Spokane County launches 20-year comprehensive plan update, asks public for input

Spokane County Planning Director Scott Chesney said the county is conducting a comprehensive update of its 20-year growth plan, a state-mandated process that will run through the end of 2026 and include multiple opportunities for public comment.

The comprehensive plan provides guidance to Spokane County departments on land use, housing, transportation and other growth-related matters over a 20-year horizon, Chesney said. “In its basic form, it's a document that gives the county and all of our departments guidance on how to plan for and grow the county over a 20 year period,” he said.

The update is part of a regular cycle required by state law under the Growth Management Act, Chesney said, noting that municipalities and counties must review their plans at least once every 10 years. The county's current plan dates to February 2001 and has been amended over time; officials described this as the first full, top-to-bottom review in about 25 years.

Chesney said the review will assess how previous policies worked, incorporate legislative changes since the original plan, and reflect post-2020 shifts in how people live and work. “Certainly no one would indicate or would have anticipated the advent of [the] COVID pandemic and how that changed how we live and work,” he said, citing changes in lifestyle and economic patterns as reasons to reassess the plan.

Public engagement is central to the process. County staff will post documents and interim analysis on the county website and accept comments online; Chesney urged residents, landowners and business owners to share their perspectives. He described the planning commission as the formal venue for public testimony and also referenced a steering committee of elected officials from cities and towns that will meet periodically to discuss growth issues.

“We have a very robust web page, where all of our information, documents in progress, kind of sometimes our thoughts are posted,” Chesney said. He encouraged listeners to look for the comprehensive plan button at the Spokane County website and to use email and other posted contact methods to submit comments. The county also plans to hold community charrettes and small meetings to gather input in person.

Chesney framed the update as a chance for residents to influence how Spokane County grows over the next two decades: “...we'll be talking to the community, once again to look at what is, in a sense your vision for the place that you and your children and your grandchildren are going to live during the life of this particular plan.”

The update process is scheduled to continue through 2026; staff did not specify exact future meeting dates in this episode. The county invited listeners to submit questions through the contact link on the Spokane County Planning Department web page and said future podcast episodes will answer submitted questions.