HB 1183 is a bit of mish-mash bill that, although is mostly focused on encouraging energy efficient residential buildings, such as passive houses and solar installation, also includes parking and housing unit size restrictions.
The last changes made in the House, include the following:
- Modifies the deadline for implementing new development regulations under the Growth Management Act (GMA) by the sooner of six months after a jurisdiction’s next comprehensive plan update or six months after their next implementation progress report.
- Removes the provision related to adopting specified elevator standards in apartment buildings of a certain size. Another bill addresses this issue: HB 5156.
The prescriptive mandates related to development regulations, including parking and unit sizes of affordable housing, remain.
Date to remember
HB 1183 will be heard in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Thursday, April 3 at 1:30 pm.
Prescriptive GMA bill passes out of committee with changes
February 7, 2025
Although a handful of changes were made, none of them address the fundamental problem of continuing to layer on very detailed state requirements onto local land use planning, in the middle of the comprehensive planning cycle. The substitute version of HB 1183 made the following changes:
- Clarifies that there is no requirement that a city allow a setback of less than 3 feet between residential dwelling units.
- Allows a county to require off-street parking if the county’s roads are not developed to the standards adopted by the cities in that county.
- Requires GMA planning cities to adopt within two years of the bill’s effective date, except for 2027 planning jurisdictions, which are required to include in their comprehensive plan update.
- Directs the Department of Labor and Industries, instead of the State Building Code Council, to adopt the specified elevator standards.
A bill proposes to add multiple prescriptive sections to the GMA
January 20, 2025
The appetite for the Legislature to amend the Growth Management Act seems never ending. A new proposal adds six new sections to the GMA, requires all cities and towns to comply with two of them, and amends an existing chapter of the GMA.
HB 1183, sponsored by Rep. Davina Duerr (D–Bothell), requires the following:
All cities and towns:
- (1) For retrofits of existing buildings to be used for residential housing:
- (a) Height and width must be allowed an additional eight inches for insulation, despite setbacks and height limits.
- (b) Gross floor area must be measured from the interior face of the exterior walls, which includes drywall.
- (2) For existing nonconforming buildings used for residential housing that already project into setbacks, the portion of exterior wall assemblies that include insulation must be allowed to project up to an additional eight inches into the setbacks on all sides.
- (3) For new construction or the retrofit of existing buildings meeting passive house requirements as certified by Phius or the International passive house institute:
- (a) Any required setback must be measured to the outside face of the foundation, and the portion of exterior wall assemblies that include insulation must be allowed to project up to eight inches into setbacks on all sides;
- (b) The building must be allowed to exceed the maximum allowable roof height by eight inches to accommodate additional insulation; and
- (c) Gross floor area must be measured from the interior face of the exterior walls, which includes drywall.
GMA cities and towns:
- Must allow a building to exceed any maximum allowable roof height limits by at least 48 inches to accommodate a roof-mounted solar energy panel.
- May not require façade modulation or upper-level setbacks as a condition of permitting the following types of residential projects:
- Affordable housing;
- New construction meeting passive house requirements;
- The retrofit of existing buildings meeting passive house requirements;
- The conversion of existing buildings to housing or mixed-use development that includes housing;
- Modular construction; or
- Mass timber construction.
- May not require off-street parking for the above residential projects unless the jurisdiction submits an empirical study to Commerce and is certified
It’s anyone’s guess how these new requirements, some of which read like building code amendments, do or do not conflict with the plans and development regulations cities have just completed under the GMA – or the other bills introduced this session. The bill is fast-tracked for a committee vote.
Date to remember
HB 1183 will be heard in the House Local Government Committee on Tuesday, January 21at 10:30 am and is scheduled for a committee vote on Friday at 10:30 am.