WAC 365-195-600   Public participation.  (l) Requirements. Each county and city planning under the act shall establish procedures for early and continuous public participation in the development and amendment of comprehensive land use plans and development regulations implementing such plans. The procedures shall provide for broad dissemination of proposals and alternatives, opportunity for written comments, public meetings after effective notice, provision for open discussion, communication programs, information services, and consideration of and response to public comments. Errors in exact compliance with the established procedures shall not render the comprehensive plan or development regulations invalid if the spirit of the procedures is observed.

     (2) Recommendations for meeting requirements. The recommendations made in this subsection are intended as a list of possible choices, but it is recognized that meaningful public participation can be accomplished without using all of the suggestions made here or by adopting other methods.

     (a) Public involvement in plan and regulation development.

     (i) In designing its public participation program, each planning jurisdiction should endeavor to involve the broadest cross-section of the community, so that groups not previously involved in planning become involved. The programs should include efforts to explain that citizen input is an essential part of the planning process and provide a framework for advising citizens about timelines for steps in the process and when citizen input will be sought.

     (ii) Visioning. The public should be involved at the earliest possible time in the process of comprehensive planning under the act. This should begin with a visioning process in which the public is invited to participate in a broad definition of the kind of future to be sought for the community. The results of this process should then be incorporated into the plan features, including, but not limited to, locally adopted levels of service and densities selected for commercial, industrial, and residential development.

     (iii) Planning commission. In the process of plan development, full use should be made of the planning commission as a liaison with the public.

     (iv) Public meetings on draft plan. Once the plan is completed in draft form, or as parts of it are drafted, a series of public meetings or workshops should be held at various locations throughout the jurisdiction to obtain public reaction and suggestions.

     (v) Public hearings. When the final draft of the plan has been completed, at least one public hearing should be held prior to the presentation of the final draft to the legislative authority of the jurisdiction adopting it. When the plan is proposed for adoption, the legislative authority should conduct another public hearing prior to voting on adoption.

     (vi) Written comment. At each stage of the process when public input is sought, opportunity should be provided to make written comment.

     (vii) Communication programs and information services. Each jurisdiction should make every effort to collect and disseminate public information explaining the act and the process involved in complying with it. In addition, locally relevant information packets and brochures should be developed and disseminated. Planners should actively seek to appear before community groups to explain the act and the plan development process.

     (viii) Proposals and alternatives. Whenever public input is sought on proposals and alternatives, the relevant drafts should be reproduced and made available to interested persons.

     (ix) Notice. Notice of all events at which public input is sought should be broadly disseminated in advance through all available means, including flyers and press releases to print and broadcast media. Notice should be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least one week in advance of any public hearing. When appropriate, notices should announce the availability of relevant draft documents on request.

     (x) All meetings and hearings to which the public is invited should be free and open. At hearings all persons desiring to speak should be allowed to do so, consistent with time constraints.

     (xi) Consideration of and response to public comments. All comments and recommendations of the public should be reviewed. Adequate time should be provided between the time of any public hearing and the date of adoption of all or any part of the comprehensive plan to evaluate and respond to public comments. The proceedings and all public hearings should be recorded. A summary of public comments and an explanation of what action was taken in response to them should be made in writing and included in the record of adoption of the plan.

     (xii) Every effort should be made to incorporate public involvement efforts into the SEPA process.

     (xiii) Except for the visioning effort, the same steps should precede the adoption of development regulations as was used for the comprehensive plan.

     (b) Continuous public involvement. The planning commission should monitor development of both the plan and the development regulations. After these are adopted, the commission should monitor compliance. The commission should report to the city or county at least annually on possible amendments to the plan or development regulations. In addition at least annually, the commission should convene a public meeting to provide information on how implementation is progressing and to receive public input on changes that may be needed. When any amendments are proposed for adoption, the same public hearing procedure should be followed as attended initial adoption.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 92-23-065, § 365-195-600, filed 11/17/92, effective 12/18/92.]