Spokane County begins 2026 comprehensive plan update under Growth Management Act; water, housing and West Plains infrastructure highlighted

Spokane County Planning Director Scott Chesney said the county is updating its comprehensive plan under the Washington State Growth Management Act and must finish the work to meet statutory deadlines that currently land on June 30, 2026, with a likely legislative extension to December 2026.

The update matters because, Chesney said, the comprehensive plan guides land use, transportation and capital‑facility decisions across the county and shapes where housing and jobs will grow for the next decade.

Chesney, speaking in a February 2025 Mic'd Up Spokane interview, described the process as a statutory, multi‑element review that local governments must revisit every 10 years. "It is a it is a statutory requirement that that we have and update our plans now every 10 years," he said. The county's last full update was completed in 2016–17.

Under the Growth Management Act (GMA), counties serve as regional coordinators: Spokane County will recommend urban growth areas based on land‑capacity analyses and technical input, then the county board makes final decisions after steering‑committee review that includes city and town elected officials. Chesney said the county maintains an ongoing technical relationship with the Washington State Department of Commerce and holds a weekly planning studio that includes a Commerce planner.

Chesney summarized how the land‑capacity analysis works: planners tally remaining developable land inside municipalities and adjacent urban growth areas, estimate how many housing units those lands could accommodate under current regulations and then compare that capacity to expected population growth. That comparison determines whether the county should expand urban growth areas.

Public participation has been built into the schedule. Chesney said the county ran kickoff work sessions in six or seven locations in early to mid‑2024 and then held three community placemaking and resiliency sessions focused on (1) the North Mead area near Damas Spokane Road, (2) the West Plains and (3) the southeast valley near Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake. He said follow‑up sessions were planned into spring 2025 and the county planned a dedicated comprehensive‑plan website and mailing list to keep interested residents informed.

Chesney said the county will update development regulations to align rules with the new plan and that the county requested a six‑month legislative extension to avoid running regulations and plan updates in parallel. "June 30 is 1 deadline. December 2026 is the other hard stop deadline. We must be done with our work by then to be in compliance with the statutes," he said.

Among site‑specific concerns, Chesney flagged the West Plains and the 195–I‑90 corridor, an area with both substantial job growth (distribution and warehousing) and limited nearby housing. He described constraints on east–west travel in the corridor and said stormwater management and groundwater quality on the West Plains pose limits on growth: "If there are contaminated wells and the aquifer system on the West Plains... it's a legitimate limit on growth," he said. He noted the City of Spokane is the water and sewer provider for much of the southern West Plains, which creates a built‑in planning relationship between city and county for water and sewer service areas.

Chesney also discussed cross‑border competition with Kootenai County, Idaho, where different state regulations and taxes make housing development faster and cheaper. He said that difference can shift revenue and retail activity across the state line: "If you build housing ... in North Idaho versus in Spokane County, ... millions of dollars of revenue that shift from 1 side of the border to another over time." He added that Spokane County is coordinating with Kootenai County on shared interests such as aquifer protection.

On implementation, Chesney emphasized the county intends the plan to be actionable rather than aspirational. "There will be a big fat a focus on implementation in this plan. It won't be something that we put on the shelf and say, well, there it is. You know, go do what you want. It'll be here are the next active steps to try to make it real," he said.

The county office identified several priorities that will affect how and where growth occurs: revising development regulations to enable planned growth, focusing urban growth into tighter centers rather than widely diluted centers and corridors, improving east–west transportation connections on the West Plains, and sustaining the county's agricultural and rural economies. Chesney said trails and pedestrian connectivity are a complementary priority to improve local mobility and quality of life in newly built neighborhoods.

The county's public outreach and technical work will continue through the plan process, and Chesney said residents can expect more community sessions and online materials; he characterized public input as open until the statutory submission deadlines.

For implementation and next steps, Chesney said the county will refine draft regulations tied to plan outcomes, continue steering‑committee deliberations with municipal partners and work with the Department of Commerce during state review. He stressed the county is preparing for an implementation phase after the plan is adopted, not merely producing policy statements.

Ending: The comprehensive plan update will determine the county's approach to housing, jobs and infrastructure through the 2030s; Spokane County officials said they expect continued public sessions and technical hearings before the steering committee and county board complete a recommended plan for review by Commerce and adoption by the county board.