La Conner Planning Commission on June 17, 2025, voted to forward the town's draft comprehensive plan to the Town Council while withholding recommendation on two chapters — identified in the meeting as elements 6 and 12, covering housing and climate — to allow more time for review.

The action followed a lengthy staff briefing and a sustained discussion about Department of Commerce review comments, a line in the draft that staff said referenced complaints about Hispanic cultural celebrations held at Maple Hall, and whether the draft overstates anecdotal reports of bias. A planning staff member said the Department of Commerce had asked for a deeper discussion of race- and place-based disparities and that the draft used proportionality data from the 2020 U.S. Census to flag a difference in the Hispanic population between La Conner and Skagit County.

Why it matters: The planning commission's recommendation will guide what the Town Council reviews at its public hearing and affects whether the town can meet contract deliverables tied to state grant funds. Planning staff said certain deliverables are linked to roughly $2,000 of the town's approximately $100,000 grant budget, and missing those deliverables would risk losing that portion of grant funding even if the commission delays action.

Commissioners spent most of the meeting focused on two issues: the Department of Commerce request to address racially disparate impacts in housing language, and a passage in the draft that mentioned complaints about Hispanic cultural celebrations (for example, Quinceanera-style events) at Maple Hall. Several commissioners and residents pushed back on wording that they said sounded accusatory or relied on anecdote rather than documented administrative records. A planning staff member acknowledged the committee's concern and said, "I will rewrite this section to include other possibilities, shrink the portion about complaints and increase the discussion of missing cultural hubs and services," and that the revised text would be posted on the town website for community review the next day.

Commissioners also debated the data basis for the draft's statement. The staff presentation cited 2020 U.S. Census proportionality data showing a statistically significant lower share of Hispanic households in La Conner compared with Skagit County; staff said the analysis did not show similar disparities for other racial groups. Commissioners asked staff to investigate alternative explanations, such as household size, housing costs, rental versus ownership rates, employment patterns and public transportation access.

On timing, staff explained the planning contract and grant deliverables have a fixed fiscal schedule with Commerce and that the comprehensive-plan deadline was extended to December but the grant's fiscal deadline was not, creating a compressed review window for some deliverables. Staff said the $2,000 figure represents the portion of grant funds tied directly to the final adoption deliverables in question.

Action taken: A motion carried at the meeting to forward the comprehensive-plan draft to Town Council with an explicit exception for elements 6 and 12 so the commission could complete further review. The motion carried with the commission recording three votes in favor and one abstention. Commissioners also recorded direction to staff to revise the disputed housing-language section, add alternative explanations the commission requested, and post the revision for public comment before the Town Council hearing.

Background and next steps: Planning staff said they will post the rewrite on the town website for community review and will call out the chapters in the Town Council agenda when the plan goes to public hearing. The commission discussed multiple possible next steps: (1) table the entire plan, (2) send the plan with exceptions (the option the commission chose), or (3) withhold any recommendation. Commissioners emphasized they wanted more time to read the climate element before making a full recommendation.

The meeting record shows the discussion included references to Maple Hall and to community events (including a recent Tulip Parade staging and an event at the Swinomish venue), which some speakers said had generated noise complaints from visitors rather than long-term residents. Staff said formal complaint counts were not available at the meeting and that the draft language should make clear when assertions are anecdotal versus data-driven.

The commission's decision sends most of the draft plan forward to Town Council for its June public hearing, while the housing and climate elements will return to the commission for further editing and review.