Title
Thurston County Joint Plan Update Briefing
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive a briefing on the Thurston County Joint Plan Update and provide guidance.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive a briefing on the Thurston County Joint Plan Update.
Staff Contact:
Joyce Phillips, Senior Planner, Community Planning and Development, 360.570.3722
Presenter(s):
Joyce Phillips, Senior Planner, Community Planning and Development
Background and Analysis:
Thurston County and the City of Olympia have a long history of cooperative planning, especially as it relates to the unincorporated portions of the City's Urban Growth Area (UGA). Thurston County and the cities within its borders have developed Countywide Planning Policies under the Growth Management Act that encourage and support coordinated planning. A Joint Plan for the UGA was developed cooperatively, and adopted by the Board of County Commissioners as part of its Comprehensive Plan. A Memorandum of Understanding was reached to identify roles and responsibilities to carry out the coordinated planning.
The County maintains land-use authority and permitting responsibilities in the UGA. The intent is that the zoning and development standards in these areas will be the same or nearly the same as that of the City of Olympia.
The last time the County and City adopted a Joint Plan, it was accomplished by the County identifying which of the City's goals and policies it was adopting for the UGA. These goals and policies were identified by inclusion of an asterisk next to the goal or policy in the City's plan.
The City had an extensive Comprehensive Plan update process with much input from the public. This led to the adoption of the City's new plan in 2014. The Plan is more integrated and contains much context for the goals and policies in its narrative. Therefore, when city staff submitted a new proposed Joint Plan in May 2017, it...
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