Comp Plan (old)

Below is a posting that was made while we were still in a lawsuit with the Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB)over our Comprehensive Plan update. Eventually the GMHB did accede to Judge Hillyer's decision although there was one member (of three) who voted against us. He just couldn't find it in himself to follow the law.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Comprehensive Plan

The City of Normandy Park's 2004 Comprehensive Plan update was challenged by Futurewise (formerly 100 Friends of Washington) and a pair of developers before the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board (CPSGMHB) which ruled that it was "clearly erroneous" because it did not have zoning of four dwelling units per acre (as had been established by the CPSGMHB) as the minimum required for urban density. In addition the CPSGMHB invalidated some of our zoning laws because they felt our behaviour was so outrageous.

The City first had to establish a mortatorium on some development in the city because we no longer had any laws to regulate the development. The City then decided to appeal this ruling. About a month later the Washington Supreme Court issued a ruling called Viking Properties concerning another matter but included in the ruling a decision that stated that the four dwelling unit per acre (so-called "bright-line rule") was a instance of law making by a judicial entity (the CPSGMHB) that had no legislative capability. It further stated that the decision of what was an appropriate urban density for a city was to be determined by the local officials, not the any of the Growth Management Hearing Boards (GMHB).

On Friday, March 24, the City's appeal was heard in King County Superior Court by Judge Bruce Hilyer. After hearing arguments from Jay Derr, the City's attorney and attornies for Futurewise and the developers, Judge Hilyer made a verbal ruling that the Supreme Court had made it abundantly clear that there was no "bright line rule" and that four dwelling units per acre was not a law that could be used to overturn the decisions of the Normandy Park Planning COmmission and City Council.

Due to the construction of the Growth Management Act (GMA), he was not able to just declare the Normandy Park Comprehensive Plan accaeptable but instead remanded the case back to the CPSGMHB with an demand that they not use the any definitions of urban density that they had made up but obey the Viking Properties decision. His written order should be given out this week and then the CPSGMHB will have 30 to 45 days to comply with his order.

Baring surprises, our Comprehensive Plan should be approved before June.

While I attended the hearing on March 24, I am not an attorney and some of my understanding of what went on may not be 100% correct but it is fairly clear that Judge Hilyer did uphold the positon of the City that it is our City Council that has the right and obligaton to determine the proper density rules for the City of Normandy Park as long as we follow the requirements of the GMA to ccomodate the growth assigned to us.