05/17/2006: "CC Moves Forward On Vesting Ordinance"

On Tuesday the council held a second work session on a vesting ordinance to address the problem of existing guest houses that are now legally seen as their "principal residence", a finding that prohibits them from having a guest house and a main residence, even when the County had originally approved their proposal to have one of each.

Although the agenda item was to be a work session, there was no work done, except to praise staff or correctly making the minor changes to the ordinance the council had requested at the previous work session.

The heart of the ordinance is the time frame of the new regulations, which go back to November 30, 1991 to set the starting date, and then continue from the date of adoption forward for five years, at which time the window of opportunity will be closed.

Now for the bad news: "the landowner has the burden of proving that a property is eligible". The ordinance does not set standards for compliance, so what will count as proof may get a little dicey, unless some general guidelines -as opposed to set standards- are generated. For those few who have a guest house that was identify as such on county records, or on the submitted plans, the proof is obvious. But there have been cases where the former permit coordinators at the front desk instructed the applicant to remove the word "guest house" from the plans, because there was no other house on the property, so ipso facto, how could this be a guest house?

Now for the good news. Some guidance is provided as to what constitutes a guest house, and in simple terms, it is simply one that meets the limiting criteria in County regulations that pertains to Accessory Dwelling Units (aka Guest Houses) such as a guest house cannot be over 1000 SqFt. The really good news is, that according to the Director of planning, Ron Henrickson, the proposed ordinance will not have to be sent to the Growth Management Board for their review and approval.

A public hearing on the ordinance will be held. To read the entire draft ordinance, click below

DRAFT
Ordinance No.
ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING RULES TO APPLY TO THE CONTRUCTION OF A PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF A CERTAIN LAWFUL FREESTANDING ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT
FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS

WHEREAS, prior to November 30, 2000, San Juan County lawfully allowed the construction of a freestanding accessory dwelling unit, (then called a "guest house") on properties within the county; and
WHEREAS, San Juan County lawfully allowed the construction of a guest house or freestanding accessory dwelling unit prior to the construction of the principal residence; and

WHEREAS, several property owners, in reliance upon the intended sequence of development, planned to construct a principal residence after constructing a freestanding accessory dwelling or guest house, but did not file a completed application for a building permit prior to November 30, 2000; and

WHEREAS, On November 30, 2000, the Growth Management Hearings Board issued an Order which invalidated rules allowing the construction of new freestanding accessory dwelling units or detached "guest houses;" and

WHEREAS, on April 6, 2001, the Growth Management Hearings Board issued a Clarifying Order which explained that the order of November 30,2000 did not apply to applications for a principal residence on properties where a freestanding accessory dwelling unit had already been constructed or otherwise "vested" under the vesting rules of the State of Washington; and

WHEREAS, after April 6, 2001 and before July 25, 2005, San Juan County, in reliance upon its understanding of the meaning and intent of the April 6, 2001 Order of the Growth Board, allowed the construction of a principal residence for certain landowners in the unique situation where an owner had built a bona fide guest house before November 30,2000; and

WHEREAS, on July 25, 2005, the Growth Management Hearings Board explained that the April 6, 2001 and the April 17, 2003 Order of the Growth Board only carved out an exception based upon the statutory exception for vested rights; and

WHEREAS, in the July 25, 2005 Order, the Growth Board said that it does "not render an opinion on the question of which applications for guest houses are subject to the vested rights doctrine"; and
\VHEREAS, San Juan County desires to adopt a local rule for determining what conditions must exist and must have occurred for a timely and complete building permit application for a principal dwelling on properties where a lawful accessory dwelling or "guest house" exists on the property; and

WHEREAS, San Juan County Council desire to have an orderly and fair manner to assure that people who within a reasonable amount of time did reasonably rely upon County laws, policies and regulations to develop their property in a manner that allows them to fulfill those plans to the extent that those plans were backed by investment in the property and actual construction of a bona fide guest house prior to the construction of a Principal residence; and

WHEREAS, the required 60-day notice of intent to adopt ordinance changes was provided to the Washington Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development; and

WHEREAS, an environmental checklist was prepared evaluating potential environmental effects of this Ordinance, a notice of Determination of Non-significance was published, and notice was provided to federal, state and local agencies in accordance with San Juan County Code 18.80.050 and WAC 197-11-340; and

WHEREAS, copies of this Ordinance were made available to the public in accordance with RCW 36.32.120; and

WHEREAS, a duly advertised public hearing was held by the San Juan County Planning Commission on April 26, 2006, at which public testimony was heard, and the Commission forwarded its report, findings and recommendations on the proposed ordinance to the County Council; and,

WHEREAS, the San Juan County Council held a duly advertised public hearing on ___ ' 2006, and after consideration of the whole record, finds that it is appropriate and a benefit to the health, safety and public welfare to adopt rules determining the rules to apply to the construction of a principal dwelling unit on those properties where a freestanding accessory dwelling exists; and

WHEREAS, the proposed ordinance is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED:

Section 1. Authority. This ordinance is adopted pursuant Chapter 36.70 and RCW 19.27.095. This ordinance is intended to establish the rules to apply to the construction of a principal residence on those parcels where a freestanding accessory dwelling has already been constructed on the property. This ordinance confirms rules that have already been adopted, and is not intended to establish new official controls.

Section 2. Rules to Apply to Properties With A Freestanding Dwelling Unit Permitted After November 30, 1991.

A. Classification of Properties
. This ordinance is intended to apply only to those properties that meet both of the following criteria for which the landowner has the burden of proving that a property is eligible.
1. Properties for which a complete building permit for a freestanding accessory dwelling unit (then called a "guest house" and hereafter called a "freestanding accessory dwelling unit") with a living area that did not exceed 1000 square feet was submitted after November 30, 1991 and before November 30, 2000. An accessory dwelling unit or guest house for which a building permit application was submitted before November 30,1991 or after November 30,2000 do not qualify under this criteria.
2. Properties for which at least one of the owners on the date of submission of a completed application for a principal residence was in continuous ownership of said property from July 25, 2005.
3.

B. Rules to Apply to the Construction of the Principal Residence

1. Only for those properties described in Section 2, A, 1. and 2., above, a detached principal residence is an allowed use provided, that the following rules are applied to the review of the application for the principal residence:
a. The existing freestanding accessory dwelling unit as constructed does not exceed 1,000 square feet in living area.
b. The existing freestanding accessory dwelling unit and the proposed principal residence shall be served by the same driveway.
c. The existing freestanding accessory dwelling unit and the proposed principal residence shall be served by the same water supply and sewage disposal system. At least one additional off-street parking space is provided for the existing freestanding accessory dwelling unit in addition to the parking required for the proposed principal residence.
d. The existing freestanding accessory dwelling unit and the proposed principal residence must be owned by the same person.
e. If the existing freestanding accessory dwelling unit is in the shoreline within 200 feet of the ordinary high water mark the freestanding accessory dwelling unit must be no taller than 16 feet above existing grade or taller than 28 feet above the existing grade for a two story structure of which no single floor exceeds 1,000 square feet.

2. The principal residence shall be constructed by applying the building codes and regulations except those pertaining to accessory dwelling units in effect on the date of the complete application for the principal residence is submitted.

Section 3. Rental. Subsequent to the date of submission of an application for a
principal residence pursuant to this ordinance, the freestanding accessory dwelling unit as well as the principal residence may not be rented or leased for periods of less than thirty (30) days, which shall be memorialized by a notice to title.

Section 4. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person is held invalid, remainder of this ordinance or the application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

Section 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect ten days after adoption by
the County Council.

Section 6. Duration. This Ordinance expires five years after the date hereof, except hereof to title pursuant to Section 3., shall survive as a permanent restriction on the property.

Section 7. Codification. This ordinance is intended to expire in five years, therefore it will not be codified.