Thurston County holds public hearing on Thurston 2045 comprehensive plan update; staff to continue edits after comments

Thurston County planning staff and the Planning Commission held a hybrid public hearing April 23 on Thurston 2045, the county’s periodic comprehensive-plan update that aligns the plan with recent state law and sets policy for the next 20 years through 2045. Maya Teepel, senior planner with Thurston County Community Planning, summarized draft changes and asked the commission to continue work after the hearings.

The hearing drew organized comments on several recurring themes: integrating the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan (TCMP) into the comprehensive plan, limiting rural growth in favor of concentrating development in urban growth areas (UGAs), strengthening water conservation and agricultural-water protections, and changes to housing policy including allowances for accessory dwelling units (ADUs), permanent supportive housing, and new pathways for manufactured housing and mobile-home permitting.

Why it matters: the periodic update — required under Washington’s Growth Management Act (Chapter 36.70A RCW) — is the county’s primary policy document for land use, housing, transportation, natural resources and climate actions. The draft introduces a new climate chapter, updates housing projections and land-capacity analyses, and proposes large changes to development regulations that could affect where and how new housing, energy infrastructure and mineral-resource operations are sited.

Staff overview and next steps Maya Teepel and Anna Rodriguez, associate planner, told the commission the draft reflects the required decennial periodic update under the Growth Management Act and incorporates state law changes affecting housing and climate. Teepel said staff has completed 32 planning commission work sessions to date and will…