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HomeMy WebLinkAbout032519_ra01JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST TO: Board of County Commissioners FROM: Philip Morley, County Administrator Patty Charnas, Director, Department of Com nity Deel ment Stuart Whitford, Director, Environmental Public Health Division DATE: March 25, 2019 RE: Joint Resolution with the Board of Health Establishing a Regulatory Reform Program for Jefferson County STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) will consider adopting will a Joint Resolution with the Board of Health to establish a Regulatory Reform Program for Jefferson County, centered in the Department of Community Development and Environmental Public Health Division. The Joint Resolution is attached to this Agenda Request. The Joint Resolution memorializes in writing policy direction that the County Commissioners have previously expressed that the County undertake Regulatory Reform. The Board of Health is responsible for setting policy for Environmental Public Health, and voted to approve the Joint Resolution at its meeting on March 21, 2019. ANALYSIS: The County Commissioners previously held a briefing on a draft of the Joint Resolution for Regulatory Reform on February 19, 2019. The Board of Health also held a briefing on the Joint Resolution at its meeting on February 21, 2019. The Board of County Commissioners recently adopted an updated Comprehensive Plan in December of 2018. In shaping and adopting the Comprehensive Plan, the Board recognized the importance of regulatory reform for economic development, affordable housing, residential development, and environmental protection and adaptation to climate change. Jefferson County's development and environmental health regulations and procedures have evolved incrementally over the years. A program of regulatory reform can reduce the inadvertent complexity, inconsistencies and unpredictable permitting paths that exist today, while continuing to protect public health and the environment, assist the County in adapting to climate change, and make it easier, less time consuming and cheaper for applicants to comply and for County staff to administer. As the Commissioners have previously noted, streamlining regulations and permit review procedures will support economic development, job creation and wage growth, affordable housing, environmental protection and public health, all of which can help lift citizens out of poverty, support public services, and promote social equity in Jefferson County. Regulatory reform can make it more attractive to comply voluntarily with health, safety and environmental protections, support the County's new Code Compliance effort, and reduce the incidence of non-compliant development and activities that can negatively impact surrounding properties. The Joint Resolution of the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners and the Jefferson County Board of Health would: • Initiate a Regulatory Reform Program of the County's current regulatory structure and associated permitting processes to promote the public welfare and improve regulatory compliance with public health protection, environmental protection and public safety, while reducing the cost and barriers to economic development, and affordable housing, consistent with state law; • Define the goals of the Regulatory Reform Program as: o Protect Jefferson County's environment; o Streamline and simplify the structure of County Code to make it understandable and efficient to comply with and to administer; o Reduce the Code and permit review reliance on burdensome and costly professional studies; o Allow County departments greater flexibility to allow minor exceptions that retain environmental protections and public safety; o Streamline permit review procedures; and o Enhance transparency and accountability for timely reviews; Direct Community Development and Environmental Public Health to develop a regulatory reform work program and schedule to be presented to the County Commissioners and the Board of Health by July 1, 2019. The work program and schedule should be designed to implement and sequence regulatory reform with: o a new permitting system EnerGov, and scheduled updates to the County's Critical Areas Ordinance and Shoreline Master Program, followed by an update to the remainder of the Unified Development Code; o reflecting Washington State's pending updates to the state's On -Site Sewage Systems Code, Food Safety Code, and Solid Waste Code; identifying and evaluating where the County's environmental health code may be more stringent than State law and evaluate the efficacy of those provisions; and F) Direct Community Development and Environmental Public Health to develop an early and continuous public participation program for the regulatory reform program The Joint Resolution has already be adopted by the Board of Health on March 21, 2019. The Joint Resolution now before the BoCC for adoption includes edits requested by the Commissioners in February, and is in a more readable format, as suggested by the Board of Health at their briefing in February. FISCAL IMPACT: Implementing a Regulatory Reform Program will require dedication of existing staff time, and depending on work -load capacity, may also require future budget appropriations. RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the Joint Resolution, as already approved by the Board of Health • •i III '' • 3/_ "� �� 2 Date STATE OF WASHINGTON JEFFERSON COUNTY JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF } COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE } RESOLUTION NO. 17-19 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH } ESTABLISHING A REGULATORY REFORM } PROGRAM FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY } The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners and the Jefferson County Board of Health are adopting a Joint Resolution to establish a Regulatory Reform Program for the County, including directing the Department of Community Development and the Environmental Public Health Division to propose a work program and schedule by July 1, 2019 for carrying out regulatory reform within each of their programs. In passing this Joint Resolution, we recognize the following prior work, current conditions and future opportunities that set the stage for regulatory reform: 1. Jefferson County adopted an updated Comprehensive Plan on December 10, 2018, consistent with Washington's Growth Management Act, that outlines a vision, and goals and policies, that help define, direct and guide future growth and development throughout the county through the year 2038, emphasizing economic development, affordable housing and residential development, while protecting the environmental quality of unincorporated areas. 2. The Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan recognizes the importance of regulatory reform for economic development, affordable housing, residential development, and environmental protection and adaptation to climate change through its goals, policies, action plans, and supporting narrative, such as Framework Goal III Enhancement of the Rural Economy, Framework Goal IV Housing Variety and Affordability, and goals LU -G-14 and ED -G-8 advocating for responsive, fair, and efficient permit processing. 3. Over time, Jefferson County's development and environmental health regulations and procedures have evolved incrementally. A program of regulatory reform can reduce the inadvertent complexity, inconsistencies and unpredictable permitting paths that exist today, while continuing to protect public health and the environment, assist the County in adapting to climate change, and make it easier, less time consuming and cheaper for applicants to comply and for County staff to administer. Page 1 of 5 4. Streamlining regulations and permit review procedures supports job creation and wage growth, economic development, affordable housing, environmental protection and the public's health related to Environmental Public Health, all of which are contributing factors to lifting citizens out of poverty, supporting public services, and promoting social equity in Jefferson County. 5. Numerous structures have been built and operated in Jefferson County without permits; and many customers who seek permit information from the Department of Community Development and from Environmental Public Health do not subsequently submit permit applications. The cost, lengthy timeframe and complexity of County regulations and permit processes appear to be significant deterrents to complying voluntarily and a contributing factor to an abundance of code violations which endanger public health, public safety and the environment. 6. Starting in 2019, the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners have enhanced funding for an on-going staffed Code Compliance program to help citizens comply with the County health, safety and environmental protections, help ensure that Jefferson County regulations are fairly and consistently applied, and reduce the incidence of non-compliant development and activities that can negatively impact surrounding properties. Regulatory Reform of County regulations and procedures will enhance and support the Code Compliance program. 7. Affordable housing, economic development, public health and environmental protection are of significant concern to the County, its residents, and its businesses. 8. It is in the best interest of the County's residents, its businesses, and governmental efficiency to commit to regulatory reform to clarify and streamline County regulations and create efficient development practices and permitting paths, in order to facilitate economic development, jobs and an increase in the supply of affordable housing, while protecting the environment and public health. 9. Exercising the County's police powers and delegated authority through regulatory reform will benefit Jefferson County, its residents, and its businesses, by better balancing economic development, affordable housing, residential development, environmental protection and the ability to adapt to climate change. 10. Jefferson County, particularly, Community Development and Environmental Public Health are transitioning to a modern permitting system, EnerGov, which will provide increased transparency, improved accountability, more efficient review procedures, and more consistent permitting paths. 11. Jefferson County is updating two major development regulations: the Critical Areas Ordinance in 2019, and the Shoreline Master Program in 2020. These are important opportunities to undertake regulatory reform with environmental protection. Page 2 of 5 12. Together, the recent update to the County's Comprehensive Plan and development regulations, new permitting system, upcoming update of the Critical Areas Ordinance and Shoreline Master Program, and ongoing updates to several Washington State health and safety codes provide an opportunity to holistically analyze and reform County regulations and procedures providing for efficient development practices and permitting paths increasing economic development, affordable housing, residential development, environmental protection and public health. THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED, that the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners and the Jefferson County Board of Health have determined that it is in the public interest to undertake a regulatory reform program of the County's current regulatory structure and associated permitting processes to promote the public welfare and improve regulatory compliance with public health protection, environmental protection and public safety, while reducing the cost and barriers to economic development and affordable housing, consistent with state law. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the County Commissioners and Board of Health direct Community Development and Environmental Public Health to develop a regulatory reform work program and schedule, consistent with appropriations available within the County's budget, and forward them to the Board of County Commissioners and Board of Health by July 1, 2019 for review and approval. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the regulatory reform program be designed to accomplish the following goals: • Protect Jefferson County's environment and public health; • Streamline and simplify the structure of County Code to make it understandable and efficient to comply with and to administer; • Assess required professional studies to identify overly burdensome and costly barriers in the code and permit review process; • Allow County departments greater flexibility to allow minor exceptions that retain environmental protections and public safety; • Streamline permit review procedures; and • Enhance transparency and accountability for timely reviews. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that Community Development and Public Environmental Health shall develop an early and continuous public participation program for the regulatory reform program. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that for the Department of Community Development, the regulatory reform work program shall sequence the program with the new permitting system EnerGov, updates to the Critical Areas Ordinance, updates to the Shoreline Master Program, followed by an update to the remainder of the Unified Development Code, and associated review procedures. Page 3 of 5 IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that for the Environmental Public Health Division, the regulatory reform work program shall sequence the program with the new permitting system EnerGov, and Washington State's updates to its On -Site Sewage Systems Code, Food Safety Code, and Solid Waste Code; identify and evaluate sections of the County's environmental health code that are more stringent than State law and evaluate the efficacy of those provisions. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the regulatory reform work program shall analyze holistically development and non -development regulations and procedures reducing the implementation burden of county staff and customers, rebalancing regulatory schemes consistent with the recent update of the County's Comprehensive Plan focusing on a balance of economic development, residential development, affordable housing, environmental protection, adaptation to climate change, public health, and provide regulatory flexibility in administering the updated regulations. IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED, that the County Commissioners and Board of Health expect the departments to produce and accomplish measurable results and outcomes as described in the work program. Periodic briefings and other accountability reviews are expected on regulatory reform progress for the duration of the program. APPROVED this _ day of March, 2019. SEAL: Attest: Carolyn Gallaway, Deputy Clerk of the Board JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Kate Dean, Chair David Sullivan, Member Greg Brotherton, Member Page 4 of 5 JEFFERSON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH Kees Kolff, Chair Sheila Westerman, Vice Chair David Sullivan, Member Kate Dean, Member Greg Brotherton, Member Pamela Adams, Member Denis Stearns, Member Page 5 of 5