Right now jurisdictions in Thurston County are updating their Comprehensive Plans. Each jurisdiction’s Comprehensive Plan will guide policy and projects for the next ten to twenty years. The updates are a once in a decade project designed to reflect changing community expectations and changes as required by the Washington Growth Management Act (GMA). The process of updating the comp plans gives community members a chance to influence the direction of policies in the county itself and all the cities in Thurston County, including small cities like Yelm and Bucoda.
New Elements Required in Comp Plans
Recent state GMA legislation requires comprehensive plan updates to include planning for climate change in all areas. Legislation also requires cities and the county to jointly plan land use such that enough space exists for the kinds of housing that match the future population by family income level. For example, the housing requirements mean that all cities, where most lower income residents reside, must zone for multifamily housing – the type of housing most affordable for families with income below 120% of the area median income. Yelm and Grand Mound, for example, will need to change their zoning to meet this requirement for lower income families.
The Process for Updating Comp Plans
The cities typically review each chapter of their comprehensive plan first with the appropriate advisory committee (for example the committee advising on utilities for the Utilities chapter, the Parks committee for the Environment/Parks/Recreation chapter), followed by the Planning Commission discussion and hearing, then relevant council subcommittee and finally a briefing followed by a public hearing at the City Council. None of the chapters have yet arrived at the council hearing stage, but those hearings will be scheduled later this spring.
For Thurston County the review process has fewer public steps – public outreach (predominately in 2024), Planning Commission briefings chapter by chapter culminating in a public hearing in April, then moving to the briefings at the Board of County Commissioners and a final hearing in November 2026.
Progress to Date
Community members have raised issues at the cities’ Planning Commission and council subcommittee stage that have resulted in proposed revisions to each city’s Comprehensive Plans. County residents have had an impact on the current draft county’s plan. Examples of these proposed changes to the drafts, based on community input:
- City of Olympia Transportation Chapter: No longer treats walkers, bikers, and bus riders as secondary concern in transportation design but prioritizes the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users.
- Thurston County Environment, Recreation, and Opens Space chapter and related Implementation Plan items: Added polices and related action items in the Implementation Plan related to wildlife corridors, and made some attempt to include items from the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan adopted by all major jurisdictions in 2021.
- Thurston County Land Use Development Code: Change the development code to match the Land Use chapter description of Rural Resource Industrial (RRI zone) lands limiting that land use to industries in support of agriculture, timber and mining operations.
There is time for additional input in public hearings and written comments from the community to call out for more changes in the plans before their final approvals scheduled for the end of this year in most jurisdictions and by Feb 2026 for Tumwater.
Here are ways to be involved and suggested changes to request:
Thurston County (which applies to all of us): Get involved in the Planning Commission Hearing. Two general public hearings to comment on the Comprehensive Plan are scheduled. April 23, 6:00-9:00 PM and April 26, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM (attend one or both), Thurston County Atrium – 3000 Pacific Ave SE, Olympia WA 98501. To attend by Zoom, you must register in advance on the Planning Commission webpage. Mini Open House: Come an hour before each public hearing for a mini open house to ask questions of the planning staff. To comment in English or Spanish in written form (recommended in addition to making oral comments), comments need to be received by Sunday April 27 via Thurston2045@co.thurston.wa.us or by mail to Thurston County, Community Planning & Economic Development, c/o Ana Rodriguez, 3000 Pacific Ave SE, Olympia WA 98501.
Thurston County topics that you might want to comment on:
- Water availability: The Environment, Recreation, and Opens Space chapter does not acknowledge that according to the WA Department of Ecology data most of the water that residents and wildlife are dependent on is already legally spoken for or “appropriated” (specifically the Nisqually, Deschutes, Kennedy-Goldsborough, and Chehalis watersheds). Because of the limited water availability, stronger policies and regulations are needed to ensure exempt wells do not result in overuse of the water resource.
- Rural housing: Many environmental advocates oppose the draft language in the Housing chapter allowing detached ADUs in rural areas. Rural homeowners are currently allowed attached ADUs (rooms added above, below, or on the side of an existing house) which can meet the need to provide housing for family members without significant additional environmental impact. Some advocate for allowing detached ADUs because rural landowners are circumventing rules now to create ADUs. Opponents of expanding the code argue that such code violations should be addressed through enforcement, not through permitting.
- Farmland preservation: In the last decade Thurston County lost 20,695 acres of land in farms–27 percent of the county’s land. During this same period, Washington State lost six percent of its land in farms. The draft Chapter that covers farmland – Natural Resource Lands chapter – calls for some new ideas to protect farmland but could do much more. Specifically, by:
- Designating more farmland as Long-Term Agriculture land that limits how land can be developed and in policy NR-2.A.3 drop the words “whenever possible” in reference to precluding development on prime soils.
- Creating a unique land protection approach on the farmland in the McAllister Springs aquifer recharge area – among the best of farmland in the county in this area to the south of the Yelm Highway where turf and berry farming is now common. Lacking protection, it is highly likely that this farmland will continue to be sold off for very high end 5-acre housing lots. It is possible that housing development will create more water quality issues than would occur if the county purchased a conservation easement requiring farming practices that protect water quality and serve to benefit stormwater drainage.
Where to look for Comprehensive Plan Update information for cities. Note that you do not have to be a resident of a city to comment on that city’s draft comprehensive plan update.
Olympia: Go to Olympia 2045 to keep up to date. Two topics to consider in the coming months:
- Land Use and Urban Design – This chapter includes potential revisions of the land use designation map. For example, the current map allows for dense housing in an Urban Waterfront area such as West Bay. Raise issues with the Planning Committee at their April 21 meeting if you find a need for changes in current land use designations. Check out the Planning Committee agenda a few days before the April 21 meeting for a copy of the policies being considered for this chapter. A video providing an overview of the existing chapter can be viewed on the chapter webpage at engage.olympiawa.gov/land-use-urban-design2045.
- Housing. The draft chapter will be available later this spring.
Lacey: Envision Tomorrow Lacey 2045 https://www.envisiontomorrowlacey.org/
- Check out the Climate chapter presented at the Planning Commission Meeting, April 9, 2025.
- Review and comment on the zoning changes landowners have requested
Tumwater –Balancing Nature & Community Tumwater’s Path to Sustainable Growth
- Revised schedule – final approval – Feb 2026
- Housing draft from March 25 Planning Commission meeting
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