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Posts for Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Updating Your Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code? Consider Corner Stores.

November 7, 2024  by  Lisa Pool
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Development Regulations and Zoning

The deployment of corner stores in dense communities can help a local government meet its land use goals as well as provide a neighborhood meeting place and meet the local need for daily essentials like food and conveniences. 

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An older man holds a sign in protest of plans for a new stadium

Dealing with Housing Displacement in Your Comprehensive Plan

May 29, 2024  by  Carson Bridges ,  Steve Butler
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Housing

Housing displacement brought about by gentrification can severely disrupt existing neighborhoods. Thanks to legislation in 2021, any GMA-planning local government updating a comprehensive plan must also address and include anti-displacement strategies to protect residents.

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A childcare teacher works with 5 young children

Reducing Barriers for Childcare Facilities, Part 1

March 20, 2024  by  Lisa Pool ,  Barbara Rosen
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Development Regulations and Zoning ,  Inclusive Communities

Lack of access to affordable childcare may lead to a parent dropping out of the workforce, while convenient, affordable care creates economic advantages for families and communities. How can local governments support the growth of diverse childcare options in their communities?

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Diverse group of seated people participating in a meeting

Comprehensive Planning Tips, with a Focus on Implementation

November 8, 2023  by  Steve Butler
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

A successful comprehensive plan will help guide community growth for decades into the future. When updating a plan, a local government should focus on using a strong planning process, conducting robust community engagement, and focusing on plan implementation. 

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Model of a downtown development

How Downtown Plans Can Create a Framework for Revitalization Efforts: Part 1

October 11, 2023  by  Lisa Pool
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Downtown Revitalization Series

To create downtowns that can truly recover and thrive after a major unexpected event, cities must outline both near- and long-term steps in their downtown plans, including adaptive reuse strategies and ensuring that downtown public spaces are welcoming, safe, and exciting.

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An architectural model of a dense area of town

2023 Planning Legislation Impacting Local Governments

September 11, 2023  by  Jill Dvorkin
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Annexation ,  Design ,  Housing ,  New Legislation and Regulations

Common themes among these six new planning-related bills include streamlining local project review, decreasing the planning burden on smaller communities, incentivizing annexations, and increasing housing supply throughout the state.

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Several small images suggesting environmental and pollution prevention laws against the word 2023

New Legislation Related to Climate and the Natural Environment

July 27, 2023  by  Lisa Pool
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Climate Change ,  Environmental Policy and Management ,  New Legislation and Regulations

In 2023, state legislators passed several bills addressing environmental concerns, including new climate elements for comprehensive planning, making impact fee revenue available for new bike and pedestrian facilities, and an optional permit process for clean energy projects. 

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A montage of port, truck and public transit

Unpopular but Necessary: What Exactly Is an Essential Public Facility?

January 30, 2023  by  Oskar Rey
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Court Decisions and AGO Opinions

What is an essential public facility under the Growth Management Act? An airport? A transit system? A homeless shelter? What facilities can be defined as essential for the public is at the heart of a recent Washington Court of Appeals case.

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Equitable Community Engagement in Comprehensive Plan Updates

September 21, 2022  by  Rosie Cullen
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Inclusive Communities

Many local governments are updating their comprehensive plans, and in doing so, some are looking at how to develop intentional strategies that actively engage underrepresented communities in order to build a more equitable plan update in the process. 

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2022 Growth Management Act-Related Bills

June 30, 2022  by  Lisa Pool
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Environmental Policy and Management ,  Housing ,  Rural Uses ,  New Legislation and Regulations

New legislation related to the Growth Management Act (GMA) will expand tribal participation, limit appeals for actions to increase housing supply, change periodic update timelines, provide additional options for limited areas of more intense rural development (LAMIRDs), and more.

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Capital Facilities Planning: If There’s No Math, You’re Not Doing It Right

February 10, 2022  by  Ryan Walters
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Guest author Ryan Walters suggests that capital facilities planning is as much about building new facilities as it is about accounting for the substantial expense of maintaining that infrastructure in the future.

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State Seeks Input on Its Vehicle Miles Traveled Reduction Strategy

January 27, 2022  by  Celeste Gilman
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Climate Change

The State of Washington is seeking input from local governments across the state as it works to establish reduction targets for local vehicle miles traveled and other proposed programs in order to meet key climate action targets.
 

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What Is a 15-Minute City? (And Why You Should Care)

October 25, 2021  by  Steve Butler
Category:  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management ,  Cycling and Walking

What types of amenities and services can you get to within 15 minutes of leaving your front door? The 15-Minute City concept encourages the development of walkable neighborhoods where a variety of services are within easy reach. 

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The Importance of Population Forecasts for your Comprehensive Plan

January 26, 2016  by  William Simpson
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Selecting a population forecast is a critical step for communities beginning the review and update of their comprehensive plan. This post provides some answers to common questions for those beginning the update process.

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What’s Next for Planning in Washington?

November 6, 2015  by  Jill Sterrett
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

2015 marked the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Growth Management Act. So let's look ahead to see what's next. What are the emerging issues that urban planning can address?

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GMA at 25: Looking Back, Looking Forward

December 12, 2014  by  Joseph W. Tovar
Category:  Guest Author ,  Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

The year 2015 will be the 25th anniversary of the adoption of Washington State's Growth Management Act (GMA). GMA may be the most important and least understood of state laws from the perspective of today's state, county and city elected officials. Few of them were in office in the 1980's, and therefore understandably lack first-hand knowledge of the serious problems that prompted the 1990 legislature to pass the Act. A 2013 survey of city elected officials revealed that almost none of them had ever received training on the what, why, and how of land use policy-making, much less the GMA.

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