City of Medical Lake senior planner Elisa Rodriguez opened a workshop Dec. 2 to explain the criteria the city will use to evaluate future amendments to its municipal code and comprehensive plan.

Rodriguez said the workshop is the first in a series of discussions to make the municipal code clearer, predictable and aligned with the state Growth Management Act (GMA). She said Chapter 17.56 — which governs amendments — received a major update in 1999 and the city now needs clearer, more usable approval criteria to guide decisions over the next 12 months.

Rodriguez described three amendment categories: comprehensive-plan amendments (including a mandatory periodic update every 10 years), development-regulation amendments and zoning-map amendments. She said development-regulation approval criteria she proposes include consistency with the comprehensive plan, compliance with the GMA (urban growth boundaries, critical areas and housing needs), consistency with other city plans (capital facilities, water, sewer, transportation), assurance that amendments will not adversely affect the city’s ability to provide services in a cost-effective way, and that amendments provide a long-term public benefit without adverse impacts to infrastructure, wetlands, lakes, businesses or residents.

Rodriguez urged council members to review staff reports and planning-commission materials in advance. She said a Determination of Non-Significance for the amendments has been issued, the public comment period closes on Dec. 4 and the planning commission will hold a public hearing on Dec. 18; language and a staff report will be provided to the commission before that hearing.

Council members asked staff to circulate links to planning-commission materials after the commission meeting so councilors can view the fuller briefing before the council sees ordinance language. Rodriguez said the approval criteria will be used to evaluate subsequent specific amendment language, which will be returned to council in ordinance form at a later meeting.

The workshop was informational; no final ordinance language was adopted at the Dec. 2 meeting.