Other LanguagesExplanation of the interrelationship between § 13.208 of the Uniform Fire Code, 1976 Edition, and the platting of subdivisions or short subdivisions under chapter 58.17 RCW and/or a local short subdivision ordinance; consideration of the respective roles of the original subdivider and subsequent purchasers of building lots in achieving compliance with the access requirements of § 13.208 of the Uniform Fire Code.
The Growth Management Act does not obligate a county to require the replatting or resubdivision of lands in the county which are outside any urban growth area and which were platted before 1937, but allows local flexibility in applying GMA standards to such lands.
1. The requirements of chapter 58.17 RCW, enacted in 1969 and relating to platting and subdivisions, apply to land platted before 1937 under chapter 58.08 RCW or its predecessor statutes. 2. Cities and towns may accept plats and subdivisions filed pursuant to the 1937 platting act (chapter 58.16 RCW, repealed in 1969), but are not obligated to do so.
Where counties, cities, and towns charge fees for short plats in amounts designed to cover the actual cost of administering a regulatory program, such fees are authorized by statute and are not an improper form of taxation. However, where fees for short platting are designed to raise revenue over and above the actual costs of administering the regulatory program, the fees are a form of taxation in excess of the local government's statutory taxing power.
When, within an existing land subdivision established pursuant to either chapter 58.16 or chapter 58.17 RCW, the owner of an individual lot proposes to divide it into a number of smaller lots for the purpose of sale or lease, while such action constitutes a "resubdivision" as defined in RCW 58.17.020(6) and is, thereby, subject to the general provisions of chapter 58.17 RCW relating to subdivisions (AGO 1980 No. 5), the subdivider is not, in addition, required to vacate his existing lot or lots pursuant to chapter 58.11 RCW or alter the plat pursuant to chapter 58.12 RCW; if, however, the vacation of a plat or part thereof entails the vacation of a county road, one or the other of the procedures set forth in chapter 58.11 RCW and chapter 36.87 RCW, respectively, must be utilized.
Because of the necessity for a legally sufficient description in connection with an offer to sell, or sale of, real property an offer to sell a portion of a larger tract of land, or the execution of a purchase and sale agreement covering such a tract of land, constitutes a "division" of the land under the definition of a "short subdivision" contained in RCW 58.17.020(6) or (7) so as to render applicable the various provisions of chapter 58.17 RCW relating to short plats and short subdivisions.