Project Overview
The Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) requires cities and counties to update Comprehensive Plans and implementing development regulations every 10 years , known as the periodic update. Comprehensive Plans are 20-year policy documents that guide and plan for growth (population and employment), housing, transportation, capital facilities and utilities, parks, recreation and open space, rural areas, and protection of natural resource lands.
Kittitas County will be updating their comprehensive plan by June 30, 2026.
The County uses the Comprehensive Plan to guide local development and capital budget decisions. The policies in the plan are implemented through the County’s development regulations and other adopted codes, programs, and projects to achieve the Comprehensive Plan goals.
The objectives of the periodic update are:
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Update policies and regulations consistent with state law changes since the last plan update
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Update policies and regulations consistent with any case law since the last update
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Plan for housing (by income band), population, and employment to 2046
Project Milestones
During each phase of the project, the County’s has identified key milestones to accomplish and report out results to the community.
Kickoff & Coordination: At this phase the project charter, final project schedule, engagement schedule, and community engagement is produced and uploaded to the project website.
Community Engagement: Survey results, comments from stakeholders, open house results, planning commission meetings and other public engagement will be collected throughout and uploaded to the project intermittently.
Data Collection & Analysis: At this phase the project team will complete data analysis & recommendations to satisfy state law, accommodate capacity and housing for growth, address new climate related requirements, and address best available science (BAS) for critical areas will be completed. Results of these tasks will be presented to the public.
Plan Drafting: The project team will execute a series of meetings with the Kittitas County Planning Commission to review draft policies at public meetings. This will occur over the course of a few months. Any materials will be uploaded to the project website. Final recommendations will go to the next phase of the project. Another open house will occur during this phase to gather feedback on preliminary policies.
Final Plan Drafting: The final comprehensive plan document will be assembled and presented to the public at Kittitas County Planning Commission meetings. There will be a comment period associated with its release. The final draft document will be uploaded to the project website.
Finalization & Adoption: Final adoption will be completed after a series of public hearings with the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners.
