HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 2022-022 An Ordinance of the City of Arlington, Washington Amending Chapter 20.52 of the Arlington Municipal Code Regarding Zoning for Recreational Facilities ORDINANCE NO. 2022-022
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ARLINGTON, WASHINGTON
AMENDING CHAPTER 20.52 OF THE ARLINGTON
MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING ZONING FOR RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
WHEREAS, the City staff has engaged in a comprehensive review and has proposed an
update containing numerous revisions to the Arlington Municipal Code (AMC); and
WHEREAS, the Arlington Planning Commission held numerous meetings concerning the
revisions, including discussions occurring at the following meetings of the commission:
• January 4, 2022
• March 1, 2022
• March 15, 2022
• April 5, 2022
• April 19, 2022
• May 3, 2022
• May 17, 2022
• June 7, 2022
• June 23, 2022
• July 25, 2022
• August 2, 2022
• September 6, 2022
• September 20, 2022; and
WHEREAS, the Arlington Planning Commission provided notice of and took public
testimony concerning the changes at public hearings which occurred on September 20, 2022;
and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission made findings and provided its recommendations
to the City Council concerning the proposed changes; and
WHEREAS, the City Council considered the revisions initially with docketing meetings on
March 28, 2022 and April 4, 2022, and also at a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on
July 25, 2022, and then on October 10, 2022 and at a public hearing conducted on October 17,
2022; and
WHEREAS, the amendments were presented to the Department of Commerce for
comment and said Department had no comments on the ordinance; and
ORDINANCE NO. 2022-022 1
WHEREAS, review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) occurred with
limited comments from state agencies, all of which were addressed by the City; and
WHEREAS, having considered the public testimony, the input from the Planning
Commission and state agencies, the Council deems the adoption of these amendments to be in
the best interests of the City and citizens;
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Arlington does hereby ordain as
follows:
Section 1. Arlington Municipal Code section 20.52.010(c) shall be and hereby is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The City Council recognizes that mini-parks must be of a certain minimum size to
be usable and that such mini-parks will not serve the intended purpose unless properly
maintained. Therefore, residential developments that are small enough so that the
amount of required mini-park space does not exceed two thousand square feet may: (i)
dedicate the same amount of land outside of the project but adjacent to another park
within the vicinity of the project; or (ii) deposit a fee per expected person as set by
resolution (as calculated in Subsection (b)) into the "In Lieu Park Open Space Fund-"
(Neighborhood / Mini-Park In Lieu Fee). Said fund is to be used for acquisition and
development of mini-park land or provision of mini-park and recreation services within
the service area of the plat.
Section 2. Arlington Municipal Code section 20.52.030 shall be and hereby is
amended to read as follows:
20.52.030 Usable Open Space.
(a) Except as preyided ;R Subs tier (`), eveF . Every residential development shall
be developed so that at least 4ye ten percent J1QM of the total area of the
development remains permanently as usable open space.
(b) For purposes of this section, usable open space means an area that:
(1) Is not encumbered with any substantial structure or utility easement for
distribution lines,
(2) Is not devoted to use as a roadway, parking area, or sidewalk,
(3) Is left (as of the date development began) in its natural or undisturbed
state if wooded, except for the cutting of trails for walking or jogging, or, if not
wooded at the time of development, is landscaped for ball fields, picnic areas, or
similar facilities, or is properly vegetated and landscaped with the objective of
creating a wooded area or other area that is consistent with the objective set
forth in Subdivisien section (4),
(4) Is capable of being used and enjoyed for purposes of informal and
unstructured recreation and relaxation,
ORDINANCE NO. 2022-022 2
(5) Is legally and practicably accessible to the residents of the development
out of which the required open space is taken, or to the public if dedication of
the open space is required pursuant to §20.52.040 (Dedication, Ownership, and
Maintenance of Recreational Areas and Open Space),
(6) Consists of land no more than twenty-five percent of which lies within a
floodplain or floodway as those terms are defined in §20.08.010 (Definitions of
Basic Terms) or of slopes greater than five percent, or a critical area buffer,
(7) The length of the area shall be no more than twice its width, and
(8) Those environmentally critical areas protected pursuant to rh-..teF 20.
Chapter 20.93 (EHVi 9F1F^^n Critical Areas Ordinance) shall not be counted
toward the project's usable open space requirement.
H Subdivided resident4 developments ef less than twenty five dwelling URits aFe
exempt fFeM the Fequ;Femeeipts -of this section unless the city agFees that it will arecept 4A
effeF of dediratieR ef such epeR space, and in that case the e4eF ef dedication shall -he
made.
Section 3. Severability. Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of
this ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, be declared unconstitutional or
otherwise invalid for any reason, or should any portion of this ordinance be pre-empted by
state or federal law or regulation, such decision or pre-emption shall not affect the validity of
the remaining portions of this ordinance or its application to other persons or circumstances.
Section 4. Effective Date. The title of this ordinance which summarizes the contents
shall be published in the official newspaper of the City. This ordinance shall take effect and be
in full force five (5) days after the date of publication as provided by law.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Arlington and APPROVED by the Mayor this 17th
day of October, 2022.
CITY OF ARLINGTON
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Barbara Tolbert, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Wendy VA Der Meersche, City Clerk ~
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Stev6J Pe le, ity Attorney
ORDINANCE NO. 2022-022 3
CERTIFICATION OF ORDINANCE
I, Wendy Van Der Meersche, being the duly appointed City Clerk of the City of Arlington,
Washington, a municipal corporation, do hereby certify that the following Ordinance
No. 2022-022 was approved at the October 17, 2022 City Council meeting.
ORDINANCE NO. 2022-022
"AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ARLINGTON,WASHINGTON
AMENDING CHAPTER 20.52 OF THE ARLINGTON
MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING ZONING FOR RECREATIONAL FACILITIES"
A true and correct copy of the original ordinance is attached.
Dated this 18th day of October, 2022
A1zbJa&kU9&
Wendy Va Der Meersche
City Clerk for the City of Arlington