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Cosmopolis council adopts long-unadopted comprehensive plan to qualify for grants
Summary
Cosmopolis voted to adopt its 2006 comprehensive plan as a living document to allow incremental updates that will unlock grant eligibility, with Council and Council of Governments staff saying capital facilities and transportation segments will be prioritized.
Cosmopolis on April 15 adopted a comprehensive plan that councilors and regional planning staff described as a working base to be updated piece by piece to meet grant and funding requirements.
Vicki, a planner from the regional Council of Governments, told the council the city does not fully plan under the Growth Management Act and can therefore update the comp plan incrementally rather than re-writing an entire GMA-level plan. "You don't have to write an entirely new comp plan — update it segment by segment and you'll have a completed plan sooner," she said, urging the council to prioritize the capital facilities element to qualify for real-estate-excise-tax funding and other grants.
Council Member Darcy moved to adopt the plan and Council Member Skinner seconded. Council discussion focused on the packet's inclusion of a 2006 plan that had never been formally adopted and on how the planning commission is currently working through edits. Supporters said adopting the older document provides an official starting point the commission can amend in subsequent meetings; opponents urged adoption of the more current working draft if available.
The council voted to adopt the comprehensive plan as a "living" document that can be amended as updated sections are completed. The adoption was framed as a procedural step to make the city eligible for grants that increasingly require a current, public plan; Vicki and councilors said the capital facilities segment is likely the first to be revised and adopted.
Councilors and staff said the planning commission will continue to work on grammar, content and required segments and bring changes to the council for periodic approval. The council also discussed outreach requirements for certain elements (public notice, hearings for TIP items, and a 30-day public-comment period for some plan components).
Next steps: the planning commission will continue preparing updated segments (capital facilities, transportation, housing) and present them to council for adoption so the plan can be used when applying for funding.
