Planning Commission

City of Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 2025 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 1  City Council Mayor Tim Fletcher Council Hickory Grant Council Jeff Gingell Council Joe Soha Council Clint Wood Council Nettie Grant Planning Commission Commission Milton Beck Commission Brian Weekes Commission DeAnna Beck Commission Trent Thurman City Staff Attorney/Planner Rod Fleck Administrative Nerissa Davis Public Works Director Paul Hampton Consultants Team Leader Tom Beckwith FAICP Economist Eric Hovee Civil Engineer Eric Scott PE Traffic Engineer Michael Read PE Landscape Architect Jennifer Kiusalass ASLA LEED Architect Julie Blazek AIA LEED GIS Jennifer Hackett 2 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan Contents 1. History of Forks 1 Limitations 39 Quileute territory 1 Forecasts 40 Early settlers 2 Potential climate sector impacts 42 A remote farming settlement 2 Greenhouse gases (GHG) 44 Early logging through World War 1 3 GHG reduction measures 44 Through wind, fire, and war 3 Goals and policies 45 “Logging Capital of the World” 4 5. Economic development An industry decline 5 Context 49 Newcomers 5 Economic trends 49 Down but not out 6 Education 50 2. Growth Management Act (GMA) updates Labor force participation 51 Purpose 9 Industry 51 Planning goals of Growth Management Act (GMA 9 Occupation 52 Clallam County Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP) 11 Employers 52 HB 1110 Middle housing 13 Population & employment allocations 53 HB 1181 Climate change 16 Goals and policies 53 HB 1220 Updating housing elements 18 6. Land use HB 1293 Streamlining development regulations 19 Population 57 HB 1337 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) 20 Population allocations 57 Forks comprehensive planning 21 Urban growth area (UGA) 58 3. Environment Industrial land use 59 Topography 23 Commercial land use 60 Earthquakes 24 Public land use 61 Tsunami 24 Residential land use 62 Rivers 25 Remaining residential buildable capacity 64 Shoreline 27 Essential public facility siting process 66 Wetlands 27 Goals and policies 67 Flooding 28 7. Housing Wildfire 29 Demographics 71 Fish 29 Housing demand 78 Wildlife 30 Housing market activity 78 Soil classifications 31 Future housing needs 79 Climate 33 Accessory dwelling units (ADU) 80 Critical areas 34 Middle housing 80 Goals and policies 35 Affordable housing 81 4. Climate change and resiliency Publicly assisted housing 83 Sources 39 Homelessness 84 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 3  Goals and policies 86 Goals and policies 121 8. Transportation 12. Capital facilities Resident characteristics 91 Level of service (LOS) 123 Existing conditions 91 Capital facilities program (CFP) 123 Roadway classification 95 Financial issues 123 Collision history 96 Goals and policies 124 Existing level of service (LOS) 98 Traffic volumes and characteristics 99 Graphics and maps Existing traffic volume 101 Forks Urban Growth Area (UGA) Proposed multimodal level of service (LOS) 101 Hydrology Future transportation needs 102 Shoreline Management Program Designations Growth forecasts 104 Riparian Corridors Goals and policies 104 Shoreline Management Program WAC 9. Community facilities Fish habitat Forks facilities 107 Land use Fire protection services 108 Public lands and facilities Library 109 Transportation WA DNR Olympic Natural Resources Center (ONRC) 109 Water system WA Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 109 Sewer system WA WDFW North Coastal Field Office 110 Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NIFC) 110 Pacific Ranger District – Forks 110 US Forest Service (USFS) 110 10,000 Years Institute 111 Medical and emergency services 111 Solid waste disposal 111 Essential public facilities 112 Goals and policies 112 10. Parks Forks park facilities 113 Goals and policies 115 11. Utilities Water 117 Wastewater disposal 119 Stormwater facilities 120 Electric utility 120 Telephone 120 Television 121 4 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan  1. History of Forks Forks, a small town in the northwest corner of the Olympic Cascadia Earthquake covered some of the Ozette’s village and Peninsula in an area called the West End, is one of three buried some of the inhabitants, the survivors moved to join the incorporated cities in Clallam County. It sits within traditional Makah Tribe to the north. Quileute Indian land on a large prairie surrounded by forestland, an hour's drive west from its largest neighbor, Port If the Quileute UNA had extended to the Quinault River, it would Angeles. have caused problems with the Hoh Tribe, the Queets Tribe (which is nor was it part of the Quinault Tribe according to the Non-Indian settlers arrived in the late 1870s, and the town grew Queets), and the Quinault Tribe because the Quinault River is in slowly from a remote collection of farming homesteads into a the Quinault UNA according to the Quinault. booming timber town by the 1970s, given its proximity to thousands of acres of colossal old growth forests nurtured by The Quileute’s territory stretched north from La Push at the the area's average rainfall of 120-plus inches a year. mouth of the Quillayute River (the tribe and river spellings differ) to adjoin Ozette and Makah lands, then east to the Timber-harvest decline and controversy over protection of headwaters of the Soleduck and Hoh rivers, and south to the wildlife habitat deeply affected the town during the 1980s and Quinault River. 1990s, causing anger and high unemployment. The town's makeup has shifted from its Scandinavian-settler origins, and it The Quileute thought themselves wronged by the 1855 and has the highest Hispanic population in the Clallam County in 1856 treaties that ceded their territory, not realizing they had 2007. signed away their traditional lands. A reservation was eventually created around the village of La Push in 1889, the same Forks is surrounded by land zoned as commercial forest, and year Washington became a state. And though the remote area timber remains a large industry. Government, education, and experienced little early pressure from white settlement, in 1889, health care are also large employers, and the town attracts settler Daniel Pullen burned down the entire village while the tourists by taking advantage of its logging history and its villagers were picking hops. They returned to find nothing of proximity to rain forests, rivers, and ocean beaches. their longhouses, tools, artwork, or ceremonial items. This was an episode in a land dispute later decided in favor of the Quileute territory Quileute. The Quileute Indians once occupied lands throughout the Forks sits 12 miles inland from La Push on a prairie one mile interior West End, including the area of Forks. The Quileute wide and three miles long that was regularly burned by area Indians Usual and Natural Area (UNA) extended from the land of tribes to regenerate young fern fronds eaten by elk and deer, the Ozette Tribe (now known as the Makah) on the north to which the Indians hunted. Two names for Forks Prairie in the Goodman Creek to the south, Goodman Creek being the Quileute language -- the only surviving language of its kind -- northern boundary of the Hoh Tribe’s UNA. When the 1700 both mean "prairie upstream," and the open area is bounded by the Bogachiel River to the south (from bokachi'l, "muddy water") Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 1 and the Calawah River to the north (from kalo'wa, "in the A remote farming settlement middle") (Powell and Jensen, 62-67). Settlers called it Indian Prairie or Big Prairie. Hay, oats, grain, and vegetables grew well on the prairie, and hops were a major crop. Luther Ford planted the first orchard Early settlers and established the first dairy herd, bringing cows in 1879 by schooner to Neah Bay and then driving them miles along the Pioneer settlement of Forks Prairie came by way of rivers and beach to La Push and then inland. trails from the Pacific and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as the overland route from the east was nearly impenetrable. Except But selling products beyond the prairie was a challenge. The for the Forks Prairie and Quillayute Prairie 10 miles to the nearest market in the 1870s was 100 miles away in Port northwest, settlers were greeted with towering forests of Sitka Townsend, and in the 1890s was 60 miles away in Port Angeles. spruce, Douglas fir, hemlock, and cedar. A small supply boat came to the mouth of the Quillayute River in the summers but was not large enough to carry cargo. Hops Men from Dungeness staked claims in the mid-1860s, regularly rotted awaiting transport. Cattle, at least, could walk convincing the territorial legislature to create Quillayute County to market -- the first drive to Port Townsend took six weeks. out of the western ends of Clallam and Jefferson counties. But Getting supplies was equally taxing. Rudimentary trails led to with too few settlers, the new county never came to be, and the the Pacific and the strait, until narrow roads not much better -- early claims were abandoned. of "mud ruts and puncheon" -- were built in the 1880s and Eli Peterson, Ole Nelson, and Peter Fisher were trappers living 1890s. The trail south to the Hoh was passable only by foot, and on the prairie when Luther and Esther Ford arrived by way of La settlers packed supplies on their backs, legendary among them Push with their family in January John Huelsdonk, the "Iron Man of the Hoh." 1878 and claimed a 160-acre homestead a mile east of Forks’ In the late 1890s a foot trail developed from the prairie to Lake present-day town center. The Fords Crescent, where a canoe could be hired to make the crossing. had bypassed pioneer Arthur Later a ferry was established. At the east end of the lake another Denny's offer of 80 acres of what trail led to Port Crescent (Crescent Bay) and local logging camps. became downtown Seattle for the It was 1927 before a single-car-width road was opened from reputed open, rich farming soils of Lake Crescent to Forks and 1931 before a continuous roadway the West End. opened as the Olympic Loop Highway (U.S. 101). A post office was established in Settlers traded with the Quileute for calico and other goods that 1884 in Nelson's cabin. But the the Indians received from the La Push and Mora trading posts in name Ford's Prairie was already return for fish and furs. By the early 1890s, the Mora post had taken by another Washington settlement, and so Forks Prairie moved to Forks, where there was more business, the settlement was chosen -- "Forks" for the prairie's location between the at that point consisting of a general store, a hardware store, and Calawah and Bogachiel rivers and near the Soleduck. a hotel. 2 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan Hop growing was in decline by the early 1900s and the Forks 1907, trimmed the Olympic Forest Reserve by 623,000 acres -- Cooperative Creamery was established around this time, only about a third of the area, but containing some three- operating for 70 years. One early prairie resident remembers fourths of all timber by volume. The remaining reserve would hauling loads of butter in spruce boxes to Clallam Bay, where become Olympic National Park (first established as a monument they were sent by steamship to Seattle. The Merrill Whittier hop in 1909), ringed by Olympic National Forest. house, near the town's current main intersection, became the site of all-night dances, people coming from miles around and The national 1907 recession slowed timber development, and staying until they could travel by daylight to far-flung Forks remained isolated. Then World War I and its urgent homesteads. demand for Sitka spruce for airplane fabrication Early logging through World War I brought the West End into focus again for its vast The same remote location that made selling crops difficult stands of Sitka spruce, delayed major timber harvest around Forks until after the more some of the largest in the accessible eastern-peninsula forests were logged, especially Hoko River drainage those near tidewater and thus transport. north of Forks. Sitka spruce possessed a Before 1900, timber in the West End was mostly cleared by unique combination of settlers and small-time loggers using ox teams. Companies being lightweight, strong, logged at Clallam Bay and Port Crescent (Crescent Bay) on the and resilient, making it strait in the 1870s. Timber baron Michael Earles, later developer ideal for aircraft construction. of the first Soleduck hot springs resort, set up booming logging camps at the turn of the century at Crescent Bay and west along In 1918 the U.S. Army's Spruce Production Division built 36 the strait, and many settlers from Forks worked in these camps miles of railroad track from Port Angeles west to Lake Pleasant part of the year. Merrill & Ring would begin to log in the Pysht in six months. The epic job was all but complete when the war River drainage northwest of Forks in 1916. ended and work abruptly stopped without any spruce being hauled on the line. President Grover Cleveland provoked considerable ire among West Enders and timber companies when he designated Through wind, fire, and war 2,188,800 acres of the Olympic Peninsula as forest reserve in 1897, placing it off-limits to individual claims. The timber Growth came slowly to Forks, though it was a center of volume in the reserve proved monumental -- a 1902 survey put commerce for settlers from the Hoh to the Quillayute Prairie. it at 61 billion board feet, then a two-year supply of U.S. The town was laid out in 1912 on the site of the Whittier consumption. Including areas outside reserve land, the report homestead and into the 1920s remained barely a block of counted 81 billion board feet in peninsula forests. buildings set amid prairie homesteads and looming forests. A newspaper was started in 1890, and the current newspaper, Reductions in 1900 and 1901, and then partial restorations in the Forks Forum, began in 1930. Electricity came in 1923, the Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 3 first garbage dump in 1929, and the first bank in 1930. The Seventy-one-year-old Oliver Ford, son of original settlers Luther town incorporated on August 7, 1945, and opened its library and Esther, remained on his front porch armed only with a through a grassroots effort in 1946. The first U.S. decennial garden hose as "the flames exploded houses like matches". Only census after incorporation counted 1,120 people, and by 1970 a shift in wind bringing cool, moist ocean air slowed the blaze numbers had risen to only 1,680. enough for it to be controlled. In the end, 32 buildings in Forks On January 29, 1921, 120-mile-per hour winds raged through burned, along with 33,000 acres of forest. the West End and flattened nearly 20 percent of the forest surrounding Forks. Residents recalled the air "full of flying "Logging Capital of the World" limbs," "a hurricane roaring overhead", and the road north from Forks to Lake Crescent a tangle of downed trees -- some 300 in It was the all-but-complete Spruce Production Division railroad the first mile. Then on January 10, 1925, fire burned most of the of World War I that set the stage for large-scale logging in the west side of main street, including the Forks Hotel, the Odd West End. The timber company Bloedel-Donovan bought Fellows building, two pool halls (one the genesis of the fire), and thousands of acres in the Forks area in 1921, all of it either next the general store. to or made accessible by the railroad. Bloedel-Donovan ended by not using the existing tracks -- though other logging World War II brought fortifications along the ocean and the companies later would -- instead building its own hundred miles strait to guard against a possible landing by Japan. West Enders of rail network and beginning to log in 1924, hauling its logs to were warned not to expect evacuation or rescue in the event of Sekiu on the strait and towing them in huge rafts to Bellingham an attack -- the sole highway would be reserved for military for milling. The company ran this operation for two decades, transport. Headlights after dark were restricted to dim, which peaking at 300 million board feet in both 1928 and 1929. barely cut the blackness, and Frank "Sully" Sullivan, the Forks Grocery butcher, posted a frequent sign: "No Meat -- So Solly, The completion of the Olympic Loop Highway in 1931 was Sully". another boost, granting access to vast tracts of virtually untouched Douglas fir and Sitka spruce south of Forks. Timber A U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station was built on Quillayute Prairie north of the Hoh was trucked through Forks to Tyee (near Lake in 1944 and service men and their families swelled Forks’ Pleasant) and then loaded onto rail cars bound for Port population, though many left after the war. Close to 2,500 Angeles. sailors were on duty in the West End, and Forks was the closest Timber dominated the town's economy through the 1980s. Large place for recreation. The airfield, now home to a National companies like ITT Rayonier (which bought lands from Bloedel- Weather Service weather station, was deeded to the City of Forks Donovan and another major timber company in the 1940s) in 1999. (In 2007 fire destroyed the old control tower.) employed hundreds of woods workers -- Rayonier was still the largest private landowner in the Forks area in 2007, its trees In 1951 the Great Forks Fire almost claimed the town. It began second- and third growth. Forks residents also worked as the morning of September 21 east of Forks and raced almost 18 independent contract, or "gypo," loggers, especially after World miles toward the town in eight hours. Residents bulldozed and War II when railroad logging camps became less prevalent. then worked the fire lines, while others helped with evacuation as smoke choked the town and fire curled around it on three sides. 4 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan Many smaller, family-owned operations were engaged in the woods, a phenomenon since the 1950s, continued to reduce secondary wood processing, such as making cedar shingles for jobs, and companies were also shifting to overseas operations. roofing and siding. One of the larger so-called shake and shingle Prospects revived in the mid-1980s as timber prices jumped, but mills was the Forks Shingle Mill near the Hoh River, which then came fierce and bitter controversy surrounding habitat operated from 1934 through the mid-1960s, when it burnt protection for the northern spotted owl, which was eventually down. The Rosmond Brothers Sawmill, only one of the mills in listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1990. town, opened in the 1940s and was a major employer through two ownership changes until the 1980s. Timber harvest fell dramatically on public lands, which many smaller companies and independent loggers relied on: The Disasters proved an unlikely road to Forks’ boom years in the allowable cut in Olympic National Forest plummeted from 250 1970s, when the town earned its reputation as "Logging Capital million board feet a year in the 1980s to 10 million board feet of the World." The 1951 fire opened thousands of acres to after the owl's listing, and by 1994 2.4 million acres of salvage logging, attracting newcomers. Then the Columbus Day Washington forests were closed to logging. This was followed by Storm of 1962 flattened 15 billion board feet of Northwest protections for threatened and endangered Pacific salmon and timber. Though this storm didn't hit Forks directly, it created steelhead beginning in 1999. such a huge supply of downed timber for salvage that overseas The era of cutting mammoth trees, which had fueled Forks markets were developed to absorb the surplus, and Forks growth, was also ending because little old growth remained. In cashed in on the generated demand -- U.S. log exports went from 1990 one environmental group estimated low-elevation old 210 million board feet in 1960 to 4.2 billion board feet in 1988, growth in Olympic National Forest at 3 percent, and ITT nearly two-thirds of that from Washington. Rayonier had none left on its lands around Forks by the late 1980s. As far back as 1938, timber depletion had been predicted Bill Brager, whose father, and uncle were the first gypo loggers between 1980 and 1990, given the rate of harvest, and in 1979 for ITT Rayonier in the 1940s, remembers the 1970s as a time the state's Department of Natural Resources warned that the cut when he could "make a couple calls and have a good job" in the on its lands would decrease as old growth disappeared. woods. The town's population doubled to over 3,000 that decade, and a bolt cutter (cutting sections of cedar from logs Forks was at the center of this complicated stew as forest- and stumps for later milling) could make $25,000 to $30,000 a related jobs fell by almost 25 percent after 1990. Three mills in year. Forks closed in December 1989, and the number of logging companies in western Clallam and Jefferson counties slid from An industry declines about 70 in 1980 to 14 in 2001. People involved only in logging left town and population dipped. The state estimated that Forks Forks was forever changed by timber-industry decline in the experienced as high as 19 percent unemployment in 1991, and 1980s and 1990s. There was a national recession in the early U.S. Census data from 1999 put the Forks poverty rate for 1980s, and large timber companies experienced corporate families at 14.6 percent, double that of the state. buyouts that led to reorganization and downsizing. Shake and shingle mills closed because of limited cedar salvage available, Newcomers lower-priced imports, and safety regulations. Mechanization in The town's demographics also shifted after the 1970s. Forks has Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 5 received some quality-of-life transplants from urban areas, and or 4,900 including the expanded urban growth area. The timber its affordability and tight-knit community feel have made it industry has survived, though much reduced. Some woods attractive for retirees who don't mind the rain. workers shifted to work for agencies such as the fisheries department, and many more found employment at one of two More significant has been the swift increase in residents of prisons, the larger in nearby Clallam Bay. The 2000 census Hispanic origin. In the 1970s, Latinos in Forks consisted of 15 counted roughly 18 percent of Forks workers employed in single men and one family. By the 2000 census, Forks’ Hispanic extractive industries, including forestry, the same percentage as population was 15.5 percent, compared to 3.4 percent for the in the public administration sector and in the county. Seven years later the town's percentage reached 20 education/health/social services sector. percent. Tienda Latina opened in 1992, Forks’ first Latino business, occupying the first floor of the post-1925-fire Odd Fellow's hall. Forks also hosts tourists, many on their way to the national park. Two new motels and nine bed-and-breakfasts opened Mexicans were the first immigrants, later joined by Salvadorans between 1995 and 2005, and on a summer weekend every room and Guatemalans. Most were drawn to work cutting cedar bolts in town can fill up. A small but much-appreciated surf shop -- from stumps already logged, and later to greenery harvest for voted business of the year in 2007 -- supplies surfers headed to the florist market. The latter, once a sideline industry, by 2006 nearby wilderness beaches, and winter salmon and steelhead was generating at least a quarter-billion dollars a year from runs on area rivers draw anglers from around the world. Northwest forests, almost a quarter the size of the state's apple industry. The picking work is seasonal and low-paid, and conditions can be exhausting and sometimes dangerous. Historical photographs went up on several buildings in 2006 as part of a walking tour, In 2007, border control agents alarmed residents by setting up and hundreds have checkpoints on U.S. 101 outside of Forks, saying they were "to visited the town support enhanced national-security efforts to deter ... terrorist because of Stephenie attacks". Instead, seven undocumented workers were sent to Meyer's teen vampire Tacoma for detention. books, which are set in Forks. Logging itself Down but not out became a tourist draw with the 1990 opening In 2004 a Forks resident told a National Public Radio reporter of the Forks Timber that people who don't live on the Olympic Peninsula see it "as Museum, and by 2007 their backyard ... They've already ruined the East Coast, they've thousands had toured logging sites and a local mill on trips already ruined Seattle, so they're going to reserve and preserve organized by the chamber of commerce visitor center. us, at the expense of us". But Forks did not collapse after the so- called timber wars. The town even briefly joined the space race. In 2004 two participants in the Ansari X Prize space-flight competition The town population has climbed back to its pre-1990 level, relocated to Forks for its affordability and open area for rocket consisting of 3,120 within city limits as of the 2000 U.S. census, testing. The scrappy duo wasn’t successful -- their rocket 6 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan exploded on launch and mannequin parts washed up on ocean beaches -- but townspeople dove into the effort, volunteering and donating materials. "A lot of people [really took] to these guys," said the barber who supplied the test-run dummy, "partly because they're something new -- but also because they don't give up". Photos: 1 - Ford farmhouse on Forks Prairie (ca. 1889), Forks, November 13, 2007 2 - Shay steam engine (1930), Forks, November 14, 2007 3 - Forks Timber Museum (1990), Forks, November 13, 2007 References and all photos: Forks – Thumbnail History HistoryLink.org Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 7 8 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan  2. Growth Management Act (GMA) update Purpose common goals toward land conservation threaten the public’s health, safety, and general welfare. GMA lists 14 planning goals Forks’ Comprehensive Plan lists goals and policies based on for those counties and municipalities (including Forks) planning residents’ aspirations in the context of current and potential under GMA’s requirements. opportunities, concerns, and capabilities. Forks’ Comprehensive Plan is based on locally established visions, goals, and policies. Planning Goals of the Washington State GMA, RCW 36.70A.020 Forks’ Comprehensive Plan conforms to the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA), RCW 36.70A, as originally Urban growth - Encourage development in urban areas where passed in 1990 and its subsequent amendments, and is adequate public facilities and services exist or can be provided consistent with Clallam County’s Countywide Planning Policies in an efficient manner. (CWPP). Reduce sprawl - Reduce the inappropriate conversion of Forks’ Comprehensive Plan shapes the city’s zoning and undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development. subdivision regulations, capital improvement programming and budgeting, and other legal and regulatory actions necessary to Transportation Encourage efficient multi-modal manage Forks’ physical, social, and environmental character. All transportation systems that are based on regional priorities and implementation tools are consistent with this plan. coordinated with county and city comprehensive plans This plan contains the following elements: Housing - Encourage the availability of affordable housing to all ▪ Environment economic segments of the population of this state, promote a ▪ Climate change and resiliency variety of residential densities and housing types, and ▪ Economics encourage the preservation of existing housing stock. ▪ Land Use ▪ Housing Economic development - Encourage economic development ▪ Transportation throughout the state that is consistent with adopted ▪ Community facilities comprehensive plans, promote economic opportunity for all ▪ Parks citizens of this state, especially for unemployed and for ▪ Utilities* disadvantaged persons. Promote the retention and expansion of ▪ Capital Facilities existing businesses and recruitment of new businesses, recognize regional differences impacting economic development Growth Management Act (GMA) opportunity, and encourage growth in areas experiencing insufficient economic growth, all within the capacities of the The state legislature enacted the Growth Management Act (GMA) state’s natural resources, public services, and public facilities. in response to its finding that uncoordinated growth and lack of Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 9 Property rights - Property rights shall not be taken for public use without just compensation having been made. The property Shorelines - For shorelines of the State, the goals and policies of rights of landowners shall be protected from arbitrary and the Shoreline Management Act are added as one of the goals of... discriminatory actions. [the GMA]. Permits - Applications for both state and local government GMA requires consistency between: permits should be processed in a timely and fair manner to ensure predictably. ▪ Comprehensive plans and the planning goals identified in RCW 36.70A.020 Natural resource industries - Maintain and enhance natural ▪ Municipal and county comprehensive plans resource-based industries, including productive timber, ▪ Comprehensive plans of each municipality and county with agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the those of neighboring municipalities and counties conservation of productive forestlands and productive ▪ Elements within the comprehensive plan (internal agricultural lands and discourage incompatible uses. consistency) ▪ Comprehensive plan and development regulations Open space and recreation - Retain open space, enhance ▪ Comprehensive plan and capital budgets recreational opportunities, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, ▪ State agency actions and municipal and county increase access to natural resource lands and water, and comprehensive plans. develop parks and recreation facilities. GMA also requires concurrency, meaning that public facilities Environment - Protect the environment and enhance the state’s and services must be developed concurrently with the new land high quality of life, including air and water quality, and the uses they serve, ensuring achievement of adopted level of availability of water. service (LOS) standards. The concurrency requirement is especially forceful concerning transportation: Citizen participation and coordination - Encourage the involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure “...local jurisdictions must adopt and enforce ordinances which coordination between communities and jurisdictions to prohibit development approval if the development causes the reconcile conflicts. level-of-service...to decline below the standards adopted in the...comprehensive plan, unless transportation improvements or Public facilities and services - Ensure that public facilities and strategies to accommodate the impacts of development are made services necessary to support development shall be adequate to concurrent with the development.” serve the development at the time development is available for occupancy and use without decreasing current service levels GMA requirements support a strong relationship between urban below locally established minimum standards. growth and the public facilities and services required to serve that growth. This relationship is further enhanced by the Historic preservation - Identify and encourage the preservation concept of Urban Growth Areas (UGA), where land development of lands, sites, and structures that have historical or and public infrastructure improvements are concurrently archeological significance. programmed. To fulfill these new planning requirements, GMA 10 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan expressly authorizes the use of innovative techniques, such as zoning worked towards protecting forest lands from conversion impact fees. to residential development. Rural policies identified appropriate densities and services to be expected within those areas. Clallam Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP) Policies for update and ratification (adopted in 2018) GMA was amended in 1991 to require counties to adopt 1. The Clallam Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP) should be countywide planning policies in cooperation with their dynamic and regularly monitored for applicability and municipalities. These policies are written policy statements that effectiveness. establish a countywide framework from which county and city a. The adopted Countywide Planning Policies should be comprehensive plans are developed, adopted, and implemented. reviewed at least every 5 years. Proposed revisions shall be This framework helps ensure county and city comprehensive reviewed for impacts according to the State Environmental plans are consistent with each other and with the intent of GMA. Protection Act (SEPA) and be consistent with the State Growth Management Act (GMA). Per RCW 36.70A.210(3), these policies, at a minimum, shall: b. The county or a city may propose a policy amendment to the Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP). ▪ Implement RCW 36.70A.110 (the section for establishing UGAs) and provide for joint county and city planning within 2. Proposed amendments should be considered on a regular urban growth areas. basis, and a process to decide whether an amendment is ▪ Promote contiguous and orderly development and accepted should be identified. The process should also be provisions of urban services to such development. overseen by an “Executive Board” comprised of 2 ▪ Provide for public capital facilities of regional or statewide representatives from each of the governments of Clallam importance. County, the City of Port Angeles, the City of Sequim, and the ▪ Provide for countywide transportation facilities. City of Forks. Each jurisdiction may also identify alternate(s) ▪ Consider the need for affordable housing. representatives. ▪ Analyze fiscal impacts. a. The Clallam County Board of Commissioners should take action to consider and adopt amendments or revisions to the Clallam County adopted its first comprehensive land use plan in Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP) following a 1967. Because of the significant growth the County experienced recommendation from the Clallam Countywide Policy “Executive in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the County updated the Board”. Comprehensive Plan, and for the first time adopted zoning and b. The Clallam County Board of Commissioners and the land division controls. legislative branch of each city will strive for ratification by the County, and all cities during the 90 days following the Board of Community opposition and court challenges, however, resulted County Commissioners adoption of a Resolution amending the in limited land use controls until a new Comprehensive Plan and Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP). The adopted CWPP will zoning ordinance were adopted in 1982. The 1982 Plan become effective upon ratification by Clallam County, the City designated urban growth areas (UGA) around Sequim, Port of Port Angeles, the City of Sequim, and the City of Forks. Angeles, Forks, and principal rural community centers. Forestry c. A City Council that does not ratify the revised Countywide Planning Policies within 90 days of the Board of County Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 11 Commissioners adoption of its subject Resolution shall provide supported by adequate buildable land for a range of a written statement of its objections to the Clallam County employment uses and that encourages accomplishment of local Board of County Commissioners, to facilitate further review. economic development goals as articulated in the Clallam d. Once the ratified revisions to the Countywide Planning Economic Development Council’s adopted plan. Policies take effect, a city or the Governor’s office may appeal the revisions to the Growth Management Hearings Board within c. Efficient transportation system: Creation of an efficient, a 60-day period. clean, and sustainable multimodal transportation system - including roads and highways, public transportation, ferries, Countywide Growth Pattern airports, and opportunities for non-motorized travel that The vision for the future of Clallam County should seek to provides efficient safe access and mobility for county residents maintain and enhance the quality of life that makes Clallam and supports the land use pattern. County a special place to live and work, and envision a future in which: the air quality is protected; the water quality in lakes, d. Natural systems protection: Protection and enhancement streams and Strait of Juan De Fuca is protected; the historical of the natural environment, including wetlands, streams, nature of communities is respected in order to maintain wildlife habitat, shorelines, water quality, air quality, and heritage for future generations; and the economic base is natural resource lands. Creation of a system of open space, diversified and supports good jobs, contributes to healthy trails, parks, and greenbelts that provide opportunities for downtowns and affordable housing choices; and, the rural recreation and that give structure and separation to urban areas. appearance of Clallam county is maintained. e. Rural character: Maintenance of the traditional character, This vision of the future, shared by citizens and elected appearance, economic and ecological functions, and lifestyles of officials, includes the following elements: Clallam County’s rural communities, and areas to include the production and distribution of locally grown food and a natural a. Livable urban communities and neighborhoods, centers resource-based economy. for employment, civic activities, housing: f. Responsive Government: An efficient and responsive ▪ Attractive, well planned, bike/pedestrian-friendly, and government that works in partnership with citizens, livable urban communities, enhanced by preserved governmental entities, and Tribes to meet collective needs historic properties and neighborhoods that are fairly; and that supports education, environmental protection, supported by efficient and high-quality services and and human services. facilities, and provide a range of housing, employment, and recreational choices. A key strategy to accomplish this vision is the intent to ▪ Healthy cities that are the region’s centers for encourage future urban growth in areas within incorporated commerce, employment, affordable housing choices, and cities and in unincorporated areas that are already characterized civic and cultural activities. by urban growth with existing and planned services and facilities. These actions will work to strengthen the natural b. Vital diversified economy: An economy that provides environment and rural character and are geared to reduce training, education, and living wage jobs for residents, taxpayer costs by focusing the expenditure of public funds, 12 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan encouraging concentrated development where appropriate, and 3. To achieve these goals, Clallam County’s jurisdictions increasing choices for housing and jobs. should: a. Make decisions together when needed. Balancing historical patterns of growth with a preferred vision b. Coordinate and cooperate on land use policy, capital of the future and legal requirements is an on-going challenge. planning, environmental issues, and cultural resource Adjustments must be made to balance the costs with the gains; management/planning. flexibility is necessary to adapt to changing conditions. These c. Maintain/preserve distinct urban identities with open policies are intended to reflect the long-term goals of the people space breaks or other natural features that are of benefit to living, working, and doing business in Clallam County. people and wildlife. d. Develop and implement land use policies, regulations, 1. Roles of Cities and Urban Growth Areas/Urban and incentives to promote the efficient use of urban areas. Communities: a. The primary role of Clallam’s urban communities is to Legislative house bills encourage growth, through new development, redevelopment, and in-fill growth. Population growth should be primarily In 2021-2023, the Washington State Legislature adopted a series directed to cities and urban growth areas. of house bills affecting the contents of GMA comprehensive b. Clallam County’s urban communities should create plans. Following is a summation of the major implications of unique visions as high-quality places to live and work, through House Bill (HB) 1110 concerning Middle Housing, HB 1181 sound planning and good urban design, historic preservation, concerning Climate Change, HB 1220 for Updating Housing and environmental stewardship that improves the natural and Elements of Comprehensive Plans, HB 1293 for Streamlining human-made environments. Development Regulations, and HB 1337 concerning Accessory c. Promote healthy lifestyles; contribute to a prosperous Dwelling Units (ADUs). economy and increase the region’s resiliency in adapting to changes or adverse events. HB 1110 – Middle housing d. In Clallam County, urban communities are closely linked to water and natural amenities and provide open space links to HB 1110 authorizes minimum development densities on lots the natural environment. zoned predominately for residential use and includes specific provisions related to middle housing in development 2. Roles of Clallam County: regulations. a. Keep the regional vision in mind when making local decisions. HB 1110 requires that WA DOC develop model middle housing b. Promote stewardship of unincorporated urban areas and ordinances, a process for cities to seek approval of alternative promote annexation into cities or incorporation. local actions, guidance to assist cities on items to include an c. Maintain/enhance natural systems and rural character. optional parking study and provide technical assistance to cities d. Maintain outside of urban growth areas existing low to implement the requirements. density rural communities and their densities and uses. Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 13 Possible planning actions: population threshold, it must comply with the density and ▪ Authorize middle housing including duplex, triplex, middle housing requirements by 12 months after its next quadplex, fiveplex, sixplex, stacked flat, townhouse, comprehensive plan implementation progress report after a courtyard apartments, and cottage housing; determination by OFM that the city has reached the population ▪ Authorize cluster zoning or lot size averaging in all zoning threshold. Forks’ population of 3,355 is below the original districts that permit single-family residences; threshold and will need to implement these requirements within ▪ Increase categorical exemptions to SEPA for residential or 12 months after the next comprehensive plan implementation mixed-use development; progress report. ▪ Adopt a form-based code (FBC) in one or more zoning districts that permit residential uses; As Forks’ population is less than 25,000 and Clallam County’s ▪ Authorize a duplex on each corner lot within all zoning population is less than 275,000,1 it is required to comply with districts that permit single-family residences; the state requirement authorizing residential lots to have at ▪ Authorize Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in one or more least two units per lot. zoning districts; ▪ Adopt ordinances authorizing administrative review of Alternative density requirement preliminary plats; A city subject to the density requirements may choose to ▪ Allow off-street parking to compensate for lack of on-street implement the density requirements for at least 75% of lots in parking when private roads are used, or a parking demand the city that are primarily dedicated to single-family detached study shows that less parking is required. housing units. Unless identified as at higher risk of displacement, the 75% of lots allowing the minimum density Affordable housing incentives requirements must include any areas: Cities can work to develop infrastructure, reduce regulatory requirements to expand affordable housing incentives provided ▪ For which the exclusion would further racially disparate low-income housing will continue to be affordable for at least impacts or result in zoning with a discriminatory effect; 50 years. ▪ Within 0.5 miles walking distance of a major transit stop; or ▪ Historically covered by a covenant or deed restriction Density requirements excluding racial minorities from owning property or living in State law requires fully planning city meeting the population the area, as known to the city at the time of each criteria, based on 2020 OFM population data (Forks 2020 comprehensive plan update. population 3,355), must provide by ordinance, and incorporate into its development regulations, zoning regulations, and other The 25% of lots for which the minimum density requirements official controls, authorization for the development of a are not authorized must include: minimum number of units on all lots zoned predominately for ▪ Any areas for which Commerce has certified an extension residential use by six months after the city's next required due to the risk of displacement or lack of infrastructure comprehensive plan update. If a city does not meet the capacity; 1 In 2020, Forks’ population was 3,355 and Clallam County’s was 77,155. 14 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan ▪ Any lots designated with critical areas or their buffers; townhouses, stacked flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage ▪ Any portion of a city within a 1-mile radius of a commercial housing. A city must allow at least 6 of the 9 types of middle airport with at least 9 million annual enplanements that is housing and may allow ADUs to achieve the minimum density exempt from the parking requirements; and requirements. A city is not required to allow ADUs or middle ▪ Any areas subject to sea level rise, increased flooding, housing types beyond the density requirements. susceptible to wildfires, or geological hazards over the next 100 years. A city subject to the density requirements is directed to include specific provisions related to middle housing in their A city implementing the alternative density requirements also development regulations. Any city subject to the middle may apply for an extension to specific areas where a city can housing requirements: demonstrate that water, sewer, stormwater, transportation ▪ May only apply administrative design review for middle infrastructure, including facilities and transit services, or fire housing; protection services lack capacity to accommodate an increased ▪ May not require standards for middle housing that are more density. restrictive than those required for detached single-family residences. To qualify for an extension, the city must have included one or ▪ Must apply to middle housing the same development permit more improvements, as needed, within its capital facilities plan and environmental review processes that apply to detached to adequately increase capacity or identified which special single-family residences, unless otherwise required by state district is responsible for providing the necessary law; infrastructure. If an extension is requested due to lack of water ▪ Is not required to achieve the per-unit density on lots after supply from the city or the purveyors who serve water within subdivision below 1,000 square feet unless the city chooses the city, Commerce's evaluation must be based on the to enact smaller allowable lot sizes; applicable water system plans in effect and approved by the ▪ Must also allow zero lot line short subdivisions where the Department of Health. number of lots created is equal to the unit density required; ▪ May not require off-street parking as a condition of Any granted extension remains in effect until the earliest of: permitting development of middle housing within 0.5 miles ▪ The infrastructure is improved to accommodate the walking distance of a major transit stop; capacity; ▪ May not require more than 1 off-street parking space per ▪ The city's deadline to complete its next periodic unit as a condition of permitting development of middle comprehensive plan update; or housing on lots smaller than 6,000 square feet before any ▪ The city's deadline to complete its comprehensive plan zero lot line subdivisions or lot splits; and implementation progress. ▪ May not require more than 2 off-street parking spaces per unit as a condition of permitting development of middle Middle housing requirements housing on lots greater than 6,000 square feet before any Middle housing is defined as buildings that are compatible in zero lot line subdivisions or lot splits. scale, form, and character with single-family houses and contain 2 or more attached, stacked, or clustered homes A SEPA categorical exemption is established for development including duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, regulations that remove parking requirements for infill Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 15 development. Commerce must develop guidance to assist cities plans must support state GHG emissions reduction goals and on items to include in the study. per capita VMT and foster resiliency to climate impacts and natural hazards, among other requirements. If a city can clearly demonstrate that the regulations adopted will allow for a greater increase in middle housing production Growth Management Act—Comprehensive Plan Elements. within single-family zones than would be allowed through the The land use element of comprehensive plans must include density requirements, Commerce may determine that a green spaces and, in urban growth areas, urban and comprehensive plan and development regulations that do not community forests, in its designation of the proposed general meet these criteria are substantially similar. Any alternative distribution and extent of the uses of land. It must give special local actions approved by Commerce are exempt from appeals consideration to achieving environmental justice in its goals and under the GMA and SEPA. policies. In addition, the land use element must avoid creating or worsening environmental health disparities and reduce per Commerce may establish by rule any standards or procedures capita VMT without increasing GHG emissions elsewhere in the necessary to implement the density and middle housing state. requirements and issue guidance for local jurisdictions to ensure that the levels of middle housing zoning can be The land use element must also reduce and mitigate the risk to integrated with the methods used by cities to calculate zoning lives and property posed by wildfires by using land use densities and intensities in local zoning and development planning tools, which may include reducing residential regulations. development pressure in the wildland urban interface area, the adoption of the Wildland Urban Interface Code and developing HB 1181 Climate change building and maintenance standards consistent with the Firewise USA Program, separating human development from The goals of the Growth Management Act (GMA) are amended as wildfire prone landscapes, and protecting existing residential follows: development. • The transportation goal must encourage efficient multimodal transportation systems that will reduce The inventory of existing capital facilities owned by public greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and per capita vehicle entities within the capital facilities plan element must include miles traveled (VMT). green infrastructure. • The open space and recreation goal must retain green space and enhance fish and wildlife habitat. The parks and recreation element must include an evaluation • The citizen participation and coordination goal must of tree canopy coverage within an urban growth area. encourage the participation of vulnerable populations and overburdened communities in the planning process. Growth Management Act—Climate Change and Resiliency Element. Climate change and resiliency is added to the goals of the Comprehensive plans must include a climate change and GMA. Under the climate change and resiliency goal, resiliency element. The element must be designed to result comprehensive plans, development regulations, and regional in reductions in overall GHG emissions and must enhance resiliency to, and avoid the adverse impacts of, climate 16 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan change, which must include efforts to reduce localized GHG • a county bordering on the Columbia and Snake rivers with a emissions and avoid creating or worsening localized climate population density of at least 75 people per square mile and impacts to vulnerable populations and overburdened an annual growth rate of at least 1.65%; or communities. The climate change and resiliency element is • a county located to the west of the crest of the Cascade divided into 2 sub elements: a GHG emissions reduction sub Mountains with a population of at least 130,000 people element and a resiliency sub element. (Clallam 2020 population 77,155 is below the requirement). The GHG emissions reduction sub element, and its related development regulations, must identify the actions the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction and Vehicle Miles jurisdiction will take during the planning cycle, consistent with Traveled Reduction Guidelines. Commerce, in consultation the guidelines published by the Department of Commerce with the Department of Ecology (Ecology), the Department of (Commerce), that will: Health (DOH), and the Department of Transportation (DOT), must publish guidelines that specify a set of measures that • Result in reductions in overall GHG emissions generated by counties and cities may implement via updates to their the transportation and land use systems within the comprehensive plans and development regulations that have jurisdiction, but without increasing emissions elsewhere in a demonstrated ability to increase housing capacity within the state; urban growth areas or reduce GHG emissions, allowing for • Result in reductions in per capita VMT within the consideration of the emissions reductions achieved through the jurisdiction but without increasing emissions elsewhere in adoption of statewide programs. The guidelines must prioritize the state; and reductions that benefit overburdened communities that have • Prioritize reductions that benefit overburdened communities experienced disproportionate harm due to air pollution. The to maximize the co-benefits of reduced air pollution and guidelines must be developed consistent with an environmental environmental justice. justice assessment and must include environmental justice assessment processes. Applicability. The requirements of the GHG emissions reduction sub element Model Climate Change and Resiliency Element. of the climate change and resiliency element apply only to those Commerce must develop, in collaboration with the DOH, counties that are required or that choose to plan fully under the Ecology, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of GMA, and the cities within them with a population greater than Natural Resources, the Emergency Management Division of the 6,000 (Forks 2020 population of 3,355 is below the Washington Military Department, and any federally recognized requirement), that meet any of the following criteria as of April tribe that chooses to participate, and adopt by rule, a model 1, 2021: climate change and resiliency element that may be used by counties, cities, and multiple-county planning regions for • a county with a population density of at least 100 people per developing and implementing climate change and resiliency square mile and a population of at least 200,000 (Clallam plans and policies. 2020 population 77,155 is below the requirement); Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 17 The model element must establish minimum requirements for ▪ Address racially disparate impacts, displacement, exclusion, fulfilling the requirements of the climate change and resiliency and displacement risk element, and should provide guidance on identifying, designing, and investing in infrastructure that supports community RCW 36.70A.070 (2)(a) resilience to climate impacts. The model element should Include an inventory and analysis of existing and projected provide guidance on identifying and addressing natural hazards housing needs that identify the number of housing units created or aggravated by climate change. The rule must necessary to manage projected growth, as provided by the recognize and promote as many co-benefits of climate resilience Department of Commerce, including: as possible, such as climate change mitigation, salmon recovery, (i) Units for moderate, low, very low, and extremely low- forest health, ecosystem services, and socioeconomic health and income households, and resilience. (ii) Emergency housing, emergency shelters, and permanent supportive housing. Funding. Jurisdictions that are required to update their comprehensive RCW 36.70A.030 plans in the June 2025 update cycle must include the new New requirements for comprehensive plan housing elements climate change and resiliency element in their updated include an inventory and analysis of existing and projected comprehensive plan. Funding provided to cover applicable housing needs, including “units for moderate, low, very low, costs for this purpose is considered timely, notwithstanding the and extremely low-income households” as well as “emergency requirement in the GMA that funding for new elements be housing, emergency shelters, and permanent supportive provided 2 years before comprehensive plans must be updated. housing.” Income segment % of Area Median Income (AMI) HB 1220 – Updating housing Elements in Extremely low-income 0-30% of AMI comprehensive plans Very low-income >30-50% of AMI Low-income >50-80% of AMI House Bill 1220 (HB 1220) amended the Growth Management Act Moderate income >80-120% of AMI (GMA) to instruct local governments to “plan for and accommodate housing affordable to all economic segments of the population of the state.” Type Definition Local housing elements to include: Permanent Subsidized, permanent housing that serves ▪ Inventory and analysis of all housing needs to include needs Supportive people who need comprehensive support by income, permanent supportive housing (PSH) and Housing services, have barriers to housing, or are emergency housing living with a disabling condition. PSH is ▪ Identify sufficient capacity of land for housing needs paired with voluntary services designed to ▪ Make adequate provisions for all housing needs including support successful tenancy, improve the resolving barriers such as gasp in local funding, resident’s heal status, and connect the development regulations resident of the housing with community- 18 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan  Zone Housing type Market Affordability based health care, treatment, or category rate employment services. Low Detached single- >120% AMI High income density family >120% AMI Emergency Temporary indoor accommodations for Moderate Townhomes, >80-120% Moderate >80- Housing those who are homeless or at imminent risk density duplex, triplex, AMI 120% AMI of becoming homeless that address basic quadplex needs. Emergency housing may or may not Low-rise Walk-up >50-80% Low >0-80% AMI require occupants to enter into a lease or an apartments AMI occupancy agreement. Mid-rise Apartments, >50-80% Low >0-80% AMI Emergency Temporary shelter for those who are condos AMI PSH Shelters currently homeless. Emergency shelter may ADUs ADUs >50-80% Low >50-80% not require occupants to enter into a lease AMI AMI or an occupancy agreement. Emergency shelter facilities may include day and Emergency housing (EH) warming centers that do not provide Cities may not prohibit indoor emergency housing: overnight accommodations. ▪ In any zone where hotels are allowed or ▪ They must allow emergency housing/shelters in a majority RCW 36.70A.070 (2)© of zones within 1-mile proximity to transit. Identify sufficient capacity of and for housing including but not limited to: Cities may adopt reasonable occupancy, spacing, and intensity ▪ Government assisted housing of use requirements to protect public health and safety ▪ Housing for moderate, low, very low, and extremely low- provided: income households ▪ Regulations must not prevent the development of sufficient ▪ Manufactured housing emergency housing beds to meet the communities need. ▪ Multifamily housing ▪ Group homes If not, jurisdictions must do a quantitative land capacity ▪ Foster care facilities analysis (LCA) for emergency housing (EH) needs. ▪ Emergency housing, emergency shelters ▪ Permanent supportive housing, and RCW 36.70A.070(2((d) ▪ Within an urban growth area boundary, consideration of Document programs and actions needed to achieve housing duplexes, triplexes, and townhomes. availability including gaps in local funding, barriers such as development regulations, and other limitations by comparing If there is insufficient capacity for any type of housing need, housing production trends to housing objectives to determine if the jurisdiction must identify and implement zoning changes barriers exist. If trends are producing less than the objective’s that provide enough capacity prior to adoption of the identity the reasons (barriers) why. comprehensive plan. Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 19 HB 1293 Streamlining development regulations Project Review. During project review, counties and cities may only require Design review is a formally adopted local government process preapplication conferences or a public meeting where otherwise by which projects are reviewed for compliance with design required by state law. In addition, counties and cities are standards for the type of use adopted through local ordinance. encouraged to adopt project review provisions that ensure an Design review focuses on the appearance of new construction, objective review and expedite project permit applications for site planning, and items such as landscaping, signage, and other projects that include dwelling units that are affordable to aesthetic issues. A design element is an optional element of a low-income and moderate-income households. comprehensive plan, and many jurisdictions have included design elements in their comprehensive plans. HB 1337 Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) Design Review. An ADU is a residential living unit providing independent living Beginning 6 months after its next required periodic facilities and permanent provisions for sleeping, cooking, comprehensive plan update, a fully planning county or city sanitation, and living on the same lot as a single-family home, may apply only clear and objective regulations to the exterior duplex, triplex, townhome, or other housing unit. An attached design of new development, except for designated landmarks ADU is a dwelling unit located within or attached to another or historic districts established under a local preservation housing unit. A detached ADU is separate and detached from ordinance. For the design review process, a clear and objective another housing unit. regulation: Cities with more than 20,000 people, counties with more than ▪ Must include one or more ascertainable guideline, standard, 125,000 people, and fully planning counties are required to or criterion by which an applicant can determine whether a incorporate in their development and zoning regulations (Forks given building design is permissible under that development 2020 population of 3,355 and Clallam County of 77,155 are regulation; and below requirements) recommendations made in 1993 by the ▪ May not result in a reduction in density, height, bulk, or then Department of Community, Trade, and Economic scale below the generally applicable development Development, now the Department of Commerce, for the regulations for a development proposal in the applicable development and placement of accessory apartments. zone. As of July 1, 2021, fully planning cities may not require the Any design review process must be conducted concurrently, or provision of off-street parking for ADUs within a 0.25 mile of a otherwise logically integrated, with the consolidated review and major transit stop, such as a high-capacity transportation decision process for project permits and may not include more system stop, a rail stop, or certain bus stops, unless the city than one public meeting. determines that on-street parking is infeasible for the ADU. Summary: Beginning 6 months after its next periodic comprehensive plan update, a fully planning city or county must ensure local 20 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan development regulations allow for the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) within urban growth areas (UGAs) and A city or county may impose a limit of 2 accessory dwelling comply with the following policies: units, in addition to the principal unit, on a residential lot of 2,000 square feet or less. ▪ Not assessing impact fees on the construction of ADUs that are greater than 50 percent of the impact fees that would be In addition, a city or county may not: imposed on the principal unit; ▪ Require off-street parking as a condition of permitting ▪ Not requiring the owner of a lot on which there is an ADU to development of ADUs within 0.5 miles walking distance of a reside in or occupy the ADU or another housing unit on the major transit stop; same lot; ▪ Require more than 1 off-street parking space per unit as a ▪ Allowing at least 2 ADUs on all lots that allow for single- condition of permitting development of ADUs on lots family homes within a UGA in the following configurations: smaller than 6,000 square feet before any zero lot line 1 attached ADU and 1 detached ADU, 2 attached ADUs, or 2 subdivisions or lot splits; and detached ADUs; ▪ Require more than 2 off-street parking spaces per unit as a ▪ Permitting ADUs in structures detached from the principal condition of permitting development of ADUs on lots greater unit; than 6,000 square feet before any zero lot line subdivisions ▪ Allowing an ADU on any lot that meets the minimum lot size or lot splits. required for the principal unit; ▪ Not establishing a maximum gross floor area requirement Commerce must revise its recommendations for encouraging for ADUs that is less than 1,000 square feet; ADUs to include the provisions in this act, and during each ▪ Not establishing roof height limits on an ADU of less than 24 required comprehensive plan review, Commerce must review feet, unless the height limit on the principal unit is less than local government comprehensive plans and development 24 feet; regulations for compliance with the recommendations. The ▪ Not imposing setback requirements, yard coverage limits, provisions requiring cities and counties to incorporate in their tree retention mandates, restrictions on entry door regulations the recommendations made by the then Department locations, aesthetic requirements, or requirements for of Community, Trade, and Economic Development for accessory design review for ADUs that are more restrictive than those dwelling apartments are repealed. for principal units; ▪ Allowing detached ADUs to be sited at a lot line if the lot Forks comprehensive planning line abuts a public alley, unless the city or county routinely plows snow on the public alley; Forks’ Comprehensive Plan was developed and adopted in 1993 ▪ Allowing ADUs to be converted from existing structures, under the adopted GMA requirements and updated in 2002 and including detached garages; 2018 in accordance with subsequent amendments. Forks’ ▪ Not prohibiting the sale of a condominium unit Comprehensive Plan contained the required GMA plan elements independently of a principal unit solely on the grounds that including land use, housing, transportation, capital facilities the condominium unit was originally built as an ADU; and and utilities in addition to sections on the local environment ▪ Not requiring public street improvements as a condition of and open space. The City’s intent continues to be the furthering permitting ADUs. Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan 21 of the statutory goals outlined within GMA. Clallam County developed Countywide Planning Policies (CWPP) in 2018 in accordance with GMA requirements including several specific policy statements guiding growth to areas that are already characterized by urban land use, existing services, and infrastructure. Where countywide policies are relevant or require action by the city, they are referenced within the appropriate Comprehensive Plan section. 22 Forks 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan