Commerce releases new buildable lands report guidelines

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) has released an update to the buildable lands guidelines, the first comprehensive update to the guidance since 2000.

In 2017 a number of changes were made to the Buildable Lands Program through E2SSB 5254. Because of these changes, the Legislature called for updated guidelines last year to reflect current issues and challenges of growth management in Washington. A steering committee representing counties, cities, industry experts, and other interest groups developed the guidelines over a year-long process. AWC was a member of the steering committee.

Buildable lands reports are an inventory of available land to measure development of land that has occurred since the last inventory, and to review the resulting population densities against forecast growth. The new guidelines detail procedural, data collection, and methodology suggestions to help local governments complete their buildable land reports. Updated definitions, a comprehensive list of potential “reasonable measures,” and new market supply factor evaluation considerations are also included. The updated Buildable Lands guidelines are available on Commerce’s website.

Originally, six western Washington counties were required under the Growth Management Act's review and evaluation program (RCW 36.70A.215) to complete buildable lands reports:  Snohomish, King, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, and Clark. The same 2017 legislation requiring Commerce to provide updated guidance also added Whatcom County to the list of counties required to report by June 30, 2021. Other counties and cities may complete buildable lands reports to inform their comprehensive plan updates but are not required by the state to do so.