H-0624.2
HOUSE BILL 1519
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By Representatives Barkis, Bateman, Fitzgibbon, Chapman, Gregerson,
Graham, Macri, Reed, and Tharinger
Read first time 01/23/23. Referred to Committee on Local Government.
1 AN ACT Relating to local project review; amending RCW 36.70B.020,
2 36.70B.070, 36.70B.080, 36.70B.140, and 36.70B.160; reenacting and
3 amending RCW 36.70B.110; adding a new section to chapter 36.70B RCW;
4 and creating a new section.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
6 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that delays in the
7 processing of permits increases the cost of housing. The legislature
8 also finds that Washington is in a housing crisis for all types of
9 housing. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to ensure
10 predictable and consistent permit processes by creating a system of
11 accountability, metrics, and best practices for local governments to
12 follow when reviewing a permit application. The legislature finds
13 that Washington's cities and counties may need assistance and
14 resources for adopting these best practices and ensuring predictable
15 permit timelines, so it is the intent of the legislature to provide
16 assistance and resources for local governments to be successful in
17 processing permits. The legislature acknowledges that permitting is
18 necessary for the health and safety of our communities now and into
19 the future. Furthermore, it is the intent of the legislature to
20 encourage new home construction of all types through permit process
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 1 improvements, so Washington's builders can build Washington's future
2 neighborhoods safely and more quickly.
3 Sec. 2. RCW 36.70B.020 and 1995 c 347 s 402 are each amended to
4 read as follows:
5 Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
6 this section apply throughout this chapter.
7 (1) "Closed record appeal" means an administrative appeal on the
8 record to a local government body or officer, including the
9 legislative body, following an open record hearing on a project
10 permit application when the appeal is on the record with no or
11 limited new evidence or information allowed to be submitted and only
12 appeal argument allowed.
13 (2) "Local government" means a county, city, or town.
14 (3) "Open record hearing" means a hearing, conducted by a single
15 hearing body or officer authorized by the local government to conduct
16 such hearings, that creates the local government's record through
17 testimony and submission of evidence and information, under
18 procedures prescribed by the local government by ordinance or
19 resolution. An open record hearing may be held prior to a local
20 government's decision on a project permit to be known as an "open
21 record predecision hearing." An open record hearing may be held on an
22 appeal, to be known as an "open record appeal hearing," if no open
23 record predecision hearing has been held on the project permit.
24 (4) "Project permit" or "project permit application" means any
25 land use or environmental permit or license required from a local
26 government for a project action, including but not limited to
27 ((building permits,)) subdivisions, binding site plans, planned unit
28 developments, conditional uses, shoreline substantial development
29 permits, site plan review, permits or approvals required by critical
30 area ordinances, or site-specific rezones ((authorized by a
31 comprehensive plan or subarea plan, but excluding)) that do not
32 require a comprehensive plan amendment. "Project permit" or "project
33 permit application" does not include building permits or the adoption
34 or amendment of a comprehensive plan, subarea plan, or development
35 regulations except as otherwise specifically included in this
36 subsection.
37 (5) "Public meeting" means an informal meeting, hearing,
38 workshop, or other public gathering of people to obtain comments from
39 the public or other agencies on a proposed project permit prior to
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1 the local government's decision. A public meeting may include, but is
2 not limited to, a design review or architectural control board
3 meeting, a special review district or community council meeting, or a
4 scoping meeting on a draft environmental impact statement. A public
5 meeting does not include an open record hearing. The proceedings at a
6 public meeting may be recorded and a report or recommendation may be
7 included in the local government's project permit application file.
8 Sec. 3. RCW 36.70B.070 and 1995 c 347 s 408 are each amended to
9 read as follows:
10 (1)(a) Within twenty-eight days after receiving a project permit
11 application, a local government planning pursuant to RCW 36.70A.040
12 shall mail, email, or provide in person a written determination to
13 the applicant, stating either:
14 (((a))) (i) That the application is complete; or
15 (((b))) (ii) That the application is incomplete ((and)). The
16 determination must outline what is necessary to make the application
17 procedurally complete.
18 (b) An application must be deemed complete if it meets the
19 procedural submission requirements of the local government, and
20 incomplete if the procedural submission requirements have not been
21 met.
22 (c) The number of days shall be calculated by counting five days
23 per week, excluding holidays. To the extent known by the local
24 government, the local government shall identify other agencies of
25 local, state, or federal governments that may have jurisdiction over
26 some aspect of the application.
27 (2) A project permit application is complete for purposes of this
28 section when it meets the procedural submission requirements of the
29 local government ((and is sufficient for continued processing even
30 though additional information)), as outlined on the project permit
31 application. Additional information or studies may be required or
32 project modifications may be undertaken ((subsequently)) subsequent
33 to the procedural review of the application by the local government.
34 The determination of completeness shall not preclude the local
35 government from requesting additional information or studies either
36 at the time of the notice of completeness or subsequently if new
37 information is required or substantial changes in the proposed action
38 occur. However, if the procedural submission requirements, as
39 outlined on the project permit application, have been provided, the
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 1 need for additional information or studies does not preclude a
2 completeness determination.
3 (3) The determination of completeness may include or be combined
4 with the following ((as optional information)):
5 (a) A preliminary determination of those development regulations
6 that will be used for project mitigation;
7 (b) A preliminary determination of consistency, as provided under
8 RCW 36.70B.040; ((or))
9 (c) Other information the local government chooses to include; or
10 (d) The notice of application pursuant to the requirements in RCW
11 36.70B.110.
12 (4)(a) An application shall be deemed procedurally complete on
13 the 29th day after a local government has received a project permit
14 application under this section if the local government does not
15 provide a written determination to the applicant that the application
16 is procedurally incomplete as provided in subsection (1)(((b)))
17 (a)(ii) of this section. This section does not preclude a local
18 government that has not provided a written determination from seeking
19 additional information or studies under subsection (2) of this
20 section.
21 (b) Within ((fourteen)) 14 days after an applicant has submitted
22 to a local government additional information identified by the local
23 government as being necessary for a complete application, the local
24 government shall notify the applicant whether the application is
25 complete or what additional information is necessary.
26 (c) The notice of application must be provided within 14 days
27 after the determination of completeness pursuant to RCW 36.70B.110.
28 Sec. 4. RCW 36.70B.080 and 2004 c 191 s 2 are each amended to
29 read as follows:
30 (1)(a) Development regulations adopted pursuant to RCW 36.70A.040
31 must establish and implement time periods for local government
32 actions for each type of project permit application and provide
33 timely and predictable procedures to determine whether a completed
34 project permit application meets the requirements of those
35 development regulations. The time periods for local government
36 actions for each type of complete project permit application or
37 project type should not exceed ((one hundred twenty days, unless the
38 local government makes written findings that a specified amount of
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 1 additional time is needed to process specific complete project permit
2 applications or project types)) those specified in this section.
3 (b) The development regulations must, for each type of permit
4 application, specify the contents of a completed project permit
5 application necessary for the complete compliance with the time
6 periods and procedures.
7 (((2))) (c) As provided in RCW 36.70B.140, a jurisdiction may
8 exclude certain project permits from the provisions of this section.
9 (d) For project permits submitted after January 1, 2025, the time
10 periods for local government action to issue a final decision for
11 each type of complete project permit application or project type that
12 is subject to this chapter should not exceed the following time
13 frames unless modified by the local government pursuant to this
14 section or RCW 36.70B.140:
15 (i) For project permits which do not require public notice under
16 RCW 36.70B.110, a local government must issue a final decision within
17 45 days of the determination of completeness under RCW 36.70B.070;
18 (ii) For project permits which require public notice under RCW
19 36.70B.110, a local government must issue a final decision within 70
20 days of the determination of completeness under RCW 36.70B.070; and
21 (iii) For project permits which require public notice under RCW
22 36.70B.110 and a public hearing, a local government must issue a
23 final decision within 120 days of the determination of completeness
24 under RCW 36.70B.070.
25 (e) A jurisdiction may modify the provisions in (d) of this
26 subsection, including by adding permit types not identified, changing
27 the permit time frames for any or each permit type, changing the
28 permit names or types included in each category, addressing how
29 consolidated review time frames may be different than permits
30 submitted individually, and providing for how projects of a certain
31 size or type may be differentiated. Unless otherwise provided for,
32 the time frame for a final decision in the consolidated review of
33 more than one permit shall be the longest of the permit timelines
34 identified in (d) of this subsection or as amended by a local
35 government.
36 (f) If a local government does not adopt an ordinance or
37 resolution modifying the provisions in (d) of this subsection, the
38 timelines in (d) of this subsection apply.
39 (g) The number of days shall be calculated by counting five days
40 per week, excluding holidays. The following time periods are excluded
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 1 from the calculation of the time that the application is being
2 reviewed:
3 (i) Any period between the day that the county or city has
4 notified the applicant, in writing, that additional information is
5 required to further process the application and the day when
6 responsive information is resubmitted by the applicant;
7 (ii) Any period after an applicant informs the local government,
8 in writing, that they would like to temporarily suspend review of the
9 project permit application until the time that the application
10 notifies the local government, in writing, that they would like to
11 resume the application. A local government may set conditions for the
12 temporary suspension of a permit application; and
13 (iii) Any period after an administrative appeal is filed until
14 the administrative appeal is resolved and any additional time period
15 provided by the administrative appeal has expired.
16 (h) A county or city's adoption of a resolution or ordinance to
17 implement the requirements of this section is not subject to appeal
18 under chapter 36.70A RCW, unless the resolution or ordinance modifies
19 the time periods provided in (d) of this subsection by providing for
20 a review period of more than 120 days for any project permit.
21 (2)(a) When permit time frames provided for in subsection (1)(d)
22 of this section, as may be amended by a local government, for issuing
23 a final decision are not met, a portion of the permit fee must be
24 refunded to the applicant as provided for in this subsection (2). A
25 local government may provide for the collection of only 80 percent of
26 the fee initially, and for the collection of the remaining balance if
27 the permitting time frames are met. The portion of the fee refunded
28 for missing time frames shall be:
29 (i) 10 percent if the final decision on the project permit
30 application was made after the applicable deadline but the period
31 from the passage of the deadline to the time of the issuance of the
32 final decision did not exceed 20 percent of the original time frame.
33 (ii) 20 percent if the period from the passage of the deadline to
34 the time of the issuance of the final decision exceeded 20 percent of
35 the original time frame.
36 (b) Except as provided in RCW 36.70B.160, the provisions in (a)
37 of this subsection are not applicable to cities and counties which
38 have implemented at least three of the options in RCW 36.70B.160(1)
39 (a) through (h) at the time an application is deemed procedurally
40 complete.
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 1 (3)(a) Counties subject to the requirements of RCW 36.70A.215 and
2 the cities within those counties that have populations of at least
3 twenty thousand must, for each type of permit application, identify
4 the total number of project permit applications for which decisions
5 are issued according to the provisions of this chapter. For each type
6 of project permit application identified, these counties and cities
7 must establish and implement a deadline for issuing a notice of final
8 decision as required by subsection (1) of this section and minimum
9 requirements for applications to be deemed complete under RCW
10 36.70B.070 as required by subsection (1) of this section.
11 (b) Counties and cities subject to the requirements of this
12 subsection also must prepare annual performance reports that include,
13 at a minimum, the following information for each type of project
14 permit application identified in accordance with the requirements of
15 (a) of this subsection:
16 (i) Total number of complete applications received during the
17 year;
18 (ii) Number of complete applications received during the year for
19 which a notice of final decision was issued before the deadline
20 established under this subsection;
21 (iii) Number of applications received during the year for which a
22 notice of final decision was issued after the deadline established
23 under this subsection;
24 (iv) Number of applications received during the year for which an
25 extension of time was mutually agreed upon by the applicant and the
26 county or city;
27 (v) Variance of actual performance, excluding applications for
28 which mutually agreed time extensions have occurred, to the deadline
29 established under this subsection during the year; and
30 (vi) The mean processing time and the number standard deviation
31 from the mean.
32 (c) Counties and cities subject to the requirements of this
33 subsection must:
34 (i) Provide notice of and access to the annual performance
35 reports through the county's or city's website; and
36 (ii) Post electronic facsimiles of the annual performance reports
37 through the county's or city's website. Postings on a county's or
38 city's website indicating that the reports are available by
39 contacting the appropriate county or city department or official do
40 not comply with the requirements of this subsection.
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 1 If a county or city subject to the requirements of this
2 subsection does not maintain a website, notice of the reports must be
3 given by reasonable methods, including but not limited to those
4 methods specified in RCW 36.70B.110(4).
5 (((3))) (4) Nothing in this section prohibits a county or city
6 from extending a deadline for issuing a decision for a specific
7 project permit application for any reasonable period of time mutually
8 agreed upon by the applicant and the local government.
9 (((4) The department of community, trade, and economic
10 development shall work with the co