Oak Harbor planning commission reviews preliminary draft of 2025 comprehensive plan update

The Oak Harbor Planning Commission on Sept. 9 reviewed a preliminary draft of the city—s 2025 comprehensive plan major update and discussed housing targets, urban design changes, transportation policy, utilities, environmental protections and next steps for public input.

Principal Planner Kat Kamak told the commission the draft is a staff-led preliminary document and that "the target that, we would be shooting for for the 20 year plan is 3,735 units," a number staff is using to test land use and infrastructure assumptions. Kamak said the county has calculated capacity inside the existing Oak Harbor urban growth area at about 464 units, which she described as a deficit relative to the allocation. "If 2 or more jurisdictions don't ratify it, then we go back to the original county wide planning policies," Kamak said, describing how countywide planning policy amendments move through Island County before jurisdictions ratify them.

Why it matters: the draft will guide the city—s policy direction for roughly 20 years and is intended to give staff and decision-makers more-specific policy language to use when reviewing projects, implementing design guidelines and defending regulations. Kamak noted the city is working with Island County and the Washington State Department of Commerce on growth-related topics and that some elements of the comp plan review are timed to reflect concurrent county work.

Key discussion points:

- Housing and urban growth…