2025 saw a number of Growth Management Act (GMA) and housing related bills in Washington, which are particularly relevant as planning counties and cities are in the middle of preparing their comprehensive plan updates and as certain counties and cities face an affordable housing crisis. As a reminder, GMA requires the most populous and fastest-growing counties and cities to develop comprehensive plans that address land use in urban and rural areas, environmental protection, transportation, parks, schools, utilities, and other elements, and update the plans every 10 years.
Below is a list of the bills that made it across the finish line and a brief synopsis of their effects.
GMA Bills
HB 1039: Government Services for Tribal Lands.
Indian tribes and cities may agree to extend urban governmental services beyond city and urban growth areas to tribal boundaries if a tribe's jurisdiction abuts the city's boundaries. Typically, for instance, water and sewer lines cannot extend beyond urban growth areas to serve development. This law carves out an exception.
ESB 1135: GMA Compliance.
After a local government's plan or regulations have been found to be out of compliance with the GMA, the Growth Management Hearings Board may not find the local government back in compliance unless and until it has amended the noncompliant portions of its plan or regulations to address the noncompliance and the amendments themselves are compliant with the GMA. This suspends the noncompliant portions of the new plan or regulations until they are found to be in compliance.
Housing Bills
E2SHB 1096: Lot Splitting.
Cities must include in their development regulations an administrative review process for a lot split, which may be combined with concurrent review of a residential building permit for new single-family or middle housing. Lot splitting differs from platting in process only—it is for the simple and administrative division of a property rather than the complex process that is a major subdivision or platting. The intention here is to create a simpler method for dividing residential lots so as it increase housing options and affordability.
2SHB 1183: Building Code and Development Regulation Reform.
Reform of certain building code and development standard regulations such as roof height allowances for solar panels or prohibiting off-street parking requirements for certain residential projects.
SHB 1353: Self-Certification.
Allows registered architects to self-certify that detached accessory dwelling units meet certain building code requirements. This is intended to streamline permitting.
3SHB 1491: Transit Oriented Housing Development.
Extensive regulations on affordable housing including requiring cities and counties to allow multifamily housing on any residential lot or imposing affordability requirements for housing next to transit.
HB 1757: Existing Buildings Residential Conversion.
Allows existing buildings to be used for residential purposes in residential zones (which was already allowed in commercial or mixed-use zones). Cities over a certain size may not require a change of use permit for the conversion of an existing building to residential purposes.
E2SSB 5148: Housing Elements Under the GMA.
Cities and counties planning under the GMA may voluntarily submit their housing elements for review to the Department of Commerce. Commerce may separately review housing elements for compliance for up to 10 jurisdictions.
ESB 5471: Middle Housing in Urban Growth Areas and Rural Areas.
Authorizes middle housing in unincorporated growth areas, unincorporated urban growth areas, and certain limited areas of more intensive rural development. Middle housing incorporates the ranging of housing types between single-family houses and large apartment buildings such as duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhouses, and cottage clusters.
ESB 5559: Unit Lot Subdivisions.
All cities and towns fully planning under the GMA must adopt or enact procedures for unit lot subdivisions. Unit lot subdivisions are a process for dividing a parent lot into separately owned unit lots which individually do not have to meet the dimensional standards of the overall parent lot.
SB 5571: Exterior Cladding Materials.
Prohibits cities or counties from requiring or excluding exterior cladding materials for housing. Cladding is the exterior material that surrounds a building such as wood, metal or vinyl. There are certain exceptions, including for homeowners associations.
SSB 5587: Affordable Housing Reporting.
Requires the Washington Center for Real Estate Research to produce a biennial reports on how counties are meeting their housing needs.
The land use attorneys at Miller Nash are available to assist in answering questions about this new legislation and how it may affect specific situations.
This article is provided for informational purposes only—it does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the firm and the reader. Readers should consult legal counsel before taking action relating to the subject matter of this article.
