Grays Harbor County, WA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

Grays Harbor County's only density-bonus mechanism lives inside the planned unit development (PUD) chapter, § 17.56.190, and is available only where a PUD is authorized: the G-1, G-5, R-2, R-3, RR, C-2, LQ, SD, I-1 and I-2 zone districts. Subsection D ties the bonus to the PUD's open-space calculation, which requires subtracting the required square footage for each undersized lot from its actual area and adding the shortfalls together to set the amount of common open space the development must set aside. Subsection D(4) then lets a development that exceeds the underlying zone's design features, open space requirements and recreational facilities, or that uses alternative energy conservation measures, request an increase in allowed residential density of five percent or less; the code does not describe a larger tier or a separate affordable-housing bonus.

Approval runs through the PUD process in subsection H: the planning division reviews a complete preliminary development plan, the planning commission holds a public hearing and forwards a recommendation to the board of county commissioners within one hundred twenty-one days, and the board holds its own hearing before approving, approving with conditions, or denying the density request along with the rest of the PUD. Nothing in § 17.56.190 lets an applicant appeal to the board of adjustment; the board of county commissioners' decision on the PUD, including any density increase, may be appealed directly to superior court within twenty-one days under subsection H(2)(g).