Community hearings set on major update to King County land use policies

County Council to hold five evening hearings on Comprehensive Plan Update

The public is invited to testify at one of five community public hearings on a major update of the King County Comprehensive Plan, the set of policies by which King County manages growth in unincorporated King County.

“We are reaching out to the 360,000 residents of our rural and unincorporated areas to make it easier for your voices to be heard,” said Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Gossett, chair of the Council’s Growth Management and Natural Resources Committee that will be conducting the hearings. “Instead of having to drive downtown, you can come to an evening public hearing in your community, or submit your testimony online.”

The public hearings start on March 20. Each hearing begins with an open house at 6:00 p.m., with the public meeting scheduled to run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

• Thursday, March 20 - SNOQUALMIE
Snoqualmie Middle School Commons
9200 Railroad Ave S.E.

• Thursday, March 27 - VASHON ISLAND
Chautauqua Elementary Gym
9309 S.W. Cemetery Road

• Thursday, April 3 - MAPLE VALLEY
Tahoma Junior High Commons
25600 Summit Landsburg Road, Ravensdale

• Wednesday, April 9 - DUVALL
Duvall Church, Family Life Center Gym
15510 First Ave.

• Tuesday, April 22 - RENTON
Northwood Middle School Commons
17007 SE 184th St.

Residents can also submit written testimony online by visiting the King County Council Web site and following the link to the “2008 Comp Plan Update.”

Public testimony will also be taken at regularly scheduled meetings of the Council's Growth Management and Natural Resources Committee throughout the spring and summer of 2008. These are daytime meetings held Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. in the Council chambers on the 10th floor of the King County Courthouse.

The Growth Management Committee is scheduled to complete its recommendation by August 5. Hearings before the full King County Council are scheduled for late September, with final adoption of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan Update expected by October 6, 2008.

The King County Comprehensive Plan guides growth and development in the unincorporated areas of King County and sets county policy on major issues such as annexations, transportation, and the environment. The Comprehensive Plan was adopted under the State Growth Management Act in 1994. Technical changes to this plan can be made once a year, with major plan updates conducted every four years. The first major review occurred in 2000, the second in 2004.

The King County Executive transmitted his proposed Comprehensive Plan Update to the County Council on February 29. Among the highlights of the Executive’s proposal are:

• Creation of a Rural and Resource Lands Preservation Program to relieve increasing development pressure on lands such as forests, by increasing the ability of landowners to realize financial benefits through transfer of development rights to higher density urban areas.

• A streamlined transportation concurrency process in urban unincorporated areas to facilitate and encourage development in areas of high density and large commercial development where public transit is also an option.

• Strategies to identify, mitigate and adapt to climate change, including what is believed to be the nation’s first policy for project level review for greenhouse gases under state environmental protection regulations.

• Review of land use policies in light of a recently announced Equity and Social Justice Initiative, to address the root causes of inequities and promote decisions based on equity and expansion of opportunities for all county residents.


Read the Executive’s proposed Comprehensive Plan Update and submit online testimony.