Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pasco schedules public hearing on proposed SEPA threshold updates for Feb. 2, 2026
Summary
City staff proposed substantial increases to SEPA categorical exemption thresholds — e.g., single-family from 4 to 30 units, multifamily from 4 to 60 units, commercial from 4,000 to 20,000 sq ft — and council unanimously scheduled a February 2, 2026 public hearing to consider amendments to Title 23.
City staff presented proposed amendments to the Pasco Municipal Code’s SEPA threshold provisions and requested the council set a public hearing. Deputy Director Craig Raymond said the city processes roughly double the number of SEPA reviews compared with neighboring communities and that thresholds had not been updated in decades.
Key proposed changes include raising single-family exemption levels from 4 to 30 units (including units under 1,500 sq ft), raising multifamily exemptions from 4 to 60 units, increasing commercial/office/school/recreation thresholds from 4,000 to 20,000 square feet and expanding parking-space thresholds from 20 to 90 spaces. Fill and excavation exemptions were proposed to rise from 100 cubic yards to 1,000 cubic yards. Raymond emphasized that exemptions do not replace required development permits or reviews in environmentally sensitive areas (shorelines, wetlands, critical areas, high-risk archaeological zones).
Staff said they had conducted outreach with neighboring jurisdictions, WSDOT and tribal agencies; no formal objections were raised though agencies provided processing guidance. Council scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 2, 2026 to consider the ordinance.
Next steps: staff will continue outreach and prepare ordinance language and supporting analyses for the February hearing.
