Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
American Planning Association flags statutory language gaps, urges edits to design‑review and variance language
Summary
APA Washington told a Senate committee that three recent planning‑law changes leave ambiguous terms—'guidelines', 'variance' in design review, and an undefined administrative design review reference in the subdivision statute—and recommended deleting 'guidelines', replacing 'variance' with 'departure', and referencing the GMA definition for administrative design review.
The Washington chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Washington) briefed the Senate committee on three statutory inconsistencies that, the chapter argued, create uncertainty and risk for local implementation.
Robin Probsting, chair of APA Washington’s legislative committee, said APA’s members — practicing planners in cities, counties, tribes, regional agencies and consulting firms — are closely involved in implementing land‑use laws and have observed confusion where the Growth Management Act (GMA), the Planning Enabling Act and the subdivision statute intersect.
Joe Tovar (APA) identified…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
