A bill that addresses a desire from local governments to reform the update timeline of the Growth Management Act (GMA) has passed the Legislature.
HB 1241, introduced last session, was amended this year in the House, bifurcating the tribal consultation process and the inclusion of
the Shoreline Master Plan in the planning timeline extension. The House made one final amendment on the floor to extend the new progress reporting timeline by three months. The Senate made no amendments to the bill and, so, HB 1241 passed the Legislature and awaits the Governor’s signature.
The final bill does the following:
- Extends the comprehensive plan update cycle to every ten years, starting with the 2034 update.
- Requires that every five years (halfway through the update cycle) cities over 6,000 in population submit a progress report including the following topics, based on guidance from the Department of Commerce:
- Progress on implementation of the previously adopted Housing Element and any effect those changes had on housing availability and affordability in the community;
- Permit processing timelines;
- Progress towards any actions to achieve greenhouse gas emission or vehicle miles traveled reductions, should the GMA be amended to include those requirements; and
- If a city has not taken any adopted action to implement the comprehensive plan since the last update, the city must identify the need for action in the progress report, adopt a workplan to implement needed action, and complete implementation of the
action within two years of submitting the progress report.
- Delays the update cycle for cities in the Puget Sound Regional Council region by six months to allow expected planning grant funding to be provided by the state. The new deadline for those cities is December 31, 2024.