Prompted by residents' concerns about sprawl, King County adopted its first comprehensive land use plan in 1964 and, in 1985, established an urban growth area to focus growth and investments. The 1985 plan also established policies to preserve the rural area, conserve the natural environment and designate resource lands for long-term agriculture and forest production.

These strategies continue to guide the comprehensive plan, which now responds to requirements in the Growth Management Act (GMA). The Plan has been updated multiple times since to address issues such as climate change, social equity and public health, as well as expectations in countywide and multicounty policies.

What the plan does

Counties play multiple roles – they are a local government in unincorporated urban, rural and natural resource areas as well as a regional service provider for the entire county geography. In this context, the Comprehensive Plan guides local land use decisions such as subdivision, permitting and zoning, and land use designation. It also guides the provision of regional services such as transit, parks, solid waste and the establishment of the urban growth area boundary.

The GMA encourages annexation and incorporation so that, long-term, cities provide urban services and counties provide rural and regional services. For regional services, the Plan seeks efficiencies by concentrating investments and services to support focusing growth in and near cities where local services are located or can more efficiently be made available.

Guiding principles in the 2016 Plan

The current Plan, which was updated July 2020, focuses on creating a sustainable King County and contains text, maps and policies that are organized around the following major themes:

· Creating Sustainable Neighborhoods

· Preserving and Maintaining Open Space and Natural Resource Lands

· Directing Development Towards Existing Communities

· Providing a Variety of Transportation Choices

· Addressing Health, Equity, and Social and Environmental Justice

· Achieving Environmental Sustainability

These themes seek to ensure that King County will manage growth in ways that improve the quality of life and the natural environment for future generations. These themes align with the county's Strategic Plan, the Growth Management Act, and countywide and multi-county policies.

Learn more: https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/executive/performance-strategy-budget/regional-planning/king-county-comprehensive-plan.aspx