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.

• Phase 2 of the Preliminary Draft
  Policy Amendments Review
  Begins December 30th
• Urban Tree Canopy Policies
• Call for Best Available Science - Critical Area Ordinance Update
• Walkability and Population Growth
• Interviewing the Community
• Vision 2050 & MPPs
• Crossword

The Land Use Element will be the focus of Phase 2 with a comment period that begins on December 30th, 2022 and ends on January 31st, 2023. The Land Use Element includes 14 sub-elements and over 350 individual policies. Nearly 200 policies are proposed to be changed in some way. These proposed changes range from minor housekeeping, like updating dates, to the addition of entirely new or proposed repeal of existing policies. The county is also proposing a new subelement for the Land Use Element focused on equity. To review the preliminary draft policy amendments and provide comment, please visit this this webpage. Read more...

Staff from Planning and Development Services (PDS) and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DNCR) are refining the policies to ensure they can be implemented across county departments. Staff are also reviewing the policies to ensure coordination with the new Climate Change Element being developed as part of the 2024 Update.. Read more...

In addition to updating the Comprehensive Plan by 2024, the County must also update the critical area regulations to ensure they are consistent with best available science and any state regulations. The County is currently collecting and reviewing best available science, and we could use your help. Is there any science about fish, wildlife, water bodies, or flooding that should be in our library? If so, please send it to 2024Update@snoco.org with the subject line: BAS for Critical Area Update.  Read more...

In the last edition of this newsletter, we asked for your ideas on walkability and had a “Did You Know?” about forecasted population growth in Snohomish County. The poll on walkability asked respondents to rank ideas to help county staff better understand
the most important elements of walkability.  Read more...

One of the overarching public participation goals for the 2024  Comprehensive Plan Update is to engage with historically marginalized communities. Snohomish County hired Berk Consulting to conduct the environmental review of the 2024 Snohomish County GMA Comprehensive Plan under the State Environmental Policy Act
(SEPA). As part of this review, over the past year Berk has interviewed four community organizations who serve historically marginalized groups in Snohomish County. Read more...

Snohomish County is 1,337,600 acres in size, and as of 2019 nearly 19% of the county was designated as rural. The rural designation table below is made up of information from the Rural and Resource Lands Background Paper, one document that helps inform the 2024 update to the Snohomish County Comprehensive Plan.. Read more...

Test your knowledge and learn about the terms related to the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update. View the puzzle.