Welcome to the project page for the 2021 Buildable Lands Report (BLR) for Snohomish County. This report is required of Snohomish County by the state Growth Management Act (GMA) and is due by June 30, 2021. On this page, you will find information on our progress towards preparing and completing the 2021 BLR. We will be providing updates periodically, so sign up to get alerts here.

The purpose of the BLR is to review the urban densities that are being achieved within both the city and county portions of the Urban Growth Area (UGA) and, based on the densities achieved, determine whether the UGA has an adequate supply of suitable residential, commercial and industrial land to accommodate the population and employment growth projected to occur during the remaining portion of the 20-year GMA planning horizon. If not, jurisdictions are required to take corrective actions (reasonable measures) that do not include adjustment of UGA boundaries.

According to the Snohomish County Countywide Planning Policies, the BLR is prepared by cities and the county using the Snohomish County Tomorrow (SCT) collaborative process. For the BLR, the county has the lead role in preparing the report, with the cities providing key data input and review responsibilities. SCT has published three BLRs on behalf of the county and its cities; one each in 2002, 2007, and 2012. See below for links to these previous BLRs.

In the 2017 session, the state legislature passed E2SSB 5254, which enacted a number of changes to state requirements for buildable lands methods and procedures. Subsequently, the Washington State Department of Commerce published updated Buildable Lands Program Guidelines in December 2018. County staff have been working with the cities, consultant staff, and stakeholder representatives on developing recommendations for implementing these changes in the 2021 BLR.

Draft Materials and Results Under Review for the 2021 Buildable Lands Report

You will find draft materials that are being prepared and assembled for the 2021 Buildable Lands Report in this section. As work on the 2021 BLR progresses, the materials on this page will be updated with new and revised information.

A summary table showing draft 2035 population capacity results for all cities, and UGAs/MUGAs, compared with the adopted 2035 population targets is available here. This draft information shows locations where there is adequate capacity to accommodate the 2035 population targets, as well as locations where there are shortfalls in estimated capacity. Note that there are a few locations (indicated in orange) that have not yet been updated for the 2021 BLR. For these locations, estimates of 2035 population capacity documented in the 2015 UGA Land Capacity Analysis - Target Reconciliation version (PDF) have been used.

At the individual jurisdiction-level, we have the following updated draft maps and tables available for viewing:

• Land status map (showing vacant, partially-used, redevelopable, pending and constant parcels)
• Zoning/FLU designation map
• Critical areas and buffers/major easements map (showing unbuildable area)
• Additional housing unit capacity by parcel map
• Observed and assumed buildable densities by zone/FLU designation table
• Detailed breakdown of additional residential capacity by zone/FLU designation table (click on this link for a key to the header descriptions)

The above information is available for each of the following jurisdictions and their unincorporated UGA/MUGA, which you can access by clicking the + arrow next to the jurisdictions listed below.