ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT HEARING IN OLYMPIA Reform the Growth Management Act! If you can make it to this hearing, then by all means do so! This is a workshop regarding making changes to the GMA! Senator Pam Roach will be introducing bills this week to reform the GMA! Imagine the impact of a full hearing room, show Senator Roach your support, and show others in Olympia this reform must be accomplished! See hearing and bill information below! Thursday, January 16, 2014, 10:00 AM to 10:45 AM Capitol Campus -John A. Cherberg Building 304 15th Avenue SW, Olympia, WA Senate Hearing Room 2 Hearing hosted by Senator Pam Roach regarding issues with the Growth Management Act, and potential reforms needed. Also, Olympia Tea Party will have a hospitality suite at Conference Room A,B,C on the first floor of the same building. Tentative Speaker List - Government Operations Committee 4 min - Pend Oreille’ commissioner Karen Skoog - Agency control vs. local control; Volunteer small counties 3 min - Bethel SD - impacts to School Districts, limitations on future planning 3 min - Bob Edleman / Bricklin - unintended consequences 5 min - Randal O’Toole - land use is not the way to save the environment 3 min - Glen Morgan - historic central planning failures / “the emperor has no clothes” 5 min - Ed Kilduff - science 2 min - Steve Neugebauer - redundant with Federal regulation 2 min - Roger Almskaar - GMHB, wetlands streams, water resources 3 min - Bill / Charlie Connor - Generational perspective on impacts to the building industry 3 min - Patrick Connor, NFIB - GMA impacts to small business 3 min - Farm Bureau - agriculture or water - Possible Nick Jones: Impacts to small farmers Here are short desciptions of Senator Roach's Bill Drafts to Reform the Growth Management Act! Pool of Hearing Examiners: This bill draft establishes a pool of hearing examiners in the Office of Administrative Hearings to hear local land use appeals. Costs for these services would be paid by the local government. What constitutes a complete application and what is a planning decision or a project decision: This bill draft is designed to address what constitutes a complete application and to delineate what is a planning decision and what is a project decision. Transportation Concurrency: This bill draft does the following: * Amends the transportation goal of the GMA to encourage efficient multimodal transportation systems that are improved concurrent with development * Provides that the transportation element of comprehensive plans must implement and be consistent with the rural element of the comprehensive plan. * Provides that local jurisdictions are prohibited from approving development if the level of service on state-owned transportation facilities falls below standards adopted by the state or by a regional transportation planning organization. * Provides that local jurisdictions are prohibited from approving development if concurrency cannot be met under current funding commitments or under the multiyear financing plan, and unless transportation improvements are sufficiently funded. * Provides that local jurisdictions are prohibited from approving development if the development detrimentally impacts the rural character of locally owned arterials and transit routes. * Requires local jurisdictions to adopt and enforce ordinances establishing a concurrency analysis process that includes an application of travel time standards and a level of service analysis within the entire geographic area that would be affected by the development. Notice to Property Owners: Attached is a draft bill that would require that a local government provide written notice to: * property owners within a certain radius of property that may be impacted by comprehensive plan amendments, development regulations, zoning changes, or conditional use permits or variances, or * at least a set number different property owners, whichever is greater. The bill draft also provides that the Department of Ecology must provide written notice to: * property owners within a certain radius of property that may be impacted by proposed master programs, amendments to master programs, or permits issued under a master program, or * at least a set number of different property owners, whichever is greater. Senator Roach is considering notice for property owners within a 2 mile radius or at least 40 different property owners, whichever is greater. She is also considering requiring that interested tribes and community groups be provided written notice. This bill draft needs to be updated to reflect that, but I wanted to send you the initial draft today. Property Tax Exemption: This is a bill draft that establishes an exemption from state property taxes for real property that has declined in value after November 30, 2009, by 10 percent or more due to shoreline or growth management regulation. The exemption applies to taxes levied for collection in 2015 or later and continues until the cumulative tax savings equals or exceeds the reduction in property value. The bill establishes a process for filing exemption claims, establishing the amount of the value reduction, and appealing assessors' decisions on the exemption applications. Claims must be filed with the county assessor by March 31 and within five years of the regulation causing the reduction in value.
January 13, 2014