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Appropriate Parking Management Strategy for Successful Transit Oriented Development
Date Added: Monday, July 20, 2015Transit Oriented Development (TOD), Parking
Washington
Municipal
A major challenge to successfully implementing Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is parking, specifically minimum parking requirements which produce an oversupply of parking that undermines the intended benefits of TOD. This Master’s thesis addresses the effects of parking on TOD’s success, the defects of conventional parking requirements, and specific strategies for TOD parking management, as well as providing a case study of parking in King County, Washington. Additionally, recommendations are given to assist communities in implementing park..
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South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District
Date Added: Wednesday, October 14, 2015Aquifer Protection
Washington
Municipal
Tacoma established the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District in order “to prevent the degradation of groundwater in the South Tacoma aquifer system by controlling the use and handling of hazardous substances.” Permits are required for all activities that use hazardous substances and applicants must have “demonstrated that said facility complies with all provisions of this chapter and the standards set forth in the General Guidance and Performance Standards.”..
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County of Clark Stormwater and Erosion Control Regulations
Date Added: Wednesday, December 2, 2015Erosion & Sedimentation Control, Stormwater Management
Washington
Municipal
This chapter combines the county's stormwater and erosion control regulations are combined into one chapter, and apply to development or redevelopment activities that include adding 5,000 SF or more impervious surface in rural areas and 2,000 SF or more in urban areas. Stormwater requirements include off-site analysis of impacts _ mile downstream and conveyance standards. Erosion control requirements include variable requirements for small parcel and large parcel developments, signage at points of entry for subdivisions or short plats, and form..
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County of Spokane Aquifer Fees Ordinance
Date Added: Wednesday, October 14, 2015Aquifer Protection
Washington
Municipal
Spokane County collects aquifer fees from property owners “to preserve, protect, and rehabilitate the Spokane Rathdrum Aquifer.” The ordinance provides that these fees be added to the property tax statement, although it stresses that “this is a fee, not a tax.” The ordinance allows the county to place a lien on a property if the fee is not paid. ..
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County of King Surface Water Management Ordinance
Date Added: Wednesday, February 24, 2016Enforcement, Erosion & Sedimentation Control
Washington
Municipal
The Surface Water Management Title is a comprehensive set of regulations focused on surface water management. A drainage review is required for certain projects such as all development with >5000 SF of impervious surface, development near sensitive or critical areas, or is development of an existing site over certain size and financial thresholds. Drainage review consists of several core requirements including discharge requirements, off-site analysis, and flow control. There is also a Water Quality section that implements a fee structure based..
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County of Kitsap Hearing Examiner - Alternative Dispute Resolution Provision
Date Added: Wednesday, February 24, 2016Alternative Dispute Resolution
Washington
Municipal
The County Commissioners gave the hearing examiner the authority to include pre- and post-hearing mediations. Hearing examiners conduct quasi-judicial proceedings to resolve land-use disputes. ..
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Washington State Environmental Policy Act
Date Added: Wednesday, February 24, 2016Environmental Impact Review Requirements
Washington
State
The State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) seeks to consider the environmental impacts of government decisions and requires a review of various activities or projects in order to assess the proposal’s impact on the environment. Land, air, water, plants/animals, as well as impacts of noise, traffic, utilities, aesthetics, recreation and housing must be considered under this act. Counties throughout the state are working to coordinate their efforts at meeting the requirements of the Growth Management Act and SEPA. ..
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Transit Supportive Planning Toolkit: Guidance and Resources for Plan and Policy Development
Date Added: Monday, March 21, 2016Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
Washington
Regional Planning Entity
The Puget Sound region is estimated to grow to 5 million people and 3 million jobs by 2040 and in order to accommodate that growth, better access to a strong multimodal transportation system is needed. This Toolkit was developed by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) to provide strategies that strengthen the linkage between land use and transit in local plans and implementation regulations, as well as to provide important PSRC and transit agency contacts and web resources.
The three general strategies for successfully implementing trans..
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City of Bainbridge Island Accessory Dwelling Units Ordinance
Date Added: Thursday, March 23, 2017Accessory Uses , Affordable Housing , Zoning
Washington
Municipal
Chapter 18.89 of Bainbridge Island Municipal Code describes zoning provisions for accessory dwelling units. The law includes provisions for entrances, setback distance from the main residence, and school fees, among other provisions...
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City of Bainbridge Island Affordable Housing Ordinance
Date Added: Thursday, March 23, 2017Affordable Housing , Incentive Zoning
Washington
Municipal
Chapter 18.90 of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code describes the purpose, procedures, and zoning incentives related to the creation of affordable housing...
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City of Bainbridge Island Comprehensive Plan – Environmental Element
Date Added: Thursday, March 23, 2017Coastal Protection, Comprehensive Planning, Sea Level Rise Adaptation
Washington
Municipal
The City of Bainbridge Island has explicitly addressed the potential for sea level rise in the Environmental Element of its comprehensive plan. Adopted in 2004, the plan recognizes that Bainbridge Island is potentially subject to flooding, erosion, landslides, seismic events, and soil subsistence. The overall goal of the Environmental element is to avoid adverse impacts where possible; to minimize, reduce or eliminate impacts over time; and to compensate for unavoidable impacts. The plan outlines protections for critical areas including tran..
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Early Community Outreach for Design Review
Date Added: Tuesday, July 17, 2018Pre-Application & Consensus Building, Equity
Washington
Municipal
In October 2017, the City of Seattle enacted a new set of regulations related to Design
Review, an official city process that has allowed community members as well as
professional planners and designers to weigh in on new development projects in Seattle
since 1994. Among the updates, is a measure that allows the Seattle Department of
Construction and Inspections (SDCI) to make rules for community outreach and early
design guidance for projects going through Design Review. Pursuant to this measure, SDCI
created a new rule for Early Communi..
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Seattle Food Action Plan
Date Added: Tuesday, July 17, 2018Land Use Planning, Local Food Production, Healthy Communities, Urban Farming & Community Gardens
Washington
Municipal
The city adopted the “Seattle Food Action Plan” in 2013, created by the Office of Sustainability and Environment, that lays out specific strategies to get more healthy food to more Seattle residents. This plan is aimed at expanding opportunities for people to grow and procure healthy food in the city, enhancing the regional economy, and reducing food-related waste. The Food Action Plan involves many departments of the city, including the Human Services Department, responsible for developing community gardens to provide meal programs for childre..
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Housing Options Ordinance
Date Added: Tuesday, August 24, 2021Accessory Uses , Affordable Housing , Density
Washington
Municipal
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and duplexes are permitted as-of-right in all
residential zones in Olympia while cottage houses, triplexes, fourplexes, and
townhouses are permitted as-of-right in most residential zones. The city
amended its zoning code to encourage infill development in three urban
residential areas to prevent urban sprawl...
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Residential Infill Pilot Program 2.0
Date Added: Thursday, August 12, 2021Affordable Housing , Density, Infill
Washington
Municipal
Created the Residential Infill Pilot Program 2.0 to encourage residential infill development within the city. This program aims to promote multi-family development within traditionally single-family neighborhoods to add affordable units, increase housing choice, increase density, maintain scale and character of neighborhoods, and more. This plan will apply to single-family districts and outlines the permitted number and style of units depending on zone and lot size...
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Chapter 20.28 Infill Housing
Date Added: Thursday, August 12, 2021Affordable Housing , Density, Infill
Washington
Municipal
City code includes Infill Development chapter used to implement comprehensive plan goals related to infill development. This development is permitted in all zones except single-family, aside from single-family zones that permit cluster subdivisions. It sets site size, setback, parking, and open space requirements for each type of multi-family development...
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King County Ordinance 16948 and the Determinants of Equity
Date Added: Thursday, August 12, 2021Equity
Washington
Regional - Multiple Municipalities
Ordinance 16948 is King County’s Equity and Social Justice ordinance. It supplies definitions related to equity and equitable development. It calls for the development of analytical tools to identify equitable policies. Overall, the ordinance tries to integrate equity principles in all systems of its governance. This ordinance also identifies 14 “determinants of equity.” These determinants were the basis of a separate report called “The Determinants of Equity Report.”
This report is part of an initial effort at determining if the county is a..
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King County Redevelopment Ordinance
Date Added: Thursday, April 13, 2017Urban Renewal, Brownfields
Washington
Municipal
Contaminated Industrial Lands in the Duwamish Corridor of King County, Washington present regional and local threats to environmental health and economic development. This ordinance calls for the environmental risks resulting from specific site contamination to be evaluated, as well as developing an initiative program for small landowners to create voluntary temporary partnerships to achieve clean up of the area. ..
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City of Mountlake Terrace Transportation Impact Fees Ordinance
Date Added: Friday, April 14, 2017Transportation & Land Use Planning, Transportation Efficient Development
Washington
Municipal
The Mountlake Terrace ordinance is not a TOD ordinance but it instead imposes transportation impact fees on new development that is expected to generate new vehicle trips on the City’s streets and roads. The ordinance is intended to ensure that adequate transportation infrastructure is available as growth and development occurs – it is not, however, intended to encourage development near transportation hubs. The ordinance sets forth impact fees for development within two service areas: One area is citywide, and requires certain fees to be colle..
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City of Lacey Village Center Zone
Date Added: Friday, April 14, 2017Transportation Efficient Development
Washington
Municipal
Lacey’s “Village Center Zone” is a suburban model that, while perhaps reducing car dependence, does not link with much transit. The ordinance aims to alleviate use-segregated development, reduce sprawl that results in car dependence, and to promote the development of places with a pedestrian emphasis, connectivity, mixed-uses, and centralized public spaces. Bicycle paths and pedestrian connections are encouraged where possible and the use of cul-de-sacs and other roadways with a single point of access are minimized. While parking is limited ..
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City of Olympia Urban Forestry Ordinance
Date Added: Friday, April 14, 2017Tree Preservation & Protection
Washington
Municipal
This ordinance creates and adopts an urban forestry element in the Olympia Comprehensive Plan. It acknowledges the important contributions that trees make to the city of Olympia in maintaining its ecological integrity as well as making Olympia a desirable place to live and to visit. The ordinance calls for an urban forest management plan, landmark tree protection and replacement, a commitment to public awareness and public education, as well as the development of standards and criteria for the urban forestry program consistent with the Best M..
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City of Bainbridge Island Environmentally Sensitive Areas Ordinance
Date Added: Sunday, April 16, 2017Natural Resource Protection & Conservation
Washington
Municipal
This law focuses on the importance of having native vegetation zones in critical areas. It creates regulations for the preservation of these vegetation zones on Bainbridge Island, Washington...
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County of San Juan Open Space & Conservation Plan
Date Added: Monday, April 17, 2017Open Space Preservation, Natural Resource Protection & Conservation
Washington
Municipal
The San Juan County Open Space and Conservation plan is the result of an open space planning process, funded by San Juan County and The San Juan Preservation Trust. A primary goal of the plan is to identify and protect natural resources, with a focus on wildlife habitat. The plan proposes ways to implement five strategies of land conservation defined as information, education, incentives, regulation, and acquisition. ..
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Washington State Growth Management Act
Date Added: Monday, March 21, 2016Comprehensive Planning
Washington
State
Under the Growth Management Act, cities and counties that meet designated population thresholds are required to adopt comprehensive plans. The Act establishes mandatory elements of comprehensive plans: land use; housing; capital facilities; utilities; rural; transportation; economic development; and park and recreation. ..
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City of Tumwater Wellhead Protection Ordinance
Date Added: Monday, March 21, 2016Aquifer Protection
Washington
Municipal
Tumwater, Washington, has three related aquifer protection ordinances. Tumwater’s Wellhead Protection is designed “to develop and implement a wellhead protection program to identify risks of contamination potentially impacting city wells, and to reduce or eliminate those risks.” The ordinance identifies four wellhead capture zones at six months, one year, five years, and ten years. Various activities are prohibited within these zones, with the six month zone being more prohibitive than the ten year zone...
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City of Tumwater Local Natural Resource Protection Ordinance (Comprehensive)
Date Added: Monday, March 21, 2016Aquifer Protection, Right-to-Farm, Wildlife & Fish Habitat, Natural Resource Protection & Conservation, Wetlands & Watercourse Protection
Washington
Municipal
This comprehensive environmental ordinance, portions of which have been added over the past twenty years, addresses a breadth of environmental concerns. These include protection standards for; trees and vegetation, aquifers, wetlands, fish and wildlife, as well as provisions for the right-to-farm, right-to-mine, and commute trip reduction. This ordinance is particularly unique in that it does not appear to be in response to a state level statute, as are many other local ordinances in Washington State. ..
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City of Tumwater Aquifer Protection Overlay Zone (AQP) Ordinance
Date Added: Monday, March 21, 2016Aquifer Protection, Overlay District
Washington
Municipal
Tumwater, Washington, has three related aquifer protection ordinances. The Aquifer Protection Overlay zone (AQP) “protect[s] vulnerable aquifer recharge areas within the City and urban growth area” by “impos[ing] additional restrictions on development in order to protect public health and safety by preserving the existing and future groundwater supply.” The district restricts seven activities unless they comply with best management practices...
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The City of Redmond Site Requirements for Residential Zones Ordinance
Date Added: Tuesday, May 23, 2017Development Standards, Land Use Planning, Planned Development Districts
Washington
Municipal
The City of Redmond established basic site requirements for residential zones while implementing Redmond’s Comprehensive Plan, the Growth Management Act, and the County-Wide Planning Policies. These requirements set basic dimensional standards for residential development while providing flexibility in project design, maintaining privacy between adjacent users, and preventing public nuisances. There is a prescribed level of permitted density, this is to maintain a consistent and compatible land use pattern in Redmond’s residential neighborhood. ..
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City of Burlington, Washington Zoning Regulations; Solar Access
Date Added: Wednesday, August 23, 2017Solar Energy, Zoning
Washington
Municipal
Section 14.48.110, placed within the City Code’s chapter on performance standards, lists solar access criteria for any new construction that is south of existing residential land in Burlington, Washington. The criteria include prohibiting multi family, commercial, or industrial structure more than one story in height from shading the maximum building envelope of any existing dwelling as determined by the angle of the sun on December 21st; site plans that show the shading impacts of new structures on existing dwellings or vacant lots; and measur..
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City of College Place Zoning Regulations; Solar Zoning
Date Added: Wednesday, August 23, 2017Solar Energy, Zoning
Washington
Municipal
Within its Code of Ordinances, College Place, Washington has not integrated a separate section on Solar Access, but has defined it to mean “direct sunlight for the purpose of successfully operating a solar energy system.” The Zoning Ordinance outlines certain requirements for a planned unit development and allows for the maximum number of dwelling units permitted to be increased by 15 percent and an additional five percent for developments which incorporate street and lot orientation to maximize solar access; tree plantings selected to avoid wi..
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City of Issaquah Landscape & Tree Preservation Regulations - Solar Access; Solar Zoning
Date Added: Sunday, January 7, 2018Solar Energy, Zoning
Washington
Municipal
The City of Issaquah’s tree preservation provisions authorizes the approval authority to grant a tree removal permit if removal will provide solar access to buildings incorporating active solar devices, including windows that face south and contain special storage elements to distribute heat energy. City of Issaquah, WA Landscape & Tree Preservation Regulations §§ 18.12.1380(B)(3)(a)(2), 18.12.1385(B)(5), 18.12.141(B)(3). ..
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Establishing Urban Farming and Community Gardens
Date Added: Thursday, April 26, 2018Healthy Communities, Urban Farming & Community Gardens
Washington
Municipal
Broadview, Bitter Lake, and Haller Lake (BBH) is a collaboration of neighborhoods in the city of Seattle who help to provide vision and planning procedures for community growth. One of these visions is greater access to local and healthy foods. Healthy food access has been shown to increase the health of the population, stimulate the local economy, and provide a better sense of community. In 2012, the BBH Neighborhood Plan Update included a short article on community-member interest in local and healthy food access. With the use of community re..
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Parks Planning
Date Added: Monday, June 4, 2018Healthy Communities, Parks & Recreation, Equity
Washington
Municipal
Ridgefield, Washington’s original Comprehensive Plan evaluated a need for improved park and recreation access, particularly in underserved neighborhoods. In 2014, the city took a substantial step toward park acquisition and development by publishing the Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan. This document sets out a 6-year plan for providing community-driven parks, trails, open spaces and recreational opportunities. The plan includes an evaluative process for current park systems, criteria for where new parks should be created, and way to upd..
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SeaTac, WA ADU
Date Added: Tuesday, August 31, 2021Accessory Uses , Affordable Housing
Washington
Municipal
Requires the primary residence or ADU to be occupied by the owner in order to build and rent out
an ADU. The city allows for ADUs in order to maximize the use of existing housing stock, improve
cost efficiency of existing infrastructure, increase opportunities for homeowners, and provide
housing options for a wide range of income and status. Most ADUs are required to meet a maximum
of 800 square feet while preexisting ADUs may have up to 45% of the square footage of the primary
residence. The code also sets maximum occupancy, height, desig..
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Seattle, WA Removes Barriers to ADU Development
Date Added: Tuesday, August 31, 2021Accessory Uses
Washington
Municipal
Recently enacted zoning legislation that removes significant barriers to ADU development in order to address the city’s housing crisis. The new code removes off-street parking and owner occupancy requirements while also streamlining the approval process for ADU development. Seattle also created a user-friendly website to simplify the process for its residents, connecting homeowners considering ADUs to members of the design and construction community, even addressing the high cost of ADU development through access to low-interest financing..
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Seattle 2035: Growth and Equity Analysis
Date Added: Tuesday, June 7, 2022Equity, Displacement
Washington
Municipal
Seattle’s Growth and Equity Analysis, is a companion document to Seattle’s Environmental Impact Statement that evaluates four alternative ways for distributing growth throughout the city. The Growth and Equity Analysis created two data indexes – the Displacement Risk Index and the Access to Opportunity Index. Each index is made up of a list of indicators. The document maps Seattle based on these indexes and data, evaluating the four growth alternatives with a social justice and equity lens. Maps of each indicator are included...
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