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The City of Seattle
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An ordinance relating to Council land use decisions; amending Sections 23.76.050, 23.76.062, and 25.05.680 of the Seattle Municipal Code to clarify processes for Council land use decisions.
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Recitals:
In the past several years, Washington State has updated the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) to exempt from administrative appeals various types of local legislative actions.
Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 43.21C.075 allows local jurisdictions to decide whether to provide pre-decision administrative appeals of environmental determinations under SEPA.
The City of Seattle (City) has opted to use an administrative process to consider appeals of SEPA decisions, through the City’s Hearing Examiner.
Many jurisdictions that have administrative appeals processes for SEPA decisions, including King County, Bellevue, Tacoma, and Everett, exempt SEPA procedural decisions for legislative actions from administrative appeals.
Washington State has adopted numerous statutes requiring timely updates to the City’s land use regulations. The City has been in danger of missing deadlines to update its regulations due to additional time needed for administrative appeals of environmental documents.
The Seattle Hearing Examiner has dismissed administrative appeals of environmental documents on statutory grounds that administrative appeals are not allowed for certain types of regulatory changes, but the consideration of whether an appeal is permitted can take months or more to process.
SEPA does not require jurisdictions to allow administrative appeals of SEPA Determinations of Non-Significance or Environmental Impact Statements.
The Land Use Code requires the development of director’s reports for Type IV and V Council land use decisions but does not contemplate Council-sponsored land use decisions.
This bill makes director’s reports optional for Council-sponsored land use legislation.
This bill also removes from the Land Use Code the pre-decision SEPA appeals for legislation adopting or amending the Comprehensive Plan or development regulations. Therefore,
Be it ordained by The City of Seattle as follows:
Section 1. Section 23.76.050 of the Seattle Municipal Code, last amended by Ordinance 124919, is amended as follows:
23.76.050 Reports for Type IV and V Council land use decisions
A. Reports on Council land use decisions
1. Except for Type V Council land use decisions that are proposed by the Director of the Office of Planning and Community Development or the Council, the Director shall prepare a written report on Type IV and V decisions and any associated Type II decisions listed in subsections 23.76.006.C.2.c, 23.76.006.C.2.d, 23.76.006.C.2.f, and 23.76.006.C.2.g and SEPA decisions integrated with such Type II decisions as set forth in subsection 23.76.006.C.2.l.
2. For Type V Council land use decisions proposed by the Director of the Office of Planning and Community Development, the Director of the Office of Planning and Community Development shall prepare the report required under this Section 23.76.050. ((For purposes of this Section 23.76.050 the word "Director" refers to the Director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections or the Director of the Office of Planning and Community Development that is responsible for preparation of the report required by this section.))
3. For Type V Council land use decisions proposed by the Council, any Councilmember may request that the Director, or the Director of the Office of Planning and Community Development prepare a report under this Section 23.76.050.
B. The Director's report for Type IV and V Council land use decisions other than those listed in subsection 23.76.050.C shall include:
1. The written recommendations or comments of any affected City departments and other governmental agencies having an interest in the application or request;
2. Responses to written comments from the public;
3. An evaluation of the proposal based on the standards and criteria for the approval sought and consistency with applicable City policies;
4. All environmental documentation, including any checklist, EIS, or DNS; and
5. The Director's recommendation to approve, approve with conditions, or deny a proposal.
C. For adoption of the Comprehensive Plan, Comprehensive Plan amendments, Land Use Code amendments, area-wide amendments to the Official Land Use Map, and ((Planned Action Ordinances)) planned action ordinances, the Director's report shall include:
1. An evaluation of the proposal based on the standards and criteria for the approval sought and consistency with applicable City policies;
2. ((a)) A summary of the public notice and outreach efforts undertaken to evaluate the proposal;
3. All environmental documentation, including any checklist, EIS, or threshold determination; and
((3.)) 4. The Director's recommendation to approve or reject a proposal.
D. ((A DNS or the Director's determination that an EIS is adequate shall be subject to appeal pursuant to the procedures in subsection C of Section 23.76.022.
E.)) For Type IV ((Decisions)) decisions, the Director's report shall be submitted to the Hearing Examiner and filed with the City Clerk on the same date the notice of availability of the Director's report is given pursuant to Section 23.76.052. The Director's report shall be made available for public inspection at least 21 days prior to the Hearing Examiner's open record predecision public hearing described in Section 23.76.052.
((F.)) G. For Type V Council land use decisions not proposed by the Council, the Director's report shall be submitted to the Council ((and shall be made available to the public)) at least 15 days before the Council hearing described in Section 23.76.062. When a Councilmember requests a Director’s report under subsection 23.76.050.A.3, the Director should attempt to provide the report to the Council at least 15 days before the Council hearing described in Section 23.76.062. All Director’s reports shall be made available to the public upon submission to the Council. The Council may act on a Type V land use decision even if the Council-requested Director’s report is untimely or not provided to Council and the public.
Section 2. Section 23.76.062 of the Seattle Municipal Code, last amended by Ordinance 123913, is amended as follows:
23.76.062 Type V Council land use decisions
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D. Council ((Decision)) decision. In making a Type V Council land use decision, the Council shall consider the oral and written testimony presented at the public hearing, as well as any required report of the Director. ((The City Council shall not act on any Type V Council land use decision until the end of the appeal period for any applicable determination of nonsignificance (DNS) or final EIS or, if an appeal is filed, until the Hearing Examiner issues a decision affirming the Director's DNS or EIS decision.))
Section 3. Section 25.05.680 of the Seattle Municipal Code, last amended by Ordinance 126685, is amended as follows:
25.05.680 Appeals
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F. ((RCW 36.70A.070, 36.70A.600 and 43.21C.495 exempt certain Council land use actions from administrative or judicial appeals, except as provided in subsection 25.05.680.G. Environmental documents and Council land use actions intended to be exempt from SEPA appeals pursuant to RCW 43.21C.495 should so state.)) There is no administrative appeal to the Hearing Examiner of a SEPA threshold determination or the adequacy of an EIS associated with any proposed Comprehensive Plan or development regulation, whether new or amended.
This ordinance shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Sections 1.04.020 and 1.04.070.
Passed by the City Council and signed in open session in authentication of its passage on .
President of the City Council
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Katie B. Wilson, Mayor
Scheereen Dedman, City Clerk