Last Friday, our club had a truly unique individual with 43 years experience in Snohomish County Government. Barbara Mock, Director, Snohomish County Planning and Development Services (PDS) spoke to our Club ZOOM meeting. Barbara is an amazing person and the presentation was utterly outstanding. The speaking engagement on the county's Planning Framework started with the presentation agenda which included overview of the Growth Management Act, Regional Planning/Multi-County Planning policies, Countywide Planning policies, Snohomish County Comprehensive Plan, Developmemt Regulations/other Implementing Actions and Thinking About the Future.
The Growth Management Act sets the framework for planning throughout Washington. There are 14 goals within the Statewide Planning framework with one of the goals being the prevention of uncoordinated development as well as managing threats to the quality of life. The Act requires local planning guidelines by state law and is regionally enforced.
The 14 goals include urban development, reduce sprawl, transportation, housing, economic development, property rights, permits, natural resource industries, open space and recreation, the environment, citizen participation, public and facilities services, historic preservation and shoreline management. These goals are not listed in order of priority. A graph and map of the growth in 1940, 1960 and 2010 was shown and from there the basic components of the planning process was unveiled. Vision 2050 is a regional planning goal for the four county region involving King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish Counties which comprise the Puget Sound Regional Council. By 2050, the plan envisions 1.8 million more people in region. About 75% of the Growth will occur in the high capacity transit areas.
Another important component is the Snohomish County Tomorrow (SCT) which is a cooperative and collaborative public inter-jurisdictional forum with representatives from the County, Cities, Towns and the Tulalip Tribes. They have six committees that meet monthly. The most important benefits of this concept is the sharing of resources, speaking with one voice and legislative advocacy in Olympia. More details of the process were outlined by Barbara who gave an outstanding accounting of the entire process. Barbara would like to return to discuss housing needs for the future and the potential growth areas for housing developments. Truly an exceptional person. Thanks Barbara for sharing this presentation with our Club. Hopefully, when you return, we can provide breakfast.