Staff proposes raising SEPA exemption thresholds; commissioners warn about notice and mitigation tradeoffs

City planning staff explained proposed changes to Chapter 22.03 (SEPA exemptions) and walked commissioners through numerical thresholds that determine when state environmental review is triggered. Nicole said Richland's existing local thresholds had not been updated in decades and staff proposed increasing many of them to be more consistent with neighboring cities. "For residential right now, anything that involves the construction or location of up to 20 residential units doesn't get reviewed by SEPA," she said, then described proposed increases (staff discussed a 30‑unit threshold for certain single‑family project types and a 60‑unit threshold proposed for multifamily, noting the state allows up to 200 units by statute).

Commissioners asked about tradeoffs: higher thresholds can speed permitting and reduce costs for developers, but may also allow projects that would previously have triggered SEPA to proceed without traffic, geotechnical, or other impact studies and without mitigation conditions. One commissioner asked whether the city should adopt the statutory ceiling (200 units) for multifamily; staff replied cities often pick lower thresholds to retain review authority and that the staff recommendation aimed for a middle ground. Commissioners also asked staff to add a column to graphics showing state minimums and local minimums so readers can see the full range of options. Nicole emphasized the thresholds would be coordinated with neighboring Tri‑Cities jurisdictions to increase predictability for developers.

Ending: Staff said there will be consultation with tribes and state agencies as part of the SEPA review process and reiterated that exemptions have exceptions (for critical‑area sites or other conditions that still require review). "If we go too high, there could be just one‑off instances where a project would have benefited from SEPA but wouldn't be captured," Nicole said. The proposal will return with additional context and graphics showing minimums and comparisons to nearby cities.