Title
Approval of Annual Comprehensive Plan Amendment Schedule for 2021
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to set November 20, 2020, as the deadline for Preliminary Comprehensive Plan Amendment applications for consideration in 2021 and direct staff to proceed with review schedule generally as outlined.
Report
Issue:
Whether to set November 20, 2020 as the deadline for Preliminary Comprehensive Plan Amendment applications for consideration in 2021.
Staff Contact:
Joyce Phillips, Senior Planner, Community Planning & Development, 360.570.3722
Presenter(s):
None - Consent Calendar Item.
Background and Analysis:
Washington's Growth Management Act provides that, with only a few specific exceptions, a city's Comprehensive Plan can be amended only once each year. Accordingly, all proposed amendments are to be collected into one review process. Olympia's code directs that the City Council shall set an annual due date for proposing such amendments. Staff proposes that for 2021 amendments that deadline be Friday, November 20, 2020.
Washington's Growth Management Act provides that a city must review and evaluate its Comprehensive Plan every eight years. In addition, the Act provides that cities may consider annual Plan amendments. Subject to specific exceptions, the Act provides that any proposed annual amendments must be collected into one annual review with a schedule 'broadly disseminated' to the public. (RCW 36.70A.130)
Chapter 18.59 of the Olympia Municipal Code outlines the Comprehensive Plan Amendment process. Proposed amendments may be submitted at any time. However, so that proposals are collected into an annual set of proposals, the code provides that the City Council shall set an annual submittal deadline. This deadline has varied, but most often it has been in mid-November.
The subsequent review process includes a preliminary review where the City Council decides which p...
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