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By: Steve C. Morasch Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt 700 Washington Street, Suite 701

“Serving Land for Jobs” Infrastructure and Transportation An Overview of the 2016 Comprehensive Planning Process. By: Steve C. Morasch Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt 700 Washington Street, Suite 701 Vancouver, WA 98660 360-905-1433 smorasch@sww.com.

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By: Steve C. Morasch Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt 700 Washington Street, Suite 701

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  1. “Serving Land for Jobs”Infrastructure and TransportationAn Overview of the 2016 Comprehensive Planning Process By: Steve C. Morasch Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt 700 Washington Street, Suite 701 Vancouver, WA 98660 360-905-1433 smorasch@sww.com

  2. Comprehensive Plans – Mandatory Elements (RCW36.70A.070) Each comprehensive plan shall include each of the following: 1. A land use element (guides zoning). 2. A housing element. 3. A capital facilities plan element. 4. A utilities element. 5. Rural element.

  3. Comprehensive Plans – Mandatory Elements (RCW36.70A.070) 6. A transportation element that implements, and is consistent with, the land use element. 7. An economic development element. 8. A park and recreation element.

  4. Comprehensive Plans – Mandatory Elements (RCW36.70A.070) The interplay of these mandatory elements influences decisions about expanding the Urban Growth Area. How do we know how much land we need? • Various planning assumptions for population and jobs growth and future density are used to determine the amount of land needed to be added to the UGA.

  5. Comprehensive Plans – Mandatory Elements (RCW36.70A.070) • There are many assumptions made in the planning process and errors in any of them can lead to a plan that has an undersupply of needed land or infrastructure. • The Accounting Principle of GIGO governs growth management planning: Garbage in, garbage out.

  6. 2013 Vacant Lands Inventory To determine how much land should be added during an update to accommodate projected growth, the county must assess how much buildable land exists compared with projected needs. 2013 vacant buildable lands: • 8,037 net residential acres with a capacity of 147,742 residents.

  7. 2013 Vacant Lands Inventory • 3,109 net acres of commercial lands with employment capacity of 62,180, at 20 jobs per acre. • 3,587 net acres of industrial land with an employment capacity of 32,283, at 9 jobs per acre. • Employment capacity of vacant lands in all county urban growth acres is 94,463.22 __________ 2 Memorandum/White Sheet presented to the BOCC on July 17, 2013, page 2 of 5

  8. 2013 Vacant Lands Inventory Many assumptions govern the 2013 Vacant Lands inventory, including: • Assumptions about the percentage of a site that will need to be devoted to infrastructure (streets, stormwater, parks, etc.) and will therefore be unavailable to develop; and • Assumptions about the percentage of Critical Areas (wetlands and riparian areas) that will be developed to commercial and industrial uses.

  9. 2013 Vacant Lands Inventory • Assumptions about density for both residential and commercial industrial development (e.g., jobs per acre). • Infill and redevelopment assumptions.

  10. 2013 Vacant Lands Inventory How does the County decide on these important assumptions? “Planning assumptions are based on OFM numbers and direction from the Board of County Commissioners.”3 __________ 3 Memorandum/White Sheet presented to the BOCC on July 17, 2013, page 2 of 5

  11. Comprehensive Plan: Mandatory Element (3) The Comprehensive Plan must include a Capital Facilities Plan: 1. An inventory of existing capital facilities; 2. A forecast of the future needs for such capital facilities; 3. The proposed new or expanded capital facilities;

  12. Comprehensive Plan: Mandatory Element (3) 4. Six-year finance plan that clearly identifies sources of public money for such purposes; and 5. If a funding shortfall occurs, the land use element must be reassessed (i.e., downzoning or moratoria to address lack of funded capital facilities).4 __________ 4 RCW36.70A.070

  13. Comprehensive Plan: Mandatory Element (6) A transportation element that implements, and is consistent with, the land use element: • Inventory of needed transportation improvements. • Financing Plan for paying for needed improvements.

  14. Comprehensive Plan: Mandatory Element (6) • Concurrency: Comprehensive Plan must establish Level of Service (LOS) for transportation facilities and must prohibit development unless infrastructure is in place to meet the LOS or a financing commitment is in place to construct the needed infrastructure within 6 years.

  15. Consistency in infrastructure planning is required by two different statutory mandates and one practical realty: • Statutory requirement to re-evaluate land use element (i.e., zoning) if infrastructure funding falls short. • Statutory mandate to prohibit development that does not meet the minimum LOS established in the comprehensive plan, unless there is a financial commitment to complete the improvements within six years (concurrency).

  16. No statutory mandate required to ensure that development does not occur without adequate sewer and water. Conclusion: If the 6-year Capital Facilities Plan falls short either because of cost overruns or because money is diverted to other projects, then planned development will suffer.

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