Anacortes planning commission reviews draft climate element with 15 goals and 59 policies

The Anacortes Planning Commission on April 9 reviewed a draft climate element for the 2025 comprehensive plan that consultants said contains 15 goals and 59 policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing community resilience.

The draft, presented by Katie Saunders of Makers and supported by Beth Miller of Parametrics and city staff director John Coleman, lays out measures tied to state guidance to reduce emissions from building energy and transportation while protecting vulnerable communities.

The draft matters because Washington law and Commerce guidance require a greenhouse-gas emissions reduction subelement and resilience planning; the document is intended to show how local measures can contribute to the state’s net‑zero-by‑2050 trajectory while prioritizing benefits to overburdened populations.

Consultants told the commission that building energy and transportation are the largest local emission sources and described the most effective local levers. Beth Miller said, “One of them is reducing, is basically fuel switching in in buildings from natural gas furnaces to electrical heat pumps,” and emphasized local renewables and vehicle‑miles‑traveled reductions as major contributors to citywide cuts in emissions. Saunders said the draft focuses mainly on goals while policies are provided in the packet and that some near‑term “guidance” or targets for city actions (for example, fleet electrification) will be developed as a follow‑up.

Key proposals in the draft include: - Electrification and efficiency in buildings: programmatic support for weatherization, incentives for energy‑efficient new construction, and coordination on converting space and water heat from fossil fuel to electric systems where feasible. - Transportation and VMT reduction: land‑use and multimodal measures to lower vehicle miles traveled, improved transit coordination with Skagit Transit, and planning to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure. - Local renewables and resilience: promoting rooftop solar and other distributed generation, supporting small‑scale storage where feasible, and coordination with regional utilities on energy infrastructure resilience. - Natural and shoreline resilience: policies to protect and restore coastal ecosystems, riparian vegetation and the Anacortes Community Forest Lands to increase adaptation capacity. - Environmental justice: prioritizing actions that protect low‑income, elderly and other sensitive populations and avoid shifting costs onto vulnerable residents.

Commissioners and consultants repeatedly tied the draft to state rules. Saunders and Miller said the Commerce guidance and House Bill 1181 create minimum element requirements; Saunders noted the city will meet the minimums and track how each proposed goal or policy satisfies the guidance.

Commissioners asked several detailed questions: several members sought clearer cross‑references and a glossary of technical terms; Commissioner Martin asked whether the city should temper ambitions about being a “regional leader” and whether the goal text should be tightened; multiple commissioners pressed consultants on the cost and equity implications of electrification for lower‑income households. Coleman and Saunders repeatedly said the draft does not create mandates for individual homeowners but aims to identify programmatic tools and partnerships to reduce costs and support equitable transitions.

Battery storage emerged as the meeting’s most contested subject. Commissioner Martin said, “My read of the people of Anacortes is that having a storage facility for batteries is not something that we would be too agreeable to,” and other commissioners asked for public discussion and zoning rules before the city signals support for large installations. Consultants and staff noted a range of storage scales—from small building‑scale batteries and microgrids to larger utility projects—and that Pacific Power / PSE had recommended resilience coordination. A Mount Vernon project size of about 22 acres was mentioned in discussion as an example of larger‑scale facilities being contested in the region.

Commissioners also raised the ongoing political and legal controversy around electrification. One commissioner referred to Initiative 2066 and the larger debate over limiting or preserving gas appliances; Saunders said the draft language focused on energy efficiency and feasibility and that the city would avoid prescriptive local mandates in the climate element.

Next steps: staff and consultants said the commission’s feedback will be incorporated and the climate element goals and policies will be posted with a more complete supporting chapter (background, inventories, vulnerability maps and near‑term strategic actions). The commission intends to hold a public hearing on the comprehensive plan elements at its next meeting and the consultants plan further work on target metrics and implementation guidance for priority actions.

The presentation and debate flagged outstanding items for staff: clearer cross‑references to the Shoreline Master Program, a glossary of technical terms, explicit tracking of how each policy meets Commerce minimum requirements, and a public discussion of battery‑storage scale and siting.

The draft climate element and the associated tracking spreadsheet are available in the commission packet; staff said they will return with a fuller draft chapter and suggested near‑term priority actions for implementation.