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Planning Commission hears wide-ranging options on 2025 comprehensive plan update; EIS and UGA expansion discussed
Summary
Principal planner presented density and rezoning options to meet a county-assigned 20-year housing target, including raising heights to 60–65 feet in some districts, potential inclusionary zoning, and a proposed Urban Growth Area expansion of roughly 254 acres (plus council-requested 150 additional acres). Commission discussed EIS scoping, annex:
Principal planner Kak Mac gave a detailed presentation on Oak Harbor's 2025 comprehensive plan update and the city's options for meeting a 20-year housing allocation from Island County.
Mac said the city's original land-capacity analysis did not meet the county's requested distribution of housing by income band (0–30%, 30–50%, 50–80% AMI), and staff and consultants are considering a range of regulatory tools to increase realistic 20-year capacity. Options discussed include raising allowable heights (Mac said the city is considering heights up to roughly 65 feet in some districts), higher densities in multi-family and mixed-use zones, and inclusionary zoning that would require affordable units for projects that use increased height or density incentives.
Mac emphasized the difference between theoretical capacity and the projected 20-year yield: regulatory changes (rezoning, higher heights) increase total capacity but that does not guarantee development will occur within 20 years; the analysis must apply market-factor assumptions to estimate what will realistically be built. Mac said an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is likely needed to vet the impacts of the preferred set of regulatory changes and that an EIS will also allow the city to present multiple alternatives for public review.
On the Urban Growth Area (UGA) the planner outlined a trade approach: staff identified roughly 32 acres of underperforming commercial land along Crescent Harbor Road that could be exchanged for more developable commercial acreage in other corridors, plus about 222 residential acres for a total of about 254 acres. Mac said the City Council recommended adding an additional roughly 150 acres to the expansion list; combined totals discussed in the meeting brought the potential expansion area to the roughly 390-acre range. The county's placeholder density of 6 units per acre was used for preliminary calculations; staff noted actual densities at annexation will vary and that annexation is the mechanism by which the city typically realizes UGA capacity.
Commission discussion covered the role of the EIS, timing and cost, whether rezoning central-triangle areas would realistically generate the units needed, and the difficulty of annexing developed "islands" of county land that feel like Oak Harbor but currently decline annexation for tax and service-cost reasons. Commissioners asked for further clarity on targets and the distribution of expected units; Mac said those choices will be refined through community outreach, additional analysis and EIS scoping. Staff expects spring/summer community engagement and planned a City Council workshop on April 22 to discuss the revised memo and potential EIS scope.
No final action was taken; the presentation was for discussion and direction to proceed with revisions, outreach and the possible EIS.
