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Steering committee recommends updated countywide planning policies on housing, climate and tribal participation
Summary
Steering committee of elected officials recommended amendments to countywide planning policies to implement state housing legislation, add climate and resiliency policy language, and amend the steering-committee interlocal to add tribal voting seats; the Board will receive recommendations and consider them on the next legislative agenda.
County planning staff told commissioners on March 24 that the steering committee of elected officials has recommended several updates to Spokane County’s countywide planning policies, including housing guidance related to recent state legislation, a new chapter on climate and resiliency, and an amendment to the interlocal agreement to provide voting seats for the region’s tribes.
Scott Chesney summarized the recommendations: additions to chapter 7 on housing to implement House Bill 1220 (transcribed as “House Bill 12 20”), identification of local policies and regulations addressing disparate impacts, strategies to reduce displacement, and specific growth-target allocation guidance that lists housing products such as triplexes and fourplexes. The steering committee also recommended an implementation tool (the “HAPT tool”) and asked jurisdictions to consider policies that increase housing types and avoid concentrations of low-income units.
Chesney then described a new countywide planning chapter on climate and resiliency that largely reflects state law (transcribed reference: House Bill 1181) and a market-oriented approach to planning growth areas to improve access to services and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through placemaking and neighborhood design.
Finally, staff presented an amendment to the interlocal agreement that creates the steering committee: the amendment would add voting membership seats for the Spokane Tribe and the Kalispel Tribe, and the interlocal’s language was updated to reflect tribal sovereignty and limited participation in the GMA (Growth Management Act). The steering committee and a subcommittee reviewed the change and recommended transmission to the Board.
Steering-committee materials and a letter of transmission were placed in the commissioners’ packet; county staff told the Board it will receive the steering committee recommendations at an upcoming public hearing and consider formal action at the next Tuesday meeting. Commissioners who served on subcommittees said there was substantial public comment and multiple drafts before finalizing the proposals.
