Local Planning – and when you can add your opinion
By Charlotte Persons
Local jurisdictions –Thurston County and the cities within it—are creating plans that will dictate priorities, regulations, and funding for at least the next ten years. Your involvement and input are important! Here are timelines, as far as they are known at the moment:
Shoreline Master Program – The Conservation Committee’s Ann Van Sweringen has led a group of five environmental organizations in making comments (for more details, see the article by Sam Merrill about the Conservation Committee in this issue of The Echo.) Also, see https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/community-planning-and-economic-development-cped/community-planning/shorelines
.The public hearing and deadline for public comments is May 16.
Comprehensive Plan Updates – The County and its cities must all update their Comprehensive Plans by December 31, 2025. Each plan is updated every ten years, but the scope of the planning is for twenty years. The County and cities are all at different stages of inviting public participation.
Thurston County 2045 – The County has finished public outreach on what should be included in the scope of the Comp Plan. Next will come the publication of individual chapters. As they are published, we can make comments. There will be at least two public hearings on the comp plan update in the next 1.5 years. To learn more, go to https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/departments/community-planning-and-economic-development-cped/community-planning/thurston-2045
Olympia 2045 – The City will have an online kickoff of its public outreach for the first chapter, “Visions and Values,” tentatively on May 10 from 6 to 7 p.m. There will be a new webpage with a timeline and information. Members of the public can complete a survey during May on the Engage Olympia webpage. According to Joyce Phillips, Principle Planner, while some comp plan chapters will be considered in 2024, the chapters for this year are “Values and Vision,” “Public Participation & Partners,” “Natural Environment,” “Transportation,” “Arts, Parks & Recreation,” “Utilities,” and “Economy.” Some parts of all these chapters will have environmental effects, so look for articles and alerts on them.
Lacey Comprehensive Plan Update – The City of Lacey will begin work this year on these elements of the Comp Plan: Transportation, Economic Development, Housing, and Land Use. Ryan Andrews, Planning Manager, Lacey Community & Economic Development Department, stated in an email that he assumes outreach will be as in the past, “a combination of broad community outreach such as booths at community events, speakers at community organizations (Lions Club, Kiwanis, Rotaries), surveys, engagement with homeowners associations as well as geographically targeted outreach to specific areas of Lacey”. There will also be opportunities for public hearings or written comments. Check back here in The Echo for more specific information. Tumwater Comprehensive Plan Update – The City of Tumwater is in the process in April of finishing the public participation plan. It will include a schedule of meetings as well as a Comprehensive Plan update website and an email specifically for comments and questions on the update. In general, in 2023 the city will be reaching out to the public in many ways, including online surveys and community meetings. In 2024 formal discussions begin with the Planning Commission and City Council of the individual Comprehensive Plan elements, such as Land Use, Housing, Transportation, etc. Again, look for updates here. Brad Medrud, City Planner, suggested that you can contact him with questions at BMedrud@nullci.tumwater.wa.us
Photo credit: Canada Goose and Mallards by Gail Jackson, Audubon photo awards
