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Mazama Advisory Committee presses county for data support as it updates subunit A comprehensive plan
Summary
The Mazama Advisory Committee reported ongoing work to update the subunit A comprehensive plan, requested county GIS and census support for a land‑use inventory, and said the committee will provide a draft plan to planning staff; staff said full support will require planner and GIS time and recommended triaging requests.
Members of the Mazama Advisory Committee (MAC) briefed the Board of Commissioners on a multi‑month effort to update the subunit A comprehensive plan and asked county planning staff for statistical and mapping assistance.
Planning Director Palmer told commissioners she is collecting code amendment work and tracking the county's cannabis moratorium, floodplain corrections and other code updates. Palmer said the MAC has submitted a substantial list of information requests — parcel counts, land‑use inventory, demographic breakdowns and census‑block‑level population counts — and that producing those datasets would require planner and GIS time. She estimated a week of planner effort plus additional GIS processing for mapping and data extraction.
The committee members said they conducted public outreach, held workshops and used an intern to accelerate the update. They also described a recent full‑day workshop to resolve difficult policy topics and said they are rebuilding the plan text rather than incrementally editing the older document. The MAC said the goal is to align the subunit plan with the county's zoning code and then work with the planning department to finalize any code changes.
Palmer and MAC members recommended a pragmatic approach: advise the committee where to find readily available public data (US Census, county interactive zoning map) and reserve county planner/GIS resources for the items the committee cannot easily produce. MAC members said the task is part of a larger county process and noted the committee's earlier contributions, including a 1989 addendum and a 1992 incorporation into the county code.
Why it matters: the subunit A plan guides land use, zoning and future development in the Mazama/Upper Methow Valley area. Committee members said updating the plan is necessary to keep the county's comprehensive plan aligned with local conditions and to support future land‑use decisions.
Next steps: MAC will continue drafting the plan, prioritize the committee's data requests and return to the planning department for targeted GIS and planner support; the committee expects to present a refined draft to planning staff for review before public hearings and formal adoption steps.
