Chapter by Chapter Revising of the Thurston County Comprehensive Plan Has Started
By Loretta Seppanen
Local governments express their vision, goals, and policies for the coming 20 years in their Comprehensive Plans. The responsibility for this work does not rest only on elected officials and the residents who volunteer on planning committees. Adding our voice as these documents are updated is a civic responsibility just as important as voting. Now is the time to share your experience and wisdom as Comprehensive Plans are updated.
Thurston County has started releasing draft chapters of the county’s plan and invites us to give chapter by chapter input starting now with additional chapters released monthly throughout this year. The county is starting with two “easy” chapters first. By “easy,” I mean these chapters contain fewer goal statements than the other plan chapters. This is an opportunity to become familiar with the review and input process. You can tap on these links to download the two red-line Word document versions of the Introduction and the Archaeological and Historic Resources chapters. County staff invite us to download the Word documents, pull up track changes, add our comments, save, and return your edited file using the Comp Plan survey form. The form requires your name and email, the topic, and on the second page of the form question 9 permits uploading your edited file.
This track change and submit process is a new process that facilitates staff and Planning Commission review of all community comments. Alternatively, if you don’t use Word or typically download and upload files, you can send an email or call the person listed on the Thurston 2045 webpage.
Many LWVTC members are committed to the conservation of fish, wildlife, and plant habitats as well as water resource protection. Relevant policies are in the Environment, Parks, and Open Space chapter. Here is my heads-up announcement – the red-line version of that chapter will be listed on the Thurston 2045 webpage by Earth Day, April 22. On that day, scroll down the page to the Chapters Ready for Review section. Look for the Environment, Parks, and Open Space chapter and start reviewing. Fulfill this civic responsibility by contributing your insights to make this chapter best reflect the future vision for our community.
Photo credit: Crocuses in Bloom, by Rachel Hudson.
