News for Land & Development

AGC applauds passage of the long-delayed 2017-2019 State Capital Budget as well as passage of the water-rights “Hirst fix.”

State lawmakers late Thursday approved a $4.3 billion construction budget and legislation to address a rural water-rights debate that had stalled the spending plan since the spring of 2017.

Key legislators were recently in Olympia attempting to negotiate an agreement on legislation addressing the Hirst water-rights court decision.

After a long session that saw the Legislature reach a hard-fought compromise on the operating budget to address the McCleary decision, policymakers left Olympia last week without passing a 2017-2019 capital budget nor a solution to the water-related Hirst decision.

By John Riper Ashbaugh BealRecently the Washington Supreme Court issued a decision that may go a long way toward eliminating challenges to the legality of land use regulations as a tactic for derailing a developer’s permit application.The case involves a proposed development at Point Wells a 61-a...