Planning Commission reviews Tumwater climate resilience draft, discusses hazards and implementation timing

Alyssa Joneswood, the City of Tumwater’s sustainability manager and lead for the climate element, presented the draft climate resilience (adaptation) subelement to the Planning Commission on Feb. 11 and summarized community engagement, projected climate hazards and proposed policy actions.

Joneswood said staff and contractors split the climate chapter into greenhouse-gas reduction and resilience components, and that resilience work includes state-required environmental-justice integration. She described recent engagement steps that included tabling at the Thurston County Food Bank and outreach through the South Sound Asian and Pacific Islanders Coalition and said the Thurston Climate Action Team will host a focused assembly with regional jurisdiction staff and community groups the following week.

Joneswood summarized regional climate projections used in the plan: under a high-emissions scenario the area faces substantial change by mid-century, including higher average summer temperatures (presented as a forecasted ~9.5°F increase in summer maximum temperatures in some models), dozens more days per year over 90°F, increased intensity of extreme rainfall events, more high-fire-danger days, and greater likelihood of multi-month drought. She also noted localized sea-level impacts will mostly affect Tumwater’s Historical Park and the old brewery area if river and dam changes proceed as planned.

Commissioners asked specific implementation and drafting questions. Commissioner Kirkpatrick noted an existing city program to underground power lines and recommended the plan reflect ongoing work rather than implying a future start date; staff agreed to mark the item as ongoing where appropriate. Commissioners pressed staff to clarify whether actions apply to new development only or to redevelopment and remodeling, and asked for clearer threshold language on items such as when building requirements apply.

Participants discussed passive survivability — designing buildings so at least one room or common area remains at safe temperatures during outages — and tradeoffs between requiring active air conditioning and encouraging passive survivability measures to limit increased electrical demand. Joneswood said the plan includes actions addressing passive survivability and referenced code-change items related to heat-hardening and building practices.

Commissioners raised process and mapping issues for wildfire risk and the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). Staff explained a steering committee will refine WUI mapping (a state-led mapping effort) and said mapping quality and criteria are important because WUI maps become regulatory when adopted; the steering committee is due to begin meeting the week after this session.

Several commissioners urged clearer notes on funding status: Joneswood and Brad (deputy director) said many resilience actions are not yet budgeted and outcomes depend on future state and federal program availability. Commissioners recommended adding a supplementary biennial handout indicating which actions are funded, tentatively scheduled, or unfunded. Joneswood said the plan will be revised to improve clarity and to show action timelines and funding caveats where possible.

Ending: Commissioners and staff agreed to continue refining the resilience subelement, clarify timelines and funding status, and return updated drafts to the commission; Joneswood and staff encouraged continued commissioner feedback between meetings.