Council gets progress update on 2025 comprehensive plan periodic update; full draft due in July

City planning staff briefed the Anacortes City Council on Monday on progress toward the 2025 periodic comprehensive plan update, saying the city is moving into phase two and expects to publish a full draft for public review in July.

John Coleman, director of planning, community and economic development, told councilmembers the update covers all plan elements — land use, housing, transportation, economic development, environment, parks and open space — and will add a new climate element required by 2023 state legislation. “We’re updating our comprehensive plan. This is a required update, for a 20 year planning period,” Coleman said.

Staff emphasized that the city’s land capacity analysis indicates existing city limits and the urban growth area provide adequate capacity for 20‑year population and employment projections, so no urban growth area expansion is required for population or employment. Council previously approved an urban growth area request limited to several city‑owned parcels adjacent to Anacortes Community Forest lands so the city can manage those holdings directly.

The update must implement multiple state laws, including HB 1210 (housing variety and AMI tiers) and HB 1181 (climate planning and environmental justice). Coleman said the city completed a racially disparate impact analysis and found no jarring disparities; the analysis recommended minor language updates to align with state law. He also said the city has begun a separate consultant review of critical areas regulations; that review is likely to extend into the next calendar year and is not expected to delay the core 2025 comp plan deadline.

Planning staff described extensive public outreach: three open houses, pop‑up tables at community events, 19 Planning Commission meetings (including multiple public hearings), a climate team and industry listening sessions, and a project website with document archives and subscription updates. Coleman said the full draft will include track‑changes showing what is new versus the 2016 plan, and that the public comment period after the July release will be at least 30 days.

Councilmembers stressed the importance of timely review. Councilmember Walters said simultaneous review by Planning Commission and council starting in July would allow the city to meet its year‑end deadline without extending the adoption schedule. The planning director asked the council to expect additional review touches in September–November as the Planning Commission finalizes recommendations.

Next steps: release of a full comprehensive plan draft in July, a 30‑day public comment period, Planning Commission hearings and recommended amendments, and a council review aimed at adoption later in 2025.