Spokane County planning director outlines 20-year comprehensive plan process, urban growth areas

Scott Chesney, Spokane County planning director, described the county’s process for updating its comprehensive plan and preparing for long-term growth during Episode 3 of the Spokane County podcast.

Chesney said the update builds on the county’s work under the Growth Management Act and combines technical forecasting with community input to plan for future housing, jobs and infrastructure needs.

Chesney said the work “is a large task and it’s very complicated.” He told host Tom MacArthur that planners use population and employment trends and land-use metrics to guide decisions, and said the county is planning to “accommodate roughly 100,000 to 120,000 new residents in Spokane County” as part of that outlook.

The podcast discussion emphasized coordination between the county and its cities and towns. Chesney said professional planners meet monthly in a collaborative “planning studio” to allocate growth based on each jurisdiction’s capacity and historic growth, and that a steering committee of elected officials meets about five or six times a year to coordinate at the policy level. “The ultimate decision on those allocations does become a county board decision based on the statutes that are passed at the state level,” he said.

Chesney also described urban growth areas, or UGAs, as a statutory tool created by the Growth Management Act. “Urban growth areas are a feature of the Growth Management Act,” he said, adding that UGAs are boundaries “within which we try to encourage development at urban or suburban scales” such as neighborhoods and subdivisions. Outside UGAs, Chesney said, the county promotes rural densities — including large-lot residential parcels and small farms — to preserve agricultural uses and reduce the cost of extending infrastructure.

He framed UGAs as a way to maximize public investment in roads and other services by focusing development where infrastructure can be used most efficiently. Chesney said the plan update also considers “how the economy has changed, how people have changed, lifestyles have changed,” and seeks to balance growth at edges with infill inside cities to support walkable neighborhoods.

The podcast named Liberty Lake and Rockford as examples of communities that participate in the planning discussions with county staff. Chesney said the work combines technical forecasting and public engagement to inform the county board’s eventual ratification of growth allocations.

No formal actions, votes, motions or specific ordinance proposals were discussed on the recording; the segment focused on explaining the update process and statutory framework.