PAW Annual Conference Theme Announced

Call for Submissions Open Now!

Of course, you’ve already saved the date for the Planning Association of Washington’s Annual Conference May 1-3, 2019 at Campbell’s Resort in Lake Chelan. It will be educational and fun with some of the prettiest views in the state of Washington. The Board of Directors have chosen “Housing: From the Inside Out” as the theme for this year’s conference.

Affordable housing, housing designed for the flexing “normal family”, tiny homes – you name it, we want to hear about it. Along with this track there will be a Planner’s Nuts and Bolts track.

As planners we know the best product comes from community engagement. So here’s your chance to get involved:

1.)   Submit a session proposal: We seek visionary, creative and collaborative speakers that offer innovative and engaging presentations. Use this link  to find out more about how to submit your session.  The deadline for proposals is January 31st, 2019, PST. Please email session proposals to Fawn Wilson at [email protected]

2.) Pechakucha presentation submissions from students are strongly encouraged!  Deadline for proposals is January 31 st 2019 . Contact Marla Powers at [email protected] for more information. Special student rates will be offered for the Annual Conference.

3.)   Recruit a sponsor: Sponsorship of the Annual Conference is one of the main sources of revenue for the Planning Association of Washington and also helps to provide the best speakers and trainings. You can submit sponsorship ideas to Mary Reinbold at [email protected] or recruit a sponsor yourself using this form  . 

4.)   Spread the word: It’s not too early to start inviting your peers, elected officials, and planning commissions to the conference. The Board of Directors is planning new engagement opportunities at the conference including a social, engaging plenary sessions, and opportunities for current students to participate. Feel free to share the details!
March 22, 2019 Bootcamp in Lacey

Save the Date!

Location:

Date and Time:
March 22, 2019
9:00 Am - 4:15 Pm

Audience: 
PAW Land Use Boot Camp events are skill-based courses for planning, administrative, and legal professionals focusing on timely issues related to land use law and practice updates. 5.5 AICP CM credits p ending .

Cost : 
$80 for PAW members                     
$100 for non-members
           
PAW Membership: To become a 2019 PAW member, please click here.

WCIA members are eligible for one reimbursed registration per member. WCIA members must register and pay PAW first.  Then, after the Boot Camps reimbursement can be requested by going to this link prior to December 14, 2019.

RMSA Scholarship Program: The Risk Management Service Agency (RMSA) provides scholarships to help its members attend pre-approved workshops and trainings. RMSA Scholarships are only available to current members of the RMSA. Members must submit an application, prior to attending an event, for consideration of scholarship approval by RMSA staff. RMSA Scholarships provide reimbursement of registration costs only for trainings intended to improve risk management skills or reduce liability and property risk exposures and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. To find out if your city or town is eligible, please contact [email protected] , (360) 753-4137.

Technology for Tracking the Unseen: Mapping Wellhead Protection Areas
I live within a wellhead protection area and work with them, so they’re something I think about almost every day—but how often does the average planner consider them? This emerges most often for local jurisdictions that operate their own public water supplies or are coordinating with a district that serves them. At the planning level, it usually comes up in the context of critical areas regulations, particularly for jurisdictions whose critical aquifer recharge area definitions encompass wellhead protection areas.
Over the past several years, the Washington State Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water (ODW) has developed a statewide lookup for wellhead protection areas associated with Group A and Group B public water systems.

Called the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) map, the application includes contribution zones (where defined) and also incorporates other information related to wellhead protection, such as Ecology’s contaminants layer. The SWAP map provides an easy reference tool for planners to determine whether a proposed project is within a wellhead protection area and may need review under local critical areas regulations.

Examples of the various types of wellhead protection areas are shown below:
Calculated fixed radius (CFR) wellhead protection area, depicting the 6-month (red), 1-year (tan), 5-year (green), and 10-year (teal) times of travel to the well
Modeled contribution zones similarly depicting various times of travel to the wells, but more specific in identifying where groundwater is actually moving
Several assigned wellhead protection areas for Group A (purple) and Group B (gray) systems whose contribution zones haven’t been calculated
Calculated fixed radius (CFR) wellhead protection area, depicting the 6-month (red), 1-year (tan), 5-year (green), and 10-year (teal) times of travel to the well

Modeled contribution zones similarly depicting various times of travel to the wells, but more specific in identifying where groundwater is actually moving

Several assigned wellhead protection areas for Group A (purple) and Group B (gray) systems whose contribution zones haven’t been calculated
With the addition of a position in 2018, ODW has been selectively reviewing and commenting on SEPA notices to point out where critical areas review is or may be called for. In turn, several common limitations have become apparent:

  • Although wellhead protection areas are suggested as one example, local critical areas ordinances vary in defining critical aquifer recharge areas. Some follow a soils-based approach that doesn’t consider wellhead protection areas. Where wellhead protection areas are definitional, the description may fail to include all such areas. For instance, if a definition calls out a 10-year time of travel, it categorically excludes all facilities with “assigned” wellhead protection areas—a 2,000-foot diameter protective radius assigned by ODW where a purveyor hasn’t identified a wellhead protection area.
 
  • Similarly, local ordinances vary in designating critical aquifer recharge areas. Codes may refer to certain maps that are not maintained or cannot be located online. Recently, ODW heard from two local health departments in counties where critical areas regulations referred to wellhead protection areas as assigned by those agencies. In reality, that’s a function of individual water purveyors, subject to state health department approval
 
  • Where local jurisdictions operate their own water systems, efforts to codify the water system plan’s wellhead protection provisions are sometimes muddled with critical areas regulations. Where multiple systems exist within a jurisdiction (or where wellhead protection areas associated with facilities outside the jurisdiction overlap into its limits), the code should equally protect wells owned and not owned by, and inside and outside, the jurisdiction. The duty to protect the quality and quantity of potable water doesn’t stop with one’s own system.

Optimally, as local jurisdictions review and update their critical areas ordinances, they will refine descriptors and references to include the SWAP map. As an agency with drinking water expertise , ODW is happy to provide up-front technical assistance in the amendment process.
 
Deborah Johnson is a former local planner and wellhead protection specialist in ODW’s Source Water Protection Program. For more information, call 360-236-3133 or email [email protected] .
Announcing the 2019 Board Election Results
The Board of Director’s met for their annual retreat in October of 2018. Hosted by outgoing president Alex Wenger, in Blaine WA; the group engaged in strategic planning for the next year focusing on the most vital resources of PAW: our members and our commitment to education. 

This year there is an exciting schedule of Planner’s Boot Camps spread across the state. We’ll be in Lacey in March, Ellensburg in June, and Spokane in November. If there’s a topic you’d love to see feel free to contact any board member with your suggestions. 

Additionally, this year’s conference will continue the work of the Education Committee. This years Education Commitee offering will be called Planners Nuts and Bolts and will be focusing on Legal Writing for Planners, Common Pitfalls in Planning, Code Drafting for Historic Preservation, and Code Drafting for Design Standards among other topics.

  • The PAW Board Retreat also included the election of the 2019 officers:
  • President: Marla Powers, Associate Planner, City of Poulsbo
  • Vice-President: Jason Sullivan, Planning and Building Supervisor, City of Bonney Lake
  • Secretary: Pete Dickinson, Planning Director, City of Pullman
  • Treasurer: Lloyd Skinner, AICP, Principal, Skinner Planning & Environmental Solutions
  • The Board also filled the last remaining vacancy, welcoming Geneva Faulkner an Environmental Planner and Project Scientist from Element Solutions in Bellingham. Congratulations Geneva!
Boot Camps: Education and Revenue
If you haven’t attended a PAW Boot Camp yet, you’re missing out. The events provide fun and engaging content driven by current planning issues. The smaller venues allow for great networking and a chance to connect with firms and municipalities completing work similar to your own. 

2018 Boot Camps
  • April 2018 at the Lacey Community Center with 42 Attendees
  • November 2018 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center with 42 Attendees

Boot Camps, like the quarterly newsletter, are an exciting way to share your work with peers in a not-so-very intimidating setting. The first PAW Boot Camp of 2019 will be March 22 in Lacey, Washington. This Boot Camp will focus on the legal aspects of addressing homelessness, how to read third party reviews of wetland and traffic reports, and the integration of Shoreline Master Programs and Critical Areas Ordinances with other regulations. 

Future Boot Camp topics are still being decided, if you’d like to participate by suggesting a topic, volunteering as a speaker, or hosting an event please contact the chair of the Education Committee, Emily Terrell, AICP at [email protected]. 

To submit to the PAW newsletter please contact PAW at [email protected]. 
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Membership Renewal and New Memberships

Please remember if you have been a member in the past, now is the time to renew your membership!

 
For those of you excited to become new members, know that you will receive a discount on all training opportunities AND at the Annual Conference with membership status. In addition, you will have a chance to meet an enthusiastic, committed, and active membership group. 

Click here to view our membership brochure .

We look forward to meeting you and chatting up planning topics in 2019!