Skagit County planning staff outline 2025 legislative work plan; comprehensive-plan update due this year

Skagit County Planning and Development Services on Monday presented its 2025 legislative work plan to the Skagit County Board of County Commissioners, outlining continued work on a comprehensive plan update, countywide planning-policy revisions, agritourism code changes and a new review of where clean-energy generation and storage facilities may be allowed.

Robbie Acroft, senior planner with the county, told commissioners the comprehensive plan update has been underway for a year and the department expects to finish an internal draft by June 30, 2025. “We are required by state law to finish, by the end of December this year,” Acroft said, noting that the department released preliminary policies for public review last year and will release a full draft this month.

The work plan also lists a countywide planning policy update that, Acroft said, sets a framework “for not only Skagit County but all of the cities and towns in Skagit County” so jurisdictions coordinate on housing and employment growth. The county has scheduled a public hearing and possible action on the countywide planning policy for March 25, 2025, and the department reported it has released the comprehensive plan environmental checklist and issued a determination of nonsignificance while completing a 60-day review by the Washington State Department of Commerce.

Acroft said the Skagit Council of Governments and an advisory steering committee that includes elected officials and municipal planners have reviewed drafts and provided feedback. “Everyone came back with feedback and then the steering committee in December, which includes all the electeds, made a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners to adopt that proposal,” he said.

The work plan includes continued work on agritourism code amendments. Acroft said the board previously remanded recommended agritourism code changes back to the Planning Commission and the Agricultural Advisory Board for additional study and that a community task force will be formed and run through roughly June, with draft policies to follow later in the year.

A new item in the 2025 plan is a departmental request to examine siting rules for clean-energy generation and storage facilities. Acroft said the department intends to “specify what these facilities are, remove them as a utility development, and then figure out where in the county do these belong,” to guide review of future proposals and reduce the need for adjudicative state review for facilities proposed in zones where they would otherwise be prohibited.

Commissioner Wiesen, responding to Acroft’s presentation, said the county should be attentive to differences between power generation and storage and to state-level siting processes. “This is really important because for some of us, first of all, to go against the county's zoning rules for the creation of power would be one thing, but the storage of power is something totally different,” Wiesen said.

Acroft emphasized the work plan is a mix of items required by state law and items the department is proposing for local review; he said any future proposals that the public or commissioners dislike could be revised during the process.

The planning items were presented as part of the consent agenda for Feb. 3; the consent agenda later was approved by the board (see separate article on consent approvals).