Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound
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Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound A Regional Alliance of Puget Sound Counties, Cities, the Puget Sound Regional Council, Forterra and Department of Commerce June 2013 Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brian Bonlender, Director, Washington State Department of Commerce Bob Drewel, Executive Director, Puget Sound Regional Council Gene Duvernoy, President, Forterra Acknowledgements Washington State Department of Commerce Leonard Bauer, Managing Director, Growth Management Services Heather Ballash, Senior Planner, Project Manager/Editor Brad Wright, Communications Consultant, Editor Puget Sound Regional Council Ivan Miller, Program Manager, Growth Management Planning Forterra1 Skip Swenson, Senior Managing Director, Policy King County Darren Greve, Transfer of Development Rights Program Manager, Department of Natural Resources Pierce County Diane Marcus-Jones, Senior Planner, Pierce County Planning and Land Services Kimberly Freeman, Resource Stewardship Superintendent, Pierce County Parks and Recreation Snohomish County Steve Skorney, Senior Planner, Planning and Development Services Mark Beardslee, Senior Planner, Retired Kitsap County Katrina Knutson, Senior Planner, Department of Community Development Jeff Smith, Senior Land Use Planner, Department of Community Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Michelle Wilcox, Puget Sound Team, US Environmental Protection Agency 1 Formerly Cascade Land Conservancy Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound This project has been funded wholly or in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement PO-00J093-01-0. The contents of this document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. Special thanks to the cities and counties who are participating in the Regional Transfer of Development Rights Alliance. Heather Ballash, Senior Planner Washington State Department of Commerce Growth Management Services 1011 Plum St. SE P.O. Box 42525 Olympia, WA 98504-2525 www.commerce.wa.gov For broken links or more information, go to the Regional TDR website at www.commerce.wa.gov/tdr. For people with disabilities, this report is available on request in other formats. To submit a request, please call 360-725-4000 (TTY 360-586-0772). Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4 History of Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound ........................................................ 16 King County .................................................................................................................................... 18 Pierce County.................................................................................................................................. 23 Snohomish County .......................................................................................................................... 26 Kitsap County ................................................................................................................................. 29 TDR Policy Advisory Committee .............................................................................................................. 31 EPA Grants for TDR ................................................................................................................................ 32 West Coast Estuary Initiative Grant – The Regional TDR Alliance .............................................................. 32 Watershed Management Assistance Grant – City Planning for TDR Receiving Areas ................................. 33 National Estuary Program Puget Sound Watershed Protection and Restoration Grant .............................. 35 Forterra Acquisitions and TDR Resources ................................................................................................ 37 Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program ...................................................................... 38 What’s Next for Regional TDR? ............................................................................................................... 40 City Case Studies .................................................................................................................................... 41 Arlington ...................................................................................................................................... 42 Bellevue ........................................................................................................................................ 45 Everett .......................................................................................................................................... 50 Issaquah ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Mountlake Terrace ........................................................................................................................ 59 Normandy Park ............................................................................................................................. 61 Sammamish .................................................................................................................................. 65 Seattle .......................................................................................................................................... 70 Snohomish .................................................................................................................................... 75 Tacoma ........................................................................................................................................ 78 Port Orchard ................................................................................................................................. 81 Puyallup ....................................................................................................................................... 83 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................ 84 Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound Executive Summary Overview The challenge in Puget Sound is to accommodate the more than 1.5 million new people expected to live here by 2025, and adapt to a changing climate, without increasing pressures on Puget Sound from habitat and land use, storm water, toxic pollution, and transportation2. Between 2000 and 2006, Puget Sound counties added 315,965 people, a rate of more than 50,000 people per year. Many farm and forest land areas are being converted to residential and commercial development. Between 1991 and 2001, 190 square miles of forest land in the Puget Sound basin was converted to other uses, equaling 2.3 percent of remaining forests.3 Counties and cities have been working together on Puget Sound conservation goals through the regional transfer of development rights (TDR) since King County and the Cities of Seattle and Issaquah adopted interlocal agreements in 2001. This report provides a history and summary of the regional accomplishments to date, with a focus on TDR programs recently adopted by cities (see City Case Studies) under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Watershed Management Assistance Agreement4. Forterra began working with counties and cities on regional TDR as a market-based conservation strategy to implement its Cascade Agenda, adopted in 2005 with goals for the next 100 years. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) and Washington State Department of Commerce (Commerce) became involved in regional TDR when Commerce was directed by legislation in 2007 to work with an advisory committee to develop a regional TDR marketplace in central Puget Sound that includes, but is not limited to, supporting strategies for financing infrastructure and conservation5. TDR implements multi-county planning polices PSRC adopted in VISION 2040. 2 The 2012 Action Agenda for Puget Sound, Puget Sound Partnership. 3 State of the Sound 2007, Puget Sound Action Team. 4 EPA Assistance Agreement PO-00J093-01-0. 5 RCW 43.362.020(1)(a). Regional Transfer of Development Rights in Puget Sound 1 Legislation implementing the consensus recommendations of the advisory committee was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor in 20096, contingent upon Commerce finding another funding source to implement it. Through an EPA West Coast Estuary Initiative grant, this Watershed Management Assistance (WMA) grant and a WMA grant to King County, all intended to implement the Puget Sound Action Agenda, the regional partners (King County, Pierce County, Snohomish County, Kitsap County, PSRC, Forterra and Commerce) have been able to implement the legislation and keep regional TDR moving forward. Regional Accomplishments All four central Puget Sound counties (King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap) have adopted TDR policies and regulations, and 10 cities have in place or are working on regional transfer