No county shall vacate a county road or part thereof which abuts on a body of salt or freshwater unless:
(1) The purpose of the vacation is to enable any public authority to acquire the vacated property for port purposes, boat moorage or launching sites, or for park, viewpoint, recreational, educational, or other public purposes;
(2) The property is zoned for industrial uses; or
(3) In a county west of the crest of the Cascade mountains and bordered by the Columbia river with a population over four hundred fifty thousand, the county determines that:
(a) The road has been used as an access point to trespass onto private property;
(b) Such trespass has caused loss of human life, and that public use of the county road creates an ongoing risk to public safety; and
(c) Public access to the same body of water abutting the county road is available at not less than three public access sites within two miles in any direction of the terminus of the road subject to vacation.
[ 2020 c 300 § 1; 1969 ex.s. c 185 § 7.]
NOTES:
Expiration date—2020 c 300 § 1: "Section 1 of this act expires December 31, 2023." [ 2020 c 300 § 2.]
RCW 36.87.130
Vacation of roads abutting bodies of water prohibited unless for public purposes or industrial use. (Effective December 31, 2023.)
No county shall vacate a county road or part thereof which abuts on a body of salt or fresh water unless the purpose of the vacation is to enable any public authority to acquire the vacated property for port purposes, boat moorage or launching sites, or for park, viewpoint, recreational, educational or other public purposes, or unless the property is zoned for industrial uses.
[ 1969 ex.s. c 185 § 7.]