Title
Briefing on State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Exemption Recommendations
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Planning Commission recommends adoption of the proposed Downtown Strategy, which includes an action to establish Downtown as a SEPA exemption area.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive the briefing. Discussion only; No action requested.
Report
Issue:
Whether to discuss adoption of an action to establish Downtown as a SEPA exemption area.
Staff Contact:
Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director, Community Planning & Development, 360.753.8206
Presenter(s):
Leonard Bauer, Deputy Director
Amy Buckler, Senior Planner, CP&D
Background and Analysis:
During scoping for the Downtown Strategy (DTS), the Council's Land Use and Environment Committee considered options for providing State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) flexibility in Downtown.
General background about SEPA is attached.
Options for providing SEPA flexibility is attached.
In 2015, the Committee recommended and the City Council adopted a scope for the DTS which included exploring increased SEPA exemption levels for minor construction projects and/or urban infill exemption levels. During 2016, the DTS planning team explored these options in light of Downtown goals, and recommend within the DTS the City establish Downtown as an SEPA Urban Infill Exemption Area.
The purpose of exempting SEPA is to reduce duplicative process, not to reduce environmental risk assessment or mitigation. Environmental issues must still be addressed, but rather than relying on the SEPA process for this, environmental issues are addressed upfront in the development code. This helps to reduce uncertain development costs and permit review times, and is a way to incentivize development that meets community goals.
During scoping, the City Council decided not to complete a planned action Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the entire Downtown. The reason was that a similar objective can be achieved by th...
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