2024 KCCP Major Update
Updated December 19, 2024
King County Comprehensive Plan
BACKGROUND
Comprehensive plans are the centerpiece of local planning efforts. A comprehensive plan articulates a series of goals, objectives, policies, actions, and standards that are intended to guide the day-to-day decisions of elected officials and local government staff. King County currently is conducting its a once-a-decade update to its Comprehensive Plan (KCCP). King County’s planning role is complex in that it is responsible for regional services throughout the county, as well as local government to unincorporated areas. Thus, King County’s Comprehensive Plan offers a vision for how unincorporated areas will grow and how regional services – such as transit, parks, and solid waste – will be provided.
The Area Council has partipated in development of KCCPs for several decades. More recently, the Area Council has coordinated a Joint Rural Team consisting of ten Rural Area Unincorporated Area Councils / Unincorporated Area Associations / Organizations to collectively work on all major planning efforts including the KCCP Updates.
2024 MAJOR UPDATE
Work on the Update commenced in January 2022 and concluded in December 2024. On December 10, 2024, the King County Council voted to approve the KCCP Update. The Joint Rural Team sought to ensure the Update included major principles such as keeping the Rural Area rural and maintaining rural character, as prescribed by the State’s Growth Management Act (GMA). A compilation of all the work the Joint Rural Team conducted on the Update, including all offcial submittals to the King County Executive’s Office and the King County Council, are described in reverse chronological order below:
On December 17, 2024, the Joint Rural Team prepared Scorecard of how major items were addressed in the final adopted version of the Update and a listing of all Submittals made to King County officials.
On December 5, 2024, the Joint Rural Team submitted Written Testimony accompanied by Preserving Rural Lands and Proposed Line Amendments to the King County Council on the Update.
On December 3, 2024, the Joint Rural Team provided Oral Testimony at the King County Council’s Public Hearing on the Update.
On November 19, 2024, the Joint Rural Team provided Oral Testimonies at the King County Council’s Public Hearing on the Update.
On September 24, 2024, the Joint Rural Team provided Oral Testimonies to the King County Council’s Committee of the Whole on the Update.
Throughout the summer and fall of 2024 Joint Rural Team members met with individual King County Councilmembers to discuss its proposed Line Amendments.
On May 14, 2024, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Council’s Local Services & Land-Use Committee (LS&L-U) Committee (the designated responsible entity for the Update) Proposed Line Amendments to the Committee’s “Striker”
On April 1, 2024, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Council’s Local Services & Land-Use Committee (LS&L-U) Committee Comments, Recommendations, & Implementation Paths
On March 29, 2024, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Council’s LS&L-U Committee CAO/BAS Comments
On February 6, 2024, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Council’s LS&L-U Committee Detailed Comments on the King County Executive’s Recommended Plan (ERP) for the Update that he submitted to the King County Council on December 7, 2023.
On January 30, 2024, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Update.
Starting January 17, 2024, the King County Council’s LS&L-U Committee commenced Public Briefings on the ERP. The Schedule includes nine daytime briefings (9:30 AM and hybrid) and five evening meetings at various sites throughout the County (on February 8, 6:30 PM, one was held at the City of Covington Council Chambers). Each Briefing is devoted to different parts of the Update (see the LS&L-U Committee’s Briefing Schedule). The Joint Team has provided Oral Testimonies at most of these Briefings.
On December 7, 2023, the King County Executive submitted his Recommended Plan (ERP) to the King County Council. Since that time the Joint Rural Team has reviewed the ERP’s Chapters, Appendices, Reports, etc. Draft Detailed Comments are in work.
On September 5, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC) Joint Team–SUPPLEMENT to Additional Comments on 4:1 Pgm Rev–KCCP 2024 Major Update
On September 1, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC) Joint Team–Additional Comments on 4:1 Pgm Rev–KCCP 2024 Major Update
On August 29, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Joint Team–Additional Comments on Public Review Draft–KCCP 2024 Major Update.
On July 14, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Joint Team–Comments on Public Review Draft–KCCP 2024 Major Update.
On June 6, 2023, a discussion was held with King County Comprehensive Plan Manager, Chris Jensen, to discuss the Joint Rural Team’s detailed Comments on Rural Area policies. Here is line-by-line Rebuttal from Chris Jensen.
On May 16, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC) Joint Team–Comments on 4:1 Pgm Rev–Member Amendments–KCCP 2024 Major Update.
On May 3, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC) Joint Team–Comments on 4:1 Pgm Rev–IJT Recommendations–KCCP 2024 Major Update and UGA Expansion Recommended Amendments to IJT.
On April 17, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to the King County GMPC 4:1 Program Change Recommendations.
On March 27, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Proposed Changes to Title 21A.08.030.
On March 10, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Requested Land-Use & Zoning Study.
On February 28, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Proposed Changes to Title 21A.30.085 & 21A.30.090.
On February 24, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Comments on the King County Executive’s Conceptual Proposals. This is a major milestone in the Update process ahead of the next majopr milestone–the expected release in June 2023 of the Update’s Public Review Draft (PRD).
On January 27, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County Proposed Changes to King County Code Title 21A32–Temporary-Use Permits (TUPs).
On January 17, 2023, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County the Joint Team–Response to Comments on 2024 KCCP Update EIS Scoping. The Response specifically details concerns with Comments provided on Schools by the King County Component of the Puget Sound School Coalition (PSSC-KCC) and on Mining by the Washington Aggregates & Concrete Association (WACA), as documented in the October 2022 Parametrix King County Comprehensive Plan Scoping Summary Report, which was developed in support of preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 2024 KCCP Major Update.
On September 3, 2022, the Joint Rural Team submitted to King County its first set of Proposed Changes to Rural Area and Natural Resource Lands Policies. These address: Rural Densities and Development, specifically, Nonresidential Uses; Rural Public Facilities & Services; and Rural Commercial Centers, specifically, Non-Resource Industrial Uses and Development Standards.
On July 14, 2022, the Joint Rural Team held a meeting with KCCP Manager, Chris Jensen, to discuss the process going forward:
- Ongoing Work — Executive Departments are working their respective areas, Chris is point of contact for us.
- Public Engagement — Will continue throughout the process (this meeting is an example)
- Informal Public Survey — 4th quarter 2022
- Public Engagement on “early concepts” — 1st quarter 2023
- Public Review Draft & DEIS — 3rd quarter 2023
- Executive Recommended Plan — End of 4th quarter 2023
Several Action Items resulted from this meeting and more have been added since. These are being worked by the Joint Team in order to be considered in the Public Review Draft to be released by the 3rd quarter 2023. The Joint Rural Team will provide input into these processes as they proceed. Also discussed at the meeting were key aspects of the Joint Rural Team’s SCOPING Comments submitted to the King County Council on June 3, 2022, to ensure they are understood and will be included as the Update proceeds.
On June 7, 2022, the King County Council approved the final SCOPE for the 2024 KCCP Major 8-Year Update. The next steps entail the King County Executive’s Office to develop a Public Review Draft (PRD) and prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
On June 3, 2022, the Joint Rural Team submitted Written Testimony to the King County Council on the SCOPE for the 2024 KCCP Major 8-Year Update–subject of its June 7, 2022, Public Hearing.
On April 22, 2022, the Joint Rural Team submitted Detailed Comments to the King County Council’s Local Services and Land-Use Committee on the King County Executive’s recommended SCOPE for the 2024 KCCP Major 8-Year Update to be discussed at its April 26 meeting.
In January 2022 King County called for Scoping Items to help inform its “Major 10-Year KCCP Update.” The GMVUAC, again, organized a Joint Rural Team that consisted of many of the King County Rural Area UACs/UAAs/Organizations (EPCA, FofSV, GRC, GV/LHA, HHA, SCAR, UBCUAC) to prepare and submit a set KCCP 2024 Major Update–Scoping Items.
For more information on the Schedule and the Process, please see: KCCP 2024 Major Update.