HomeMy WebLinkAbout121825 City Council Adopts 2025-2045 Comprehensive Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Emma Bolin, Director of
Thursday, December 18, 2025 Planning and Community Development
ebolin@cityofpt.us, (360) 390-4048
CITY COUNCIL ADOPTS 2025 2045 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Council adopted the updated Comprehensive Plan, development regulations, and the Active
Transportation Plan.
PORT TOWNSEND After final deliberations at its December 15 meeting, the Port Townsend City
Council adopted the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review. Adoption of Ordinance 3361 contained
all amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, development regulations, and the Active Transportation
Plan. The Comprehensive Plan serves as a 20-year roadmap, touching on everything from climate
resilience to housing to economic development. After two years of regular public engagement and
dedicated work from staff, consultants, Advisory Boards, Planning Commission, and City Council, the
adoption of the Comprehensive Plan is momentous for the City and community.
Per the Growth Management Act, Port Townsend is required to conduct a Periodic Review of the
Comprehensive Plan and development regulations every ten years. The last Periodic Review occurred in
2016, with the deadline for completing the current review and related amendments set by the
Department of Commerce as December 31, 2025. Project management for the update began in 2023,
under the leadership of Planning and Community Development Director Emma Bolin and Long Range
Planner Adrian Smith.
To guide public participation during the Periodic Review, Council adopted a Public Participation Plan on
April 15, 2024. Under this plan, staff held or participated in at least two meetings or events per month
from May 2024 to December 2025. Deputy Mayor Amy Howard, who presided over the December 15
staff put a lot of effort into making this process as inclusive as
City Manager John Mauro said: everyone who showed up throughout this process. Early
in 2023, we started planning our community engagement on this top City priority. We held over 70
Comprehensive Plan events with community participation, including 45 open public meetings, numerous
focus groups, open houses, a three-day studio, walking tours, and community-led events. Diverse input
and perspectives from this extensive engagement helped inform the plan adopted by City Council. We
look forward to celebrating and implementing this significant milestone with the community in early
2026.
In the December 15 meeting, City Council also passed Resolution 25-035 related to the 2026 Annual
Amendment process for the Comprehensive Plan and development regulations. Optional annual
amendments can occur outside of the ten-year update to ensure the plan stays current with state law
and local needs.!City Council voted to close the docket to suggested amendments in 2026 but stated
they would like to consider whether the 2026 workplan and docket can support revisiting certain 2025
Periodic Update items that were not selected for amendment earlier this year.
During the meeting, Councilmembers encouraged the community to stay engaged as implementation of
the plan occurs. Deputy Mayor Howard said: the
challenges and pieces in implementation. I am interested in hearing from people how it impacts them
on the ground when those changes happen. I see directly and immediately on a daily basis the
challenges. People are struggling to find housing that is affordable to them, outside of the definition of
affordable housing. Someplace that they can live in Port Townsend where they can be a part of this
community
December 24, 2025,
with the amendments effective on December 29, 2025.
Background
The Comprehensive Plan Periodic Review was conducted in two phases.
The first phase is docketing, the creation of a list outlining types of amendments under
consideration. This includes reviewing state law to determine mandated amendments and
extensive public participation to identify and prioritize locally suggested amendments.
The second phase is post-docketing, where staff prepare draft amendments based on the
docket and share the drafts with the public. The first step of this update includes inventories for
Housing, Transportation, and Capital Facilities and Utilities. Staff then prepared updates to each
element (i.e., chapters) of the Comprehensive Plan. Based on the 2025 Periodic Review Docket,
this included creating new elements for Climate Resilience, Parks, Recreation and Open Space,
and Goals, Policies, and Implementation Actions. The updated elements were presented to the
Planning Commission for review and discussion during a series of meetings from May 22, 2025,
to October 9, 2025 (thirteen meetings total). The public was invited to comment at each
meeting. The public wa
Newsletter, open public meetings with other advisory boards such as Climate Action Committee
and Parks Recreation Trees and Trails Advisory Board, focus groups, Council meetings, pop-ups
at the Farmers Market, and open houses.
Based on mandatory amendments, guidance from the Department of Commerce, and public
participation from May 2024 to January 2025, staff and Planning Commission compiled the preliminary
docket of topics of amendments to consider during the Periodic Update. Planning Commission held an
Council for approval. Council adopted the docket following an open public hearing on February 18, 2025.
The docket directed staff to focus edits and upcoming engagement and outreach on mandatory
amendments under the Growth Management Act, amendments related to housing, density, climate
resilience, parks, open space, arts, edits to make the goals and policies easier to understand and
implement, the adoption of an updated Critical Areas Ordinance, adoption of an Active Transportation
Plan, and adoption of an updated Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan.
Of the amendment types approved on the preliminary docket, the Critical Areas Ordinance was
approved earlier in 2025 and the updated Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan has been scheduled
for hearings in 2026. The Active Transportation Plan, amended Comprehensive Plan, and amended
development regulations are all included in the Periodic Review under Ordinance 3361.
On July 7, 2025, City Council reviewed regulation options that would make middle housing more feasible
to develop. Staff requested types of middle housing to allow
in Port Townsend, zones to allow middle housing, permitted density, heights, setbacks, lot sizes, lot
coverage, design standards, and parking requirements for middle housing. They also reviewed incentives
for affordable and workforce housing, administration of middle housing regulations, and encoding
middle housing regulations.
On October 23, 2025, Planning Commission held an open public hearing to consider the amendments to
the Comprehensive Plan, development regulations, and adoption of the Active Transportation Plan
under the Periodic Review. The Commission considered public comment, deliberated, and moved to
adopt the findings and conclusions, recommend adoption of amendments to the Comprehensive Plan
and Development Regulations, recommend the adoption of the Active Transportation Plan, and
recommended that Council consider materials submitted at and following the public hearing.
On November 17, 2025, City Council held an open public hearing to consider the amendments to the
Comprehensive Plan, development regulations, and adoption of the Active Transportation Plan under
the Periodic Review. During the hearing, Council considered public testimony and a staff presentation,
then moved to close public testimony and keep the record open for additional written comments until
4:30 pm on Monday, November 24, 2025. Council further moved to continue the hearing to date
certain, November 24, 2025.
On November 24, City Council continued the open public hearing to consider the amendments to the
Comprehensive Plan, development regulations, and adoption of the Active Transportation Plan under
the Periodic Review. During the hearing, Council considered public testimony, deliberated, and
discussed the proposals with staff. Council moved to close the hearing and to adopt the first reading of
the Comprehensive Plan, Active Transportation Plan, and Port Townsend Municipal Code.
On December 8, 2025, City Council held a regular meeting where they continued discussion on
Ordinance 3361. During this meeting, City Council considered public comments, along with a staff
presentation summarizing comments from the Department of Commerce and other state agencies,
reading of Ordinance 3361 to December 15, 2025.
# # #
Listen to meeting recordings and access Council meeting packets referenced above here, under City
Council Archives 2025: https://cityofpt.us/citycouncil/page/agendasminutesvideos
Find information on the Growth Management Act here: https://mrsc.org/explore-
topics/planning/gma/growth-management-act-basics
https://www.pt2045planning.org/