HB 2158 from Rep. April Connors (R–Kennewick) proposes a novel approach to providing more land suitable for urban development—automatic urban growth area (UGA) boundary expansion.

By the next comprehensive plan update, cities and counties must expand UGA boundaries to include all parcels that:

• Share a common boundary with the UGA.
• Is developed or has been approved for residential development by the county.
• Has access to urban services or is in an area that the county plans to provide urban services.
• Are adjacent to a road along a UGA boundary where one side of the road reflects the above conditions.

Development capacity for parcels newly added to the UGA must be equivalent of the parcels currently inside the UGA, and they would be authorized to connect to urban services.

We can envision a host of practical questions and challenges that this proposal will generate. One feature it does do is highlights for the Legislature the implications of our growth management framework on housing costs. A common narrative in the Legislature and media is that cities are opposed to housing, and local development regulations are a key driver of housing cost increases. The reality is that the state has, for good reasons, driven growth into urban areas where it is naturally more expensive to build than open, undeveloped land. The Growth Management Act constrains the land base that is suitable for urban levels of development, which by its very nature raises land values in those areas. This proposal reminds us that there are several interrelated factors driving our housing markets.

Dates to remember

HB 2158 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Housing Committee on Thursday, January 25 at 8 am.