Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review

In July 2023, the City Council approved a supplemental scope of work for the 2024 Comprehensive Plan periodic update. This supplemental scope is responsive to House Bill 1220, enacted in 2021 and the subsequent implementation guidance provided by the Washington State Department of Commerce in 2023. Following the Commerce Guidance, City staff have prepared:

(1) a Supplemental Land Capacity Analysis (LCA) to determine additional capacity needed accommodate the City’s allocation of affordable housing need; and

(2) a Racially Disparate Impacts (RDI) Evaluation, including an analysis of demographic data and a review of all current (2016) Comprehensive Plan goals and policies related to housing.

These two reports will be presented to the City Council as AB 6385 at the January 2, 2024 meeting. Similar to the Economic Development Report and Housing Needs Assessment presented to City Council in September 2022, formal action is not required on the reports themselves. However, staff is planning to return to City Council at the January 16, 2024 meeting to request direction on how to resolve the 143 residential unit capacity gap identified in the LCA to meet the City’s affordable housing need allocations. Once direction is received from City Council, the Housing Work Group will be reconvened in late January to begin work on the new Housing Element.

On October 25, 2023, the Planning Commission completed their initial review of the Economic Development Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The resulting draft is now available for public review. Proposed amendments to the Economic Development Element are shown in strikeout/underline format. Text that is proposed to be deleted is struck out and new text is underlined. An example is provided below.

Original Text: The Economic Development Element is one piece of the Comprehensive Plan.

Strikeout/Underline: The Economic Development Element is one piece the fifth element of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan.

Clean Amended Text: The Economic Development Element is the fifth element of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan.

The public review draft of the Utilities Element is available here.

Members of the public may submit written comments or questions on the Economic Development Element to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov.

Please note that the Planning Commission will have several additional rounds of review of the element later in the update process, as outlined under the next steps below.

1. There might be additional changes to the Economic Development Element for the Planning Commission to consider during the Comprehensive Plan update. These additional changes would be related to ensuring consistency with the other elements of the Comprehensive Plan. Discussion of these possible amendments will take place when the Planning Commission takes up these topics later during the update process.
2. Spring 2024 – A Community Open House will be held to gather public input on the overall comprehensive plan update. Following the Open House, the Planning Commission will have the opportunity for another “touch” on the Economic Development Element during a comprehensive plan update “tune up” meeting.
3. Early Summer 2024 - After the “tune up” meeting, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the overall comprehensive plan update. This will include a review of the Economic Development Element before making a recommendation to the City Council.

The first draft of the Economic Development Element of the Comprehensive Plan is now available for comment. A June 28 staff memo, which includes the first draft can be found here. The staff memo includes information on how the first draft was prepared and where to find additional information.

If you have comments on the first draft, please submit them to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov by July 19, 2023. The Planning Commission will review the draft and comments at their meeting scheduled for July 26, 2023.

The Planning Commission was briefed on the first draft of the element at their meeting on June 28, 2023. There will be several steps to the Planning Commission review, as outlined in the table below.

On January 25, 2023, the Planning Commission completed their initial review of the Utilities Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The resulting draft is now available for public review. Proposed amendments to the Utilities Element at shown in strikeout/underline format. Text that is proposed to be deleted is struck out and new text is underlined. An example is provided below.

Original Text: The Utilities Element is one piece of the Comprehensive Plan.

Strikeout/Underline: The Utilities Element is one piece the fifth element of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan.

Clean Amended Text: The Utilities Element is the fifth element of the Mercer island Comprehensive Plan.

Elsewhere in the draft Utilities Element there are places where additional edits are expected when either new data are available, or another planning document is finished. These are noted in the attached draft with bold text and green highlighting. The note text will be deleted before the final draft.

The public review draft of the Utilities Element is available at the following link: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/14217/widgets/44620/documents/39111

Members of the public may submit written comments or questions on the Utilities Element to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov.

Please note that the Planning Commission will have several additional rounds of review of the element later in the update process, as outlined under the next steps below.

1. There might be additional changes to the Utilities Element for the Planning Commission to consider during the Comprehensive Plan update. These additional changes would be in response to the Climate Action Plan and other planning efforts. Discussion of these possible amendments will take place when the Planning Commission takes up these topics later during the update process.

1. Summer 2023 – A Community Open House will be held to gather public input on the overall comprehensive plan update. Following the Open House, the Planning Commission will have the opportunity for another “touch” on the Utilities Element during a comprehensive plan update “tune up” meeting.
2. Fall 2023 - After the “tune up” meeting, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the overall comprehensive plan update. This will include a review of the Utilities Element before making a recommendation to the City Council.

On January 25, 2023, the Planning Commission completed their initial review of the Capital Facilities Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The resulting draft is now available for public review. Proposed amendments to the Capital Facilities Element at shown in strikeout/underline format. Text that is proposed to be deleted is struck out and new text is underlined. An example is provided below.

Original Text: The Capital Facilities Element is one piece of the Comprehensive Plan.

Strikeout/Underline: The Capital Facilities Element is one piece the sixth element of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan.

Clean Amended Text: The Capital Facilities Element is the sixth element of the Mercer island Comprehensive Plan.

Elsewhere in the draft Capital Facilities Element there are places where additional edits are expected when either new data are available, or another planning document is finished. These are noted in the attached draft with bold text and green highlighting. The note text will be deleted before the final draft.

The public review draft of the Capital Facilities Element is available at the following link: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/14217/widgets/44620/documents/39112

Members of the public may submit written comments or questions on the Capital Facilities Element to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov.

Please note that the Planning Commission will have several additional rounds of review of the element later in the update process, as outlined under the next steps below.

1. There might be additional changes to the Capital Facilities Element for the Planning Commission to consider during the Comprehensive Plan update. These additional changes would be in response to the Climate Action Plan and other planning efforts. Discussion of these possible amendments will take place when the Planning Commission takes up these topics later during the update process.

1. Summer 2023 – A Community Open House will be held to gather public input on the overall comprehensive plan update. Following the Open House, the Planning Commission will have the opportunity for another “touch” on the Capital Facilities Element during a comprehensive plan update “tune up” meeting.
2. Fall 2023 - After the “tune up” meeting, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the overall comprehensive plan update. This will include a review of the Capital Facilities Element before making a recommendation to the City Council.

On November 8, 2022, the Planning Commission completed their initial review of the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The resulting draft is now available for public review. Proposed amendments to the Transportation Element at shown in strikeout/underline format. Text that is proposed to be deleted is struck out and new text is underlined. An example is provided below.

Original Text: The Transportation Element is one piece of the Comprehensive Plan.

Strikeout/Underline: The Transportation Element is one piece the second element of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan.

Clean Amended Text: The Transportation Element is the second element of the Mercer island Comprehensive Plan.

Elsewhere in the draft Transportation Element there are places where additional edits are expected when either new data are available, or another planning document is finished. These are noted in the attached draft with bold text and green highlighting. The note text will be deleted before the final draft.

The public review draft of the Transportation Element is available at the following link: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/14217/widgets/44620/documents/37320

Members of the public may submit written comments or questions on the Transportation Element to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov.

Please note that the Planning Commission will have several additional rounds of review of the element later in the update process, as outlined under the next steps below.

1. There might be additional changes to the Transportation Element for the Planning Commission to consider during the Comprehensive Plan update. These additional changes would be in response to the Climate Action Plan and other planning efforts. Discussion of these possible amendments will take place when the Planning Commission takes up these topics later during the update process.

1. Summer 2023 – A Community Open House will be held to gather public input on the overall comprehensive plan update. Following the Open House, the Planning Commission will have the opportunity for another “touch” on the Transportation Element during a comprehensive plan update “tune up” meeting.
2. Fall 2023 - After the “tune up” meeting, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the overall comprehensive plan update. This will include a review of the Transportation Element before making a recommendation to the City Council.

On November 8, 2022, the Planning Commission completed their initial review of the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan. The resulting draft is now available for public review. Proposed amendments to the Land Use Element at shown in strikeout/underline format. Text that is proposed to be deleted is struck out and new text is underlined. An example is provided below.

Original Text: The Land Use Element is one piece of the Comprehensive Plan.

Strikeout/Underline: The Land Use Element is one piece the second element of the Mercer Island Comprehensive Plan.

Clean Amended Text: The Land Use Element is the second element of the Mercer island Comprehensive Plan.

Elsewhere in the draft Land Use Element there are places where additional edits are expected when either new data are available, or another planning document is finished. These are noted in the attached draft with bold text and green highlighting. The note text will be deleted before the final draft.

The public review draft of the Land Use Element is available at the following link: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/14217/widgets/44620/documents/37275

Members of the public may submit written comments or questions on the Land Use Element to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov.

Please note that the Planning Commission will have several additional rounds of review of the element later in the update process, as outlined under the next steps below.

1. There might be additional changes to the Land Use Element for the Planning Commission to consider during the comprehensive plan update. These additional changes would be in response to the Climate Action Plan, the updated Housing Element, and the new Economic Development Element. Discussion of these possible amendments will take place when the Planning Commission takes up these topics later during the update process.
2. Summer 2023 – A Community Open House will be held to gather public input on the overall comprehensive plan update. Following the Open House, the Planning Commission will have the opportunity for another “touch” on the Land Use Element during a comprehensive plan update “tune up” meeting.
3. Fall 2023 - After the “tune up” meeting, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the overall comprehensive plan update. This will include a review of the Land Use Element before making a recommendation to the City Council.

In a study session on September 6, 2022, consultant Community Attributes presented the findings of the Housing Needs Assessment and the Economic Analysis to the members of the City Council and Planning Commission. These technical analyses will inform the development of the new Economic Development Element and a substantial update to the Housing Element in the coming months.

The economic development survey was available from July 1 through August 5. The survey collected input from over 600 people! A report summarizing the responses will be prepared later this month and provided to the Planning Commission and City Council this fall. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide this valuable feedback to the City as we continue to work on drafting an economic development element for the Comprehensive Plan. Check this page for more information as the Comprehensive Plan periodic review continues through the process.

On June 30, 2022, the City held an online Economic Development Workshop. The workshop included a staff presentation on the Comprehensive Plan update and Economic Development Element. Participants were asked to provide feedback through polling questions during the presentation. Click here for a PDF of the Slideshow.

If you were unable to attend the workshop you can still provide your input through an online survey available July 1 - 31. The online survey covers the same questions that the poll asked during the workshop, with a few more questions to allow for more detailed feedback.

There will be additional opportunities to participate in the Comprehensive Plan update. You can submit written comments to comp.plan@mercerisland.gov throughout the Comprehensive Plan update. The City will also hold two more community workshops later in the Comprehensive Plan update. Before making a recommendation to the City Council, the Planning Commission will hold public hearings as well.

Please contact Adam Zack, Senior Planner, if you have questions about the Comprehensive Plan update. Adam.zack@mercerisland.gov 206-275-7719.