WAC 365-195-765
State agency compliance. (1) RCW 36.70A.103 declares that state agencies shall comply with the
local comprehensive plans and development regulations and
amendments thereto adopted pursuant to the act.
(2) The department construes the provision for state
agency compliance to require that each state agency must meet
local siting and building requirements when it occupies the
position of an applicant proposing development, except where
specific legislation explicitly dictates otherwise. Generally
this means that the development of state facilities is subject
to local approval procedures and substantive provisions,
including zoning, density, setbacks, bulk and height
restrictions.
(3) RCW 36.70A.210(4) provides that adopted county-wide
planning policies shall be adhered to by state agencies. Consistent with other statutory mandates, state programs
should be administered in a manner which does not interfere
with implementation of the county framework for
interjurisdictional consistency.
(4) Overall, the broad sweep of policy contained in the
act implies a requirement that all programs at the state level
accommodate the outcomes of the growth management process
wherever possible. State agencies are rarely concerned solely
with the rote application of fixed standards. The exercise of
statutory powers, whether in permit functions, grant funding,
property acquisition or otherwise, routinely involves such
agencies in discretionary decision-making. The discretion
they exercise should now take into account the new reality of
legislatively mandated local growth management programs.
(5) After local adoption of plans and regulations under
the act, state agencies are encouraged to review their
existing programs in light of the local plans and regulations.
Within relevant legal constraints, this review should lead to
redirecting the state's actions in the interests of
consistency with the growth management effort.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 36.70A.190 (4)(b). 93-17-040, §
365-195-765, filed 8/11/93, effective 9/11/93.]