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Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs)

News

December 2024: The King County Council adopted Ordinance 19871, amending the urban growth area and associated maps in the countywide planning policies (GMPC Motion 24-1) as well as amending the countywide center planning expectation in the countywide planning policies (GMPC Motion 24-2).

November 30, 2023: After a year and half of review and discussion, the Affordable Housing Committee’s recommended amendments to the Countywide Planning Policies were ratified by the jurisdictions in King County. These are now included in the “Current CPPs” file that is linked from the Resources sidebar.

September 27, 2023: The GMPC approved Motion 23-4, recommending a suite of proposed amendments to the UGA policies and Four-to-One program for transmittal to the King County Council.

August 15, 2023: The King County Council unanimously adopted the Housing-related Countywide Planning Policy amendments recommended by the Growth Management Planning Council in GMPC Motion 23-1. The amendments will be sent to the jurisdictions in King County for the 90-day ratification process.

May 11, 2023: The County Executive transmitted Growth Management Planning Council Motion 23-1, Recommending Amendments to the Housing Countywide Planning Policies.

March 31, 2023: The 2021 Countywide Planning Policy amendments to establish housing unit and employment growth targets for the City of Sammamish (Ordinance 19553) were ratified, consistent with the procedures established in the CPPs.

April 6, 2022: Culminating a two-year process, the 2021 Countywide Planning Policies (adopted by Ordinance 19384) and the 2021 Urban Growth Area Capacity Report (adopted by Ordinance 19369) were ratified by the cities and towns in King County. The Countywide Planning Policies create a shared and consistent framework for growth management planning for all jurisdictions in King County. The Urban Growth Capacity report provides a periodic assessment of development capacity for future housing and employment; this work supports the adoption of the growth targets that serve as the land use assumption in local comprehensive plans.

 

Background and Purpose

The CPPs create a shared framework for growth management planning for all jurisdictions in King County. The CPPs are overseen by the Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC), a body that which brings together elected officials from King County and the cities. The GMPC develops and recommends the CPPs to the King County Council. Following County Council adoption, the CPPs are sent to all cities and towns in King County for review and ratification.

The CPPs implement the Washington State Growth Management Act and the VISON 2050 Multicounty Planning Policies, adopted by the Puget Sound Regional Council in 2020. The comprehensive plan for King County and city and town comprehensive plans are developed within the CPP framework.

2021 CPP Update

A major update of the Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs) occurred in 2021 (overview presentation). The 2021 update was conducted in advance of the 2024 periodic update of comprehensive plans in order to reflect changes to the regional policy framework in VISION 2050 and to reflect new priorities addressing equity and social justice within the communities in King County. Some of the milestone dates and resources are noted below.

History of the CPPs since 2012

Prior to the 2021 update, the last major update of the CPPs was in 2012. The 2012 update was instigated in part due the passage of VISION 2040 in 2018. The following table shows CPP documents, as well as other GMPC motions, starting at the time of adoption of the 2012 Countywide Planning Policy (CPP) Update. 2012-related materials are shown in green. 2021-related documents are shown in blue.

 

GMPC Motion Number

GMPC Approval

Type

Description

County Council Ordinance

County Council Adoption

Ratification

2012 CPP Amendments and GMPC Motions

11-1

9/21/11

Full CPP update

Adopting the 2012 King County Countywide Planning Policies

17486

12/3/2012

Completed

11-2

9/21/11

Process

Approving a work plan to create a School Siting Task Force

n/a

n/a

n/a

12-1

12-2

12-3

12-4

4/4/12

6/6/12

6/6/12

6/6//12

Map and policy amendments

Adopting multiple map and policy amendments to recently adopted CPPs

17486

12/3/2012

Completed

12-5

9/11/12

Map amendment

Adopting multiple UGA map amendments as part of 2012 KC Comprehensive Plan

17487

10/29/2012

Completed

13-1

9/25/13

Map amendment

Adopting amendments to the Urban Growth Boundary map to add the Central Issaquah Urban Core as an Urban Center

17783

3/31/2014

7/11/14

14-1

5/21/14

Map amendment

Adopting amendments to the PAA map to transfer the Klahanie PAA from Issaquah to Sammamish

 

 

 

14-2

5/21/14

Policy amendment

Adopting amendments to DP-17 clarify UGA expansion policies using the Four-to-One Program

17861

8/18/2014

12/8/14

14-3

5/21/14

Map amendment

Adopting amendments to the Land Use Map to add Rainier Ridge as a Four-to-One action

 

 

 

14-4

7/23/14

Report

Approving the 2014 Buildable Lands Report

17951

12/15/2014

4/3/15

14-5

7/23/14

Policy amendment

Adopting amendments to EN-17 and add EN-18A to establish greenhouse gas reduction targets and to establish a monitoring program

17952

12/15/2014

4/3/15

15-1

4/22/15

Policy amendment

Adopting PF-19A, outlining a process for jurisdictions working together to identify future school sites with the Urban Growth Area

18084

7/20/2015

10/31/15

 

15-2

11/6/15

Policy amendment

Adopting amendments to H-8 to add a provision that jurisdictions may consider a full range of housing programs from optional to mandatory

18256

3/14/2016

6/25/16

 

16-1

9/28/16

Map amendment

Adopting amendments to the Urban Growth Area map and Potential Annexation Area map for multiple UGA changes

18454

2/13/2017

6/4/17

18-1

5/30/18

Process

Approving a list of actions jurisdictions can take to facilitate the development and renovation of public schools within the Urban Growth Area

18991

10/9/2019

1/23/20

19-1

9/25/19

Map amendment

Adopting amendments to the Urban Growth Boundary map to add the Greater Downtown Kirkland Urban Center as an Urban Center

19007

11/13/2019

3/4/20

20-1

6/24/20

Map amendment

Adopting amendments to Urban Growth Area Boundary and Potential Annexation Area Map Amendments for multiple UGA changes

19233

2/9/2021

5/20/21

20-2

6/24/20

Process

Adopting the review of the Countywide Components of the Four-to-One Program in the 2021 CPP Update

n/a

n/a

n/a

2021 CPP Amendments and GMPC Motions

21-1

6/23/21

Full CPP Update

Adopting the 2021 Countywide Planning Policies

19384

12/14/21

4/6/22

21-2

6/23/21

Report

Approving the 2021 Urban Growth Capacity Study

19369

12/14/21

4/6/22

21-3

12/1/21

Process

Approving a list of Candidate Countywide Centers

n/a

n/a

n/a

21-4

12/1/21

Process

Approving a process to update City of Sammamish Growth Targets

n/a

n/a

n/a

22-1

7/27/22

Policy amendment

Adopting updated City of Sammamish Growth Targets

19533

12/22/22

3/31/23

23-1

3/22/23

Policy amendment

Adopting affordable housing policy changes based on GMPC’s Affordable Housing Committee Recommendations to address GMPC Motion 21-1

19660

8/15/23

11/30/23

23-2

3/22/23

Process

Approving a CPP Housing Chapter accountability framework and housing-focused comprehensive plan review standards

19660

8/15/23

11/30/23

23-4

9/27/23

Policy amendment

Adopting amendments related to Urban Growth Area Expansions Policies and Four-to-One Program

In process

In process

In process

In addition to the materials listed in the table, materials for the GMPC can be found in the GMPC Meetings Archive.

 

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