At its meeting in May, the Commission heard reports from the three consolidated land use code advisory committees. The Steering Committee also presented an outline of the major components of what might be included in the code.

The Commission directed the Steering Committee to work with the ideas and options presented by the advisory committees and its own outline and prepare a more detailed framework for the Commission’s review.

Attached to this memorandum is an outline for the major elements of a consolidated land use code. The outline is broken down into the same three subject areas that were addressed by the advisory committees: Planning, Permitting, and Appeals and Enforcement. Following the one page overview, there are separate pages that consider portions of each of these topics in more detail.

In its discussions of the outline, there were several issues that the Steering Committee concluded should be presented to the Commission as options for the Commission’s consideration.

There are some topics not included in this outline that will probably be included in the final proposal. They have not been included here because they do not involve significant policy choices. For example, the Commission staff has been working on a consolidation of the three planning enabling statutes that would be integrated with the GMA. This is largely a technical exercise, although there may be some policy decisions that will need to be addressed in the future.

Included with these materials is an updated version of the Issue Paper from the State and Local Responsibilities Advisory Committee. The descriptions of the different decision making processes has been expanded. The other advisory committee issue papers (Project and Environmental Review and Appeals and Enforcement) are also included, although they have not been updated since the Commission last reviewed them in May.

Finally, a copy of the Regional Transportation Planning Organization statute is included. Some of the Steering Committee members believe this may be a useful model for the Commission to consider.