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Olympia council hears progress update on Olympia 2045 comprehensive plan; EIS expected soon
Summary
City staff told the Olympia City Council that the city is progressing on its Olympia 2045 comprehensive plan update, with an environmental impact statement expected in the coming weeks and a goal to adopt the full plan by year-end.
Joyce Phillips, long range planning manager in the City of Olympia’s Community Planning and Development Department, told the Olympia City Council that the city is progressing on its Olympia 2045 comprehensive plan update and expects to release an environmental impact statement within the next few weeks.
Phillips said the update will produce a 12-chapter comprehensive plan that will add a housing chapter and a climate action and resilience chapter. She said most chapters follow a structured review process that includes advisory-committee briefings, Planning Commission public hearings and a final Council adoption step after the EIS is complete.
The update is being drafted chapter by chapter to ensure consistency with the state Growth Management Act and internal city policies, Phillips said. “Each of the chapters is based on our community values and vision, and the chapters are by design consistent with the requirements of the growth management act and with each other,” she said. She told the council the team plans to pause after the Council reviews each chapter and then return all chapters together for adoption at the end of the process.
Phillips said an environmental impact statement is being prepared and “should be released in the next couple of weeks, 3 or 4 maybe at the outside.” She added the full plan is technically due by the end of the year and that staff are “hustling” to meet that deadline.
The presentation included a progress-tracking slide showing that all but three chapters have been released; staff said the remaining drafts include land use and urban design (this month) and the housing and climate chapters (anticipated next month). Phillips said staff from multiple city departments are contributing to chapters that fall within their areas of expertise and that the plan materials have been briefed to the Planning Commission, the Social Justice and Equity Commission and the new Youth Council.
Council members did not take any formal action during the study session on the progress report. Phillips said the next procedural steps are completion and publication of the EIS, final consistency checks across chapters and returning the package to the Council for consideration and adoption.
The council recessed the study session after the business items and planned an executive session; no final adoption or vote on the comprehensive plan occurred during the meeting.
