Rural Lands Planning Project - Purpose of the Project

The purpose of this update is to ensure that the county’s polices and regulations for the use and development of the rural lands accurately reflect the values and expectations of today’s county residents.

The policies are located in the Rural Lands Section of the Land Use Chapter of the Snohomish County Comprehensive Plan, General Policy Plan.

The county will follow six general steps to complete this project:

• Conduct an extensive outreach to rural stakeholders and the greater community to learn how citizens think the rural lands should look and function.  The purpose of this visual assessment is to inform an overall vision, or plan, for the rural lands.
• Examine the current policies and regulations to determine how they are, or are not, contributing to this vision.
• Identify new information that should be considered in this update (for example, environmental changes, water supply limitations, legal requirements).
• Develop proposals for changes to the county’s policies, zoning classifications, allowed uses and development regulations that will align the plan and regulations with the expressed preferences of citizens and new information.
• Bring the proposals to citizens for their feedback.
• Refine the proposals to reflect citizen feedback, and bring them forward to county decision makers for consideration.

The project is expected to take place over a 2 – 2 1/2 year timeframe.

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