GMA Concurrency Goal and the State Transportation System
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The GMA Concurrency Goal and the State Transportation System December 2006 December 2006 The GMA Concurrency Goal and the State Transportation System Washington State Department of Transportation Policy Development and Regional Coordination Transportation Planning Office Transportation Building P.O. Box 47370 Olympia, Washington 98504-7340 (360) 705-7962 This page left intentionally blank. Acknowledgements WSDOT would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their participation in completing this study. Concurrency Oversight Committee Senator Mary Margaret Haugen Representative Lynn Schindler Senator Bill Finkbeiner Representative Alex Wood Senator Craig Pridemore Representative Beverly Woods Senator Joyce Mulliken Representative Dean Takko Eric Johnson, Washington Association of Counties Ashley Probart, Association of Washington Cities WSDOT Project Coordinator Karena Houser, Project Coordinator WSDOT Paula J. Hammond, P.E., Chief of Staff June Olah, Project Assistant Brian Smith, Director, Strategic Planning and Programming Jason Beloso, Planning Office Elizabeth Robbins, Planning Manager Terri Hotsko, Planning Office Eric C. Phillips, Regional Coordination Branch Manager Ralph Wilhelmi, Planning Office Steve Reinmuth, Government Relations Director Alan Harger, Development Services Whitney Buschmann, Geographic Services Ramin Pazooki, Development Services Shawn Blaesing-Thompson, Geographic Services Mike Wendt, Reference Librarian Barb De Ste. Croix, P.E., Access/Hearings Engineer Zoe Estus, Graphic Communications Vicki Steigner, Olympic Region Office Renee Zimmerman, Urban Planning Office Other Participants Robin Rettew, Office of Financial Management Michael Groesch, Senate Transportation Committee Rich Struna, Office of Financial Management Kelly Simpson, Senate Transportation Committee Jennifer Ziegler, Office of Financial Management Ethan Moreno, House Local Government Committee Paul Parker, Washington State Transportation Commission King Cushman, Puget Sound Regional Council V. Thera Black, Thurston Regional Planning Council Julie Murray, Washington Association of Counties Roger Schoessel, City of Lacey Jay Balasbas, House Republican Caucus David Bowman, House Transportation Committee Joseph Backholm, Senate Republican Caucus Kathryn Leathers, House Transportation Committee Beth Redfield, House Transportation Committee Leonard Bauer, Department of Community Trade & Economic Development Dave Anderson, Department of Community Trade & Economic Development Joyce Phillips, Department of Community Trade & Economic Development Genevieve Pisarski, Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee Contents Acknowledgements Executive Summary 1. Introduction ..............................................................................................1 What is Concurrency? .................................................................................................. 1 What is the Analysis Request? .................................................................................... 1 What Led to the Analysis Request? ............................................................................ 2 What is the Analysis Approach? .................................................................................. 4 Cascadia - The Transportation Challenges of Planned Growth ............................... 5 2. Current Law: Planning and Concurrency Requirements for State-Owned Transportation Facilities .........................................................................7 The Growth Management Act ..................................................................................... 7 The Transportation Concurrency Requirement ......................................................... 9 Planning for State-Owned Transportation Facilities ................................................. 9 Regional Coordination of Planning ........................................................................... 12 3. Current Practice: State, Regional and Local Roles in Planning and Concurrency ..........................................................................................15 CTED’s Role in Local Land Use Planning ................................................................. 16 WSDOT’s Role in Local and Regional Transportation Planning ............................. 19 The RTPO Certification Process in Regional Planning ........................................... 23 Local Planning and Concurrency Practices ............................................................. 25 4. Current Law: Tools for Mitigating Development Impacts ..................31 Land Dedication and Voluntary Agreements ........................................................... 31 State Environmental Policy Act ................................................................................. 33 Local Transportation Act and Transportation Benefit Districts ............................. 37 Growth Management Act Impact Fees ..................................................................... 38 Access Control ........................................................................................................... 41 5. Current State and Local Mitigation Practices ....................................45 WSDOT Review of Development Proposals............................................................. 45 WSDOT Access Control on State Highways ............................................................ 47 Local Mitigation Practices ......................................................................................... 49 Lacey Initiates Improvements to the State Transportation System ...................... 51 6. Findings ...................................................................................................53 Planning Gaps ............................................................................................................. 54 Funding Gaps .............................................................................................................. 55 Governance Gaps ....................................................................................................... 56 7. Comparison of Policy Options ..............................................................59 Policy Options ............................................................................................................. 59 Policy Comparison Approach .................................................................................... 60 Planning Policy Options ............................................................................................. 61 Governance Policy Options ....................................................................................... 64 Funding Policy Options .............................................................................................. 69 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 77 US 2 in Monroe ........................................................................................................... 78 Appendix A: Proviso Language ...............................................................A-1 Appendix B: Meeting Minutes .................................................................B-1 Appendix C: Maps ....................................................................................C-1 Appendix D: Glossary ...............................................................................D-1 Appendix E: Short Terms ......................................................................... E-1 Executive Summary In 2006, the legislature funded an analysis of expanding the Growth Management Act (GMA) transportation concurrency requirement to state highways and ferry routes. The analysis objective was to determine how to ensure jurisdictional divisions do not defeat GMA concurrency goals. The Washington State Department of Transporta- tion (WSDOT) conducted the analysis by defining concurrency within the context of statutory law and judicial decisions and examining how the law has been applied through administrative practice. This information, along with findings and a detailed comparison of policy concepts to address the findings, is included in the full text of the analysis. This summary provides a brief background of concurrency, describes the analysis approach, and highlights key points of the policy concepts presented. Concurrency Under the 990 GMA, concurrency is one of 4 goals local governments must con- sider in land use planning. The concurrency goal is intended to ensure public facili- ties such as sewer, water, roads, parks, and schools are adequate to serve development at the time of occupancy without decreasing service levels below locally established minimum standards. In theory, concurrency encourages land use patterns that can be served efficiently by public infrastructure, provides appropriate infrastructure at the time of new development, and prevents new development from degrading locally agreed-upon service standards for the current users of existing infrastructure. The GMA also defines a specific transportation concurrency requirement. Cities and “What the GMA’s concurrency principle counties must deny development that causes the level of service on a locally-owned guarantees is “truth in planning.” That transportation facility to decline below the adopted standard, unless improvements is: local governments must disclose or strategies to accommodate the impacts of that development are completed