Growth Management Act. The Growth Management Act (GMA) is the comprehensive land use planning framework for counties and cities in Washington. The GMA establishes land use designation and environmental protection requirements for all Washington counties and cities. The GMA also establishes a significantly wider array of planning duties for 28 counties, and the cities within those counties, that are obligated to satisfy all planning requirements of the GMA. These jurisdictions are sometimes said to be fully planning under the GMA.
The GMA directs fully planning jurisdictions to adopt internally consistent comprehensive land use plans. Comprehensive plans are implemented through locally adopted development regulations, and both the plans and the local regulations are subject to review and revision requirements prescribed in the GMA. When developing their comprehensive plans, counties and cities must consider various goals set forth in statute.
Comprehensive Plan Updates. Counties and cities are required to review and, if necessary, revise their comprehensive plans and development regulations every ten years. Counties, and the cities within them, are grouped into four different year classes for purposes of when the obligation to review and revise their comprehensive plans and development regulations commences.
In 2022 the Legislature passed HB 1241 temporarily amending the deadline to review and, if necessary, revise the comprehensive plans of King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, and the cities within those counties. These counties are required to review and revise their comprehensive plans and development regulations no later than December 31, 2024, and every ten years thereafter. Following the 2024 review cycle, King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties return to the regularly scheduled ten year review date of June 30, 2034.
Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, San Juan, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties are required to review and revise their comprehensive plans and development regulations no later than June 30, 2025, and every ten years thereafter. For Benton, Chelan, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Kittitas, Skamania, Spokane, Walla Walla and Yakima counties, the same requirements apply for June 30, 2026, and for Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Stevens, Wahkiakum, and Whitman counties, the same requirements apply for June 30, 2027.
Clallam, Clark, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, Mason, San Juan, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties are required to review and revise their comprehensive plans and development regulations no later than December 31, 2025, and every ten years thereafter.
PRO: We are actively working to integrate the 32 housing bills that have been passed since 2019, and we need some additional time to address the complexity of work to implement them. The six month extension is comparable to what the Puget Sound jurisdictions planning in 2024 received. The joint planning process requires an extra level of regional collaboration and additional time allows jurisdictions to thoughtfully engage with their partners. Extending the deadline would also help account for any funding agreements that need to be signed or adjusted because of the timing of the periodic update grants.
OTHER: We support this bill moving forward. We want to make sure that we're not always extending timelines for comprehensive plans due. It makes sense that the 2025 comprehensive plan timeline is extended because of all the housing bills.
PRO: Senator Annette Cleveland, Prime Sponsor; Rebecca Kennedy, City of Vancouver; Ashley Arai, Thurston County; Mindy Brooks, Lewis County; Debora Munguia, Mason County.