2011 Comprehensive Plan Update

What is a Comprehensive Plan?

Cities and counties in Washington State are required to plan for Growth under a 1994 law called the Growth Management Act. The State of Washington mandates the development of Comprehensive Plans through the Growth Management Act. The Act mandates the Comprehensive Plan include information and analysis on Land-Use, Transportation, Housing, the Natural Environment, Capital Facilities, Utilities, Economic Development and Parks.

The purpose of a Comprehensive Plan is to anticipate growth and to guide this growth in a manner that will provide a community with a balance of land uses and identified services to support those uses. The Comprehensive Plan looks into the future to the year 2025. City planners estimate how projected growth will affect various aspects of the built environment such as transportation, parks, water, sewer and storm water facilities.

The City uses the Comprehensive Plan as a yardstick for measuring its future activities and determines how the City will finance needed improvements to serve the anticipated 11,119 people who are expected to live in Sultan in the year 2025.

How can I help?

1. Participate in a small work group from October 2009 until March 2010 to update the comprehensive plan goals and policies. public participation schedule
2. Sign-up for public notices on the City’s website to receive regular updates on city events, activities and public comment opportunities. Please see the directions at the bottom of the page for joining the public notices list-serv.
3. Attend council meetings on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.
4. Send written comments or e-mails to the mayor, council or city staff. Contact information is available on the city’s web site here.
5. Call 360-793-2231.

What changes does the city plan to make?

The city council has discussed a number of guiding principles to update the 2004 Comprehensive Plan.

1. Keep the city’s effort focused on completing he mandatory requirements of the seven-year update including:
   • Aligning the city’s comprehensive plan with the multi-county planning policies (MPP) developed by the Puget Sound Regional Council and the county-wide planning policies developed by Snohomish County.
   • Incorporating new multi-county planning policies and county-wide planning policies (i.e. climate change) into the comprehensive plan.
   • Reviewing the city’s infrastructure inventories and development regulations to ensure consistency with the growth management act.
2. Consider amending the city’s current growth strategy which places an emphasis on waiting for retail development before supporting residential development
3. Wait and place greater emphasis on zoning and proposed land use changes during the ten-year update in 2012-2015.

Public Participation

Public participation and involvement in the seven-year update has started.

September 16, 2009 Industrial Park Master Plan Stakeholders

September30, 2009 Comprehensive Plan Update kick-off meeting

October 27, 2009 Comprehensive Plan Small Group Meeting

November 19, 2009 Comprehensive Plan Small Group Meeting

December 8, 2009 Comprehensive Plan Small Group Meeting - Housing

January 12, 2010 Economic Development

• Small Group Meeting Policy Responses

Shoreline & Critical Areas

• Attachment A
• Attachment B
• Attachment C
• Attachment D
• Attachment E

Parks and Open Spaces

• Sultan Park Background Report
• Sultan Park Fact Sheet
• Sultan Park Questionnaire

Joint City Council/Planning Board meeting (7:00pm)

• Citizen Survey (1.5MB)
• Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2040
• 2011 Comprehensive Plan Update Schedule
• 2011 Comprehensive Plan Update Process
• Land use goals and polices topic list to planning board 1/5/2010
• Environmental goals and policies topic list for planning board review (date TBD)
• Transportation goals and policies topic list for planning board review (date TBD)