DDES legislative news: Legislation for public review and comment

• Permit process improvements
• School impact fees  
• Form-Based Code project

The following legislation has been distributed for public review and comment.

Permit process improvements

The general purpose of this proposed ordinance is to simplify permit processes, allow as permitted uses some uses that currently require conditional use permits, and clarify ambiguous ordinance provisions in King County Code Titles 19A, 20, and 21A related to permit processes and zoning requirements.

Please see the following for more information:

• Notice of Intent to Amend and Notice of Public Meeting,
  PDF* (13KB) or MS Word* (28KB)
• Proposed ordinance,
  PDF* (2MB) or MS Word* (1.4MB)
• Summary of proposed ordinance,
  PDF* (30KB) or MS Word* (62KB)

A public meeting was held August 12, 2009 to discuss this proposal and receive comments.  The comment period closed August 21, 2009.  For questions about proposed permit process improvements, please contact:

Harry Reinert
Department of Development and Environmental Services
900 Oakesdale Avenue SW
Renton, WA 98057-5212

E-mail: harry.reinert@kingcounty.gov
Telephone: 206-296-7132.

School impact fees

The purpose of this proposed ordinance is to adopt school impact fees to be collected from all nonexempt new residential development in the unincorporated portions of the Tahoma, Federal Way, Riverview, Issaquah, Snoqualmie Valley, Lake Washington, Kent, Enumclaw, Fife, and Auburn school districts.

All collected fees and earned interest are distributed to the respective school districts for expenditure on capital facilities projects, which are necessary to accommodate residential growth within the districts.

Please see the following for more information:

• Notice of Intent,
  PDF* (12KB) or MS Word* (34KB)
• Proposed ordinance,
  PDF* (20KB) or MS Word* (40KB)
• Summary of proposed ordinance,
  PDF* (18KB) or MS Word* (53KB)

DDES has conducted stakeholder review of the draft proposed ordinance. The comment period for this proposal closed August 13, 2009.  For questions about school impact fees, contact:

Dave Sandstrom
Department of Development and Environmental Services
900 Oakesdale Avenue SW
Renton, WA 98057-5212

E-mail: dave.sandstrom@kingcounty.gov
Telephone: 206-296-7184.

Form-Based Code project

DDES received a grant from the Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) to draft a Form-Based Code. Some potential benefits of a Form-Based Code include:

• a prescriptive ("what is wanted") approach to regulating development.
• a focus on the public space (sidewalks, streets) to create vibrant, mixed-use neighborhoods.
• greater flexibility to developers in exchange for public benefits, such as walkability and affordable housing.
• simplified and flexible land use regulations that will provide increased predictability in the development process and create more opportunities for businesses.

Three areas of unincorporated King County will be used as demonstration projects that will assist in the creation and drafting of the new code. Their locations are:

• East Renton plateau
• Bear Creek community planning area
• Martin Luther King Jr. Way in West Hill.

Demonstration area residents will have the opportunity to provide input throughout the project, and additional meetings will be held in each demonstration area.

Visit the King County Form-Based Code project for more information, or contact Paul Reitenbach, Senior Policy Analyst, at 206-296-6705 or e-mail paul.reitenbach@kingcounty.gov.

*Note: To view PDFs, free software from Adobe is required. Word documents require Microsoft software. For assistance, see helpful hints.

To request this information in alternate formats for people with disabilities, call 206-296-6600 or TTY Relay: 711.