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Get the latest schedule information here!
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| Washington State requires all counties, cities, and towns planning under the Growth Management Act to conduct a periodic review and update of its comprehensive plan and development regulations to ensure consistency with state laws and the expected population and employment projects for the next 20 years. Skagit County must complete its current periodic update, referred to here as the 2025 Update, by June 30, 2025.
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What is a Comprehensive Plan?
The comprehensive plan is a set of overarching goals and vision statements to guide the physical growth and development in Skagit County while protecting natural resource lands, open space and rural areas, and creating Urban Growth Areas where development should be directed. The comprehensive plan also establishes the most appropriate uses of land in unincorporated Skagit County for the next twenty years.
Upcoming and Past Events
The above listed dates are the Planning Commission sessions where first draft policies will be presented to Planning Commission as a workshop item. A public comment period will be open for approximately a month after each draft is released for review. The Planning Commission meetings and the public comment periods will provide an opportunity for Planning Commissioners and the community to provide feedback to project staff for second draft revisions. This will be part of the first draft process and there will be a second draft review process that will include public hearings with the Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners. Please see project schedule for more information.
Further updates will be available as these meetings approach with the presentation materials and draft elements available prior to the Planning Commission meetings.
How to Comment
Option 1
Email comments are preferred and must be sent to pdscomments@co.skagit.wa.us with the proposal name (“Skagit County’s 2025 Comprehensive Plan Draft Policies) in the subject line. Include your comments in the body of your email message rather than as attachments.
Option 2:
Paper comments must be printed on 8½x11 paper and mailed or delivered to:
Planning and Development Services Comments on “Skagit County’s 2025 Comprehensive Plan Draft Policies”
1800 Continental Place
Mount Vernon WA 98273
All comments must be received by the deadline referenced above and include your full name and mailing address. Comments not meeting these requirements will not be considered.
Future Open House
Another open house will be provided in September in Mount Vernon that will be focused on Environment and Climate Change, Resiliency and Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction. The exact date and location are to be determined. More information will be provided soon.
Past Open Houses
- Thursday, June 20th at 5:30-7:00 PM, Anacortes Depot and Community Arts Center.
- Wednesday, June 26th at 5:30-7:00 PM, Sedro-Woolley Community Center.
- Thursday, June 27th at 5:30-7:00 PM, Concrete High School.
Missed our June open houses? View the posters we shared here.
Tabling Events Information
- Saturday June 29th, Sakuma Bros Farms, 17400 Cook Road, Burlington, 1:00-7:00 PM.
Past Tabling Events:
- Saturday June 15th, Berry Dairy Days, 520 E. Fairhaven Ave, Burlington near the Oak Street intersection, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM.
- Monday April 8th, Community Resources Fair for Eastern Skagit County, Concrete Community Center, 45821 Railroad Street, Concrete.
- Saturday April 13th, Family Palooza / Health Kids, YMCA, 1901 Hoag Road, Mount Vernon.
Updates and Documents
Related Meeting Transcripts
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Why do we need a Comprehensive Plan?
In 1990, the Washington State legislature enacted the Growth Management Act (GMA) in response to rapid and uncoordinated growth at the time. In addition to aligning state, multi-county, countywide, and local planning, the GMA requires local governments in fast-growing and densely populated areas to develop and adopt comprehensive plans. The comprehensive plan is a framework intended to guide the day-to-day decisions of elected official and local government staff. The comprehensive plan is also the basis for localized community plans such as the Guemes Island Subarea Plan and the Bayview Ridge Subarea Plan. Updates to a comprehensive plan require early and continuing public participation where communities, stakeholders, and interest groups can learn more, participate, and provide comments at key stages of the process.
The Skagit County Comprehensive Plan assigns land use and zoning designations for every parcel within the unincorporated area. Zoning establishes where a building can be located on a property, how tall a building can be, or how many homes are allowed based on the size of the property. You can determine the land use and zoning for a parcel by visiting the iMap webpage and use the interactive parcel search function.
Skagit County Code includes regulations adopted by Skagit County for what and how a parcel can be used or developed. These regulations required go through a legislative process for approval with the final decision rendered by the Skagit County Board of Commissioners. Many of these codified titles relate to growth and development requirements that implement the vision, goals, and policies of Skagit County Comprehensive Plan, Capital Facilities Plan, and the Skagit Countywide Planning Policies.
In addition to the Growth Management Act, the County must also abide by other state and federal laws to protect and guide growth in Skagit County:
What is included in a Comprehensive Plan?
The Skagit County Comprehensive Plan includes eleven elements:
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| Element |
Description |
| Land Use |
Outlines a broad vision for development in urban and rural areas, including guidelines for density and determining where various uses, such as residential, commercial, and industrial, will be allowed. |
| Rural |
Establishes broad goals and policies guiding residential, commercial, and industrial uses in unincorporated Skagit County consistent with the GMA’s allowance of development in the rural area, including “limited areas of more intensive rural development (LAMIRD).” |
| Natural Resource Lands |
Establishes a framework to protect the natural environment. |
| Environment |
Provides the policy basis for the protection and regulation of critical areas as requirement by the GMA. |
| Shoreline Master Program |
The SMis a combined planning and regulatory document that contains policies, goals, and specific land-use regulations for shorelines. |
| Housing |
Sets the goals and policies for the preservation, development, and renovation of housing for current and future county residents of all income levels. |
| Transportation |
Sets a plan for transportation facilities and services, including for freight, public transit, vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians, to support the needs of current residents and project population in 2045. |
| Utilities |
Describes locations, capacities, and need for utilities, including private natural gas, telecommunications, electric utilities, public solid waste, sewer, water, and surface water utilities. |
| Capital Facilities |
Provides long-term plans for public facilities in Skagit County, both those provided by the County and non-County services providers. On an annual basis and as part of the budget, the County’s Capital Facilities Plan and Transportation Improvement Plan are reviewed for the 6-year funding plan for capital projects and programs. |
| Economic Development |
Economic development is the combination of jobs, services, facilities, urban design, and other features that contribute to the ability to make a living wage, and the desire to want to live and work in Skagit County. The Economic Development element compiles strategies to further the economy in Skagit County. |
| Implementation |
Describes how the County will implement goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan. |
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What areas of Skagit County will be affected by the update?
The unincorporated areas of Skagit County and regional services, such as transit, sewers, parks, and trails, will be affected by the 2025 Update. Individual cities and townships have also developed and updated their own comprehensive plans for incorporated municipalities.
The following areas have been identified through recent state legislation for counties to focus on:
- Housing options and affordability
- Accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Climate mitigation and resilience
- Public health and safety
Who is responsible for developing and approving the Comprehensive Plan?
Skagit County staff in multiple departments, including Planning & Development Services, Public Health, and Public Works, will develop the updates to the Comprehensive Plan in conjunction with the Planning Commission. Staff will work in coordination with regional and local jurisdictional partners and the public. Public input is welcome throughout the process and there will be many opportunities to submit comments and make requests.
After developing an updated Comprehensive Plan draft with input by the public and stakeholders, staff will present the new language to the Planning Commission for review and additional public input. The Planning Commission will recommend a draft to the Board of County Commissioners who will ultimately decide on the final plan.
What is a LAMIRD?
A LAMIRD refers to a “limited area of more intensive rural development.” LAMIRDS are zoning designations which allow greater development than is generally allowed in the rural area, provided that certain limitations are maintained to retain rural character and prevent sprawl. One category of LAMIRD recognizes areas that were already for the most part developed in 1990, when the Growth Management Act was adopted. These existing residential, commercial, or industrial areas primarily allow infill development, and must be contained within logical outer boundaries to prevent sprawl. Two other types of commercial LAMIRDs – small scale recreation and tourism uses, and isolated small scale businesses – may allow new development provided that development is contained and consistent with the surrounding rural character.
The residential land use designations in the Rural Area which are considered LAMIRDs are:
- Rural Intermediate
- Rural Village Residential
The rural commercial and industrial land use designations in the Rural Area which are considered LAMIRDs are:
- Rural Village Commercial (RVC)
- Rural Center (RC)
- Rural Freeway Service (RFS)
- Small Scale Recreation and Tourism (SRT)
- Small Scale Business (SSB)
- Rural Business (RB)
- Natural Resource Industrial (NRI)
- Rural Marine Industrial (RMI)
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The Washington State legislature has passed several bills which pertain to the periodic Comprehensive Plan update process for cities and counties planning under the GMA. Staff will review legislation to ensure the Comprehensive Plan is consistent with the new mandates. These bills are:
- SB 5275 allows more options for development and redevelopment inside the boundaries of Limited Areas of More Intense Rural Development (LAMIRDs).
- SB 5042 provides for effective dates of actions that expand an urban growth area; removes the designation of agricultural, forest, or mineral resource lands; creates or expands a LAMIRD; or creates or expands a master-planned resort.
- HB 1220 – amended the GMA to instruct local governments to “plan and accommodate” for housing affordable to all income levels.
- HB 1241 – changes the update cycle for comprehensive plans from every eight years to every ten years, with a progress report due every five years.
- HB 1717 – requires that local governments collaborate and coordinate with federally recognized tribes for participation in the planning process under the GMA, that tribes shall be invited to collaborate with cities in preparation of container port elements for lands located adjacent to tribal reservations, and makes provisions for coordinating planning for urban growth by tribes and local governments.
- SB 5593 – requires that each county that designates Urban Growth Areas under RCW 36.70A.110 review patterns of development occurring within the UGA. If, during this review, the county determines patterns of development have created pressure in areas that exceed available, developable lands within the UGA, the UGA may be revised to accommodate identified patterns of development and likely future development pressure for the succeeding 20-year period if certain requirements are met.
- HB 1181 – adds a new element to the GMA related to climate change and resiliency and requires eligible counties and cities to revise their comprehensive plans to include a climate change and resiliency strategy.
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