Councilmembers heard three separate presentations on growth management as part of a Committee-of-the-Whole briefing: “Getting Back to the Big Picture: A Bird’s-Eye View of Managing Growth.” The committee was briefed on the evolution of the County’s Comprehensive Plan and how it has adapted to comply with the state Growth Management Act.

Development patterns have changed markedly in King County since the 1980s. In 1989, most growth and development occurred in the unincorporated areas. Unincorporated King County was the largest jurisdiction in Washington State, with a population of 600,000 comprising nearly 41 percent of King County residents. The county passed its first Comprehensive Plan in 1994 under the state Growth Management Act, shifting growth from the unincorporated areas to the urban areas, where there are the roads, water and sewers to support it. By 2004, 95.5 percent of King County's residential growth has occurred in the Urban Growth Area, with only 4.5 percent in the rural area.

“As we look toward 2025 with another 1.2 million people in Puget Sound, we need to build on the success of the Comprehensive Plan and ensure that our growth strategies focus on strengthening urban communities while protecting the farms, forests, watersheds and rural lands that compose the ‘wall of green’ between Seattle and the Cascade Range,” said Council Chair Larry Phillips.

“The idea never has been to inhibit growth, but to ensure that communities are ready to accommodate the impact of more people,” said Larry Gossett, chair of the Committee-of-the-Whole. “The best way to stop sprawl is to focus on creating neighborhoods that have the services, stores and programs that keep people out of their cars and in their communities. Today’s presentations showed a region working on a number of unique and exciting options to meeting growth and affordable housing needs for the people who will call King County home in the next quarter century.”

“King County is building a record of success in keeping growth in its appropriate place—within our urban areas,” said Councilmember Dow Constantine, chair of the Council’s Growth Management and Natural Resources Committee. “Our forests, farms, waterways and vibrant cities and towns will continue to attract new residents to this region. It’s up to us to ensure that growth does not destroy the very qualities that make this a desirable place to live.”

An example of accommodating growth was provided by Renton Planning Manager Rebecca Lind. She presented Renton’s award-winning program to focus transit, housing and economic development within Renton’s downtown corridor.

“Renton officials wanted to do more than adhere to the tenets of growth management,” said Councilmember Julia Patterson, whose district includes Renton. “They made a conscious effort to concentrate density in the urban core while ensuring these areas would have access to transit and other amenities. The result of this effort is the city’s rebirth—and a region that is now ready for both business and the jobs and people they bring.”

Bob Drewel, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Regional Council, gave members an update on VISION 2020, the long-range growth, economic, and transportation strategy for the central Puget Sound region. VISION 2020 was last revised in 1995 and is being updated to provide a comprehensive regional approach to managing growth through the year 2040. The strategy covers King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and their respective cities and towns.

Gene Duvernoy and Maryanne Tagney Jones of the Cascade Land Conservancy briefed members on their development of strategies to accommodate growth and economic development while protecting rural land, farming and forestry for the next 100 years, an initiative called the Cascade Agenda.