SB 5042 Damages Certainty and Vesting for Builders
February 15, 2021
You rely on vesting for certainty and predictability when planning your projects.
SB 5042 shifts from the presumption that laws and regulations are legal until courts determine they are not. Under this bill, and only in this instance, laws would be considered suspect and unlawful until courts make a final decision.
This means if a local government determines there is a need to expand an Urban Growth Area, builders would not be able to know if their land use planning was legal until an appeal works its way through court. This process could take up to a decade.
This bill damages certainty and vesting for builders who rely on regulations and land use plans of local governments to make land acquisition and development plans.
BIAW strongly opposes any further erosion of Washington’s vested law doctrine.