Welcome to the Snohomish County 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update Newsletter!

In this newsletter you’ll learn more about the Comprehensive Plan and the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update. There will be many opportunities for public engagement throughout the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update process, and this newsletter will highlight upcoming efforts. View the full newsletter online.

• Public Participation and Survey Results
• SEPA Scoping and Consultant
• Transportation Element
• Countywide Planning Policies
• Capital Facilities and Utilities Element

Snohomish County is planning for a resilient, vibrant, and inclusive future. One of the main ways the county can plan for this future is through periodic updates to its Comprehensive Plan. Read more...

The Snohomish County population is estimated to grow by roughly 308,000 people between now and 2044. This presents opportunities as well as some challenges. With new faces and voices, the county’s economic opportunities, choices, and diversity will expand.  At the same time, the county must prepare for this growth to ensure it occurs in a way that is in line with our values, goals, and quality of life. Read more...

We created this video to provide information on the 2024 Update and to get your vision for Snohomish County in 2044. Once finalized, the comprehensive plan will be in effect from 2024 to 2044 and will play a role in daily life activities and overall quality of life. It affects how we commute, our housing choices, where we recreate, and our access to local food products. We would like to hear what’s important to you. What's your vision for the future?  The questions at the end of the video touch on some of the areas that the comprehensive plan covers. The form to respond to the questions will be live until February 28, 2022 at this link. Read more...

The SEPA process identifies and analyzes potential environmental impacts associated with three different future scenarios that are identified during the SEPA scoping process. These future alternatives are developed utilizing the expertise of county staff, public input, elected officials, and the experience of the consultant. The public was invited to provide input in November on the scope of the environmental analysis including the potential environmental impacts as well as ways to mitigate those impacts. Read more...

The County’s Comprehensive Plan focuses a lot on land use (with topics like housing types, density, and zoning), although one of the other major elements of the plan is transportation. Planning for land use and transportation go hand in hand. In fact, the first US cities that actively planned, such as New York City, did so by drawing the road network first, and then the buildings were built up around them. Snohomish County’s transportation systems need to effectively serve our neighborhoods and commercial areas, both today and as our county grows. Read more...

As the county grows in population and employment, it is essential that the public facilities and services necessary to support development are planned for accordingly. A key part of this planning includes the Capital Facilities and Utilities Elements of the Comprehensive Plan which include an inventory of existing facilities, funding, and a forecast of future needs for services and facilities. Read more...

CPPs provide the framework for comprehensive planning in Snohomish County. Generally, CPPs are formed from multicounty planning policies (MPPs) that are developed by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), the planning agency for the Central Puget Sound Region. The MPPs can be seen in VISION 2050, and are applicable to all jurisdictions within the region, while the CPPs apply more specifically to Snohomish County and all cities and towns within the county. This coordination among and between the region and the County is mandated by the Growth Management Act (GMA), and is essential to ensure a high quality of life for all. Read more...

What we heard from you!
From the results of the communication preference survey, we heard that you are very interested in:
• Balancing growth and housing needs with the protection of the natural environment
• Preserving and enhancing existing parks
• Strategies for accommodating population growth
• Variety in the types of housing
• Conserving agricultural, forest, and other resource and open space lands

Read more...

We love Snohomish County and showing our appreciation in pictures! Is there a part of our wonderful county that you’d like us to feature in our upcoming newsletters? Email them to us at 2024Update@snoco.org with a description of where it is and why you love it. We are eager to share as many photos as we can to spread the love of our county! Read more...

Paine Field, Snohomish County’s Airport, was originally constructed in 1936 as a Works Progress project. These 640 acres then became a military base during World War II. Read more...