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Granite Falls council advances preferred land-use options in comprehensive plan workshop
Summary
At a Sept. 25 workshop, the Granite Falls City Council reviewed the 2024 Comprehensive Plan update and by consensus selected preferred options for annexations, Mountain Loop Highway subarea zoning, Galena Street policy, middle housing, park-and-ride sites, public works building location and other land-use issues; public hearings will follow.
The Granite Falls City Council on Sept. 25 reviewed key land-use elements of the city’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan periodic update and agreed by consensus on preferred options for a series of topics that will move forward to Planning Commission review and future public hearings.
Community Development Director Eric Jensen opened the workshop with a slide presentation that listed the Comprehensive Plan timeline and topics including the Urban Growth Area boundary, annexations, the Mountain Loop Highway subarea, Galena Street zoning, mixed-use areas, middle housing, park-and-ride locations and a new public works facility. Mayor Matthew Hartman reminded the audience that "This is a workshop for council discussion and not a public hearing... Comment will be limited to three minutes per speaker," and invited participants to testify at upcoming formal hearings.
On the Urban Growth Area boundary, councilmembers agreed as a group on Option 1 (no action). On proposed annexations, the council "agreed as a whole" to proceed with Options 2 and 3 to advance annexation work. For the Mountain Loop Highway subarea, David Toyer of Toyer Strategic Advisors spoke for property owners about possible zoning changes, the allowance of planned residential developments (PRDs) and a potential development agreement; the council deferred to the Planning Commission recommendation and directed staff to have the Planning Commission consider the PRD request at its Oct. 1 public hearing.
The council supported Option 2 for Galena Street zoning and voiced support for a policy to implement an Economic Development Plan for that corridor. Mixed-use land use received no public comment and was left on the record for further planning. Councilmembers chose Option 3 for middle housing policy direction in the Comprehensive Plan update.
On transportation facilities, councilmembers selected Option 2 for a park-and-ride and identified several candidate parcels for further study, including the corner of Cascade and Galena, the corner of Indiana and Galena, and the lot at Crooked Mile Road and Stanley Street. For the public works building, resident Jude Anderson noted the City of Snohomish's city complex as an example; the council agreed as a whole on Option 3 (old city hall location or the top of the hillside above the decant facility) while keeping Option 2 (Gun Club Road) as an alternative.
The community center site was sent to a future council retreat for additional discussion (Option 2). For the West Granite Falls subarea, councilmembers agreed on Option 2 to follow the present street pattern in future planning. No formal roll-call votes were recorded in the workshop; the record shows council consensus on the listed options, and formal actions and public hearings will be scheduled according to the Comprehensive Plan update timeline.
The council adjourned at the conclusion of the workshop. The Planning Commission will consider related rezoning and PRD questions at its Oct. 1 public hearing, and the city will schedule subsequent formal hearings where public testimony will be part of the official record.
