Thurston County Planning Commission adopts new chapter order for Thurston 2045; discusses housing, agriculture and ownership study

The Thurston County Planning Commission voted to adopt a new chapter order for the draft Thurston 2045 comprehensive plan and asked staff to implement the reordering before the package goes to the Board of County Commissioners.

The vote came after public comments and a lengthy discussion of housing, agriculture and related policies. Commissioner Pesinger moved to take “Option 3” for chapter order and to implement the change prior to forwarding the plan to the BOCC; the motion was seconded and approved. Commissioners recorded at least one nay and one or more abstentions during the roll call; staff said the reordering will require a careful cross-reference scrub because chapters contain many internal references.

Why it matters: reorganizing the plan changes the flow of background information readers see when the plan is released for public hearing and affects internal cross references staff must update. Commissioners said moving climate, land use, environment and natural resources higher in the document could help frame later chapters such as housing and transportation.

Public comments and code edits

Two members of the public spoke on topics that feed directly into the plan revisions. Loretta Sipnan urged commissioners to move the plan’s 5% rural-growth target into a…