2009 Comprehensive Plan Update

The Planning Commission’s 2009 Comprehensive Plan Update public hearing was closed on Oct. 29, 2009, so there is no opportunity for additional public testimony to the Planning Commission.  However, deliberations on recommendations to make to the City Council, other than on the Downtown Business District Subarea Plan, have not been concluded.  Deliberations on the following topics will take place and conclude at the regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009.

• Bicycle, Pedestrian & Trails Plan
• Habitat Management Plan
• Transportation Plan
• Capital Facilities Plan
• General Development Element
• Land Use Element
• Critical Areas & Shoreline Element
• Ordinance 1226
• Ordinance 1227
• Ordinance 1228
  

• Adoption of Commute Trip Reduction Plan as an appendix to the Transportation Plan
• Amendment of MMC 10.24 – Commute Trip Reduction
• Interlocal Agreement with Community Transit to be lead agency responsible for implementing and administering the city’s CTR Plan

Downtown Business District Subarea Plan
This plan provides a vision and establishes boundaries for Mukilteo’s downtown commercial area.  It contains recommendations for regulatory changes, infrastructure improvements and design standards to revitalize commercial activity while still protecting the surrounding residential neighborhoods.

Bicycle, Pedestrian & Trails Plan
This new functional plan establishes a vision for bicycle and pedestrian paths and trails.  It inventories existing facilities, identifies opportunities, analyzes demand and suggests level of service standards and identifies potential capital projects and establishes design standards.  The Parks and Arts Commission reviewed the plan in 2008 and recommended it be approved by the City Council.  The preliminary draft does not differ substantively from the draft reviewed by the Parks and Arts Commission.

Habitat Management Plan
This plan was adopted by the City Council May 19, 2008 independent of the Comprehensive Plan update process.  The update is limited to reformatting text, maps, tables and charts.  No substantive changes are proposed.  Consideration at this time is largely to adopt the plan as an appendix to the Comprehensive Plan.  The Parks and Arts Commission reviewed the plan in 2008 and recommended it be approved by the City Council.

Transportation Plan
This is an update of the plan adopted in 2004.  It contains new traffic counts and includes traffic projections for 2030.
New or revised policies address:

• LOS requirements for new development
• Off-street parking for employees
• Transportation demand management and commute trip reduction
• Improving regional transportation linkages
• Impact of development of Paine Field properties on existing City land uses and streets
• Part of the Transportation Plan update will include adopting the Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Plan as an appendix to the Transportation Plan.  CTR Plan was approved by the City Council in 2007 but never adopted.  No changes to the 2007 version of the CTR Plan are proposed.
• When the City Council considers the update to the Transportation Plan it will also consider an ordinance amending MMC 10.24 – Commute Trip Reduction in order to comply with the requirements of the Washington State 2006 Commute Trip Reduction Efficiency Act.
• The Council will also be considering an Interlocal Agreement with Community Transit for CT to be the lead agency responsible for implementing and administering the city’s CTR Plan.

Capital Facilities Plan
This is a complete redo of previous plans and elements.  It inventories existing capital facilities and list potential future projects.  New policies address prioritizing projects and the need to do a stormwater utility rate study.  Some existing policies are modified to improve clarity.  The plan also includes documentation of revenue and cost modeling used in developing the plan.

General Development Element
Minor revision of some text to remove references to Japanese Gulch as a possible location for an alternative vehicular access to the Mukilteo waterfront from SR526.

Land Use Element
Includes an update of land use, population data and maps to reflect most current data as well as new policies regarding compatibility with airports.

Critical Areas & Shoreline Element
The only changes to this element are the addition of new policies contained in the Habitat Management Plan and for the Master Shoreline Plan currently being drafted.

3rd Street Rezone
A decision on this rezone application from 2007 was postponed pending adoption of a Downtown Business District Subarea Plan.  If the plan is approved as drafted the rezone would be inconsistent with the plan so staff’s preliminary recommendation is to deny the application.

Pre-zoning in Annexation Area
In 2007 and 2008 the City has assigned pre-zoning to all parcels in the South Mukilteo Annexation Area.  Parcels fronting on SR99 and others on SR525 near SR99 were designated to be zoned Transit-orient Mixed Use (TMU).  Currently, there is no TMU zone in Mukilteo Municipal Code (MMU).  The TMU zone designation is in recognition that no existing zone in the MMC is appropriate for these parcels.  However, the owner of TMU parcels on SR525 expressed concern over the uncertainty of how the TMU regulations that will eventually be adopted will impact those parcels.  To address that concern staff is recommending creating a second new zoning district to be called Community Business (south)-2. Because this new zone will be identical to the existing CB(S) zone with the exception that mixed use will be a permitted use in the new zone and the maximum building height will be increased to 50 feet (from 30 feet) means the new zone can be implemented immediately thus removing the uncertainty.

2008 Comprehensive Plan

Below are links to the current City of Mukilteo Comprehensive Plan:

• Comprehensive Plan Map
• Zoning Map
• Comprehensive Plan and Appendix I (Glossary) and Appendix II (References)
• Appendix III: 2001 MUGA Survey Results
• Appendix IV:  Parks, Open Space and Recreation Plan
• Appendix V: 2005 Harbour Pointe Master Plan Amendment
• Appendix VI:  Capital Facilities Element Worksheets
• Appendix VII:  2008-2013 Mukilteo School District Capital Facilities PLan

For more information about the 2009 Comprehensive Plan Update contact staff lead Glen Pickus, AICP, Senior Planner, 425.263.8042. 

GMA Comprehensive Plan Requirements

The State of Washington Growth Management Act (GMA) – RCW 36.70A – requires cities to adopt a Comprehensive Plan that includes the following mandatory elements:

1.      Land Use Element

2.      Housing Element

3.      Capital Facilities Element

4.      Utilities Element

5.      Transportation Element

6.      Economic Development Element

7.      Parks and Recreation Element

The GMA also requires cities to periodically review and revise their Comprehensive Plan to ensure they continue to comply with the requirements of the GMA.

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