La Conner planning commissioners forward comprehensive-plan draft to council but exclude two chapters over wording and time concerns

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…