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Comprehensive Planning

This page provides an overview of comprehensive planning and the comprehensive plan update process for cities and counties in Washington State, including required and optional elements under the Growth Management Act, and examples of comprehensive plans.

It is part of MRSC's series on the Growth Management Act.

Some other local governments are also required to adopt “comprehensive plans” under different statutes, such as port districts (see RCW 53.20.010 and our Port District Resources page) and water-sewer districts (see RCW 57.16.010), but those documents are much more limited in scope and are not discussed here.

New Legislation: Effective June 6, 2024:

  • SSB 6015 requires cities and counties planning under the Growth Management Act to follow specified requirements when enforcing land use regulations regarding parking, with exceptions.
  • SSB 5834 allows a county to revise an urban growth area during an annual comprehensive plan update, if certain conditions are met. Requires the county to consult with any Indian tribe that could be affected by the revision.
  • SB 6140 allows a new or redeveloped retail or food service use in a mixed-use limited area of more intensive rural development (LAMIRD) to have retail space of up to the greater of 10,000 square feet or the size of the previously occupied space, if the retail space is for an essential rural retail service and the LAMIRD is at least 10 miles from an urban growth area.
  • SHB 2296 extends the next deadline for Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, San Juan, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom Counties, and the cities within those counties, to review and revise their comprehensive plans from June 30, 2025, to December 31, 2025.

We have updated this page to reflect the new legislation

Purpose of Comprehensive Plans

Comprehensive plans are the centerpiece of local planning efforts. These 20-year plans articulate a community vision through a series of goals, objectives, policies, and actions that guide the day-to-day decisions of elected officials and local government staff. The planning process includes robust community input through a variety of means (e.g., workshops, open houses, online engagement forums, surveys, etc.) as described in a required public participation plan.

Many cities and counties are required to enact comprehensive plans, while others choose to do so voluntarily.

Comprehensive Plan Updates

Cities and counties that are “fully planning” under the Growth Management Act (GMA) must conduct a thorough review of their comprehensive plans and development regulations, including those related to critical areas and natural resource lands, every 10 years (referred to by the Washington State Department of Commerce as a “periodic update”) in accordance with the schedule in RCW 36.70A.130. Revisions may be necessary to reflect new population and employment projections and any related zoning and/or urban growth area (UGA) changes, changes in state law, new community priorities, and more.

All cities and counties are expected to complete their updates by June 30 of their deadline year, unless modified by statute. The 2024 Washington State Legislature extended the next deadline for Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, San Juan, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom Counties, and the cities within those counties, from June 30, 2025, to December 31, 2025 (see SHB 2296).

County reviews of UGAs must also be completed according to this schedule, and evaluation requirements for the buildable lands program must be completed by counties and cities one year before those deadlines. For more information, see the section below on Coordination with Neighboring Jurisdictions/Countywide Planning Policies. 

The Washington State Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) Growth Management Act Periodic Update page contains more information on the current periodic update schedule, including an interactive map with a tailored list of resources for each county in Washington State.

Annual Amendments Process (Optional)

Jurisdictions have the option to amend their comprehensive plans more frequently, on an annual basis, with some exceptions (RCW 36.70A.130(2)). This optional amendment process allows cities and counties to adopt a package of changes to the comprehensive plan and development regulations (in between the mandatory periodic update deadlines) "concurrently so the cumulative effect of the various proposals can be ascertained." For example, see Edgewood’s Comprehensive Plan Amendment Checklist (2021).

Critical Areas and Natural Resource Lands

Counties and cities not "fully planning" under the GMA are required to review and, if necessary, amend their policies and development regulations regarding critical areas and natural resource lands only (see our page on Critical Areas).

Key Resources

For the most detailed and current information on the comprehensive plan update process, we recommend consulting Commerce’s Growth Management Act Periodic Update page, including the below resources:

Coordination with Neighboring Jurisdictions / Countywide Planning Policies

A city or county must coordinate its comprehensive plan with any other cities or counties with which it shares a common border (RCW 36.70A.100). To help facilitate this requirement, counties, in cooperation with cities within their boundaries, are responsible for establishing "countywide planning policies" (sometimes referred to as CPPs) that create a framework for where population growth and infrastructure investment will be directed within a given county (RCW 36.70A.210).

While counties are not required to update their countywide planning policies, it is important for counties to review and revise them as necessary in collaboration with cities. This situation might occur if a county’s periodic update identifies issues that could only be addressed by amending the countywide planning policies. These might include incorporation of new buildable lands data, Urban Growth Area (UGA) revisions, or new policies for siting public facilities of a countywide nature. 

Under the GMA, the state Office of Financial Management (OFM) develops population projections for the state and each county (see OFM’s population projections). Each "fully planning" county is then mandated to determine, in consultation with cities, where that growth should be directed to occur. Once these growth projections are adopted, then the county and cities are to use them in their comprehensive planning processes and make sure that their plans can accommodate the projected level of growth (RCW 36.70A.115).

Buildable Lands Program

Local governments subject to RCW 36.70A.215 (i.e., Clark, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom counties and their respective cities) must complete a review and evaluation of their Buildable Lands Program at least one year before the comprehensive plan update to provide data that will be used for the comprehensive plan update, per RCW 36.70A.215(2)(b). For these counties, amendments to countywide planning policies must be considered if any new information or analysis that impacts the Buildable Lands Program is identified during such a review, per RCW 36.70A.215(2)(d). Below are some examples:

Coordination With Tribes

Local governments must also include federally recognized tribes in local planning processes through a memorandum of agreement if the tribe(s) elects to participate, per RCW 36.70A.40. According to the Washington State Department of Commerce, this should be added into the countywide planning policies is required for the 2024-2027 periodic update cycle (SSB 5834).

Required and Optional Elements

The GMA requires comprehensive plans to include the following mandatory elements. It also allows cities and counties to add other elements in their comprehensive plan, including but not limited to the following optional elements.

Mandatory Comp Plan Elements
(RCW 36.70A.070)		 Optional Comp Plan Elements
  • Land Use
  • Housing
  • Capital Facilities Plan
  • Utilities
  • Rural Development (counties only)
  • Transportation
  • Climate Change and Resiliency*
  • Ports (mandatory for cities with annual maritime port revenues exceeding $60 million, RCW 36.70A.085)
  • Economic Development**
  • Parks and Recreation**
  • Conservation (RCW 36.70A.080)
  • Solar Energy (RCW 36.70A.080)
  • Recreation (RCW 36.70A.080)
  • Subarea Plans (neighborhoods, rural villages, urban growth areas, tribal areas, etc.)
  • Ports (optional for cities with annual maritime port revenues of $20 million to $60 million, RCW 36.70A.085)

* The Climate Change and Resiliency element was added in 2023 as a mandatory element per RCW 36.70A.070(9).
** These elements are listed as mandatory in RCW 36.70A.070(7) and (8), but they are actually optional because funds have not been appropriated to help pay for preparing them, per RCW 36.70A.070(9).

Land Use Element

The GMA required land use element of a comprehensive plan (RCW 36.70A.070(1)) sets the direction of future growth in a community and includes a future land use map that identifies the general location and intensity of land uses (e.g., agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, etc.). The future land use map, which is policy-oriented, is then implemented in large part by the official zoning map, a regulatory tool Since these maps are so closely linked, a zoning change cannot be approved unless it is consistent with the future land use map.

This element must also address issues like:

  • Protection of groundwater used for public water supplies
  • Consideration of environmental justice
  • Planning approaches that promote physical activity and reduce vehicle miles traveled
  • Draining, flooding, and stormwater runoff
  • Wildfire risk

Essential Public Facilities

Typically included in the land use element, comprehensive plans must include a process for identifying and siting essential public facilities that are typically difficult to site (RCW 36.70A.200, WAC 365-196-550, and WAC 365-196-570). No local comprehensive plan or development regulation may preclude the siting of an essential public facility, but a local government may establish its own process and criteria for reviewing and approving them (with conditions if deemed appropriate).

Essential public facilities do not necessarily have to be owned or operated by a public entity, as long as they provide a public service (for example, a group home offering inpatient services).

By statute (RCW 36.70A.200), essential public facilities include:

  • Airports
  • State education facilities
  • State or regional transportation facilities (defined in RCW 47.06.140)
  • State and local correctional facilities
  • Solid waste handling facilities
  • Inpatient facilities, including substance abuse facilities, mental health facilities, group homes, community facilities (defined in RCW 72.05.020) 
  • Secure community transition facilities (defined in RCW 71.09.020)
  • Regional transit authority facilities (defined in RCW 81.112.020)

Housing Element

Per RCW 36.70A.020, local governments are required to “plan for and accommodate” housing affordable to all economic segments, promote a variety of residential densities and housing types, and encourage preservation of existing housing stock. RCW 36.70A.070(2) lists all the requirements for the housing element. Below is a summary of the requirements adopted in 2021 (as listed in Commerce's page on Updating GMA Housing Elements):

  • Planning for sufficient land capacity for housing needs, including all economic segments of the population (moderate, low, very low and extremely low income, as well as emergency housing and permanent supportive housing).
  • Providing moderate density housing options within Urban Growth Areas (UGAs), including but not limited to duplexes, triplexes and townhomes.
  • Making adequate provisions for housing for existing and projected needs for all economic segments of the community, including documenting programs and actions needed to achieve housing availability.
  • Identifying racially disparate impacts, displacement and exclusion in housing policies and regulations, and beginning to undo those impacts; and identifying areas at higher risk of displacement and establishing anti-displacement policies.

The statutory changes signed into law in 2023 require some or all GMA planning communities to accommodate a greater number of “missing middle” housing and accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

For more information and guidance on these topics, see the Commerce page on Updating GMA Housing Elements, and the MRSC pages on Missing Middle Housing and Accessory Dwelling Units.

Capital Facilities Plan Element

The process of identifying current capital facility needs, future needs to serve the growth anticipated in the comprehensive plan, and how to fund them, is an important and required element of planning under the GMA (RCW 36.70A.070(3)). The capital facilities plan (CFP) includes a six-year capital improvement plan (CIP) which should align with the jurisdiction’s budget, and a longer-range (20-year) CFP of capital projects, with estimated costs and proposed methods of financing. The CFP helps implement the land use element by showing how public facilities and services will accommodate the levels and intensities of development envisioned in the plan, and at adopted levels of service.

The GMA also includes a requirement to reassess the land use element if probable funding falls short of meeting existing needs and to ensure that the land use element, capital facilities plan element, and financing plan within the capital facilities plan element are coordinated and consistent. Park and recreation facilities must also be included in the capital facilities plan element.

While transportation is the only element requiring level of service (LOS) standards and concurrency (see Transportation Element section below), local governments often include other LOS standards in their comprehensive plans, including for parks, schools, stormwater, solid waste, libraries, and police and fire protection services.

For more information, see Commerce's Capital Facilities Planning page and MRSC’s Capital Facilities Planning page.

Utilities Element

The GMA required utilities element of a comprehensive plan (RCW 36.70A.070(4)) addresses the general location, proposed location, and capacity of all existing and proposed utilities like water, sewer, surface water, electric power, natural gas, telecommunications, and hazardous liquid pipelines. Local governments should identify all public entities that own utility systems within and adjacent to their boundaries and coordinate with them as they develop this element. The Utilities Element is sometimes included as part of the capital facilities plan element,

For more information, see MRSC’s Sewer Utilities and Water Utilities pages.

Rural Development Element

The rural element of a comprehensive plan (RCW 36.70A.070(5)) includes lands that are not designated for urban growth, agriculture, forest, or mineral resources. Required by the GMA for counties only, this element must include these features:

  • A written record explaining how the rural element harmonizes the planning goals in RCW 36.70A.020 and meets the requirements of RCW 36.70A.070.
  • Innovative techniques that accommodate appropriate rural densities and uses that are not characterized by urban growth and that are consistent with rural character (e.g., clustering, density transfer, etc.).
  • Measures that apply to rural development and protect the rural character of the area (e.g., assuring visual compatibility and reducing inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into low-density development).
  • Limited areas of more intensive rural development (LAMIRDs) under certain conditions. In 2024, SB 6140 amended conditions related to the allowed size of retail or food service uses in a mixed-use LAMIRD, if the retail space is for an essential rural retail service and the LAMIRD is at least 10 miles from an urban growth area.

For more information, see MRSC’s page on Rural Land Use Regulation/Development.

Transportation Element

The GMA required transportation element of a comprehensive plan must implement and be consistent with the land use element and include the following per RCW 36.70A.070(6):

  • Land use assumptions used in estimating travel.
  • Estimated multimodal level of service (LOS) impacts to state-owned transportation facilities. (Note that this is new in 2023 and replaces the long-standing standard LOS based on traffic only.)
  • Facility and service needs (e.g., air, water, and ground transportation facilities and services, actions for bringing into compliance transportation facilities and services that are below multimodal LOS, forecasts of multimodal transportation demand and needs, identification of system needs to equitably meet current and future demands, and an ADA transition plan).
  • An analysis of funding capability to judge needs against probable funding resources, a multiyear plan based on the needs identified in the plan, and a discussion of additional funding sources or changes to the land use assumptions.
  • Intergovernmental coordination efforts.
  • Demand management strategies.
  • An active transportation component.

For more information, see MRSC’s Transportation Plans and Plan Elements and Concurrency pages.

Climate Change and Resiliency Element

The GMA was amended in 2023 (see HB 1181) to add a climate change and resiliency goal and element requirement to ensure that local governments are prepared to adapt to and mitigate the effects of a changing climate (RCW 36.70A.070(9)). This element consists of two sub-elements:

  • Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reduction Sub-Element – Required for the state’s 11 most populous counties and their cities (6,000 population and above as of April 1, 2021, per  Office of Financial Management estimates). It is encouraged that this sub-element be developed by all other jurisdictions. This sub-element must include actions to reduce or eliminate greenhouse gases (present and future) in order to reduce the rate and extent of climate change damage. Commerce’s Climate Element Guidance (2023) provides four pathways for achieving GHG emissions reductions. These actions must also prioritize reductions that benefit overburdened communities to maximize the co-benefits of reduced air pollution and environmental justice.
  • Resilience Sub-Element – Required for all fully planning cities and counties and encouraged for all cities and counties. This sub-element must include goals and polices to improve climate preparedness, response and recovery efforts. A natural hazard mitigation plan or similar plan that meets certain requirements may be adopted by reference to satisfy this sub-element.

A climate element can take the form of a single comprehensive plan chapter or be integrated into several chapters/elements such as housing, transportation, and land use. In January 2024, Commerce published intermediate climate element planning guidance and a list of more than 200 model climate goals and policies that jurisdictions could integrate into their comprehensive plan (see Commerce’s Climate Menu of Measures).

For more information and guidance on climate change, see Commerce’s Climate Program and Climate Laws and Guidance: FAQs (2023) pages, as well as MRSC’s series on Climate Change.

Port Element

Cities that have a marine container port with annual operating revenues of more than 60 million dollars within their jurisdictions must include a port element in their comprehensive plans (RCW 36.70A.085). This element must be consistent with other comprehensive plan elements and developed collaboratively between cities, ports, and tribes. A port element must include policies and programs that:

  • Define and protect the core areas of ports and port-related industrial uses.
  • Provide reasonably efficient access to the core area through freight corridors.
  • Identify and resolve key land use conflicts along the edge of the core area.

In developing a port element, a city may use one or more of several approaches, including a port overlay district, industrial land banks, buffers and transition zones between incompatible uses, joint transportation funding agreements, and more.

Implementation

The GMA places a strong emphasis on implementation, since the plan’s goals, objectives, and policies can’t be achieved without implementation measures like regulations, incentives, programs, and subarea plans.  Added in 2022, RCW 36.70A.130 requires larger counties and cities to submit an implementation progress report detailing the progress they have achieved in implementing their plans five years after they been updated. This report should include regulations, zoning and land use changes, and other legislative and administrative actions needed for implementation.

Under the GMA, a local agency’s development regulations (such as zoning) and capital budget decisions must be made in conformity with its comprehensive plan (RCW 36.70A.120). The GMA includes numerous requirements for local government development regulations addressing critical areas, natural resource lands (counties only), residential zoning, shoreline development, and other types of development. In 2024, SSB 6015 added requirements for local land use regulations related to parking for residential uses.

Regulatory and financial tools can also be supported by other efforts such as volunteer activities, citizen and business engagement, and educational programs to implement comprehensive plans.

Growth Management Monitoring Program

A growth management monitoring program can help local jurisdictions track where growth is going and how well various pieces of the growth management program are working. Information from the monitoring programs can help local governments fine tune their plan’s goals and policies and development regulations to better achieve growth management goals.

Below are a few examples of local growth management monitoring programs:

Examples of Comprehensive Plans & Plan Update Processes

Below are a few examples of comprehensive plans adopted under the GMA, as well as examples of local comprehensive plan update processes. For additional examples of comprehensive plans, see our City and Town Profiles (click on the city to view comprehensive plan links) and County Profiles.

City

County

Recommended Resources

Below are a few useful resources related to comprehensive planning and the GMA:

 

Last Modified: July 23, 2024