Edgewood City Zoning Code

Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish procedures for amendment of the city's comprehensive plan map/text and the development regulations. In addition, this chapter will describe the city's public participation process, which is intended to solicit comments and suggested amendments to the city's comprehensive plan and development regulations for consideration. The public participation process described herein is supplemented by a booklet attached to the ordinance codified in this chapter as Exhibit A, which provides additional detail.

Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Development Regulations. The comprehensive land use plan is defined as the generalized, coordinated land use policy statement of the city, and the accompanying map, adopted under the Growth Management Act (Chapter 36.70A RCW). The development regulations are the controls placed on development or land use activities by the city, including, but not limited to, the city's codes on zoning, critical areas, official controls, planned unit developments, subdivisions, binding site plans and the shoreline master program.

Types of Amendments. The applications that will be processed under this chapter as legislative amendments are comprehensive plan amendments to the comprehensive plan map or policies and development regulation amendments (to the text of the development regulations) which do not implement the existing comprehensive plan.

EMC § 18.60.050: director's determination that the application is complete;

EMC § 18.60.060: SEPA and Chapter 20.05 EMC;

EMC § 18.60.070: notice of public hearing;

EMC § 18.60.210: public hearing before the planning commission;

EMC § 18.60.230: city council considers application;

EMC § 18.60.240: final decision, transmittal to state;

EMC § 18.60.240: appeal to Growth Management Hearings Board (if any).

Who May Submit Applications. Any interested person, including citizens, hearing examiners, staff of other agencies, planning commission and city council members, may submit an application for an amendment of a development regulation.

When Applications May Be Submitted. The text of the city's adopted development regulations may be amended at any time; provided, that the amendment is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and land use map. When inconsistent with the comprehensive plan and land use map, the amendment shall be processed concurrent with any necessary plan amendments using the process and timelines for comprehensive plan amendments in EMC § 18.60.120 through 18.60.240. Applications that do not include the information required in EMC § 18.60.050 shall not be processed.

An application form provided by the city;

Name, address, phone number and email of the applicant and, if the applicant is not the property owner, proof of the property owner's consent to the submission of the application;

Name, address, phone number and email of the owner of the property identified in the application (if applicable);

A legal description of the property, if applicable;

A description of the proposed amendment and any associated development proposals, if applicable. Formal site-specific or project-related amendments shall include plans, information and/or studies that accurately depict existing and proposed use(s) and improvements. Proposed site-specific or project related amendments that do not specify proposed use(s) and potential impacts will be assumed to have maximum impact to the environment, public facilities and services;

Proposed amendatory language, preferably shown in "bill" format (i.e., new language underlined; language proposed for deletion in strikeouts);

An explanation of the rationale for the proposed amendment;

An explanation of how the proposed amendment and associated development proposal(s), if any, conform to, conflict with, or relate to the criteria set forth in EMC § 18.60.220;

A completed SEPA checklist including the supplement sheet for nonproject actions (if applicable);

Application fee as set forth in the city of Edgewood fee schedule; and

Any additional information reasonably deemed necessary by the planning director to evaluate the proposed amendment.

Notice of any public hearing on an application for an amendment to a development regulation submitted outside of the annual comprehensive plan amendment process set forth in EMC § 18.60.120 through 18.60.240 shall be given by one publication in the official newspaper of the city at least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing and by posting a copy of the notice of public hearing in City Hall and on the city's website.

For site-specific proposals, the subject property shall be posted.

Additional notice may be required by state or local law (e.g., statutory notice requirements for amendments to the shoreline master program), or additional notice may be provided as deemed appropriate by the director.

The public notice shall include the following:

If the city council concludes that no change in the recommendation of the planning commission is necessary, the city council may make a final determination on the proposed amendment(s) without holding another public hearing, and make a final decision.

If the city council concludes that a change in the recommendation of the planning commission is necessary, the city council shall consider whether another opportunity for public review and comment is needed under RCW 36.70A.035(2)(a) and, if so, it shall hold another public hearing before making a final decision.

Legislative Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan. The director is authorized to administer the provisions of this chapter. The planning commission shall have the authority to hold the public hearing on any proposed comprehensive plan amendment(s), and to provide a recommendation to the city council. The city council shall consider the planning commission's recommendation during a public meeting or a public hearing and make a final decision.

Development Agreement. A legislative amendment to the comprehensive plan that is site-specific may be approved subject to the execution, delivery and recording of a development agreement between the city council and the property owner of the subject property (or the legal owner of a beneficial interest in the subject property). The development agreement may impose conditions to address the criteria set forth in EMC § 18.60.220, and approval of the comprehensive plan amendment shall be conditioned upon performance or compliance with the terms and conditions of the development agreement. The city may revoke (or take other action allowed by law) a comprehensive plan amendment executed with a development agreement for failure to comply with the development agreement. An applicant proposing a comprehensive plan amendment with a development agreement shall submit the proposed development agreement with the application materials described in EMC § 18.60.050. The city will evaluate the proposed development agreement together with the proposed comprehensive plan amendment (see Chapter 18.55 EMC on development agreements), to determine whether the amendment should be approved.

Who May Submit Applications for Amendments Related to Site-Specific Development Proposals. Proponents of land development projects and/or property owner(s) or their authorized representative(s) may file an application for an amendment to the comprehensive plan relating to a site-specific proposal. The complete application shall consist of the materials described in EMC § 18.60.050, a completed application form and the application fee as set forth in the city of Edgewood fee schedule. The applicant shall also pay for the applicant's portion of the SEPA review attributable to the application.

Who May Suggest Amendments. Any interested person, including citizens, hearing examiners, staff of other agencies, planning commission and city council members, may suggest an amendment to the comprehensive plan. Generally, suggested amendments should be limited to proposals that broadly apply to the goals, policies and implementation strategies of the comprehensive plan rather than amendments designed to address site-specific issues of limited applicability. If an application is not submitted for the suggested amendment by an interested person, the planning director shall include the suggested amendment on a docket that is maintained each year for this purpose. The process described in EMC § 18.60.160 through 18.60.170 shall resolve the question whether such suggested amendments will be considered during the annual review process.

Amendments Considered Once a Year. Applications for amendments to the city's comprehensive plan may not be considered more frequently than once every year, except: (1) under the circumstances described in RCW 36.70A.130(2)(a)(i) through (v)(2); when needed to resolve an emergency condition or situation that involves public health, safety or welfare and when adherence to the amendment process set forth in this chapter would be detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare. Situations involving official legal or administrative action affecting the city will be reviewed by the city council with advice from the city attorney to determine whether an emergency exists warranting an emergency comprehensive plan amendment. Except as otherwise provided in RCW 36.70A.130(2)(a), all comprehensive plan amendments shall be considered concurrently so that the cumulative effect of the various proposals may be ascertained.

Deadline for Application Submittal. All applications for comprehensive plan amendments shall be submitted to the planning director by December 31st of the current calendar year (or be included in the director's docket of suggested amendments by this date) in order to be considered during the following year's amendment process; except that city-sponsored proposals to amend the capital facilities element of the comprehensive plan may be accepted later than other proposed amendments because of their relationship to the city's annual budget process. Applications that do not include the information required under EMC § 18.60.050 for a complete application, or which are not received by the deadline set forth in this subsection, shall not be processed.

Contents. A preliminary docket shall be maintained by the planning director, which shall consist of the following:

Planning Director Responsibilities. After compiling the preliminary docket, the planning director shall review the suggested amendments and prepare a report concerning which suggested amendments the planning director believes should be placed on the final docket for consideration during the annual amendment process. In addition to addressing the need, urgency and appropriateness of each suggested amendment, the staff report shall include, but not be limited to, a consideration of the following:

All applications for comprehensive plan amendments for site-specific amendments timely submitted under EMC § 18.60.130; and

Any proposals for suggested amendments which the city council elects to consider during the annual amendment process.

All proposed amendments on the final docket shall be reviewed and assessed by the planning commission, which shall make a recommendation to the city council after holding at least one public hearing.

After the public hearing(s), the planning commission shall develop findings and conclusions to support its recommendation to the city council that the proposed amendment(s) be denied, approved, or approved with conditions or modifications.

All Amendments. All of the comprehensive plan amendments shall be reviewed under the following criteria:

Amendments for Site-Specific Proposals. In addition to the above, any proposal for a site-specific development or amendment shall be reviewed under the following criteria:

If the city council concludes that no change in the recommendation of the planning commission is necessary, the city council may make a final determination on the proposed amendment(s) without holding another public hearing, and make a final decision.

If the city council concludes that a change in the recommendation of the planning commission is necessary, the city council shall consider whether another opportunity for public review and comment is needed under RCW 36.70A.035(2)(a) and, if so, it shall hold another public hearing before making a final decision.

Timelines. The planning commission shall review and, if necessary, recommend revisions to the comprehensive plan during a periodic assessment performed in accordance with RCW 36.70A.130. The planning commission shall complete its assessment of the comprehensive plan by November 1st of the year prior to the assessment. Any amendments recommended by a majority vote of the planning commission shall be forwarded to the planning director by March 1st of the year in which the periodic assessment is conducted. The planning director shall place all such recommended amendments on the preliminary docket to be considered during the final docket selection process set forth in EMC § 18.60.140 through 18.60.170.

Criteria Governing Planning Commission Assessment. The planning commission's periodic assessment and recommendation shall be based upon, but shall not be limited to, an inquiry into the following growth management indicators: