Click here to skip to main content.
scenic picture from Washington state
Subjects › Planning › SSB 6544 Extends Time Period for Final Plat Approval
Published 05/2010

New Legislation Extends Time Period for Final Plat Approval

In SSB 6544 (Ch. 79, Laws of 2010), the 2010 legislature extended the statutory time period for submitting final plats for city or county approval from five years after preliminary plat approval to seven years after that approval. It also extended the vesting period for approved final plats from five to seven years. This legislation, which is effective June 10, sunsets on December 31, 2014.

It appears that the purpose of this temporary extension is to save preliminary plats that are in jeopardy of lapsing because of the economic downturn. This purpose should help explain which preliminary plats this legislation applies to. The original bill included an intent section that, although deleted in the substitute bill that was adopted, sheds light on legislative intent:

(1) The legislature finds that active land use permits are expiring due to a downturn on the state economy. Considerable cost has been expended by applicants and local jurisdictions to approve projects. Allowing these projects to expire would make it difficult for the state to meet its housing needs in the future and impose considerable staff costs on local governments to perform work that has already been completed.

(2) The legislature further finds that, in the current period of economic challenge, an extension for plat approvals will contribute to the overall employment of the state by employing citizens of Washington as soon as is practicable in the family wage jobs of the land development and home building industries.

The public testimony in favor of the bill, as summarized in the various bill reports, also focused on the current economic climate and its effect on development activity.

The following represents MRSC's analysis of this legislation and addresses the preliminary plats to which it applies and the effect of its sunset provision:

  • The extension applies to all preliminary plats approved prior to the effective date (June 10) that have not yet expired under RCW 58.17.140.

Consistent with the evident intent of this legislation, it should be interpreted to apply to already-approved preliminary plats for which the subdivider has yet to apply for final plat approval and for which the five-year filing period for final plat approval will not expire prior to June 10, the effective date of this legislation. These preliminary plats - those in danger of expiring - are the focus of this legislation.

The one category of preliminary plat approvals that will fall between the cracks of this extension are those that will expire before June 10. If a city or county has some of those, it could address the problem of looming expiration, should it choose, by issuing an extension authorized by RCW 58.17.140 ("Nothing contained in this section shall act to prevent any city, town, or county from adopting by ordinance procedures which would allow extensions of time that may or may not contain additional or altered conditions and requirements."). However, as stated in that statute, such extensions would have to be authorized through procedures previously adopted by local ordinance.

A city or county could, of course, under RCW 58.17.140 and an enabling ordinance, authorize extensions beyond the seven-year period established by this legislation.

  • The extension applies to all complete preliminary plat applications submitted on or before the sunset date of December 31, 2014.

Although it can be argued that the filing of a complete preliminary plat application does not vest the preliminary plat to this extension because the length of the period for the filing of a final plat does not in any way affect the consideration of the preliminary plat application and thus should not be subject to vesting, it is probably safer and more consistent with the vesting doctrine to treat a complete application as the vesting trigger for purposes of this extension. So, under this approach, it is not necessary to receive preliminary plat approval before the sunset date for the seven-year final plat filing period to apply. Of course, we have over four years for this to be clarified, if necessary.

The sunset provision will have no effect on the length of the filing period for final plat approval of preliminary plats approved prior to the sunset date. In other words, on December 31, 2014, the filing period that applies to such already-approved preliminary plats does not change from seven to five years; it remains at seven years.

  • The extension of the period in which lots in final plats are protected as a valid land use applies to final plats filed for record on or before December 31, 2014.

SSB 6544 amended two provisions of RCW 58.17.170 that address limitations on the vested status of approved final plats. First, it extended the time during which "lots in a final plat filed for record shall be a valid land use notwithstanding any change in zoning laws" from five to seven years. The application of the sunset provision to this provision is straightforward; the extension to seven years applies to all final plats filed for record with the county auditor on or before December 31, 2014.

  • How the sunset provision applies to the other vesting limitation in RCW 58.17.170 is unclear.

SSB 6544 also amended RCW 58.17.170 to extend from five to seven years the period during which an approved final plat is governed by the terms of its approval and by the statutes, ordinances, and regulations in effect "at the time of approval under RCW 58.17.150 (1) and (3)." (RCW 58.17.150 (1) and (3) deal with approval by the local health department and by the city or county engineer.)

What is unclear about this is application of the sunset provision; what exactly must be occur by December 31, 2014 for this extension to apply? Is the submission of a final plat for approval by the sunset date sufficient to vest to this extension, or is final plat approval by the legislative body by the sunset date necessary?  Final plat approval by the legislative body likely will be necessary, but we are not certain on that point.

Fortunately, we have over four years to find out, and perhaps the attorney general's office will weigh in with an opinion or perhaps the legislature will itself clarify this issue.

  • The extension of the period for filing of final plats is effective, as of June 10, 2010, regardless of whether cities and counties amend their local subdivision ordinances to incorporate the extension.

State subdivision law controls over local subdivision ordinances.  RCW 58.17.030.  Thus, while local subdivision ordinances should be amended to be consistent with SSB 6544, existing preliminary plats and new preliminary plat applications to which this legislation applies will be subject to its seven-year final plat filing period regardless of the provisions of local ordinances.

If you have questions about the provisions or implications of this legislation, we recommend that you consult with your city attorney or county prosecutor, as the case may be, and, of course, you may always contact the MRSC legal staff for assistance as well.