Liberty Lake staff roll out story maps and short surveys to kick off comprehensive-plan engagement

Lisa Key, a staff member, presented the city's public-engagement approach for the comprehensive plan at the Community Engagement Commission meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Key said the outreach package includes an annexation-history story map, a climate mitigation and resiliency story map, targeted stakeholder workshops and short, topic-specific surveys hosted through the Zen City platform. "We really do have to do some sausage making before we have anything to engage the public in," Key said, describing the preparatory work behind the public materials.

Why this matters: the comprehensive plan guides land use, transportation, housing and climate policy in Liberty Lake. Key told commissioners the city has completed a land-capacity analysis (LCA) and that city council approved that analysis "for planning purposes," but the LCA remains in draft because county housing-allocation numbers have not yet been finalized. That county-level data influences how the city and county discuss urban growth-area (UGA) questions.

Key walked commissioners through the annexation story map, which visually traces Liberty Lake's boundary changes since incorporation in February 2001 and defines terms such as annexation and urban growth area for residents. She said the story maps are intended to let residents "take a deep dive" into topics and then answer a short survey.

Methods and incentives: staff plan to seed the first round of short surveys with planning commissioners, city council and the Community Engagement Commission, then push them to broader audiences via social media, QR-coded handouts and farmers-market outreach. Key described a scavenger-hunt exercise for middle-school students at a forthcoming career fair: participants will answer 5 or 6 questions on the comp-plan website and be entered into a drawing for VIP Fourth of July seats; Kiwanis will supply popcorn and soda.

Key identified several near-term engagement steps: a climate planning action team meeting Feb. 24 (CPAT); a sign-code stakeholder meeting Feb. 26 before the planning commission meeting; farmers-market presence May 17 through Oct. 11; story maps for annexation history, historic and cultural resources, and a more detailed climate element; and a planned transportation network analysis story map if the planning commission approves scope. She said consultants are assisting the housing work and that staff are still determining whether housing will include a dedicated story map or other engagement tools.

On annexation specifically, Key said she did not expect the lake itself to be annexed. "I do not see that necessarily happening because... those people around the lake originally did not want to be annexed," she said, adding that much of the area is already developed and annexation would add service obligations without creating significant new development potential.

Next steps: Key said the annexation survey is likely to be released within one to three weeks as a five- or six-question instrument intended to be approachable and to draw residents toward deeper materials. Staff asked commissioners to provide five words or phrases that describe Liberty Lake's community character; staff will use those responses to structure a broader visioning survey.

The presentation also described targeted stakeholder outreach already completed (building and energy, transportation, utilities, fire and school-district partners) and invited commissioners to review draft survey questions before staff publish them.

Ending: Staff will keep the story maps and surveys centralized on the comp-plan web page with links from Zen City. Commissioners and staff agreed to promote short, focused surveys at farmers markets and through social channels to maximize resident participation and to bring a planning commission representative into some market events.