City staff review 2025 legislative agenda; bills on design review, lot splits, juvenile contacts discussed

City staff told the Gig Harbor City Council on Jan. 13 that the state legislative session began that day and will run 105 days, through April 27, and outlined several bills the city is tracking.

The city’s legislative priorities include child-care licensing reform, renter-protection measures that would cap annual rent and fee increases at 7 percent, and concerns about measures affecting local control over design review and lot splitting. The city indicated opposition to bills it said would constrain local review authority.

The city administrator summarized several bills by bill number and topic. Staff described one growth-management bill as changing how compliance is judged across a comprehensive plan (identified in the meeting as House Bill 1135), and said the city had expressed concerns. Staff also described a design-review streamlining bill (referred to as House Bill 1160) that would limit the required architectural submittals and said the city opposed the change because it could impair review of design consistency. Another bill on lot splitting (referred to as House Bill 1096) remained a concern for the city and the Association of Washington Cities.

Staff noted a juvenile contact bill (identified in the meeting as Senate Bill 5052) that on its face appeared to address local concerns about police interactions with juveniles but that staff and the police chief described as neutral in effect and not likely to change current restrictions on officer conversations with juveniles without counsel.

Staff said they would continue monitoring bill hearings and provide council updates; links to hearing dates and testimony were included in the packet materials sent to council members.