure to develop natural and working lands, support key
19 strategies for climate change, food security, and Puget Sound
20 recovery, and save taxpayers and ratepayers money.
21 Sec. 2. RCW 36.70A.030 and 2021 c 254 s 6 are each amended to
22 read as follows:
23 Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
24 this section apply throughout this chapter.
25 (1) "Administrative design review" means a development permit
26 process whereby an application is reviewed, approved, or denied by
27 the planning director or the planning director's designee based
28 solely on objective design and development standards without a public
29 meeting or hearing, unless such review is otherwise required by state
30 or federal law or the structure is listed on a local historic
31 register through a local preservation ordinance.
32 (2) "Adopt a comprehensive land use plan" means to enact a new
33 comprehensive land use plan or to update an existing comprehensive
34 land use plan.
35 (((2))) (3) "Affordable housing" means, unless the context
36 clearly indicates otherwise, residential housing whose monthly costs,
37 including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed thirty
38 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) "Community amenity" means:
18 (a) A public school as defined in RCW 28A.150.010, a common
19 school as defined in RCW 28A.150.020, or a private school approved
20 under RCW 28A.195.010; or
21 (b) A designated entrance or pedestrian access point to a park
22 operated by the state or a local government for the use of the
23 general public.
24 (7) "Comprehensive land use plan," "comprehensive plan," or
25 "plan" means a generalized coordinated land use policy statement of
26 the governing body of a county or city that is adopted pursuant to
27 this chapter.
28 (((6))) (8) "Cottage housing" means detached dwelling units
29 arranged on two or more sides of a landscaped central area.
30 (9) "Courtyard apartments" means attached dwelling units arranged
31 on two or more sides of a landscaped central courtyard.
32 (10) "Critical areas" include the following areas and ecosystems:
33 (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers
34 used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation
35 areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous
36 areas. "Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas" does not
37 include such artificial features or constructs as irrigation delivery
38 systems, irrigation infrastructure, irrigation canals, or drainage
39 ditches that lie within the boundaries of and are maintained by a
40 port district or an irrigation district or company.
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 1 (((7))) (11) "Department" means the department of commerce.
2 (((8))) (12) "Development regulations" or "regulation" means the
3 controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or
4 city, including, but not limited to, zoning ordinances, critical
5 areas ordinances, shoreline master programs, official controls,
6 planned unit development ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and
7 binding site plan ordinances together with any amendments thereto. A
8 development regulation does not include a decision to approve a
9 project permit application, as defined in RCW 36.70B.020, even though
10 the decision may be expressed in a resolution or ordinance of the
11 legislative body of the county or city.
12 (((9))) (13) "Emergency housing" means temporary indoor
13 accommodations for individuals or families who are homeless or at
14 imminent risk of becoming homeless that is intended to address the
15 basic health, food, clothing, and personal hygiene needs of
16 individuals or families. Emergency housing may or may not require
17 occupants to enter into a lease or an occupancy agreement.
18 (((10))) (14) "Emergency shelter" means a facility that provides
19 a temporary shelter for individuals or families who are currently
20 homeless. Emergency shelter may not require occupants to enter into a
21 lease or an occupancy agreement. Emergency shelter facilities may
22 include day and warming centers that do not provide overnight
23 accommodations.
24 (((11))) (15) "Extremely low-income household" means a single
25 person, family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted
26 income is at or below thirty percent of the median household income
27 adjusted for household size, for the county where the household is
28 located, as reported by the United States department of housing and
29 urban development.
30 (((12))) (16) "Forestland" means land primarily devoted to
31 growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that
32 can be economically and practically managed for such production,
33 including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW
34 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, and that has long-term commercial
35 significance. In determining whether forestland is primarily devoted
36 to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land
37 that can be economically and practically managed for such production,
38 the following factors shall be considered: (a) The proximity of the
39 land to urban, suburban, and rural settlements; (b) surrounding
40 parcel size and the compatibility and intensity of adjacent and
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 1 nearby land uses; (c) long-term local economic conditions that affect
2 the ability to manage for timber production; and (d) the availability
3 of public facilities and services conducive to conversion of
4 forestland to other uses.
5 (((13))) (17) "Freight rail dependent uses" means buildings and
6 other infrastructure that are used in the fabrication, processing,
7 storage, and transport of goods where the use is dependent on and
8 makes use of an adjacent short line railroad. Such facilities are
9 both urban and rural development for purposes of this chapter.
10 "Freight rail dependent uses" does not include buildings and other
11 infrastructure that are used in the fabrication, processing, storage,
12 and transport of coal, liquefied natural gas, or "crude oil" as
13 defined in RCW 90.56.010.
14 (((14))) (18) "Geologically hazardous areas" means areas that
15 because of their susceptibility to erosion, sliding, earthquake, or
16 other geological events, are not suited to the siting of commercial,
17 residential, or industrial development consistent with public health
18 or safety concerns.
19 (((15))) (19) "Long-term commercial significance" includes the
20 growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for
21 long-term commercial production, in consideration with the land's
22 proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense
23 uses of the land.
24 (((16))) (20) "Low-income household" means a single person,
25 family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is
26 at or below eighty percent of the median household income adjusted
27 for household size, for the county where the household is located, as
28 reported by the United States department of housing and urban
29 development.
30 (((17))) (21)(a) "Major transit stop," except as provided in (b)
31 of this subsection, means:
32 (i) A stop on a high capacity transportation system funded or
33 expanded under the provisions of chapter 81.104 RCW;
34 (ii) Commuter rail stops;
35 (iii) Stops on rail or fixed guideway systems, including
36 transitways; or
37 (iv) Stops on bus rapid transit routes.
38 (b) Alternatively, a definition of "major transit stop" adopted
39 before the effective date of this section by a regional agency
40 planning under the multicounty planning policies authority pursuant
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 1 to RCW 36.70A.210(7) shall apply to counties and cities which are
2 subject to those multicounty planning policies.
3 (22) "Middle housing" means buildings that are compatible in
4 scale, form, and character with single-family houses and contain two
5 or more attached, stacked, or clustered homes including duplexes,
6 triplexes, fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, townhouses, courtyard
7 apartments, and cottage housing.
8 (23) "Minerals" include gravel, sand, and valuable metallic
9 substances.
10 (((18))) (24) "Moderate-income household" means a single person,
11 family, or unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is
12 at or below 120 percent of the median household income adjusted for
13 household size, for the county where the household is located, as
14 reported by the United States department of housing and urban
15 development.
16 (((19))) (25) "Permanent supportive housing" is subsidized,
17 leased housing with no limit on length of stay that prioritizes
18 people who need comprehensive support services to retain tenancy and
19 utilizes admissions practices designed to use lower barriers to entry
20 than would be typical for other subsidized or unsubsidized rental
21 housing, especially related to rental history, criminal history, and
22 personal behaviors. Permanent supportive housing is paired with on-
23 site or off-site voluntary services designed to support a person
24 living with a complex and disabling behavioral health or physical
25 health condition who was experiencing homelessness or was at imminent
26 risk of homelessness prior to moving into housing to retain their
27 housing and be a successful tenant in a housing arrangement, improve
28 the resident's health status, and connect the resident of the housing
29 with community-based health care, treatment, or employment services.
30 Permanent supportive housing is subject to all of the rights and
31 responsibilities defined in chapter 59.18 RCW.
32 (((20))) (26) "Public facilities" include streets, roads,
33 highways, sidewalks, street and road lighting systems, traffic
34 signals, domestic water systems, storm and sanitary sewer systems,
35 parks and recreational facilities, and schools.
36 (((21))) (27) "Public services" include fire protection and
37 suppression, law enforcement, public health, education, recreation,
38 environmental protection, and other governmental services.
39 (((22))) (28) "Recreational land" means land so designated under
40 RCW 36.70A.1701 and that, immediately prior to this designation, was
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 1 designated as agricultural land of long-term commercial significance
2 under RCW 36.70A.170. Recreational land must have playing fields and
3 supporting facilities existing before July 1, 2004, for sports played
4 on grass playing fields.
5 (((23))) (29) "Rural character" refers to the patterns of land
6 use and development established by a county in the rural element of
7 its comprehensive plan:
8 (a) In which open space, the natural landscape, and vegetation
9 predominate over the built environment;
10 (b) That foster traditional rural lifestyles, rural-based
11 economies, and opportunities to both live and work in rural areas;
12 (c) That provide visual landscapes that are traditionally found
13 in rural areas and communities;
14 (d) That are compatible with the use of the land by wildlife and
15 for fish and wildlife habitat;
16 (e) That reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land
17 into sprawling, low-density development;
18 (f) That generally do not require the extension of urban
19 governmental services; and
20 (g) That are consistent with the protection of natural surface
21 water flows and groundwater and surface water recharge and discharge
22 areas.
23 (((24))) (30) "Rural development" refers to development outside
24 the urban growth area and outside agricultural, forest, and mineral
25 resource lands designated pursuant to RCW 36.70A.170. Rural
26 development can consist of a variety of uses and residential
27 densities, including clustered residential development, at levels
28 that are consistent with the preservation of rural character and the
29 requirements of the rural element. Rural development does not refer
30 to agriculture or forestry activities that may be conducted in rural
31 areas.
32 (((25))) (31) "Rural governmental services" or "rural services"
33 include those public services and public facilities historically and
34 typically delivered at an intensity usually found in rural areas, and
35 may include domestic water systems((,)) and fire and police
36 protection services((, transportation and public transit services,
37 and other public utilities)) associated with rural development and
38 normally not associated with urban areas. Rural services do not
39 include storm or sanitary sewers, except as otherwise authorized by
40 RCW 36.70A.110(4).
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 1 (((26))) (32) "Short line railroad" means those railroad lines
2 designated class II or class III by the United States surface
3 transportation board.
4 (((27))) (33) "Townhouses" means dwelling units constructed in a
5 row of two or more attached units where each dwelling unit shares at
6 least one common wall with an adjacent unit and is accessed by a
7 separate outdoor entrance.
8 (34) "Urban governmental services" or "urban services" include
9 those public services and public facilities at an intensity
10 historically and typically provided in cities, specifically including
11 storm and sanitary sewer systems, domestic water systems, street
12 cleaning services, fire and police protection se