Putting the Comprehensive Plan in Context

The Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan (Plan) is shaped by a combination of state, regional, county, and local contexts. State laws require the City to adopt a comprehensive plan and create the framework within which the Plan must fit. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) coordinates planning throughout the central Puget Sound region. King County coordinates planning among cities in the County, ensuring plans are consistent throughout the area. The City of Mercer Island has a long history of planning at the local level; a legacy that shapes the Plan to this day. The state, regional, county, and local contexts influence the Plan in different ways.

Statewide Planning Context

The Washington State Legislature adopted the Growth Management Act (GMA) in 1990. The GMA establishes a requirement that counties and cities adopt comprehensive plans to manage growth. The GMA also includes a timeline for counties and cities to periodically review their comprehensive plans (RCW 36.70A.130). During periodic review, counties and cities must extend the twenty-year planning period in their comprehensive plans. Other GMA requirements establish a statewide framework for counties and cities to plan for managing growth. Some of the key GMA requirements are:

  • Consistency with the 14 coequal planning goals established in RCW 36.70A.020 and 36.70A.480(1);
  • Comprehensive plans must include land use, housing, utilities, capital facilities, transportation, economic development, and parks and recreation elements (RCW 36.70A.070);
  • Plans must designate natural resource lands and critical areas, rural lands, and urban growth areas (UGAs);
  • Cities and counties must provide sufficient development capacity to accommodate the projected growth (RCW 36.70A.115);
  • Comprehensive Plans must include provisions to ensure that public facilities and infrastructure keep pace with the projected growth;
  • Comprehensive plans must be internally consistent, avoiding goals and policies that work at cross-purposes; and
  • Comprehensive plans must be externally consistent so that growth assumptions and targets are coordinated between neighboring jurisdictions.

Regional Planning Context

The PSRC is a regional policy body that develops policies and coordinates decisions about regional growth within King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap Counties. The PSRC allocates growth throughout the region through its multicounty planning policies. The multicounty planning policies regarding growth for the next periodic review are established in a regional plan called Vision 2050. The multicounty planning policies in Vision 2050 are one of the principal ways PSRC coordinates planning at the regional level.

Countywide Planning Context

King County coordinates planning throughout the County through Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs). The CPPs establish housing and employment growth targets for the cities within King County. The King County Council updated the CPPs on December 14, 2021, with Ordinance 19384. The updated CPPs established the following growth targets for Mercer Island: 1,239 additional housing units and 1,300 additional jobs by 2044. The 2044 housing growth target did not change from the previous 2035 target. The 2044 employment growth target increased by 140 jobs over the 2035 employment growth target.

In addition to setting growth targets, King County assesses the amount of development capacity for UGAs within its boundaries. The 2044 development capacity for King County UGAs is provided in the 2021 King County Urban Growth Capacity Report (UGC Report), dated June 21, 2021. The UGC Report details how much development is possible in UGAs given current zoning, achieved densities and intensities, existing development, planned development, and environmental constraints. This report is crucial to help King County and its cities understand how much development is possible through the planning period. The CPPs and UGC Report are two important ways King County coordinates assumptions about growth among the cities within its boundaries.

Local Context

The City of Mercer Island has a long history of planning. The City's first comprehensive plan was adopted shortly after the City incorporated in 1960 (Ordinance 14). The City of Mercer Island adopted its first GMA compliant Comprehensive Plan 34 years later in 1994 (Ordinance A-122). The City’s Comprehensive Plan has been amended several times since 1994. The last periodic review of the Plan was completed in 2015. The existing Comprehensive Plan planning period is 2015 to 2035. The next mandated periodic review of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan must be adopted by June 30, 2024 (RCW 36.70A.130). This periodic review will extend the planning period for the Comprehensive Plan through the year 2044. Because the 2044 housing growth target has not changed and the 2044 employment growth target only increased by 140 jobs since the last periodic review, the Plan update is generally expected to require only minor changes to maintain compliance with GMA.

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