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Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan 2001 Table of Contents

>> Executive Summary
>> Background and Purpose
>> Existing Conditions
>> Urban Growth Area Expansion Opportunities
>> Recommendations
>> Policy Review
>> Conclusions
>> Appendices
>> List of Maps

Executive Summary Return to:  Table of Contents

The King County Countywide Planning Policies, the King County Comprehensive Plan and the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan call for resolution of the City of Snoqualmie's Joint Planning Area, located south of the City and encompassing the I-90/Highway 18 interchange. King County and the City of Snoqualmie are directed to work together to determine if and when some portion of the Joint Planning Area should be added to the City's Urban Growth Area.

Two emerging issues have generated the need to study and resolve the Joint Planning Area now, and to expand the area of study beyond the Joint Planning Area. First, a re-evaluation of the estimated capacity of the City of Snoqualmie and its UGA indicates the capacity is insufficient to accommodate the City's household target. Second, a number of opportunities for land preservation are presented by the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative; these opportunities are tied to additional adjustments to the City's UGA.

This subarea plan is the result of a joint effort by King County and the City of Snoqualmie, and focuses exclusively on determining the appropriate UGA for the City of Snoqualmie. Criteria for annexation and determination of future land uses in the areas recommended for addition to the City's UGA will be subject to detailed analysis, planning and public review through a series of separate processes.

The Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan recommendations are to:

• Add 521 acres of land due south of the City of Snoqualmie to the City's UGA now.
• Recommend the Growth Management Planning Council consider adding an additional 209 acres northwest of the City to the City's UGA, and to remove 214 acres south of I-90 from the UGA.
• Adopt policies for inclusion in the King County Comprehensive Plan and the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan to guide future annexation and development review processes.

Background and Purpose Return to:  Table of Contents

Subarea Plan Scope

The 2000 King County Comprehensive Plan (KCCP) defines subarea planning as focussing the policy direction of the KCCP to a smaller geographic area. The geographic area included in the Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan is shown on the study area map, and is comprised of:

• The Snoqualmie Joint Planning Area, as depicted in the 1994 Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs);
• The City of Snoqualmie's existing Urban Growth Area (UGA) as depicted in the 1994 Countywide Planning Policies. The City of Snoqualmie's UGA is also depicted in both the KCCP and the 1994 Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan (SVCP). All three of these sources are consistent; and
• Lands to the northwest, west, and south of Snoqualmie's current city limits.

View >> the Study Area Map: Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan
(.pdf file 154 KB)

RP-203 Subarea plans provide detailed land use plans for local geographic areas. Subarea plans implement and shall be elements of the King County Comprehensive Plan and shall be consistent with the Plan's policies, development regulations and Land Use Map. The subarea plans should be consistent with functional plans' facility and service standards. The subarea plans may include, but are not limited to:
1. Identification of policies in the Comprehensive Plan that apply to the subarea;
   
2. Review and update of applicable community plan policies;
   
3. Specific land uses and implementing zoning, consistent with the Comprehensive Plan;
   
4. Identification of the boundaries of Unincorporated Activity Centers and Rural Towns;
   
5. Recommendations for the establishment of new Unincorporated Activity Centers, Community and Neighborhood Business Centers, if appropriate;
   
6. Recommendations for additional Open Space designations and park sites;
   
7. Recommendations for capital improvements, the means and schedule for providing them and amendments to functional plans to support planned land uses and implement Community Action Strategies;
   
8. Resolution of land use and service issues in Potential Annexation Areas;
   
9. Identification of new issues that need resolution at a countywide level; and,
   
10. Identification of all necessary implementing measures needed to carry out the plan.

History of Planning for Snoqualmie's Growth

Planning Pre-GMA
In 1988, the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company (WRECO) proposed that the City of Snoqualmie annex approximately 2000 acres of land and approve a 32-year master plan for the development of Snoqualmie Ridge, a planned community on the Lake Alice Plateau. The annexation request was submitted in the midst of the development of King County's Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan, the official policy document intended to guide development, city annexations, natural resource preservation and capital projects throughout the Snoqualmie Valley and surrounding plateaus for the next ten years. The annexation proposal generated significant discussion amongst King County, the City of Snoqualmie, WRECO, the Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan Citizen Advisory Committee, and area residents. A goal of all parties was to provide a way for the City of Snoqualmie to grow out of, and locate most new homes, out of the floodplain of the Snoqualmie River.

The Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan
In August of 1989, King County adopted the Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan which designated a series of expansion areas for the City. Expansion Area 1, comprised of 1340 acres of WRECO's approximately 2000 acre ownership and 250 acres in the northern portion of the Snoqualmie Hills area, that portion of Section 36, Township 24, Range 7 north of Coal Creek (also known as "D" Creek). The Plan also designated Expansion Area 2, comprised of the Snoqualmie Mill site, lands south of I-90 near the site of the former Snoqualmie Winery, and the western 2/3 of Section 31, Township 24, Range 8, located southwest of downtown Snoqualmie. The boundaries of Expansion Area 2 were determined based on the location of existing land uses with a relationship to residents of the City (for example, the Snoqualmie Winery and the Snoqualmie Mill) and physical and topographical features (for example, Coal Creek and an old railroad right of way bisecting the Snoqualmie Hills area). At the time, very little was known about the actual growth potential of lands within Expansion Area 2, or the ability of these areas to be served efficiently by the City. The Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan also contained a series of policies which established the criteria and timing for annexation of the expansion areas to the City.

The Snoqualmie Comprehensive Plan
In October of 1989, the City of Snoqualmie adopted an amendment to its 1983 comprehensive plan referred to as "Element J.1." This amendment contained goals, policies and guidelines for development of the 1340 acres of Snoqualmie Ridge, including the development timeline, allowed mix of land uses and housing types, necessary transportation, public service and public amenity improvements, required viewshed protections and buffers, and appropriate mitigations.

The Snoqualmie Agreement
In February of 1990, King County, the City of Snoqualmie and the Snoqualmie Ridge Associates (of which WRECO was a partner) signed an interlocal agreement, known as the Snoqualmie Agreement, confirming and implementing the policies in the King County Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan and Element J.1. of the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan. The Snoqualmie Agreement set forth guidelines and procedures for annexation of the 1340 acre WRECO property and subsequent development of a master planned community, for environmental and view protection, and for coordinated interjurisdictional review.

The Snoqualmie Agreement also identified an area south of the 1340 acre WRECO ownership, extending across the Echo Lake interchange of Interstate 90 with State Highway 18, as a Joint Planning Area (JPA, also called Area B in the Agreement). Within this area, King County committed to not allow urban development without "community plan revision." Snoqualmie committed to not consider annexation requests or to extend urban services to the west of the 1340 acre WRECO property or to the south into the JPA through the life of the Agreement. WRECO committed to not seek annexation of its ownership in the JPA during the term of the Agreement. Finally, King County and Snoqualmie agreed to review the issue of long-term land uses in the JPA through a cooperative planning effort. The Agreement remains in effect for twenty years, but can be terminated or amended by the mutual agreement of all three parties. The Agreement can also be deemed expired if the three parties determine through a new agreement that additional annexations to the City of Snoqualmie are in the public interest.

In October, 1990, following extensive environmental and public review, the 1340 acre WRECO ownership was annexed to the City of Snoqualmie. Two additional phases of review were completed, resulting in approvals by the City of Snoqualmie for construction of Snoqualmie Parkway connecting the City to I-90, and for the Mixed Use Final Plan for the Snoqualmie Ridge development. The Mixed Use Final Plan incorporated the policy direction of the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan, including Element J.1, which was readopted as the Snoqualmie Ridge Annexation Implementation Plan (which is not a part of the Comprehensive Plan). The Mixed Use Final Plan also incorporated the requirements of the Snoqualmie Agreement, and allowed for construction of up to 2000 new dwelling units and a range of commercial and business uses. As of Spring, 2001, preliminary or final subdivision approval has been granted for approximately 75% of the planned 2000 new housing units to implement the Mixed Use Final Plan. The City has also completed construction of a new wastewater treatment plan and a new north wellfield water supply to serve the City's projected growth.

Planning Under GMA
Following passage of the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) in 1990, King County and all the cities within King County began a new, regional planning process. The basic tenets of the GMA are that new growth should be directed to urban areas where public services can be provided efficiently, and that rural and natural resource areas should be protected from sprawling growth and its impacts. The Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC), comprised of elected officials from King County, the City of Seattle, and representatives of the suburban cities, was formed to lead the first phase of planning stipulated by GMA, including determination of the areas that would be designated urban and expected to accommodate forecasted growth. This first phase of planning produced the Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs), the framework policies to guide the development of new comprehensive plans for each jurisdiction in King County. The CPPs also designated the Urban Growth Area, and established the "target" for the number of new households and jobs to be accommodated in each jurisdiction.

CPPs Recognize the JPA
The CPPs recognized Snoqualmie's expansion areas as designated by the Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan, and further, recognized the Joint Planning Area established through the Snoqualmie Agreement. CPP policy FW-1, Step 8.b. designated JPAs for five other King County cities as well, and indicated that within these designated JPAs, amendments to each of the identified cities' UGAs should be completed through a joint effort between King County and the city. Amendments to a city's UGA within a designated JPA are not subject to further approval by the GMPC. As of today, the only unresolved JPA is the City of Snoqualmie's. In the case of each of the other five designated JPAs, amendments were made to each city's UGA, and the remainder of the JPA was designated Rural.

CPPs Establish Targets
The Washington State Office of Financial Management provided a forecast of the expected number of new jobs to be created within King County, and the anticipated number of new households expected to locate in King County during the 20-year period of 1992 to 2012. The CPPs established criteria and procedures for distributing the number of jobs and households amongst each jurisdiction. Through a cooperative process, each city and unincorporated King County established its "targets" for new jobs and new households, and in 1992, Appendix 2 listing the target ranges was added into the CPPs. The target ranges attributed to the City of Snoqualmie are for 3100 to 5820 new jobs, and 1942 to 3625 new households. Each jurisdiction's comprehensive plan must demonstrate how they will accommodate its targets.

Both the 1994 King County Comprehensive Plan and the 1994 Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan consistently included the same UGA and JPA for the City of Snoqualmie as designated by the CPPs. In addition, the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan set ranges for the City's targets. The City's target range of 2570 to 3255 new households is narrower, but within the range established by the CPPs.

Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan Purpose

In accordance with the Countywide Planning Policies which recognize and call for resolution of the Joint Planning Area first identified in the 1990 Snoqualmie Agreement, some expansion of the UGA with the JPA has been anticipated. The Snoqualmie Agreement indicated that the process for determining a future urban area within the JPA was through "community plan revision. " King County's community plans were intended to have a life span of approximately six to ten years. The Snoqualmie Valley Community Plan was adopted in 1989, therefore, revision was anticipated to occur by 1999. Since adoption of the 1994 King County Comprehensive Plan, large-scale community plans have been replaced by the smaller-scale, more specific subarea plans. According to the Snoqualmie Agreement, resolution of the JPA is timely, and the current process to do so is through the subarea planning process.

In addition, two issues have emerged since the adoption of the CPPs, the KCCP, the SVCP and their amendments to date. First, more detailed analysis of Snoqualmie's current UGA indicates it does not contain sufficient land to accommodate the target for new households. Second, an opportunity to preserve lands within the viewshed of Snoqualmie Falls, to maintain permanent forestry uses in the Raging River watershed, and to protect lands traversed by the Snoqualmie Valley and Preston-Snoqualmie trails has precipitated the need to review Snoqualmie's UGA issues now. The purpose of this subarea plan is to resolve the Joint Planning Area, to address additional revisions to the City of Snoqualmie's UGA, and to provide guidance for annexation and development of UGA lands in the future. Decisions about the timing of future annexations and subsequent development of annexed land will be subject to detailed planning, environmental analysis and public review through separate processes, to be undertaken consistent with the policies of this subarea plan.

The Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative

The Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative is a series of actions intended to preserve critical forestlands, viewsheds and trail corridors in and around the City of Snoqualmie, while at the same time, finalizing planning for the City's future growth. For several years, King County, the City of Snoqualmie and the Cascade Land Conservancy, a non-profit land preservation organization, have separately been looking for ways to ensure the preservation of forestlands, trail corridors and the viewshed of Snoqualmie Falls. By working together and with WRECO, a plan of action was developed.

Preservation of Falls Crossing
The initiative was born over concern about the Falls Crossing property, a 220 acre site straddling the Snoqualmie Parkway between downtown Snoqualmie and Snoqualmie Ridge, and immediately adjacent to Snoqualmie Falls. The property owner had submitted an application and conducted extensive environmental review for an intensive, mixed-use development on the site. The proposed development was consistent with the property's zoning, but was not supported by most Snoqualmie residents, who along with the Snoqualmie Tribe and citizens from throughout King County who value the Falls, were concerned about the impacts of development on the Falls.

Snoqualmie Mayor Fuzzy Fletcher directed his staff to seek options for maintaining the Falls Crossing site in an undeveloped state, and staff asked WRECO if they would be willing to help preserve the site. The Cascade Land Conservancy and King County were also asked to help explore options. The initiative grew to address a range of conservation and development issues in the Snoqualmie area.

Protection of Forest Lands
In addition to a strong, mutual desire to preserve the Falls Crossing property, King County, Snoqualmie and the Cascade Land Conservancy want to preserve an undeveloped corridor surrounding the regional Snoqualmie Valley and Preston-Snoqualmie trails, and ensure the Raging River watershed south of I-90 be maintained in forestry uses in perpetuity. WRECO is the key land owner in these interest areas. A series of actions to achieve protection of Falls Crossing, the trail corridors and the Raging River watershed, along with the necessary tradeoffs for these protections, are embodied in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the King County Executive, the Mayor of the City of Snoqualmie, Cascade Land Conservancy and WRECO on March 15, 2001. The MOU and a map depicting the elements of the initiative are included as Appendix A.

View >> Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative Elements Map
(.pdf file 1,141 KB)

Outcomes of the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative

If fully implemented, the initiative would have the following results:
• The critical portion of the Falls Crossing site adjacent to the Falls and the river would be placed into public ownership and protected from development forever, with the exception of a six acre area adjacent to the Snoqualmie Parkway set aside for a future city campus. The City of Snoqualmie would pay $1.65 million toward the purchase, and WRECO would pay $11.7 million.
• All potential for future development of up to 9000 acres in the Raging River watershed south of I-90 would be permanently removed, while forestry activities would be maintained and public trails would be created. WRECO owns the most vulnerable 2800 acres adjacent to Highway 18. The remaining 6200 acres are owned by the Fruit Growers Supply Company; the Cascade Land Conservancy is negotiating similar terms for their lands. Together these lands are the only private holdings separating the Tiger Mountain State Forest to the west, Rattlesnake Ridge Scenic Area to the east, and the Seattle Watershed and Taylor Mountain to the south.
• The trail system north and west of Snoqualmie would be enhanced and connected through conservation easements on WRECO lands traversed by the trails precluding rural residential development, and $1 million would be contributed by WRECO toward the construction of a trail bridge across the upper Snoqualmie River.
• Snoqualmie Ridge would, over time and subject to extensive environmental and public review, be allowed to expand by up to 525 acres to the south of the current development, and up to 200 acres to the north and northwest of the current development. An additional 268 new homes would also be allowed within the borders of the existing Snoqualmie Ridge development, in part on land previously approved by the Snoqualmie Ridge Mixed Use Final Plan for business park uses.

If the initiative is not fully implemented:
• King County would be responsible for up to $9.3 million of the cost of Falls Crossing, while Snoqualmie would be responsible for up to $4 million of the cost. While the MOU indicates it is the intent of King County and Snoqualmie to fund the purchase of Falls Crossing, the respective Councils could choose not to appropriate sufficient funds, in which case the Real Estate Purchase and Sales Agreement would be terminated. If so, the Falls Crossing development proposal would once again be before the Snoqualmie City Council.
• Low density rural development consistent with existing zoning could occur adjacent to the regional trails, and construction of a trail bridge across the upper Snoqualmie River would be less likely to be fully funded.
• The 9000 acres in the Raging River watershed would remain designated for forestry, but would continue to be vulnerable to development pressures due to proximity to I-90 and Highway 18, and subject to land use decisions by future King County Councils.
• The City of Snoqualmie's JPA would remain unresolved and subject to future decisions. Steps to expand Snoqualmie Ridge would be postponed.

The first step of the initiative is to complete a subarea plan to refine the City of Snoqualmie's UGA. If the subarea plan results in the addition of WRECO's ownerships to the UGA, WRECO will provide temporary conservation easements on their lands along the regional trails and in the Raging River watershed, restricting use of the properties to trails and forestry. They will also commit to a series of payments towards the Falls Crossing purchase. As the sale of Falls Crossing is due to close at the end of June, 2001, the decision about Snoqualmie's UGA must be completed in mid-June in order to determine the extent of King County's and Snoqualmie's funding commitments.

The addition of WRECO lands to the UGA does not guarantee future annexation or urban development of these lands. Those actions are subject to future, detailed planning, environmental analysis and public review. If WRECO's lands are annexed and approved for development, additional contributions to the purchase of Falls Crossing will be made, the conservation easements on trail lands and the Raging River watershed will become permanent, and $1 million will be contributed to the trail bridge. If future annexation and development does not occur, WRECO will not make additional payments, and the conservation easements will terminate.

Subarea Plan Process

The King County and City of Snoqualmie Councils initiated the subarea planning process on March 13, 2001. The King County Council, via Motion 11128 (Appendix A), requested the King County Executive transmit the subarea plan, including recommendations for the City of Snoqualmie's UGA, for their review by April 26, 2001. Through this motion, the Council also indicated their intent to finalize review of the subarea plan and its recommendations by June 4, 2001, in order to inform their decision about appropriating funding for the Falls Crossing site purchase.

A subarea plan is considered an amendment to a comprehensive plan. The Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan will include amendments to the UGA, will add new policies to the King County Comprehensive Plan and will recommend adding new policies to the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan. The GMA limits amendment of comprehensive plans to no more than once per year, with a short list of exceptions; the initial adoption of a subarea plan is one of those exceptions. The initial adoption of a subarea plan may occur at any time, independent of the annual cycle of amendments.

Title 20 of the King County Code specifies King County's process for amending the King County Comprehensive Plan, including changes to the UGA, and further restricts the scope of amendments. Title 20 restricts substantive policy and UGA amendments to a comprehensive review process every four years. The recently adopted 2000 King County Comprehensive Plan was the first comprehensive update of the 1994 plan; the next substantive update will not be completed until 2004. Annual amendments to the KCCP are limited to technical changes. Title 20 also clarifies that the initial adoption of a subarea plan, whenever it occurs, may include amendments to the UGA, but only within a designated JPA. The Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan may include an amendment to the UGA within Snoqualmie's JPA.

Title 20 also provides an opportunity to make substantive changes to policy or the UGA every two years if "the purposes of the King County Comprehensive Plan are not being achieved as evidenced by official population growth forecasts, benchmarks, trends, and other relevant data." The Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan may recommend other changes to the UGA based on a thorough analysis demonstrating these changes are necessary, but actual amendments to the UGA outside of the JPA could not occur until 2002. Any recommended changes outside of the JPA must also be approved by the Growth Management Planning Council prior to King County adoption of the changes.

Development of the Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan

The subarea planning effort included four primary components: analysis of the City of Snoqualmie's residential development capacity and its relationship to their target; analysis of existing policy direction; public input; and development of recommendations. The public process ran concurrently with the other components. The result is a series of recommended changes to the UGA, and a set of policies to guide future annexation and development discussions.

Capacity Analysis

The capacity analysis involved three tasks:
• Analysis of the residential development capacity of the City of Snoqualmie and its current Urban Growth Area, based on development trends, physical characteristics of the land, property owner proposals, and the ability of the land to be served in an efficient manner;
• Analysis of the potential residential development capacity of potential additions to the UGA; and
• Comparison of residential development capacity data to the City of Snoqualmie's set growth target.

Policy Analysis
Direction for the development of recommendations was found in the GMA, the Countywide Planning Policies, the 2000 King County Comprehensive Plan and the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan. The applicable policies and analysis for consistency of the subarea plan recommendations with these policies is included in Section V. Policy Review.

Public Input
Two public meetings were held in Snoqualmie, and additional public comment by telephone, email and letter was solicited.

March 22 Public Meeting
Immediately following King County Council authorization of the Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan, notice was mailed for the first public meeting. Notice was mailed to all property owners within the geographical area included within the scope of the subarea plan, as well as all property owners within a 1000-foot radius of that geographical area. In addition, all parties of record for the Snoqualmie City Council hearings on the Falls Crossing development proposal were notified by mail. The Snoqualmie Valley Record also advertised the meeting.

Approximately 40 area residents and property owners attended the meeting at the Snoqualmie Middle School. Following a presentation on the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative and a description of the purpose and timeline of the subarea planning process, attendees debated the merits of the tradeoffs associated with the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative. Several attendees expressed interest in the protection of the Falls Crossing site, the trail properties north and west of the City of Snoqualmie, and the Raging River watershed, but many were very concerned about potential impacts from future development decisions related to the expansion of Snoqualmie Ridge. While the subarea plan is focussed exclusively on determining the appropriate UGA for the City of Snoqualmie, the comments received provided direction for the development of policies to guide future annexation and development review processes.

April 5 Public Meeting
The date of the April 5 meeting was announced at the March 22 meeting. Notice was mailed as described above, as well as to all who attended the March 22 meeting. Again, the Snoqualmie Valley Record advertised the meeting.

Approximately 40 area residents and property owners attended the meeting at Mount Si High School. King County and Snoqualmie staff presented the findings of the capacity analysis, preliminary recommendations for UGA changes based on these findings and public comments from the March 22nd meeting, and a set of draft policies to guide future annexation and development within the areas recommended for addition to the UGA. All public comments were officially recorded by a court reporter. Public comments mirrored comments from the March 22nd meeting, primarily focussing on the potential impacts of future development decisions related to the expansion of Snoqualmie Ridge. Many of the comments helped expand and shape the proposed policies included in the subarea plan to guide future annexation and development review processes.

There were also a number of comments about one of the draft UGA revisions presented at the meeting. At the March 22nd meeting, a number of residents in the Snoqualmie Hills neighborhood south and west of City limits recommended removing the north half of Section 36, Township 24, Range 7 from the existing UGA. The draft UGA revisions presented at the April 5 meeting included removal of approximately 172 acres from the UGA in Section 36. A number of property owners within this area did not agree with the draft proposal.

At the close of the meeting, staff requested that in order to incorporate all public comments into the Executive Recommended Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan, all additional comments be submitted by April 19.

Recommendations
Following the completion of the public comment period, comments were incorporated into the final recommended changes to the UGA, and the recommended policies were refined. The complete set of recommendations is included in Section IV. Recommendations.

Existing Conditions Return to:  Table of Contents

1994 Capacity Analysis in the City of Snoqualmie and the UGA

Following the adoption of the Countywide Planning Policies and the subsequent regional discussion about the distribution of forecasted growth, the City of Snoqualmie undertook an analysis to determine if their UGA provided sufficient development capacity to meet their target range for potential new households. It is important to note the distinction between the "capacity" and the "target," and how they relate to each other. "Capacity" is a prediction of how many new homes could eventually be built under the existing zoning, after subtracting lands too environmentally constrained to be developed, and applying a factor to account for the amount of land that would be consumed by new roads or utilities. A "market factor" is also added into the equation, to help predict how many new homes could be expected to be built within a set timeframe. Actual capacity may never be achieved due to a variety of factors - a change in the housing market, the willingness of a property owner to develop their land, continuation of an existing use instead of redevelopment, or an inability of the area to receive urban services in a cost-effective manner. The "target" that each jurisdiction must plan to accommodate is something less than its capacity. The target is an individual jurisdiction's allocated share of the new household growth projected by the Washington State Office of Financial Management for the twenty year period of 1992 to 2012. Each jurisdiction is responsible for planning to accommodate its allocated target. Given those same factors noted above - the market, the development goals of property owners and the availability of services - available capacity must be greater than the target to ensure the target can in fact be achieved.

In 1994, Snoqualmie assessed their ability to accommodate the CPP-established 20-year growth target of 1942 to 3625 new households. The 2000 units of the Snoqualmie Ridge project were used to estimate 20-year population growth in that planning subarea. The analysis for the rest of the City and UGA was based on a forecast of the 20-year population growth. Historic and forecasted growth rates for the Snoqualmie Valley were used to provide low and high estimates of population growth. A rate of 2% per year was used for the low estimate and a rate of 4% per year was used for the high estimate. These growth rates were based on 1990 population forecasts by the Puget Sound Council of Governments (now known as the Puget Sound Regional Council) of 2% for the years 1990 to 2020 within population Forecast Area Zone (FAZ) 6500, the 1970 to 1980 historic growth rate of 4% for FAZ 6500, and the1980 to1990 growth rate of 4.3% for North Bend. Including anticipated new households in Snoqualmie Ridge, the calculated 20-year population growth range for Snoqualmie was determined to be 8415 to 10,040 new people.

To determine household targets, the high and low population growth figures were divided by an average household size of 2.5 people. A 5% vacancy factor was then added to come up with a low-high range for target households. The calculated target range, including the 2000 households planned for Snoqualmie Ridge, was determined to be 2570 to 3255 new households.

A capacity analysis was then completed for each planning subarea to determine whether there was sufficient unconstrained acreage within the UGA to accommodate the target. General assumptions were made regarding environmental constraints, already developed land, land needed for public purposes, development densities and market factors. It was determined that there was capacity to accommodate 4,034 new dwelling units, sufficient to cover both the City's high target of 3,255 new households and the high end of the CPP target range of 3625 new households. The City target fell within the CPP target range, and was therefore determined to be consistent.

2001 Capacity Re-Evaluation for City of Snoqualmie and UGA

The existing incorporated area and the unincorporated expansion area that comprise the City of Snoqualmie's UGA are divided into seven subareas for planning purposes: the Snoqualmie Ridge Planning Area, the Snoqualmie Falls Planning Area, the Historic Snoqualmie Planning Area, the Meadowbrook Planning Area, the Rattlesnake Ridge Planning Area, the Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area, and the Mill Planning Area. The Historic Snoqualmie, Meadowbrook and Snoqualmie Ridge Planning areas lie completely within the current City boundaries. The Rattlesnake Ridge and Snoqualmie Falls Planning Areas contain both already incorporated and unincorporated lands. The Snoqualmie Hills and Mill Planning Areas are located entirely within the unincorporated portion of Snoqualmie's UGA.

Snoqualmie Ridge Planning Area
As noted above, capacity within the Snoqualmie Ridge Planning Area was determined based on the Snoqualmie Agreement and subsequent approval of the Snoqualmie Ridge Mixed Use Final Plan, which allowed for a maximum of 2000 new households.

Snoqualmie Falls Planning Area
The Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan attributed a capacity of 932 households to this planning area. 700 of these households were attributed to the Falls Crossing site, a large mixed-use zoned property within the Snoqualmie Falls Planning Area. With the conservation purchase of the majority of this land, most of this capacity will be removed. A Mixed Use Final Plan has been approved for the remaining portion of the Falls Crossing property south of the Snoqualmie Parkway, and allows for a maximum of 90 units to be constructed. As few as 30-40 units could be constructed there if the applicant exercises the option to develop a portion of the project site for commercial rather than residential uses. The remaining estimated capacity was attributed to land owned by the owners of the Salish Lodge. Based on preliminary discussions with the landowner, the City anticipates a development proposal for approximately 100 dwelling units. As a result of recent land use decisions and discussion with property owners, the capacity available in the Snoqualmie Falls Planning Area appears to have dropped from an initial estimate of 932 households to 190 households.

Historic Snoqualmie Planning Area
The Historic Snoqualmie Planning Area includes the majority of the 600+ households that were in existence at the time the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan was adopted, prior to development on Snoqualmie Ridge. Little capacity exists in this planning area because the land is either already developed, constrained by wetlands or streams, in the 100-year floodway where no new residential construction is allowed, or in the 100-year floodplain, where new subdivision is limited to one unit per five acres.

Meadowbrook Planning Area
Little capacity exists within the Meadowbrook Planning Areas. The vast majority is comprised of lands designated for permanent open space, including portions of Meadowbrook Farm and Three Forks Natural Area, and the Mount Si Golf Course. The Planning Area also includes the Snoqualmie Elementary and Middle School properties. While there are 62 acres of residential land within the Meadowbrook Planning area, this land is within the 100 year floodway, where no new households are allowed.

Mill Planning Area
The Mill Planning Area includes approximately 100 acres designated as Planned Residential and was attributed a capacity for 210 households. It is now believed that because of the location of this area at the extreme eastern edge of the UGA, adjacent the Weyerhaeuser Mill Site and the large Glacier NW gravel operation property, it is highly unlikely that area would annex and develop within the 2012 planning timeframe.

Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area
The Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area was attributed the most new capacity outside of Snoqualmie Ridge: 850 new households. This estimate, however, was based on a number of assumptions regarding developable area and market availability that have been found to be incorrect. Existing mapped information from the King County Sensitive Areas Folio was used as the basis for determining unconstrained acreage. While more detailed on-the-ground mapping has not occurred, field reconnaissance has revealed that much more of the area is constrained due to topography and wetlands. In addition, there are clusters of developed 5-acre lots separating potentially developable areas, hindering the extension of public services and roads. The area is currently served by a tangled web of private dirt or gravel roads. Also more apparent is the disinterest of many of the property owners to ever annex to the City, instead preferring a permanently rural status, with large buffers from any future urban development. Based on sales prices in the area, it appears that 5 to10 acre properties are quite marketable and profitable as rural residential estates.

The Johnson Heights portion of the Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area is primarily developed with a range of residential densities, and includes the Snoqualmie Hospital. While this area does not have substantial new capacity, it is currently served by Snoqualmie's water system, and recent studies indicate it will soon need to be served by Snoqualmie's sewer system.

Based on this information, the capacity re-evaluation of the Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area indicates initial estimates were overstated by a factor of 2 or 3. The new estimate for capacity in the planning area is 305 new households.

Rattlesnake Ridge Planning Area
Within the Rattlesnake Ridge Planning Area, the site of the former Snoqualmie Winery is within the incorporated boundaries of the City. Nine acres of the site is now owned by the City and will be maintained as permanent open space. All of the unincorporated land within Snoqualmie's UGA south of I-90 is designated Planned Commercial/Industrial, Open Space, or Forestry Resource, except for one tiny parcel designated Constrained Residential. All of these parcels are now in public ownership. There was no real residential capacity assigned to this Planning Area, therefore, the change to public ownership of land does not affect residential capacity. The City of Snoqualmie did attribute a capacity of 1,060 jobs to the Commercial/Industrial designated properties, however, the City's target of 7,490 new jobs was considerably higher than the CPP target range of 3100 to 5820 new jobs.

Updated Total Capacity Estimate

Table 1 Summary of Projected Capacity Shortfall
Planning Area	Estimated Comprehensive Plan Capacity	Re-evaluated Capacity	Capacity Shortfall
Snoqualmie Falls	923 households	Salish: 100 Falls Crossing: 90 190 households	923 capacity - 190 planned (733) shortfall
Historic Snoqualmie	48 households	48 households
Snoqualmie Ridge	2000 households	2000 Habitat for Humanity Homes: 50 2050 households	+50
Snoqualmie Hills	850 households	305 households	(545)
Rattlesnake Ridge	2 households	0 households	(2)
Meadowbrook	1 household	0 households	(1)
Mill	210 households	No residential expected by 2012	(210)
Total	4,034 estimated capacity	2,593 actual capacity to 2012	(1,441) shortfall

Table 1 shows the results of the new capacity re-evaluation and compares it to the 1994 estimated capacity. The total reduction in estimated capacity is 1441 new households, resulting in a total estimated capacity of 2593 new households, including those already built in Snoqualmie Ridge. The estimated capacity is just within the City of Snoqualmie's target range of 2570 to 3255 new households, and far less than the high end of the Countywide Planning Policy designated target of 3625 new households. As a result of changing circumstances since 1994 and a closer look at existing development patterns and land constraints, the City of Snoqualmie and its current UGA have significantly less capacity than previously assumed. Adjustments to the UGA are warranted to ensure sufficient capacity exists to accommodate Snoqualmie's household target.

Those planning areas with significantly less capacity than previously assumed could be either removed from the UGA, or retained in the UGA to provide additional capacity for future planning cycles as circumstances change.

Urban Growth Area Expansion Opportunities Return to:  Table of Contents

Snoqualmie Joint Planning Area

Since 1992, the Countywide Planning Policies have assumed that some portion of the Snoqualmie Joint Planning Area would eventually be added to Snoqualmie's UGA. It is logical, therefore, that the first area to consider for expansion of Snoqualmie's UGA is the designated Joint Planning Area. The area included within the JPA was based on two factors. As a party to the Snoqualmie Agreement which first established the JPA, WRECO has interest in expanding the Snoqualmie Ridge development. The JPA therefore includes their 521 acre ownership due south of the Snoqualmie Ridge development. The remaining portion of the JPA is comprised of a variety of property owners surrounding the undeveloped I-90/Highway 18 interchange. The City of Snoqualmie was concerned about the potential for commercial development of the interchange, and requested the area be included within the JPA to ensure they would be a partner in future planning and land use decisions for the interchange. WRECO Ownership Inclusion of the 521 acre WRECO ownership in Snoqualmie's UGA would assure any assigned capacity would be met. Subdivision approval for the Snoqualmie Ridge development is 75% of the way to its planned capacity, and demonstrates the efficiency of master planned community development. While the site has a number of environmental constraints in common with the Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area to the east, the site is undeveloped and in single ownership, allowing all of the development, roads and utilities to be designed to maximize use of the unconstrained area and avoid sensitive lands. Table 2 shows estimated capacity of the 521 WRECO property based on several planning assumptions described in the table.

Table 2 Joint Planning Area/WRECO
Total Acres	521 acres
UGA Designation
30 Percent Reduction - Undevelopable (Sensitive Areas)	156 acres
20 Percent Reduction - Roads, ROWs	104 acres
	261 acres
Developable	261 acres
20 Percent Reduction - Market Factor	208 acres
Dwelling Units at 4 du/ac	832 units

As described in the discussion about the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, addition of these lands to the UGA would lead to preservation of forest lands in the Raging River watershed, and would also assure funding obligations on the part of King County and Snoqualmie toward the purchase of the Falls Crossing site would be partially offset by WRECO.

JPA Lands Surrounding the Interchange
When the JPA was first established in 1990, the majority of the property around the interchange was in private ownership. Since that time, many of the larger parcels have been purchased by public and/or non-profit land conservation organizations with the intent of maintaining the interchange in forestry uses to support the Mountain to Sound Greenway goals. Those parcels still in private ownership near the interchange could provide additional capacity, but addition of any of these lands conflicts with other policy goals of King County and the City of Snoqualmie. First, the WRECO lands in the JPA are undeveloped, under single ownership and located immediately adjacent to existing roads and services constructed for the Snoqualmie Ridge development. Other properties include low density residential uses, a recreational vehicle park, publicly owned and protected forest lands, and a juvenile correction facility. The GMA promotes the orderly and contiguous expansion of urban services and growth. Limiting expansion of the UGA to include only the WRECO properties would facilitate orderly growth and development as the City could annex areas where high quality infrastructure exists or can easily be extended, and where comprehensive planning for development and conservation can be more easily accomplished. Master planning for this area would also ensure provision of adequate buffers to adjacent rural properties.

Second, Snoqualmie has been concerned for some time about the appropriate amount and location for additional commercial development within the City, particularly regarding retail sales and service business. Retail uses within the Snoqualmie Ridge Master Planned Community were limited to a 10 acre core within the Snoqualmie Ridge Neighborhood Center, where it could be designed as a pedestrian oriented, traditional small town main street compatible with the historic part of the City. Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan policies call for location of the principal commercial areas for the City along SR 202 in the historic district and within the Snoqualmie Ridge project. The City is currently working on a market analysis and development plan for the City to determine what types and how much retail development the City can support, how those uses should be distributed within the City, and specific strategies that can be implemented to ensure that the historic district retail area can be more viable as the City grows. The City does not want to promote commercial uses near the I-90 interchange that would compete with retail businesses in the City, and that would discourage travelers from coming into the City for goods and services. The City has planned for more than 110 acres for office/light industrial uses to accommodate over 5,000 jobs. Transportation oriented commercial uses are adequately provided for at Exit 31 and Exit 34 in North Bend.

Third, the interchange is within the Mountain to Sound Greenway, and both the King County and Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plans include policies supporting maintaining the scenic nature of the I-90 corridor. King County and the City pride themselves in their participation and collaboration with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust to advance the goals for protection and enhancement of open space and scenic resources within the I-90 corridor. Many of the policies within the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan, Community Character Element, reiterate the goals for the Greenway and direct the City to participate with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and other such trusts to protect the scenic nature of the I-90 corridor and the upper Snoqualmie Valley.

South of Snoqualmie

The area to the east of the JPA and due south of the existing UGA to I-90 share similar characteristics in terms of development pattern and environmental constraints to the Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area. For those reasons, this area has limited capacity and should not be considered for addition to the UGA.

North of Snoqualmie

Land to the north of the City and west of Snoqualmie Falls drops off steeply to the lower Snoqualmie River, then climbs steeply to designated forest lands. Lands north of the Mill Planning Area are similarly steep, climbing to designated forest lands. To the northeast of the City, Three Forks Natural Area forms a natural boundary, with landslide hazard lands beyond. Given the unlikely development in the Mill Planning Area within the UGA, future UGA expansion in this area is not recommended. There are no logical opportunities for UGA expansion of the City to the north of the existing City limits or UGA.

West of Snoqualmie

The area west of the current incorporated boundaries of the City is an extension of the Lake Alice Plateau. While the development pattern immediately adjacent to Lake Alice is fairly dense with narrow lots, the surrounding area is an established rural community. There is limited development capacity in the vicinity of the Lake due to the existing development pattern and the preference of the Lake Alice residents to retain a permanent rural status. WRECO owns 169 acres north of the established Lake Alice community, and due west of the existing Snoqualmie Ridge development. The most logical access to these lands is through the City. WRECO is interested in expanding Snoqualmie Ridge to these so-called Northwest Properties, and as discussed above, as these properties are undeveloped and in single ownership, the development can be designed to maximize use of the site and achieve capacity assigned to it. The Northwest Properties surround a 40 acre parcel owned by the Snoqualmie School District. If the Northwest Properties were added to the UGA, the school site would be as well. The capacity re-evaluation assumes the site will be used for a new high school. If it is not, it is likely that the site would be accommodated elsewhere within the UGA, at no net change to the total capacity. Using the same assumptions as for the 521 Acre WRECO ownership in the JPA, and assuming the school site is used for a school, Table 3 shows the estimated capacity of all 209 acres.

Table 3 Northwest Properties
Total Acres	209 acres
UGA Designation
Sensitive areas	35 acres
Park	2 acres
High School Site	40 acres
20 Percent Reduction - Roads, ROWs	26 acres
Developable	106 acres
20 Percent Reduction - Market Factor	85 acres
Dwelling Units at 4 du/ac	339 units

As described in the discussion about the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, addition of these lands to the UGA would lead to preservation of lands surrounding the regional trail system, contribution by WRECO of $1 million toward construction of a trail bridge across the upper Snoqualmie River, and would also assure funding obligations on the part of King County and Snoqualmie toward the purchase of the Falls Crossing site would be partially offset by WRECO.

Potential Capacity Corrections

Table 4 shows that addition of WRECO lands within the JPA and the Northwest Properties can offset the capacity shortfall determined through the capacity re-evaluation.

Table 4 Summary of 2012 Capacity with UGA Additions
Planning Area	Re-Evaluated Capacity (Existing UGA)	Potential New Capacity (Including UGA Additions)	Total
Snoqualmie Falls	190		190
Historic Snoqualmie	48		48
Snoqualmie Ridge	2,050	268* Habitat for Humanity Homes: 30 298	2,348
Snoqualmie Hills	305		305
Rattlesnake Ridge	0	0	0
Meadowbrook	0	0	0
Mill	0	0	0
JPA (WRECO)		832#	832
NW Properties		339#	339
Total	2,593 actual capacity to 2012	1,469 additional households	4,062
* As described in Section I. Background and Purpose, the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, the City is currently considering an amendment to the Snoqualmie Ridge Mixed Use Final Plan that would add an additional 268 residential units. If approved, this would increase the capacity of the Snoqualmie Ridge Planning Area by 268 units.   # The development capacity assumptions and rationale used in this table are for capacity planning purposes only, and should not be construed as pre-judging approval of any pending or future specific development applications. Further, specific allocations and/or locations of residential units or jobs are subject to the relevant development approval processes and may or may not occur as estimated in this table.

Given the new estimates of available capacity in the City of Snoqualmie and its current UGA, addition of the WRECO lands in the JPA and the Northwest Properties is appropriate to ensure the City of Snoqualmie's 2012 household target can be achieved.

As noted earlier, available capacity is necessarily greater than the established target as not all developable lands will be developed within the timeframe of the target. In addition, Snoqualmie may experience a somewhat increased rate of growth due to circumstances in neighboring North Bend. The City of North Bend has been in a nearly continuous development moratorium since 1996, and resolution does not appear to be imminent. The City of North Bend's sewage treatment system needs to be expanded to serve new growth, but the City must first expand its water right to ensure sufficient water to operate an expanded sewage treatment system is available. North Bend has capacity that may not be achievable for some time, and the addition of capacity in Snoqualmie can help alleviate this shortfall.

Recommendations Return to:  Table of Contents

Based on the direction of the Countywide Planning Policies and the King County Comprehensive Plan to resolve planning issues in the Joint Planning Area, the 2001 re-evaluation of the capacity of the City of Snoqualmie and its UGA, and the opportunities presented by the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative to preserve the Falls Crossing site as open space, to protect and enhance the regional trail system, and to ensure up to 9000 acres of land in the Raging River watershed is maintained in forestry uses in perpetuity, two phases of amendments to Snoqualmie's UGA are recommended. The recommended amendments to the UGA and changes in zoning to implement the UGA changes are shown on the following two maps: Recommended UGA Revisions; and Recommended Zoning Revisions.

View >> Map of Recommended UGA Revisions:
(.pdf file 1,105 KB)
View >> Map of Recommended Zoning Revisions:
(.pdf file 1,357 KB)

Urban Growth Area Revisions

Phase 1

1. Within the designated Snoqualmie Joint Planning Area, add the 521 acre WRECO ownership to the City's UGA. Rezone the property from RA-5 to UR to reflect the urban designation. This amendment should occur simultaneous with adoption of the subarea plan.
2. Recommend the Growth Management Planning Council amend the CPPs to reflect completion of the Snoqualmie joint planning process by deleting CPP FW-1, Step 8.
3. Consistent with B. above, recommend the Growth Management Planning Council amend the "Growth Management Planning Council Proposed Urban Growth Boundary Map" in the CPPs to eliminate the Joint Planning Area.

1. Recommend the Growth Management Planning Council amend the City's UGA and redesignate as Rural the unincorporated portion of the Rattlesnake Ridge Planning Area as the current ownership of all lands within the planning area precludes any future development.

   If these lands are removed from the UGA, they should be rezoned to RA-10 consistent with King County Comprehensive Plan R- 206 which requires the application of RA-10 zoning for lands within ¼ mile of the Forest Production District.

2. Recommend the Growth Management Planning Council amend the City's UGA to add the 209 acres comprised of the Northwest Properties and the Snoqualmie School District site.

To reflect completion of the Snoqualmie Joint Planning process, King County Comprehensive Plan policy U-205 should be deleted:

((U-205      King County and the City of Snoqualmie shall complete
                    a joint planning process consistent with Countywide
                    Planning Policy FW-1, Step 8b and LU-38.))

((Policy 8.C.5.1     Subject to the goal, objectives and policies for annexation set forth in this element, consider annexation proposals within the Joint Planning Area only after the joint planning process contemplated by the Interlocal Agreement dated February 12, 1990, among the City, King County, and Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company, has been completed and the Metropolitan King County Council has included such property in the Urban Growth Area designated for Snoqualmie.))

To guide review of future annexation and development proposals within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's UGA, adopt the following policies as amendments to the King County Comprehensive Plan. The City of Snoqualmie should also adopt the following policies as amendments to the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan:

1. Annexations of lands within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area shall not occur until completion of detailed planning, preparation and review of project-level Environmental Impact Statement(s), and a determination of required mitigations and amenities. The range of land uses to be allowed and the mitigations and amenities to be required shall be embodied in a binding Development Agreement between the City of Snoqualmie and the owners of proposed annexation lands.

2. The project-level Environmental Impact Statement(s) for lands within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area shall address aquifer recharge issues, and potential impacts to the water quality and quantity of Lake Alice, private wells in the Lake Alice and Snoqualmie Hills neighborhoods, and all streams that flow off-site.

3. Based on the findings of the Environmental Impact Statement(s), the Development Agreement between the City of Snoqualmie and the owners of proposed annexation lands in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area shall establish a program for long-term monitoring of the water quality and quantity of Lake Alice and the private wells in the Lake Alice and Snoqualmie Hills neighborhoods, and of all streams flowing off-site.

4. The Development Agreement shall also outline the remedies necessary if the monitoring program leads to findings that development activities on the annexation lands are the cause for adverse impacts to the water quality and/or quantity of Lake Alice and the private wells in the Lake Alice and Snoqualmie Hills neighborhoods, and of streams flowing off-site. The owners of the annexation lands shall be responsible for the monitoring program and correction of any impacts determined to have been caused by their development activities. Remedies may include connection to the public water system, or construction of alternative wells.

5. The project-level Environmental Impact Statement(s) for lands within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area shall address traffic safety issues, with a focus on safety concerns for rural homeowners dependent upon the southern stretch of the Snoqualmie Parkway for access to their homes. A range of alternatives to improve safety at the intersection of the Snoqualmie Parkway and SE 96th Street, including signalization, road widening and turn lanes shall be explored.

6. Annexations of lands within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area shall be subject to updated Comprehensive Water and Sanitary Sewer Plans to determine the full range of improvements landowners within the annexation will be required to provide.

7. A Drainage Master Plan shall be required for any new development of lands within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area. Storm water facility design shall adhere to the standards in the most recent update of the King County Design Manual, or of the Snoqualmie Storm Drainage Plan, whichever is the most stringent.

8. There shall be no road connections between the Phase 1 addition to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area and 356th SE in the Snoqualmie Hills Planning Area, unless future analysis determines a restricted emergency access is necessary for safety purposes.

9. There shall no be no road connections between the Phase 2 addition to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area and Lake Alice Road, unless future analysis determines a restricted emergency access for Lake Alice residents is necessary for safety purposes.

10. To protect the rural character of the neighborhoods surrounding the Phase 1 and Phase 2 additions to the City of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area, the Phase 1 and Phase 2 areas shall include buffers to all rural lands along their perimeter. The size and structure of each buffer area shall be determined based on the characteristics of the land and existing vegetation, and its ability to perform the following functions: visual screening; noise reduction; and minimization of blow down. Buffers may include constructed berms and new plantings if deemed necessary and appropriate to perform the required functions.

Policy Review Return to:  Table of Contents

The Washington State Growth Management Act and the local plans developed to implement the GMA provide guidance and direction for the development of the subarea plan recommendations. The following analysis confirms the consistency of the subarea plan's recommendations with applicable policies.

Washington State Growth Management Act

RCW 36.70A.020 lists the goals which guide the development of comprehensive plans. The first goal is:

Urban growth. Encourage development in urban areas where adequate public facilities and services exist or can be provided in an efficient manner.

(1) An Urban Growth Area may include territory that is located outside of a city only if such territory already is characterized by urban growth whether or not the urban growth area includes a city, or is adjacent to territory already characterized by urban growth, or is designated new fully contained community as defined by RCW 36.70A.350.
(2) Based upon the growth management population projection made for the county by the Office of Financial Management, the county and each city within the county shall include areas and density sufficient to permit the urban growth that is projected to occur in the county or city for the succeeding twenty-year period.
(3) Urban growth should be located first in areas already characterized by urban growth that have adequate existing public facility and service capacities to serve such development, second in areas already characterized by urban growth that will be served adequately by a combination of both existing public facilities and services and any additional needed public facilities and services that are provided by either public or private sources, and third in the remaining portions of the urban growth areas.

RCW 36.70A.130 guides amendment of comprehensive plans. Section (3) refers to amendments necessary to accommodate urban growth:

Each county that designates urban growth areas under RCW 36.70A.110 shall review, at least every ten years, its designated urban growth area or areas, and the densities permitted within both the incorporated and unincorporated portions of each urban growth area. In conjunction with this review by the county, each city located within an urban growth area shall review the densities permitted within its boundaries, and the extent to which the urban growth occurring within the county has located within each city and the unincorporated portions of the urban growth areas. The county comprehensive plan designating urban growth areas, and the densities permitted in the urban growth areas by the comprehensive plans of the county and each city located within the urban growth areas, shall be revised to accommodate the urban growth projected to occur in the county for the succeeding twenty-year period.

Countywide Planning Policies

The Countywide Planning Policies establish criteria for designating Urban Growth Areas consistent with the GMA.

FW-1, Step 4.       Following adoption of comprehensive plans, the Growth Management Planning Council or its successor shall review adopted household and employment target ranges and estimated capacity for each juris-diction to ensure sufficient capacity within the Urban Growth Area.
a.       Each jurisdiction shall report to the Growth Management Planning Council or its succes-sor the household and employment targets adopted in its comprehensive plan, and the estimated capacity for household and employment growth for the next 20 years. Juris-dictions contain-ing Urban and/or Manufacturing/Industrial Centers shall report household and employment target ranges both for Centers and areas outside Centers. Each juris-diction shall also evaluate the availability of infrastructure, as adopted in six-year capital improvement plans, to ensure that capacity is available to accommodate a six-year esti-mate of household and employment growth.
b.       The Growth Management Planning Council or its successor shall review growth targets and capacity for each juris-diction to assure that local targets are within the adopted ranges and Countywide capacity is sufficient to meet 20-year growth targets. If a dis-crepancy exists between growth targets and capacity, either within an individual compre-hensive plan or for the County as a whole, the Growth Management Planning Council or its successor shall recommend amendments to Countywide Planning Policies or local plans to ensure that growth targets can be achieved by planned zoning and infrastructure capacity.

FW-1, Step 8.b.       By 1998, all of the joint planning areas identified in the 1994 CPPs have be resolved, except for the City of Snoqualmie. Joint planning for any potential additional annexation of land to the City of Snoqualmie shall be conducted consistent with the terms of the 1990 Interlocal Agreement between King County and the City of Snoqualmie. Future Countywide Planning Policy amendments regarding the Snoqualmie joint planning area consistent with the 1990 Interlocal Agreement are not subject to ratification.

LU-7

Designated Rural Areas are considered to be permanent and shall not be redesignated to an Urban Growth Area until reviewed pursuant to the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.130 (3)) and policy FW-1. Future growth should be accommodated to the maximum extent feasi-ble by efficient use of existing urban land within the Urban Growth Area. Annexation of Rural Areas to cities shall be prohibited. When annexation of Rural Areas is necessary to link two Urban Areas, that intervening Rural Area shall be designated as permanent urban separator at low rural densities.

Analysis: This subarea planning process constitutes review pursuant to RCW 36.70A.130(3) and policy FW-1. The capacity analysis for the City of Snoqualmie and its UGA indicates that urban growth cannot be accommodated efficiently within the existing UGA.

FW-12

The Urban Growth Area shall provide enough land to accommodate future urban develop-ment. Policies to phase the provision of urban services and to ensure efficient use of the growth capacity within the Urban Growth Area shall be instituted.

Analysis: Consistent with FW-12, any land added to Snoqualmie's UGA will be zoned Urban Reserve (UR), which requires clustered development at a density of one home per five acres, in order to prevent development that would preclude future urban development. The City of Snoqualmie requires the completion of an Annexation Implementation Plan outlining allowed urban densities and necessary urban services within the planning subarea prior to annexation of that portion of land in their UGA, to ensure urban development can and will be achieved.

LU-26		The lands within Urban Growth Areas shall be characterized by urban development. The Urban Growth Area shall accommodate the 20-year projection of household and employment growth with a full range of phased urban governmental services. The Countywide Planning Policies shall establish the Urban Growth Area based on the following criteria:
		Include all lands within existing cities, including cities in the Rural Area and their designated expansion areas; The Growth Management Planning Council recognizes that the Bear Creek Master Plan Developments (MPDs) are sub-ject to an ongoing review process under the adopted Bear Creek Community Plan and recognizes these properties as urban under these Countywide Planning Policies. If the applications necessary to implement the MPDs are denied by King County or not pursued by the applicant(s), then the property subject to the MPD shall be redes-ignated rural pur-suant to the Bear Creek Community Plan. Nothing in these Planning Policies shall limit the continued review and implementation through existing applications, capital improve-ments appropriations or other approvals of these two MPDs as new communi-ties under the Growth Management Act; Not include rural land or unincorporated agricultural, or forestry lands designated through the Countywide Planning Policies plan process; Include only areas already characterized by urban development which can be efficiently and cost effectively served by roads, water, sanitary sewer and storm drainage, schools and other urban governmental services within the next 20 years; Do not extend beyond natural boundaries, such as watersheds, which impede provi-sion of urban services; Respect topographical features which form a natural edge such as rivers and ridge lines; and Include only areas which are sufficiently free of environmental constraints to be able to sup-port urban growth without major environmental impacts unless such areas are desig-nated as an urban separator by interlocal agreement between jurisdictions.

Analysis: The 2001 re-evaluation of Snoqualmie's Urban Growth Area indicates it cannot accommodate the 20-year projection of household growth with a full range of phased urban governmental services. The redesignation of some rural lands to UGA is necessary. WRECO-owned lands within the JPA and to the northwest of the City can be served efficiently and cost effectively by a full range of facilities and services, are located adjacent to and topographically, on the same plateau as existing urban growth. These properties do contain environmentally constrained areas, but the master planning process which would be used to determine how the land would be developed allows for efficiency in development while avoiding constrained areas, and the opportunity to evaluate and control for impacts.

LU-28

Within the Urban Growth Area, growth should be directed as follows: a) first, to Centers and urban-ized areas with existing infrastructure capacity; b) second, to areas which are already urban-ized such that infrastructure improvements can be easily extended; and c) last, to areas requir-ing major infra-structure improvements.

Analysis: Infrastructure improvements can be easily extended to the WRECO-owned lands within the JPA and to the northwest of the City, while they cannot be as easily extended to other areas currently within Snoqualmie's UGA.

LU-38

In recognition that cities in the Rural Area are generally not contiguous to the Countywide Urban Growth Area, and to protect and enhance the options cities in Rural Areas provide, these cities shall be located within Urban Growth Areas. These Urban Growth Areas generally will be islands sepa-rate from the larger Urban Growth Area located in the western portion of the County. Each city in the Rural Area and King County and the Growth Management Planning Council shall work cooperatively to establish an Urban Growth Area for that city. The Urban Growth Area for cities in the Rural Area shall: Include all lands within existing cities in the Rural Area; Be sufficiently free of environmental constraints to be able to support rural city growth without major environmental impacts; Be contiguous to city limits; Have boundaries based on natural boundaries, such as watersheds, topo-graphical fea-tures, and the edge of areas already characterized by urban development; Be maintained in large lots at densities of one home per five acres or less with mandatory clus-tering provisions until such time as the city annexes the area; Be implemented through interlocal agreements among King County, the cities and special pur-pose districts, as appropriate, to ensure that annexation is phased, nearby open space is pro-tected and development within the Urban Growth Area is compatible with sur-round-ing Rural and Resource Areas; and Not include designated Forest or Agricultural Production District lands unless the conser-va-tion of those lands and continued resource-based use, or other compatible use, is assured.

Analysis: The recommended UGA revisions:
a. retain all lands currently within the City;
b. include environmentally constrained lands, but because the lands are undeveloped and under single ownership, development can be designed to avoid sensitive areas, and mitigations can be comprehensively determined to protect sensitive areas from impacts;
c. are contiguous to City limits;
d. are adjacent to areas characterized by urban growth, and are located on the same plateau as urban development;
e. include a requirement to rezone all lands added to the UGA to UR, which requires clustered development at one home per 5 acres in order to prevent development that would otherwise preclude future urban development;
f. consistent with the Snoqualmie Agreement, the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan's annexation policies require phased development, provision of open space and protection of nearby rural uses from the impacts of urban development;
g. do not include resource lands.

2000 King County Comprehensive Plan

The King County Comprehensive Plan provides detailed direction for planning in unincorporated areas and in conjunction with cities.

RP-102

King County shall actively solicit citizen participation from individuals and organized groups, including Unincorporated Area Councils, in the development and implementation of its plans.

Analysis: King County actively solicited citizen participation in the Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan process (see Section I. Background and Purpose, Development of the Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan). There are no Unincorporated Area Councils in the vicinity of the City of Snoqualmie.

RP-103

King County shall seek comment during its planning processes from federally-recognized tribes.

Analysis: The Snoqualmie Tribe has been notified of all public meetings related to the subarea planning process, and staff have offered to attend tribal council meetings at their request.

RP-106

The Urban Growth Area line is considered long-term and can only be amended consistent with Countywide Planning Policy FW-1, and Comprehensive Plan Policy I-304.

Analysis: This subarea planning process constitutes review pursuant to CPP FW-1. Comprehensive Plan policy I-304 is the basis for Title 20 of the King County Code, described above in Section 1. Background and Purpose, Subarea Planning Process. Title 20 allows amendment of the King County Comprehensive Plan through the initial adoption of a subarea plan, which may include a change to a UGA when within a JPA. Title 20 also allows substantive changes to the King County Comprehensive Plan every two years if "the purposes of the King County Comprehensive Plan are not being achieved as evidenced by official population growth forecasts, benchmarks, trends, and other relevant data." The capacity re-evaluation for the City of Snoqualmie provides evidence that the purposes of the King County Comprehensive Plan are not being achieved, and another change to the UGA is warranted in 2002.

RP-307

Proposed amendments each calendar year shall be considered by the Metropolitan King County Council concurrently so that the cumulative effect of the proposals can be determined. All proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments should include the following elements, any of which may be included in environmental review documents: A detailed statement of what is proposed to be changed and why; A statement of anticipated impacts of the change, including the geographic area affected and issues presented; A demonstration of why existing Comprehensive Plan guidance should not continue in effect or why existing criteria no longer apply; A statement of how the amendment complies with the Growth Management Act's goals and specific requirements; A statement of how the amendment complies with the Countywide Planning Policies; A statement of how functional plans and capital improvement programs support the change; and Public review of the recommended change, necessary implementation (including area zoning if appropriate) and alternatives.

Analysis:

1. This subarea plan recommends changes to the City of Snoqualmie's UGA based on a capacity shortfall in the City's current UGA, and to provide protection for resource lands surrounding the City.
2. The geographic area affected is shown on Map 2 and the map in Appendix A. The recommended changes would add a total of 516 acres to Snoqualmie's UGA to the south and the northwest of the current City limits, and bring the capacity of Snoqualmie's UGA to the same level assumed in 1994. The areas most directly impacted are the Lake Alice neighborhood to the west of the City, and the Snoqualmie Hill neighborhood to the southeast. Analysis of all potential impacts of future development within areas added to the UGA, and determination of appropriate mitigations for such impacts, will be conducted by the City through a series of processes with full public involvement.

   The recommended changes will provide sufficient growth capacity to make up for the capacity shortfall discovered in Snoqualmie's existing UGA. The recommended changes will also allow for actualization of the land preservation opportunities outlined in the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, which will lead to the protection of nearly 10,000 acres in open space and forestry.

3. The King County Comprehensive Plan is implemented by the recommended changes. Policy U-205 directs King County and the City of Snoqualmie to complete a joint planning process, and the recommended revisions are consistent with the criteria for Rural City UGAs in CPP LU-38.
4. The revisions are consistent with RCW 36.70A.130 which call for joint county/city review to ensure the UGA can accommodate the 20-year growth projections.
5. The revisions are consistent with Countywide Planning Policies FW-1, Step 8.b. which calls for resolution of Snoqualmie's Joint Planning Area, and FW-12 which requires the UGA to contain enough land to accommodate future urban development.
6. The recommended additions to Snoqualmie's UGA are areas where City services can easily be extended, facilitating orderly growth. Prior to annexation of any lands added to Snoqualmie's UGA, the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan requires approval of complete updates of all utility plans, and approval of an annexation implementation plan to determine all needed infrastructure improvements.
7. Public involvement in the development of the subarea plan is documented in Section I. Background and Purpose, Development of the Snoqualmie Urban Growth Area Subarea Plan, and continues through King County and Snoqualmie City Council review of the subarea plan.

   The subarea plan recommends application of the UR zone to lands added to the UGA to ensure future urban development is not precluded. The subarea plan also recommends the application of RA-10 zoning to the lands in the Rattlesnake Planning Area recommended for removal from the UGA.

RP-308

Proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan policies should be accompanied by any changes to development regulations, modifications to capital improvement programs, subarea, neighborhood, and functional plans required for implementation so that regulations will be consistent with the Plan.

Analysis: Lands added to the UGA as result of this subarea plan will also be rezoned from RA-5 to Urban Reserve (UR), which requires clustered development at a density of one home per five acres in order to prevent development that would preclude future urban development. Prior to annexation of such lands, the City of Snoqualmie will complete all relevant modifications to capital improvement plans, subarea plans and functional plans required for implementation.

Lands removed from the UGA as a result of this subarea plan will also be rezoned from UR to RA-10, consistent with a Rural land use designation.

U-205

King County and the City of Snoqualmie shall complete a joint planning process consistent with Countywide Planning Policy FW-1, Step 8b and LU-38.

Analysis: This subarea planning process implements U-205. Once the subarea plan is adopted, policy U-205 should be deleted.

R-401

The rural, incorporated cities and their Urban Growth Areas shall be con-sidered part of the Urban Growth Area for purposes of planning land uses and facility needs. King County should work with rural cities to encourage the provision of affordable housing, to minimize the impacts of new development on the surrounding rural land and to plan for growth consis-tent with long-term protection of significant historic resources, and the surrounding Rural Area and Natural Resource Lands.

Analysis: This subarea plan includes recommended policies to guide future annexations and development in Snoqualmie's UGA. A primary intent of the policies is to minimize the impacts of new development on surrounding rural land. In addition, the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative seeks to provide long-term protection of the historic Snoqualmie Falls, and preserve long-term forestry uses north and south of the City.

R-402

Within Rural City Urban Growth Areas, the following uses shall be permitted until the area annexes to the city: Residential development at a density of 1 home per 5 acres or less with mandatory clustering; and Non residential development such as commercial and industrial as determined through previous subarea plans.

Analysis: Lands added to the UGA as result of this subarea plan will also be zoned Urban Reserve (UR), which requires clustered development at a density of one home per five acres, in order to prevent development that would preclude future urban development.

P-116

King County supports the Mountains to Sound Greenway along the Interstate-90 corridor. The County should work to complete the continuous block of public ownership along this greenway which forms the "backbone" of a countywide habitat network. Closure of the gap should be accomplished through acquisition or coordination with other pub-lic and private agencies.

Analysis: The goal of the Mountain to Sound Greenway is to preserve the scenic value and working natural resource landscape in the I-90 corridor. In support of the Greenway, urban development at the I-90/Highway 18 interchange is not recommended. Further, the recommended addition to the UGA within the City of Snoqualmie's JPA helps accomplish the goals of the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative, which would result in preservation of the 9000 acres of privately owned land in the Raging River watershed in permanent working forests.

CP-909

King County will support development within the Snoqualmie Valley cities of Duvall, Carnation, Snoqualmie and North Bend and annexation and development of lands within their expansion areas, when each city demonstrates that its wastewater and storm water treatment systems for the existing and proposed city jurisdiction will not degrade the water quality of the Snoqualmie River and its tributaries. (SQP-58)

Analysis: The City of Snoqualmie has permitted and constructed a new wastewater treatment plant to serve its projected growth. The City's approved sewer comprehensive plan and wastewater treatment plant engineering report include provisions for expansion of this wastewater treatment plant, when necessary, to accommodate projected growth within the City. The City has initiated a process with the Department of Ecology to consider re-rating the City's existing wastewater treatment plant based on performance and loading to assess the potential for additional approved capacity within the existing plant configuration. The City has also commenced work on a wastewater treatment plant engineering report update to assess proposed expansion to the City's existing wastewater treatment system. Drainage planning and construction will be required to meet all requirements of the latest version of the King County Surface Water Manual. This will ensure protection of the water quality of the Snoqualmie River and its tributaries.

CP-910

King County will not support Snoqualmie Valley cities' annexations into expansion areas until each city has adopted mechanisms to reduce or eliminate flood hazards within its jurisdiction. (SQP-59)

Analysis: The City has adopted flood hazard regulations (SMC 15.12) that prohibit fill in the floodplain, require all new residential construction to elevate the first floor at least one foot above the base flood elevation, and require all new commercial construction to either be elevated or flood proofed. In addition, the City amended the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan to redesignate residential properties in the floodplain to "Constrained Residential" and added policies to limit density within such areas to one unit per five acres. These policies are currently being implemented through an interim control ordinance. The City participates in the FEMA Community Rating System and has a current rating of 6, equal to the County, and has been very successful is receiving grants for elevation or purchase of flood prone residential properties.

CP-912

King County will not support any annexations by a Snoqualmie Valley city until it can be demonstrated that building permits have been approved at urban densities for development of at least one-half of the environmentally unconstrained land in all the annexations by the rural city since January 1990. Exceptions to this policy may be considered by King County subject to an interlocal agreement and where all other applicable policies herein are satisfied. (SQP-62)

Analysis: The only area Snoqualmie has annexed since 1990 is the Snoqualmie Ridge area. All permits related to the Snoqualmie Ridge development have been for a range of urban uses at a mix of urban densities.

CP-913

The county shall oppose an annexation by a Snoqualmie Valley city unless it lies within approved service areas as designated by comprehensive plans for water and sewer, is accompanied by all the proposed amendments to extend water and sewer comprehensive plan, or the area is already adequately served by such utilities. (SQP-63)

Analysis: The City will amend its water and sewer comprehensive plans to include any area added to the urban growth area prior to approving any annexation request within that area. Amendments to the water and sewer comprehensive plans will also be made to address areas removed from the City's urban growth area.

CP-921

Until a long-term solution to preventing flood damages in the City of Snoqualmie is agreed to by King County and the City of Snoqualmie, King County will support annexations in expansion areas when consistent with all appropriate policies herein and when higher residential densities can be achieved, municipal services can be provided, and river water quality will not be degraded. (SQP-77)

Analysis: The City has been working closely with King County, FEMA and the Corps of Engineers for many years to define and implement a CORPS 205 flood damage reduction project. Environmental review has been completed and funding allocated from the federal government for this project. In addition, the City amended the Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan to redesignate residential properties in the floodplain to "Constrained Residential" and added policies to limit density within such areas to one unit per five acres. These policies are currently being implemented through an interim control ordinance. The City participates in the FEMA Community Rating System and has a current rating of 6, equal to the County, and has been very successful is receiving grants for elevation or purchase of flood prone residential properties.

1994 Snoqualmie Vicinity Comprehensive Plan, as amended

Policies addressing future annexation to the City are contained in Element 8 - Annexation Policies. These policies were developed to provide consistency with GMA goals and requirements and the Countywide Planning Policies and to address specific city concerns regarding planning and phasing of growth within the UGA.

Goal 8:       Ensure through appropriate temporal phasing of future annexations within the Urban Growth Area that the City has an adequate quantity of appropriately zoned land to accommodate its targeted population and employment such that there is neither more nor less land available at any time than is necessary to meet targets and to facilitate the orderly and sensitive integration of property into the city, in a manner consistent with the Growth Management Act, the goals, objectives and policies of the City's Comprehensive Plan, and the King County Countywide Planning Policies.

Objective 8.B.1       Provide for orderly growth and development at a reasonable rate to meet population and employment targets within the urban growth area, consistent with state law, city comprehensive plans and policies, and countywide planning policies.

Policies:
8.B.1.1       Subject to Objective 8.B.4, do not accept any annexation proposal for consideration unless it meets all of the following criteria:
1.       the proposed annexation area is located within the City's urban growth area.
2.       the annexation of additional land to the City has been determined necessary and appropriate in an annual evaluation cycle conducted pursuant to Objective 8.B.2 to meet the population or employment target within the two years next following the evaluation;
3.       the proposed annexation has been determined to be a high priority in an annual evaluation cycle conducted pursuant to Objective 8.B.2; and
4.       the proposed annexation area is not significantly larger than the quantity of land determined to be required in an annual evaluation cycle conducted pursuant to Objective 8.B.2; or
5.       the proposed annexation falls within one of the special circumstances enumerated in Policies 8.B.4.1 through 8.B.4.4.

8.B.1.2       In addition to the requirements of 8.B.1.1, only accept annexation proposals that meet all of the following criteria:
1.       the annexation represents a logical extension of the city's boundaries and contributes to more unified areawide planning, or the boundaries of the annexation area allow existing city boundaries to be made more uniform through the elimination of irregular boundary lines and unincorporated islands of land;
2.       adequate municipal services exist to serve the area, or a plan reasonably susceptible of being accomplished, including funding, is in place;
3.       the boundaries of the proposed annexation are drawn in a manner that makes the provision of public services geographically and economically feasible;
4.       the annexation proposal includes a legally binding commitment to fairly and equitably share on a pro-rata basis the cost of future public and institutional needs, such as: parks and open space, schools, fire protection services, roads, utilities and public facilities; and
5.       the annexation proposal includes a commitment to participate in overall flood damage reduction efforts of the City

Objective 8.B.2       Conduct annual evaluations to determine whether additional annexations are necessary or appropriate to meet population or employment targets within the two years next following the annual evaluation, and set priorities for areas to be annexed.

Policies:

8.B.2.1       Conduct an annual evaluation by City Council, on recommendation of the Planning Commission, as to whether it is necessary and appropriate to annex additional land to the City, and if so, what quantity of land. Provide for City Staff support in assembling and analyzing data to assist the City Council and Planning Commission in their evaluation.

8.B.2.2       Make a determination whether additional land should be annexed to accommodate the yearly increment of population as projected in Table 10.1. This determination should be based on an analysis of data relating to actual population growth relative to projected growth for the two years next following the date of the evaluation, with due consideration as to whether the actual growth is within the range set forth in Table 10.1, and with due consideration for development projects in process.

8.B.2.3       If it is determined that additional land should be annexed, determine the additional population to be accommodated and the net quantity of developable land required for such population.

8.B.2.4       Set priorities annually for areas to be annexed based upon location to avoid "leap-frog" annexations, availability of existing infrastructure to serve the area, and the difficulty and cost of extending infrastructure.

Objective 8.B.3       Maintain effective control over growth and development within the urban growth area and encourage consistency with comprehensive plan goals and policies by requiring more specific area planning prior to annexation.

Policies:

8.B.3.1       Require the petitioner, whether the City or property owner, to prepare an annexation implementation plan for the entire applicable planning prior to annexation of any individual property to the City. Prepare the annexation implementation plan prior to any particular petition or request for annexation, or in response to an individual annexation request. Ensure annexation of individual properties conform substantially to the policies of the annexation implementation plan. Require the preparation of a pre-annexation zoning regulation pursuant to the provisions of RCW 35A.14.330 and 340.

8.B.3.2       Annexation implementation plans are intended to implement, but not be part of, the City's comprehensive plan.

8.B.3.3       Annexation implementation plans are intended to be the general policy guide for development of any property proposed for annexation. Require the annexation implementation plan to portray proposed land uses; road and utility systems, including storm drainage; sites for public facilities and parks; and trail and open space systems. A mixed use final plan approved pursuant to Snoqualmie's Mixed Use Ordinance becomes the controlling document for subsequent development approvals for property in the Mixed Use Zone.

8.B.3.4       Ensure that annexation implementation plans conform with the applicable planning area policies identified in Section 8.C below.

8.B.3.5       Ensure annexation implementation plans promote a viable mix of residential, commercial, parks, open space and public land uses that are integrated into the community in a manner that preserves and enhances Snoqualmie's unique community character.

8.B.3.6       Annexation implementation plans may be amended in the process of review and approval of more specific final plans based upon information provided by environmental review, in response to changes over time in housing and employment needs, neighboring land uses and evolving City and King County policies.

8.B.3.7       Require all future development approvals, including mixed use final plan approvals, planned residential approvals, planned commercial approvals, subdivision approvals or other development approvals to conform substantially with the policies of the annexation implementation plan. A mixed use final plan approved pursuant to Snoqualmie's Mixed Use Ordinance will be the controlling document for subsequent development approvals for property in the Mixed Use Zone.

8.B.3.8       Where the area proposed for annexation abuts areas designated rural or resource by King County, require development within the annexation area be designed so that the rural and resource areas are buffered for protection from more intensive land uses.

8.B.3.9       When the planning area contains sensitive areas as defined by applicable ordinances, require the annexation implementation plan to include a sensitive areas study which addresses steep slopes, geologi