City of Anacortes asks Skagit County to docket 107 acres into its urban growth area for parkland

Skagit County planning staff on Tuesday briefed the Board of County Commissioners on a docket petition from the city of Anacortes seeking to expand its Urban Growth Area (UGA) to include nine contiguous parcels totaling roughly 107 acres that the city already owns and uses for recreational access.

Robbie Eckroft, a county senior planner, said the parcels lie adjacent to Anacortes Community Forest Lands and are mostly zoned rural reserve; one parcel is zoned rural resource (natural resource lands) and was previously permitted as a gravel pit that ceased operations around 2001. The city has asked the county to docket the petition as part of Skagit County’s 2025 comprehensive‑plan update so the parcels can be converted to the city’s park designation and later annexed.

The petition matters because changes to UGA boundaries normally require a showing that the expansion is needed to accommodate 20‑year population or employment growth; county code and the Growth Management Act set criteria for such expansions. Eckroft told commissioners the city’s request is different: Anacortes is not seeking land to accommodate population or jobs but is asking to manage parkland it already owns and uses. As a result, several code criteria tied strictly to accommodating growth were not applicable, he said.

Eckroft explained the county review focuses on a suite of code criteria in Skagit County Code (SCC) 14.08.060 (legislative actions/UGA changes) and, for the one parcel previously mapped as natural resource land, the code requires specific findings before a map‑designation change. The city’s application documents state the gravel resource was exhausted before the parcel was transferred to the city and that the property now supports trail access and soil storage for public works.

Planning staff recommended the commissioners docket the petition for further review, saying the petition meets filing requirements and can be reasonably evaluated within the county’s work plan. Eckroft said public notice will run as part of the draft comprehensive‑plan notice; a formal public comment period opens Thursday and closes Feb. 21. The Board will hold a docketing hearing Feb. 25; if the petition is docketed it will proceed to planning commission and Department of Commerce review as part of the 2025 comprehensive‑plan update process.

Commissioner Wiesen, whose district includes Anacortes, asked if the parcels are city owned (they are) and queried whether the county or state code places an upper limit on parks or forest lands in a UGA; staff replied that because this request is for parkland rather than accommodating population, the usual land‑capacity and population allocation tests are not applicable. Commissioners said they were generally supportive but noted that any later changes after annexation — for example a change from park to another designation — would require the city to follow annexation, SEPA and state review processes.

Next steps outlined by staff: the county will accept written comments by mail or email through Feb. 21, hold the Board docketing hearing Feb. 25 and, if docketed, include the petition in the comprehensive‑plan public hearings and SEPA review. The planning commission will hold a public hearing March 11 and deliberate in April; a final recommendation will return to the Board of County Commissioners later in the comprehensive‑plan process.

Ending: Commissioners said they expect notice and public input and thanked staff for the briefing. No docketing decision was taken on Tuesday; the Board is scheduled to consider docketing the petition at the Feb. 25 meeting.