Davidson Serles & Associates v. Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board

¶1 — The Growth Management Hearings Boards (Boards)1 are creatures of statute without inherent or common-law powers. As such, they may exercise only those powers conferred by statute, either expressly or by necessary implication. The Growth Management Act (GMA), chapter 36.70A RCW, empowers the Boards with the authority to invalidate a jurisdiction’s comprehensive plan or development regulations under particular circumstances. The appellants herein contend that a Board is required to invalidate an ordinance whenever that Board finds that the challenged ordinance was adopted in violation of…