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1. What are Countywide Planning Policies?

The state Growth Management Act (GMA) requires that Snohomish County and its cities develop a shared vision and goals to guide growth and preserve the quality of life throughout the county. This vision and supporting goals are articulated in a document known as the Countywide Planning Policies (CPP). Topics addressed in the CPP include:

• Transportation
• Economic Development
• Growth targets and boundaries
• Housing

State law requires that the individual comprehensive plans adopted by the county and all cities in it be consistent and coordinated with the policies expressed in this document. The process of reaching consensus on coordination between the cities and the county takes place through Snohomish County Tomorrow.

2. Why were county-wide planning policies (CPPs) updated in 2011?

A single planning document - Vision 2040 - coordinates the multicounty planning policies (MPPs) for King, Pierce, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties. Vision 2040 articulates a regional growth management strategy consistent with the state GMA and the MPPs act as guidance for CPPs.

The Puget Sound Regional Council has responsibility for creating the MPPs, and state law requires that counties make their CPPs consistent with it. New MPPs were contained in Vision 2040 adopted in 2008. Member governments of the PRSC agreed to update their CPPs accordingly by the end of 2010.

3. Who is responsible for updating Snohomish County’s county-wide planning policies (CPPs)?

The CPPs are prepared by Snohomish County Tomorrow (SCT), which is comprised of the county, cities, and the Tulalip Tribes. SCT coordinates growth planning in the county under the state GMA.

The SCT Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) develops and recommends proposed CPP revisions to the SCT Steering Committee, the policy advisory body. The Steering Committee consists of one or more elected officials from each of the member jurisdictions.

After revised CPPs are adopted by the SCT Steering Committee, they are forwarded to the Snohomish County Council for final review and adoption. The final step in the process is certification of the council-adopted CPP’s by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). PRSC certification ensures that the CPPs are consistent with the regional VISION 2040 plan.

4. How are county-wide planning policies (CPPs) used?

The CPPs are used by each city and the county to guide updates to their respective comprehensive plans. They establish the process and policies for setting population and job-growth targets for each jurisdiction, and for considering expansion of urban growth area boundaries.

5. What policies are required in county-wide planning policies (CPPs)?

Snohomish County’s CPPs are required to establish processes and set policies that address the following growth issues:

• Establishing urban growth areas
• Orderly and contiguous development
• Joint planning in urban growth areas
• County-wide transportation facilities and strategy
• Affordable housing distribution
• Economic development and employment
• Siting of essential public facilities
• Public services and capital facilities

6. Why are county-wide planning policies (CPPs) important to citizens?

CPPs guide how elected officials and planning staffs in local jurisdictions plan for the growth and development of our local communities. They set up a framework for how cities and the County coordinate their growth plans with neighboring municipalities. The CPPs set criteria for defining urban and rural environments. They also describe how the county and cities will plan our countywide transportation system.

7. What major changes occurred in the update?

To align the county’s county-wide planning policies (CPPs) with various GMA revisions and new multi-county planning policies, a number of changes were made, including:

• Re-formatting the document to align with format of Puget Sound Regional Council’s (PSRC) Vision 2040
• A revised introductory chapter
• More emphasis on sustainable growth and development policies
• New central principles and framework policies
• Updated text and improved readability
• Several technical sections and references moved to Appendices
• Definitions added in an appendix
• Goals added for each policy topic area
• New policy section on Natural Environment
• New policy section on Public Services
• Identification of priority industry clusters for economic development in the county
• Greater emphasis on job-housing balance
• More emphasis on integrating transit into local plans
• More transportation-planning emphasis on people-moving capacity rather than vehicle-moving capacity
• Policies for initiating planning for light rail alignment north of Lynnwood to downtown Everett
• Policies for jointly planning expanded transit service throughout the county
• Policies for integrating surface transportation planning with air and waterborne transportation facilities
• Revision to policies on siting Essential Public Facilities
• Policies to reduce carbon emissions, mitigate impacts contributing to climate change, and adapt to effects of climate change

8. How do I get more information?

Comments may be sent to Ryan Countryman, project coordinator, Snohomish County Department of Planning and Development Services, or to local city planning departments.