A new website, among other tools, will allow government wonks to review documents and provide feedback on the Comprehensive Plan for the future of Island County.
The county’s new site, www.islandcounty2036.org, offers opportunity to take periodic surveys, suggest ideas and keep track of county public events.
“The 2036 website is one of the best opportunities for us to efficiently disseminate and gather information from a wide audience,” said Planning Director David Wechner.
The website was developed by the county’s planning department to serve as the main outlet of information throughout the Comprehensive Plan update and contains links to all pertinent documents.
“The comprehensive planning process is designed to establish guidelines and policies for land use, economic development, transportation and natural resource management that will shape our landscape for the next 20 years,” said Helen Price Johnson, chairwoman of the Island County Board of Commissioners, in a Wednesday news release.
In addition to the website, commissioners will be adding another layer of information-gathering in the creation of focus groups for each county district.
“These will be a way of getting some initial feedback,” said Tim Lawrence, director of the county’s Washington State University extension who will be facilitating the meetings.
County commissioners will select interested parties and stakeholders from each of their districts to participate in each focus group to meet in the coming months, Lawrence said.
Wechner said the county is trying to collect a broad range of feedback through the focus groups, planning commission meetings, county commissioners, an email distribution list, future public workshops and the online platform.
A general survey is currently posted, and the county will announce when other, more specific surveys are available online, Wechner said.
Wechner said people can use the website to “stay up-to-date on everything related to the Comp Plan, take the survey to let us know your thoughts on plan policies, review documents prior to public meetings and contact the (planning) department.”
Under state law, the county must update its Comprehensive Plan by June 2016. The original plan was adopted in 1998, with the last update occurring in 2006, according to Wechner.
The update will involve community discussions about a wide range of issues such as public facilities and transportation, critical areas, housing, utilities and other land-use topics.
“While citizens will draw from the experience of their own homes and land, the Comp Plan update addresses issues broadly by applying land-use policies to the county as a whole,” Wechner said.
County leadership has already started the process of reviewing the existing Comprehensive Plan to determine what areas within the plan need to be updated and hope the community will want to be as involved as possible.
“The board collectively feels that giving the community accurate and timely information as well as a way to share their thoughts about the future of Island County is vital to a successful process,” Price Johnson said. “We are proud that we have this tool available. I can say affirmatively that this board is committed to ensuring each and every citizen has an opportunity to be heard.”
For more information, visit www.islandcounty2036.com
