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Pasco has approved an ordinance intended to preserve the rural feel of some neighborhoods, despite warnings that the change conflicts with city planning policies and could affect existing residents. It also shifts some costs to the city.
The ordinance passed in a 5-1 vote. Council member Mark Figueroa cast the lone dissenting vote.
Some council members who supported the ordinance, including Leo Perales and mayor Pro-Tem David Milne, said they viewed the policy as a way to preserve the rural and suburban character of those neighborhoods as the state encourages higher-density housing.
“I believe it has a rural feel, suburban feel, and that’s why people move there,” council member Perales said in the July 20 city council meeting.
“We’re actually trying to lower density, which is what I think a lot of people … are asking for, to limit people buying one house and then putting 12 houses on that same piece of property,” Milne said.
The ordinance itself, however, does not change zoning regulations or limit the size or number of housing units that can be built. Instead, it changes the infrastructure improvements required when developing property in those areas.
Now property owners will no longer have to build sidewalks, curbs, gutters and streetlights before developing a home. Instead, they will only be required to dedicate the right-of-way needed for the city to construct that infrastructure in the future.
While the change is expected to reduce upfront costs for property owners, some restrictions remain that could require them to help pay for future infrastructure improvements serving their neighborhoods.
What developers need to know about the new rules?
During an April meeting, city council members asked city staff to move forward with a “right-of-way dedication only” approach, creating new requirements that allow property owners to forgo building frontage improvements as part of their projects.
The changes apply only to homes built in the city’s lowest-density residential zones, which are intended to preserve a rural or semi-rural character.
These areas are known as the R-15 and R-S-12 zones.
The first requirement is that property owners dedicate the land the city may need for future streets, sidewalks, utilities and other public infrastructure.
With the city taking responsibility for frontage improvements, it can pay for those projects through a variety of funding sources, including the city’s general fund, state and federal grants, developer contributions and Local Improvement Districts.
The second is that a Traffic Impact Analysis, when required, determines that delaying the construction of sidewalks, curbs, gutters and streetlights would not create traffic, pedestrian, bicycle or life-safety concerns.
If the analysis finds that delaying those improvements would create safety concerns, the property owner would not qualify for the exemption.
The third is to sign an agreement saying the property owner will not oppose the creation of a Local Improvement District (LID) for 5 years.
The city uses LID to fund public infrastructure projects, with the costs shared by property owners who benefit from the improvements.
Concerns over future development
While the measure is intended to encourage new housing construction, residents could also face trade-offs, including living in neighborhoods without streetlights, curbs, bicycle infrastructure, paved streets or sidewalks.
Neighbor Michelle Andres said that this new measure might cause a rush on building in these areas.
“I’m very concerned about overbuilding in areas that don’t need it,” she said at the city council meeting. “I’m very concerned about some of the density that we do have being added to Road 76 just north of Court. I can’t emphasize enough that taxpayers are paying for that.”
The ordinance could also complicate Pasco’s negotiations with Franklin County and developers building in urban growth areas.
Currently, Pasco requires those developments to meet the city’s infrastructure standards.
With the new ordinance, developers and Franklin County could question why Pasco is applying different construction standards inside the city than it does in surrounding growth areas, according to city staff during the July 20 city council meeting.
“It is difficult to require what the city does not apply internally,” a city staff presentation states.
Another concern is that the ordinance could conflict with Pasco’s Comprehensive Plan, which calls for building an interconnected network of streets, trails and access ways.
Because property owners would no longer be required to build frontage improvements, some sidewalks could remain disconnected. If the infrastructure is built later, it could also increase costs or require work that damages existing improvements.
Allowing entire streets to be built without sidewalks or streetlights could also conflict with Pasco’s Complete Streets policy. The policy is intended to ensure streets are designed to safely serve drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit users and people of all ages and abilities.
“There was already council that approved our Complete Streets Policy, and we’re going back and we’re going to undo that, and then we’re the Comprehensive Plan and everything else about multimodal transportation and connection and sidewalks, but then with this action, if it goes through, we’re kind of taking that back out,” council member Mark Figueroa said. “So there really isn’t a consistent lay of moving forward, right?”
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