03/08/2010: "County Gets A Break On GMA Deadlines"

Responding to a request from the Washington State Department of Commerce and the Department of Ecology, a bill has been passed in the Senate that extends the GMA update deadlines for governments. The change for San Juan county extends the current deadline to: “On or before December 1, 2015, and every seven years thereafter…”

SB 6611 is expected to be signed into the law by the governor as a recognition that due to budget cuts, funding from the state to aid local governments in updating their regulations is no longer available.

The current law requires comprehensive plan updates and shoreline master program updates to be completed in seven-year cycles, but the proposed change:

Extends deadlines for three years for the review and
evaluation of comprehensive land use plan and development
regulations and addresses the timing for adoption of certain
subarea plans.

It also “Specifies that a comprehensive plan amendment for the initial adoption of a subarea plan may occur more frequently than annually if the subarea plan clarifies, supplements, or implements jurisdiction-wide comprehensive plan policies.”

One of the concerns with non-compliance is the possibility that the county will not be eligible for grants and funding, however historically as long as the county is making progress on updating, grants have been available. The proposed changes addresses this:

A county or city that is fewer than twelve months out of
compliance with the schedules in this section for development
regulations that protect critical areas is making substantial progress
towards compliance. Only those counties and cities in compliance with
the schedules in this section may receive preference for grants or
loans subject to the provisions of RCW 43.17.250

The County Council next meets on Tuesday, and it is expected there will be some discussion as to what the proposed changes may mean for the process of updating the comprehensive plan and the shoreline regulations.