Pasco council adopts six-month moratorium on applications for certain essential public facilities

The Pasco City Council voted Feb. 17 to impose a six-month moratorium on accepting applications related to certain essential public facilities, including secure community transition facilities, while staff develops permanent land-use regulations and solicits public input.

City Attorney/staff member Mister Stewart told the council the moratorium "buys us time to allow for public input and process for us to explore options and alternatives that we can legally pursue," and stressed that "state law requires that they'd be allowed in our community," meaning the moratorium pauses applications but cannot create a permanent prohibition.

Mayor Pro Tem Milne read the ordinance motion directing staff to return with recommended land-use regulations within six months. The council approved the moratorium by voice vote; staff later corrected a clerical error in the ordinance number (initially read with the wrong number and later amended to Ordinance 48 17).

Stewart described several regulatory tools staff intends to evaluate, including conditional-use permit requirements and enhanced notice or public-hearing processes, and said staff plans to schedule community input sessions during the moratorium. Council members who spoke, including Council Member Figueroa, said they supported the pause as a way to develop "responsible" and legally defensible local standards while acknowledging limits set by state law.

What happens next: staff will draft proposed code language and hold public outreach over the next six months, then return to council with recommendations. The moratorium itself does not determine permit outcomes for any pending or future applications beyond the pause and the development of potential permanent regulations.