Island County may extend development moratorium

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 13, 2026

A development moratorium on semi-urban areas of unincorporated Island County may continue past its April sunset date.

This week, the three county commissioners informally decided during a workshop meeting to move forward with extending the emergency, 12-month moratorium for another six months because the adoption of the periodic comprehensive plan update is running late.

Before the commissioners can adopt the extension, they must hold a public meeting, which will occur on April 14.

Originally adopted in April 2025 and then amended in July, the measure prevents development in 11 areas zoned mixed-use Rural Areas of Intense Development, or RAIDS. Those areas are in Clinton, Ken’s Korner, Bayview, Greenbank, Cornet Bay and Deception Pass, as well as areas on Camano Island.

Currently, the moratorium expires in April. The extension will add six months — the timeframe prescribed in state law — but the commissioners can repeal it earlier, which they all agreed was likely.

Commissioners adopted the measure in a 2-1 vote in April of last year. The purpose of the moratorium was to temporarily pause land-use and building applications in mixed-use RAIDs to give planners time to develop new density and zoning regulations as part of the comprehensive plan and subsequent code update. As part of the update process, planners realized that the zones are significantly underutilized for housing.

In other words, the commissioners and planners want to preserve the potential for higher density development to meet the state requirement for housing.

The final comprehensive plan is scheduled for adoption at the end of June, but it will not go into effect immediately because of an appeals period.

The moratorium proved to be controversial on South Whidbey, especially in Clinton, where a Whidbey couple were planning to build a new hotel.

The commissioners amended the moratorium in July to allow for like-for-like reconstruction of commercial properties in the case of a natural disaster as well as emergency repairs and like-for-like improvements within the existing footprint of commercial buildings.

Commissioner Janet St. Clair voted against the original moratorium and the amendment, but this week she was in favor of the extension, although she said she wanted it to end early.

Emily Neff, the assistant county planner, laid out the timeline for final adoption of the comprehensive plan update. Under a process outlined in the state Growth Management Act, the update was supposed to be completed in December but will be about six months late. The delay was mainly due to a disagreement with the city of Oak Harbor over which areas can be designated for low-income population increases, according to commissioners.

The draft plan was completed in December and the 60-day public comment period closed on Feb. 9. Neff explained that staff is currently compiling public comments and preparing the final elements, which will be completed at the end of April. The planning commission will hold a workshop and a public hearing in late May, followed by the commissioners’ public hearings at the end of June.

“I know people have strong feelings about this 20-year plan, and I understand that,” Neff said. “I want to reassure people that we could spend a lifetime making it perfect, but it’s never going be perfect.”

She added that the commissioners and community will have plenty of chances in future years to make decisions and possible changes to land-use rules, especially during implementation of the plan and during the five-year and ten-year “housing check in.”

“It’s not just a document that will sit on the shelf but we will making a lot of improvements over the years,” she added.