Kittitas County planners outline periodic comprehensive-plan update, HAP tool review and public participation schedule

Kittitas County planning staff on Jan. 14 updated the Planning Commission on the county’s periodic comprehensive-plan update, including use of a housing-accountability/HAP tool and a public participation plan that staff said will be posted on an external website.

Long range planner Jeremy Johnson and Community Building & Services director Chad Bea told commissioners the HAP tool is being used to model housing allocations by income band (for example, households at 50 percent of area median income). Johnson said staff are still analyzing the tool’s outputs and will present findings to the public and to member jurisdictions of the county’s Council of Governments for confirmation.

"We are looking at the HAP tool and the population proposals and we're kind of deciphering that and how that looks with regards to 50% AMI and those types of scenarios," Jeremy Johnson said. He said staff are conferring with municipal representatives and expect to present more detailed results in coming weeks.

Public engagement: Staff said they are developing a public participation plan (currently under review) and will post materials on an external website because staff do not have confidence in internal IT hosting for an extended public portal. The commission set a goal for a joint March meeting that would bring Planning Commission members, county commissioners and the project consultant together for a kickoff presentation. Staff also said they will use SurveyMonkey (or similar) to distribute a public survey and gather input.

Short-term rentals: Planning staff reported that a committee has drafted survey questions on short-term rental regulation and will meet Jan. 16 to finalize distribution methods. Staff said the survey results will inform potential regulations the commission might consider; any regulatory proposals would return to the Planning Commission for review and public hearings.

Local focus and timing: Staff reminded commissioners that state guidance requires a two-year periodic update process; the county’s 2025 task schedule covers multiple deliverables and some items will roll into 2026 pending funding and work sequencing. Staff said the final periodic-update materials will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners for approval of the public participation plan and related contracting steps.

Ending: Staff asked the commission to reserve the March meeting for the joint kickoff and to expect further updates as the HAP tool results are finalized and public outreach begins.