Snoqualmie 2030: The Next Generation
What Do You Want for the Future?
The City of Snoqualmie is embarking on a two-year update of its Comprehensive Plan. The Washington State Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A) requires that cities develop plans to manage population and urban growth in a 20 year planning horizon. The Comprehensive Plan expresses goals and policies that embody a vision of the future city that residents wish to leave to future generations, sets forth a generalized land use plan for the city and its urban growth area, establishes the foundation for implementing programs and regulations, and provides a guide for city budgeting.
The Comprehensive Plan must be updated every seven years to meet state legislative requirements. Although the 2012 deadline for the plan was recently pushed back due to a lack of state funding, Snoqualmie has seen significant change in the past decade and needs revisions to continue serving local citizens. As such, the City of Snoqualmie is proceeding with the original update timeline, planning to submit a first draft for state review by September 2011, with a final approval in late 2011 or early 2012. Interim updates via the standard docketing process will still be conducted in the 2011 year; for this process, please
submit dockets by October 31st, 2010 to planning staff. For more information, see “Docketing and the Comprehensive Plan Update” on this page, or the
Citizen’s Guide to Docketing.
Between 2010 and 2012, the City wants to include as much citizen input as possible to guide the goals, policy, and overall vision of the Snoqualmie's future for the next two decades. This page provides an overview of participation opportunities, summarizes the Comprehensive Plan, and provides access to City documents and timelines for the update process.
It is time for the City to begin the review and update process. Please join us in this effort by exploring the links below and sharing your answers to the question: What Do You Want for the Future?
What is the Comprehensive Plan?
The Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan is the official statement adopted by the City Council setting goals and policies to protect the health, welfare and quality of life for Snoqualmie residents. The plan expresses a long-range vision of how citizens want their community to look and function in the future and helps to coordinate and direct City departments by providing a comprehensive and common vision.
The policies and goals of the City are organized into various elements -- or chapters -- some of which are required by the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA), the Washington law regulating city plans. Under the GMA, plans must address Land Use, Housing, Capital Facilities, Utilities, and Transportation. Snoqualmie’s Comprehensive Plan contains these and additional elements for Community Character, Open Spaces and Parks, the Environment, and Annexation, some of which address policies of the City’s Shoreline Master Program.
The Comprehensive Plan also guides development regulations (summarized below) within the City Municipal Code, which carry out City policy in addition to other implementation programs.
The City Comprehensive Plan was first adopted in 1983, with major updates in 1994 and 2006.
What are development regulations?
Development regulations are controls placed on the use and development of land. They include zoning regulations that manage the location and intensity of land uses, and sensitive or critical areas regulations, which protect wetlands, streams, aquifer recharge areas, fish and wildlife habitats, frequently flooded areas, and geological hazards.
Docketing and the Comprehensive Plan Update
The Comprehensive Plan is subject to review and update through the City's annual docketing process. The annual docketing process differs from the larger Snoqualmie 2030 update in that annual amendments from docketing tend to be more focused topically or geographically, while the update process considers broader changes to the City’s policies and growth strategy along new established growth targets.
The City encourages the continued submission of specific suggestions for Comprehensive Plan amendments (dockets) during the Comprehensive Plan Update process. Dockets can be submitted by anyone and are considered by City staff and the Planning Commission members, who make a recommendation to the City Council as to whether to approve the docket. Dockets are
due by October 31 of each year for consideration in that year's annual docketing process. Please see our
Citizen’s Guide to Docketing or contact the Planning Department should you have any questions regarding the Comprehensive Plan or the annual docketing process.
Whom should I contact for more information?
For more information, please explore the links on this page or contact the City of Snoqualmie Planning Department at 425-888.-5337 or at the following email addresses: