Drafter
Clerk 06/27/2002
Title
A MOTION relating to planning, directing the King County executive to study the potential for the short subdivision of lands in the rural areas of King County and to identify policy and code barriers preventing the fair treatment of rural residents.
Body
WHEREAS, the general policy direction of the King County Comprehensive Plan (KCCP) directs growth to urban unincorporated areas and cities, and
WHEREAS, the KCCP encourages the rural character of unincorporated King County outside the urban growth boundary through the enactment of significantly more restrictive standards including open space and limited development, and
WHEREAS, the KCCP growth policies for the Rural Area are driven by:
Twenty-year growth targets that limit or cap the total number of units; and
A growth rate in the Rural Area that has exceeded the targets, and
WHEREAS, during the recent council deliberations on a new Transportation Concurrency Map, an amendment was offered to exempt certain short plats in the rural area from concurrency standards, and
WHEREAS, the King County prosecuting attorney's office indicated that offering such relief could be constitutional if the council provided a rational basis for such relief, and
WHEREAS, there has, to date, been no supportable inventory provided of vacant lots that could be subdividable, and buildable, when existing constraints are taken into consideration, and
WHEREAS, while the council recognizes the need to encourage and focus growth in the Urban Areas, maintaining the significantly stricter regulations for Rural Area residents may be unnecessary, and
WHEREAS, the council also recognizes that current regulations may be unfair to many rural landowners for whom their land represents their primary or sole financial investment, and
WHEREAS, the council also recognizes that the current KCCP policies do not allow for relief of Rural Area landowners who, due to age, income status or infirmity, need additional support from restrictive regulations, and that such relief may be necessary to allow these landowners to continue living in the Rural Areas;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The county executive is directed to prepare a study on the potential for creation of additional lots in the Rural Area. The study would be based upon the number of ten-acre or larger lots in the Rural Area with sufficient area to allow further subdivision consistent with zoning. The study would also factor any known constraints that would affect the potential for subdivision, such as lot configuration, sensitive areas, lack of sewer or public water, designation as permanent open space, or being under public ownership.
The county executive is further directed to prepare a study, in consultation with the King County prosecuting attorney's office, to identify current policies and text in the KCCP that are barriers to providing relief for certain targeted populations of county residents and to prepare revisions to those barriers that would pass constitutional challenge.
The county executive is further directed to complete and transmit to council the studies noted in this motion by December 31, 2002.