Planning and Development Services

Guemes Island Sub-Area Plan

The Board of County Commissioners adopted the Guemes Island Sub-Area into the Skagit County Comprehensive Plan by ordinance O20110001 on January 18, 2011. The Guemes Island Planning Advisory Committee (GIPAC) initially prepared the Guemes Island Subarea Plan. Staff from the County Planning, Public Works, and Health departments reviewed and suggested revisions to the original GIPAC draft plan, which was then reviewed and recommended by the Planning Commission.

The Subarea Plan includes seven elements, including land use, natural resource conservation, environmental protection, shorelines, transportation (including the Guemes Island Ferry) and plan implementation. The Plan includes several new policies (not yet implemented by development regulations) aimed at mitigating the impacts of growth on the island's rural character and groundwater resources, including:

• Prohibition of density bonuses in CaRDs (cluster subdivisions)
  
• Enhanced site assessment requirements for new homes
  
• Prohibition of accessory dwelling units (ADU's) if the water source exceeds certain standards for chlorides.
  
• Adopt an annual building cap that would allow no more than 20 total new homes to be built on the island per year
  
• Adopt minimum standards for private reverse osmosis systems
  
• Enhancement and continued enforcement of the Guemes Island Seawater Intrusion Policy regarding management of new wells
  

Download the complete plan (PDF) as adopted in January 2011. Appendices are available as separate files:

• Appendix A. Written Survey Results
• Appendix B. Rapid Shoreline Inventory Report
• Appendix C. Resolution 20040393; recognizing the Ferry Committee and establishing the Ferry Roundtable
• Appendix D. Crossing Over Report
• Appendix E. Resolution 20030074; Guemes Island Ferry Schedule and Fare Task Force
• Appendix F. 2004 Fare and Schedule Proposed Package
• Appendix G. Resolution 20040051; Approval Task Force Recommendations
• Appendix H. Plan Policy Recommendations by Lead Entity
• Appendix I. Shoreline Master Program Element. Draft November, 2005

Original proposal documents:

• Draft Guemes Island Subarea Plan as submitted by GIPAC (July 31, 2007)
• Notice of Availability (July 20, 2010)
• SEPA DNS (July 20, 2010)
• SEPA Checklist (July 19, 2010)