Tumwater planning commission reviews Part 1 of 2025 land‑use element; commissioners press on housing, airport compatibility and neighborhood mapping

City of Tumwater staff presented Part 1 of the city’s 2025 comprehensive plan land‑use element to the Planning Commission at its April 8 meeting, outlining statewide guidance, housing targets and the element’s structure and asking commissioners for clarity and readability feedback.

The land‑use element, staff said, organizes policies the public and officials can use regularly and ties directly into other elements such as housing, transportation and the newly updated climate element. "Part 1 is intended really to be the pull off the shelf as often as possible policy related document for your use as the Planning Commission, Council's use and also the community's use," said Lehi (staff member), the meeting presenter.

Why it matters: Land use sets where housing, commercial and public facilities can go and therefore affects what kinds of housing and services will be feasible. Staff told commissioners the housing allocation process and land capacity work required by the Washington State Department of Commerce have informed the update; a separate land capacity analysis required for emergency and transitional housing also showed the county’s jurisdictions are “in good shape,” staff said.

Key points from the presentation

- Housing targets and implications: Staff summarized the regional housing allocation for 2020–2045 as "a little bit over 9,000 new units," and said the city must plan for housing types that serve households earning under 80% of area median income, which are more likely to be multifamily than single‑family detached. Staff also said they are using an average household size of 2.39 (from the 2020 U.S. Census) to convert housing units into population estimates.

- Commerce and capacity work: Staff explained the Department of Commerce revised guidance during the county’s housing allocation work, requiring a redo of the land capacity analysis and an additional analysis for emergency/transitional housing. Staff said the updated analyses are complete and available and that the results let the city proceed with the technical work in Part 2.

- Cross‑element coordination: Staff emphasized land use touches multiple Growth Management Act goals and countywide planning policies and must align with the climate, housing and transportation elements. The presentation noted that Part 1 focuses on readable policy statements while Part 2 will contain technical capacity and mapping.

- Airport area and compatibility: Commissioner Kirkpatrick asked whether the city council has taken a position on allowing residential development in areas near the airport. "Is it the city council position that we want to have people living in the airport area?" Kirkpatrick asked. Lehi replied that the council has not adopted a position and that staff are still weighing compatibility with current uses, future airport operations and impacts such as noise; staff said the question will be raised with council as the plan is refined.

- Neighborhoods, annexation and implementation: Commissioners and staff discussed neighborhood definitions and the neighborhood appendix. Staff said the plan will specifically define "neighborhood" for the document’s purposes and that a number of previously existing enclave ‘‘islands’’ have already been annexed since the 2016 plan. Staff also noted implementation items and periods in the draft and asked for feedback on formatting and readability so policies can be more accessible to the public.

Next steps and schedule: Staff said Part 2 (technical analysis and capacity work) will be brought back to the commission at the June 10 meeting. The city intends to begin the SEPA/NEPA environmental review process in late August and to assemble the complete comprehensive plan package for fall review and onward proceedings.

Commissioners were invited to provide edits focused on clarity and on resolving any conflicts between elements before the documents are consolidated into the full plan later this year.