MRSC Insight Blog

Posts for Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

A montage of port, truck and public transit

January 30, 2023 by Oskar Rey
Category: Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management , Court Decisions and AGO Opinions

What is an essential public facility under the Growth Management Act? An airport? A transit system? A homeless shelter? What facilities can be defined as essential for the public is at the heart of a recent Washington Court of Appeals case.

Equitable Community Engagement in Comprehensive Plan Updates

September 21, 2022 by Rosie Cullen
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management , Inclusive Communities

Many local governments are updating their comprehensive plans, and in doing so, some are looking at how to develop intentional strategies that actively engage underrepresented communities in order to build a more equitable plan update in the process.

2022 Growth Management Act-Related Bills

June 30, 2022 by Lisa Pool
Category: Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management , Environmental Policy and Management , Housing , Rural Uses , New Legislation and Regulations

New legislation related to the Growth Management Act (GMA) will expand tribal participation, limit appeals for actions to increase housing supply, change periodic update timelines, provide additional options for limited areas of more intense rural development (LAMIRDs), and more.

Capital Facilities Planning: If There’s No Math, You’re Not Doing It Right

February 10, 2022 by Ryan Walters
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Guest author Ryan Walters suggests that capital facilities planning is as much about building new facilities as it is about accounting for the substantial expense of maintaining that infrastructure in the future.

State Seeks Input on Its Vehicle Miles Traveled Reduction Strategy

January 27, 2022 by Celeste Gilman
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management , Climate Change

The State of Washington is seeking input from local governments across the state as it works to establish reduction targets for local vehicle miles traveled and other proposed programs in order to meet key climate action targets.

What Is a 15-Minute City? (And Why You Should Care)

October 25, 2021 by Steve Butler
Category: Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management , Cycling and Walking

What types of amenities and services can you get to within 15 minutes of leaving your front door? The 15-Minute City concept encourages the development of walkable neighborhoods where a variety of services are within easy reach.

The Importance of Population Forecasts for your Comprehensive Plan

January 26, 2016 by William Simpson
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Selecting a population forecast is a critical step for communities beginning the review and update of their comprehensive plan. This post provides some answers to common questions for those beginning the update process.

What’s Next for Planning in Washington?

November 6, 2015 by Jill Sterrett
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

2015 marked the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Growth Management Act. So let's look ahead to see what's next. What are the emerging issues that urban planning can address?

GMA at 25: Looking Back, Looking Forward

December 12, 2014 by Joseph W. Tovar
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

The year 2015 will be the 25th anniversary of the adoption of Washington State's Growth Management Act (GMA). GMA may be the most important and least understood of state laws from the perspective of today's state, county and city elected officials. Few of them were in office in the 1980's, and therefore understandably lack first-hand knowledge of the serious problems that prompted the 1990 legislature to pass the Act. A 2013 survey of city elected officials revealed that almost none of them had ever received training on the what, why, and how of land use policy-making, much less the GMA.

From Vision to Reality: Implementing your Comprehensive Plan

October 31, 2013 by Joseph W. Tovar
Category: Guest Author , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Cities and counties planning under the Growth Management Act (GMA) are required to periodically update both their comprehensive plans and development regulations (codes). King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, and their 77 cities, are required to update their plans and codes by June of 2015, while other local governments in the state ...

Third Promise of GMA Revisited: the New Urban Growth Area Guidebook

August 1, 2013 by Pat Dugan
Category: Planning Advisor , Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Too often, GMA Capital Facility Plans have been prepared as an afterthought, rather than as an integral part of the planning process. A particularly critical weakness of many Capital Facility Plans (CFP) has been the failure to demonstrate that designated Urban Growth Areas...

It Takes a Community (and Some Smart Investing) to Create the Shining City on a Hill

January 16, 2013 by Sue Enger
Category: Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

To become that shining city (or county) on a hill, or to make that "Best-Places-to-Live" list, communities must successfully implement a vision. This...

Infill Development in My Back Yard? Strategies for Winning Infill Development Support

June 26, 2012 by Sue Enger
Category: Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management

Infill development, by definition, brings change that nearby residents may view with suspicion. But a number of communities have developed exemplary programs to win support for infill development that respects neighborhood character and adds to the community.

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