NEWS

Public Input on the comprehensive plan

December 2, 2024

Comment Period Has Been Extended!

Schedule Update

The Council's review and adoption schedule has been updated. It now shows:

The December 3, 2024 full Council meeting as a briefing only on the Striking Amendment to the 2024 Comprehensive Plan. This meeting will begin at 1:30pm.
The December 10, 2024 full Council meeting will include consideration of line amendments, and a final vote by the full Council. This meeting will begin at 1:30pm.

Public comment will be accepted at both of these meetings, and information on how to participate either in-person or on Zoom is available here. The updated schedule also shows new information on when line amendments for full Council will be prepared and released in the coming week.

You can view the most up-to-date schedule at: kingcounty.gov/CouncilCompPlan under "Council Review Schedule."

Public Comment Opportunities

Written comments on the proposed plan are welcome at any time during the Council’s review. Comments can be submitted electronically by emailing CouncilCompPlan@kingcounty.gov. The Council looks forward to your involvement in the review of the proposed 2024 Comprehensive Plan.

Here is a summary of the most recent proposed changes to the plan:

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

2024 Comprehensive Plan: Full Council Striking Amendments Released, Public Hearing Reminder, and Final EIS Issued

Striking Amendments Released

Since the Local Services and Land Use Committee made a "Do Pass" recommendation on the 2024 Comprehensive Plan update in June 2024, the Council has continued to work through additional amendment concepts. Based on this continued work, the Local Service and Land Use Committee Chair has issued proposed Striking Amendments to the 2024 Comprehensive Plan and to the Countywide Planning Policy amendments, for consideration by the full Council. The amendments are available on the Council's Comprehensive Plan website. A summary of the striking amendment for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan is available here.

Any known line amendments will be posted to the Council's Comprehensive Plan website as they are made available.

Public Hearing November 19 at 11:00 a.m.

The Council will accept public testimony on the 2024 Comprehensive Plan package, including the changes to the 2024 Comprehensive Plan and the Countywide Planning Policies, on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, beginning at 11:00 a.m. No votes will be taken at this meeting. This meeting will allow for in person or virtual public testimony. Information on how to participate in this hearing is available at this website.

The Council is expected to vote on the 2024 Comprehensive Plan package at the December 3, 2024 meeting, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. The agenda for this meeting will be issued on or around November 27, 2024, and any additional materials or amendments will be posted to the Council's Comprehensive Plan website as they are made available.

Final Environmental Impact Statement Issued

The King County Executive has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the 2024 Update. It is available on the Council's Comprehensive Plan website.

Public Comment Opportunities

Tuesday, November 12:
Additional meeting with Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda just on Vashon and the Comprehensive Plan - focusing on Inclusionary Housing. Here is her message to us:

Thank you for your interest in the King County Comprehensive Plan, the set of policies that guide growth in King County over the next 20 years. At the October 8th Vashon Community Comprehensive Plan meeting (view the recording here), we provided an overview of amendments to the Comp Plan impacting Vashon, and were able to answer every question and give everyone who wanted to speak an opportunity to provide feedback. Thank you to all who joined and weighed in!

The County Council is continuing its consideration of the King County Comprehensive Plan major update through the beginning of December. As part of this work, Land Use Chair Perry is leading an effort to update the County’s inclusionary housing policies—the County’s on-site affordable housing incentives and mandatory requirements to enable more affordable housing in new housing development across the county. We will be hosting another community discussion for Vashon community members to learn more and provide feedback on the inclusionary policies on November 12th from
12-1:30 pm. You can sign up to join here.

https://kingcounty.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M-OtNUPvSKSGjDWOpS8pLQ#/registration

You can find an overview of my Vashon Comprehensive Plan amendment work to support affordable housing and childcare, workers and small businesses, healthcare and social services, and climate resilience https://cdn.kingcounty.gov/-/media/king-county/depts/council/teresa-mosqueda/documents/2024/vashon-comp-plan-amendments-overview.pdf?rev=8287723e0db64212b10cb7b6bd9ace1e&hash=E430B6A9E6E6B6497E848287144B845D

Before finalizing the Comprehensive Plan, the Land Use Committee will hold another public hearing coming up on November 19th with both in-person and virtual options provided to give the public the opportunity to comment. The Council will consider final amendments, clarify, and enhance language, then take a final vote on the Comprehensive Plan in December. You can find more information and sign up for email updates at the County’s Comprehensive Plan website here, and see the full review schedule here. https://cdn.kingcounty.gov/-/media/king-county/depts/council/comprehensive-plan/2024/committee-schedule-updated-9-10-24.pdf?rev=549d35c9fe414109a7634251f19e1b11&hash=B477647EC5E2A670601187E7C8319530

Thank you very much for your engagement!

BACKGROUND ON HOW THIS MEETING CAME ABOUT

At our September 19 community meeting, the members passed the following motion: "The Vashon Community Council is to write to the King County Council and County Executive, asking them to conduct and attend (in person or via Zoom/on-line) a public meeting to allow Vashon residents to share their thoughts and concerns and questions about how zoning changes in the County Council's striking amendments to the King County Executive's proposed 10-year Comprehensive Plan would impact their lives and the island community, and to hear the answers. It is requested that the meeting take place within 20 business days of the passage of this motion."
By the very next day, we were contacted by our Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, with a meeting set up for Tuesday, October 8. At the end of that meeting, she announced that there would be a second meeting with the Vashon Community in November.

Dear Vashon-Maury Community Council

Thank you to the Vashon Island community for all your engagement on the draft King County Comprehensive Plan update throughout this year. We appreciate the interest in continuing the discussions regarding the draft plan and possible amendments. The request from the Vashon-Maury Community Council comes at a perfect time to clarify information, share how we are adjusting language based on further community engagement, and receive additional feedback.

This meeting will be an opportunity to discuss community feedback, ideas and hear additional suggestions. Staff will be on hand to provide information and help answer questions. We appreciate that the VMCC request suggested either in-person or a virtual meeting would be welcomed. Given the budget deliberations and our role on the Budget Leadership Team, which meets into the evenings regularly during budget, the best time to meet that will align perfectly with feedback is October 8th. We hope that folks can attend over their lunch break mid-day instead of in the evening. Please feel free to distribute the attached flyer for the community meeting and register to attend at this link or through the QR code in the flyer. Meeting details and additional information will be sent closer to the event. If folks cannot attend at that time, comments are welcomed anytime at Teresa.Mosqueda@kingcounty.gov.

It has been wonderful to receive feedback from the Vashon-Maury Community Council members throughout the course of this year, including direct suggestions from the VMCC Affordable Housing Committee, along with many other organizations and individuals over the last few months. We look forward to sharing how some of the amendment ideas have evolved, additional strategies we are considering, and to further receiving feedback prior to the completion of the Comprehensive Plan.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND ON THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

On December 7, 2023, the King County Executive transmitted to the County Council the 2024 Comprehensive Plan, for their review. The Community Council is happy to report that in the current recommended plan, they are NOT calling for a fee in lieu program to allow developers to pay a fee to get out of including affordable housing in their developments. The Council passed a resolution against the Fee in Lieu earlier this year, and the planners listened to us!

The Vashon Town Plan Committee met several times and proposed changes to the board, which accepted them, and proposed them to the members, who voted to accept the proposed changes at our April 18th community meeting. You can see the proposed changes here.