Details

Title	King County Washington, Zoning Code
Highlights	There is implicit recognition that low-income housing stock is in need of rehabilitation.   Title 24 of the Zoning code establishes the policy of King County to provide for the repair and rehabilitation of privately owned dwellings.                       It is implied that fees, while necessary to provide services, can discourage development.   Low income developments are exempt from impact fees.                       It is implied that there is a barrier to development of sufficient housing.   The zoning code allows for mobile homes and manufactured homes to be considered single-unit dwellings in order to increase the potential housing stock.
Description	Title 24 of the King County Code deals with housing and community development. The policy of King County is to provide for the repair and rehabilitation of privately owned dwellings within King County by the use of funds obtained through Federal grant programs. It is in the best interests of the County to enable homeowners and tenants to live in the best conditions possible. In this spirit, the County supports programs to provide for the maintenance and improvement of living environments for residents. Title 21A deals with zoning, impact fees, and development. Section 21A.04.080 defines the urban residential zone. This designation is intended to implement comprehensive plan goals and policies for housing quality, diversity and affordability, and to efficiently use urban residential land, public services and energy. Section 21A.06.345 defines dwelling units to include factory-built housing and mobile homes. Chapter 21A.34 defines the County’s residential density incentives. The purpose is to provide density incentives to developers of residential lands in urban areas and rural activity centers, in exchange for public benefits to help achieve affordable housing, amongst other benefits. Specifically, the statute quantifies the public benefits that can be used to earn density incentives and provides public opportunities to review and comment of the proposed density increases and the public benefits offered to earn them. Chapter 21A.43 discusses impact fees. The purpose of the fees is to fund public education. The statue explains that the established standards ensure that a new development pays a proportionate share of the cost for public school facilities needed to serve such new development. However, low or moderate-income housing projects being developed by public housing agencies or private non-profit housing developers are exempt (21A.43.080) from these assessments. The equivalent of these funds is to be paid from public funds other than impact fee accounts. Also, Individual low or moderate income home purchasers who purchase within their eligibility limits based on standard lending criteria and meet other means tests established by rule by the division are exempted from payment of the impact fee. This site was accessed in February 2004.
Publication Date	2004
Organization	King County, Washington
Web Location	http://www.metrokc.gov/mkcc/code/index.htm

Notice: The contents of this record reflect the views of the author and/or promulgating municipality, and should not be construed as representing the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or U.S. HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. No attempt has been made by U.S. HUD or its contractors to verify the accuracy, currency, or validity of the record contents presented herein.