Oak Harbor planners warn UGA allocation gaps could leave thousands of housing units unaccounted for

Oak Harbor principal planner Kat Cammack told the Planning Commission on Aug. 12 that Island County'wide Planning Policy (CPP) allocations assign roughly 5,500 housing units to Oak Harbor and its urban growth area (UGA) over the next 20 years, but the city's current capacity under existing regulations covers roughly 2,500 to 2,700 units.

"We control what's in the city, but we do not know exactly what that number should be," Cammack said, describing how the allocation was assigned to the UGA rather than solely to Oak Harbor city limits and how that requires coordination with the county because many UGA parcels remain under county zoning and permitting authority.

Cammack said the city hired a consultant to produce a landscape capacity analysis following countywide planning policy procedures. That analysis estimated existing capacity at about 2,500'2,700 units of the roughly 5,500 assigned. The city then prepared a land-use options memo and provisional regulatory changes'including increased height limits in several zoning districts'that would add "about a thousand or so units," bringing modeled capacity to about 3,500 units under the proposed changes.

"You may see a 3-story building today, and tomorrow regulations, when adopted, can potentially accommodate a 5 or a 6 story building," Cammack said, noting such changes would materially alter where and how Oak Harbor could accommodate growth.

The central disagreement with Island County stems from the city's view that many developed pockets in the UGA (served by septic systems and lacking city utilities) are unlikely to generate usable capacity within the 20-year planning window. Cammack said these existing developed areas would require expensive, phased infrastructure extensions and therefore are not realistic near-term sources of housing.

"Even if we start planning now, the lots won't come online till 10, 15 years," she said of the septic-served pockets. The county and the state, she said, require jurisdictions to consider existing UGA parcels before proposing UGA expansions, and that difference in perspective led Island County to propose an amendment to the countywide planning policies rather than continuing mediation.

Cammack told the commission the city is exploring a UGA plan developed by a neutral third party to reconcile county, city and state perspectives, and that the city has asked the Washington State Department of Commerce for written guidance on whether such an approach would meet statutory requirements during the current comprehensive plan cycle.

Public comment at the meeting included a resident, Jeff Ward, who urged the commission to pursue nonregulatory advocacy to increase internal density, including outreach on accessory dwelling units and multifamily tax exemptions. "I think that there's a pretty good chance that we can make up some internal density that might have otherwise got outside of the city," Ward said.

Cammack said the city will also need to determine the scope of a required environmental impact statement (EIS). The city issued an RFP for an EIS and is evaluating proposals, but Cammack said scope depends on whether the EIS will cover only the city limits or include potential UGA areas; if the latter, schedule and cost change. She warned that undertaking a fuller EIS could push the comprehensive plan process into mid-2026.

No formal action or vote was taken on the countywide planning policy amendment at the Aug. 12 meeting; Cammack framed the presentation as an information update and said the city would return to the Planning Commission for a formal recommendation if the county initiates an amendment that requires ratification.

Why it matters: The distribution of growth among cities and the unincorporated county affects where housing is built, where utilities must be extended and how local governments finance infrastructure. Oak Harbor planners argue that substantial near-term capacity will have to come from city-zoned areas or annexations supported by infrastructure funding, and they said leaving unaccommodated units out of the current planning cycle would reduce incentives to plan for affordable housing during the 20-year period.

What's next: Cammack said staff will continue to work with Island County and the Department of Commerce, pursue a UGA planning approach, and advance draft comprehensive plan elements beginning next month; the city expects to bring land use and UGA proposals to the Planning Commission in November. She said the EIS procurement and its scope remain active issues and that the city may request a brief schedule extension into 2026 if necessary to complete a robust analysis.