ORD 10-674ORDINANCE NO. 10-674
AN ORDINANCE of the City of Federal Way, Washington, relating
to residential off-street parking; amending FWRC 19.05.140;
amending FWRC 19130 Article VII; and repealing FWRC
19130.230. (Amending Ordinance Nos. 09-610, 09-607, 09-595, 09-
593, 08-585, 07-573, 04-457, 00-375, 99-341, and 90-43)
WHEREAS, the City recognizes the need to periodically modify Title 19 of the Federal
Way Revised Code (FWRC), "Zoning and Development Code," in order to conform to state and
federal law, codify administrative practices, clarify and update zoning regulations as deemed
necessary, and improve the efficiency of the regulations and the development review process;
and
WHEREAS, this ordinance, containing amendments to development regulations and the
text of Title 19 FWRC, has complied with Process VI review, chapter 19.80 FWRC, pursuant to
chapter 19.35 FWRC; and
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest for the City Council to clarify appropriate
residential off-street parking surface materials within the City of Federal Way; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendments would remove the undefined term of approved
impervious surface and replace with driveway or parking pad; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendments would remove the large lot exemption and
provide equitable regulation; and
WHEREAS, non-substantive changes would consolidate similar code sections and
eliminate redundancies; and
WHEREAS, an Environmental Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) was properly
issued for the Proposal on June 30, 2010, and no comments or appeals were received and the
DNS was finalized on July 28, 2010; and
Ordinance No. 10-674 Page 1 of 6
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission properly conducted a duly noticed public hearing
on these code amendments on July 21, 2010; and forwarded a recommendation of approval with
modification to the City Council as follows: pervious asphalt and pervious concrete as examples
for alternative surfaces that may be granted a modification from the director;
WHEREAS, the Land Use/Transportation Committee of the Federal Way City Council
considered these code amendments on August 2, 2010, and September 20, 2010, and
recommended adoption of the text amendments as recommended by the Planning Commission
with further modifications as follows: (1) gravel, pavers and LID methods are parking pad
options that do not require a modification and are allowed outright; and (2) grass is an acceptable
parking pad surface material except in front yards.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY,
WASHINGTON, DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section l. Findin�s. The City Council of the City of Federal Way makes the following
findings with respect to the proposed amendments.
(a) These code amendments are in the best interest of the residents of the City and
will benefit the City as a whole by clarifying existing policies and intent.
(b) These code amendments comply with Chapter 36.70A RCW, Growth
Management.
(c) These code amendments are consistent with the intent and purpose of Title 19
FWRC and will implement and are consistent with the applicable provisions of the Federal Way
Comprehensive Plan.
(d) These code amendments bear a substantial relationship to, and will protect and
not adversely affect, the public health, safety, and welfare.
Orclinance No. 10-674 Page 2 of 6
(e) These code amendments have followed the proper procedure required under the
FWRC.
Section 2. Conclusions. Pursuant to chapter 19.80 FWRC and chapter 19.35 FWRC, and
based upon the recitals and the findings set forth in Section 1, the Federal Way City Council
makes the following Conclusions of Law with respect to the decisional criteria necessary for the
adoption of the proposed amendments:
(a) The proposed FWRC amendments are consistent with, and substantially
implement, the following Federal Way Comprehensive Plan goals and policies:
LUG1 Improve the appearance and function of the built environment.
LUG3 Preserve and protect Federal Way's single-family neighborhoods.
LUP14Maintain and protect the character of existing and future single-family
neighborhoods through strict enforcement of the City's land use regulations.
HP4 Maintain a strong code enforcement progam to protect residential areas from
illegal land use activities.
(b) The proposed FWRC amendment bears a substantial relationship to the public
health, safety, and welfare as it will remove ambiguity regarding what is and what is not
considered appropriate vehicle storage.
(c) The proposed amendment is in the best interest of the public and the residents of
the City of Federal Way as it provides clarity to an existing code provision, aesthetic value to
residential areas, and equity among all single-family property owners.
Section 3. FWRC 19.05.140 is hereby amended to read as follows:
19.05.140 N definitions.
"Native vegetation" includes native, undisturbed areas or rehabilitation of previously
disturbed areas that consist of trees, plants, forest litter, and understory indigenous to the Pacific .
Northwest or near natives that are suitable for the Pacific Northwest climate. Invasive species,
such as Himalayan Blackberry or Scotch Broom, are not native species.
Ordinance No. 10-674 Page 3 of 6
"Natural features" means physical characteristics of the subject property that are not
manmade.
"Natural materials " means materials chemically unaltered from their natural state.
"Natural surveillance" means easy observation of buildings, spaces, and activities by
people passing, living, working, or recreating nearby.
"Nonconformance " means any use, structure, lot, condition, activity or any other feature
or element of private or public property or the use or utilization of private or public property that
does not conform to any of the provisions of this title or that was not approved by the city of
Federal Way through the appropriate decision-making process required under this title.
"Nonliving groundcover" means gravel, chipped bark or similar nonpolluting material
through which water can freely percolate to the soil beneath.
"Nonmotorized vehicles " include but are not limited to travel and camp trailers, utilitY
trailers, truck campers, and boat or vehicle transport trailers.
"Normal maintenance" includes interior and exterior repairs and incidental alterations.
"Normal maintenance and repair" includes, but is not limited to, painting, roof repair
and replacement, plumbing, wiring. and electrical systems, mechanical equipment replacement
and weatherization. "Incidental alterations" includes, but is not limited to, construction of
nonbearing walls or partitions.
"Notice of determination " for sign regulations means the determination that the city
issues as to whether a sign conforms to this title and other sections of this Code.
"Nuisance vegetation " shall mean any tree or vegetation that, in the opinion of the city or
an expert approved by the city (such as, but not limited to, a professional forester, certified
arborist, or landscape architect), is an invasive variety, is an allergen, or due to its location is
causing or is likely to cause damage to a permanent structure, or other economic ar
environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health that cannot be mitigated without
removal of the tree or vegetation.
"Nursing home" means the same as "convalescent center."
Section 4. FWRC Chapter 19.130 Article V is hereby repealed in its entirety.
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Ordinance No. 10-674 Page 4 of 6
Section 5. FWRC Chapter 19.130 Article VII is hereby amended to read as follows:
Article VII. r'��m°r�;�' �'°'�;�,°�, D°�-°^+;^^^' �'°'�;�,°�, � �^^+" Residential Parkin�
and Vehicle Stara�e
Section 6. Chapter 19.130 Article VII of the Federal Way Revised Code is hereby
amended to add a new section Purpose and intent to read as follows:
19.130.245 Purpose and intent
The purpose of this article is to establish standards for parking and storage of vehicles for
residential zones and uses. These standards are intended to protect property values bv reducin�
visual blight caused by vehicle storage and to provide reasonable size limitations for storage of
commercial and recreational vehicles.
Section 7. Chapter 19.130 Article VII of the Federal Way Revised Code is hereby
amended to add a new section Parking and storage of motor vehicles and nonmotorized vehicles
to read as follows:
19.130.246 Parking and stora�e of motor vehicles and nonmotorized vehicles
(1) All motor vehicle and nonmotorized vehicle �arkin� and storage for residential uses
containing either detached or attached dwellings shall be in a garage, carport, drivewav, or a
parkin�pad except for recreational vehicles to be used as a temporarv dwellin� as specified in
FWRC 19.130.290(1Lparkingpad shall accommodate the size of the vehicle and be
composed of asphalt, cement rg avel pavers or LID methods (pervious asphalt, pervious
concrete etc.). Grass shall be an acce tp able parking�ad surface except in the area located
between the �rimary dwelling unit and the front property line, and except as limited bv FWRC
19.130.240.
(2) An�garage, carport or parking�ad shall have direct driveway access.
�3) All vehicles considerediunked wrecked dismantled, or inoperable must be stored in
a completelv enclosed buildin�
Section 8. Severabilitv. The provisions of this ordinance are declared separate and
severable. The invalidity of any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or portion of
this ordinance, or the invalidity of the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall
not affect the validity of the remainder of the ordinance, or the validity of its application to any
other persons or circumstances.
Section 9. Corrections. The City Clerk and the codifiers of this ordinance are authorized
to make necessary corrections to this ordinance including, but not limited to, the correction of
Ordinance No. 10-674 Page S of 6
scrivener/clerical errors, references, ardinance numbering, section/subsection numbers and any
referencesthereto.
Section 10. Ratification. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the effective
date of this ordinance is hereby ratified and affirmed.
Section 11. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective five (5) days after passage
and publication as provided by law.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Federal Way this 19th day of October, 2010.
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
AT'I'EST:
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CITY CLERK, CA OL M NEILLY, CMC
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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CITY ATTORNEY, PATRICIA A. RICHARDSON
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: 9-28-2010
COLTNCIL BILL NO. 554
PASSED BY THE CITY COiJNCIL: 10-19-2010
PUBLISHED: 10-23-2010
EFFECTIVE DATE: 10-28-2010
ORDINANCE NO.: 10-674
Ordinance No. 10-674 Page 6 of 6