Spokane County planning director outlines how 2026 urban growth-area boundaries will be decided, urges residents to review maps

Spokane County Planning Director Scott Chesney outlined the process for deciding urban growth-area boundaries for the county’s 2026 comprehensive plan update on the county’s “On the Plan” podcast.

Chesney said the process starts with each city or town assessing how much developable land remains inside its existing boundaries and estimating how much growth that land can accommodate. "Our growth areas are sought after by communities and developers and builders alike because those are the areas where the newest growth is happening in our communities and in our county," Chesney said.

The plan-making process then compares projected buildable acreage to 20-year growth projections. When existing lands cannot accommodate anticipated growth, planners and local officials consider expanding the urban growth-area boundary. Chesney said that comparison relies on statutory and policy principles, including capital facilities needed to support development. "That secondary element is also based on on principles of law and policy, notably, capital facilities or those things that are put into development to support growth, and that's roads. It is sewers and water. It's infrastructure," he said.

Chesney listed additional factors planners study when identifying candidate parcels for UGA expansion: proximity to existing infrastructure, access to roads and water and sewer systems, suitability of landform and topography, absence of critical areas and steep slopes, and overlap with school, fire and water district service areas.

He described the decision path: communities recommend areas that meet their needs; county planners analyze those recommendations under the Growth Management Act; an elected steering committee reviews and recommends boundaries; and the county board of commissioners makes the final determination. "Those are studied by the planning team through the analysis of the growth management act, and then recommended to the steering committee of elected officials who discuss and make a recommendation to the county board, which has the final determination on creating and implementing that next 2026 urban growth area boundary," Chesney said.

On outreach, Chesney said the county posts analysis, reports and maps on its planning web pages and holds public forums. "We have a very robust website presence at spokanecounty.org/bp. Within that if you click the comprehensive plan button, it will take you to a repository of all the information analysis, reports, maps of things that that all of the planners are discussing for future growth," he said. He also asked residents to review materials and send comments, noting the county posts meeting notices in The Spokesman-Review and produces podcasts to reach residents. "That's it's such a great question. We struggle with that because it's so hard to reach out to everybody at any 1 time," Chesney said when asked how residents can find out about growth in their neighborhoods.

Chesney referenced recent and upcoming forums, saying there were forums in February and that follow-up sessions were planned in April (identified in the podcast as the ninth and the thirtieth). The podcast host, Tom MacArthur, closed the segment and thanked Chesney for the information. The episode is part of Spokane County’s public engagement on the 2026 comprehensive plan update.

The discussion on the podcast was informational; the transcript does not record any formal decisions or votes during the episode. The planning director described the multi-step process and invited residents to review posted maps and attend public forums as the county and cities refine UGA boundaries for the 2026 update.