Thurston County and Yelm update Joint Plan, ‘full repeal and replace’

 The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) met yesterday, August 30, to discuss updates to the Yelm and Thurston County Joint Plan.

According to the packet, joint plans allow the city and county, along with the public, to create a mutual vision for the future of the urban growth area and provide a guide for development.

“This is part of the comprehensive plan docket item CPA -1, which contains all the joint plans we're working on. It's an element of the city and county comprehensive plans,” said Associate Planner Schwartz. “This 2023 update is a full repeal and replace.”

Schwartz also shared the primary goals of the update, which are to:

• Update to include current conditions and maps
• Align existing plans and policies with the City and County Comprehensive Plans
• Meet the Growth Management Act’s current standards

The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) met yesterday, August 30, to discuss updates to the City of Yelm and Thurston County Joint …

The Joint Plan already received public feedback and a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Determination of Nonsignificance, which determined that the draft plan is unlikely to have significant adverse environmental impacts.

Yelm’s and Thurston County’s Planning Commissions also produced its unanimous recommendation of approval for the plan, and Yelm Mayor Joe DePinto issued a letter of support.

Thurston County and the City of Yelm will review the Joint Plan updates using this tentative timeline:

• 12, 2023 – Staff request a public hearing
• 10, 2023 – BoCC Public Hearing
• October 18 – BoCC follow-up briefing to review comments, discuss, and provide preliminary direction on the final option
• November/December 2023 - BoCC Final Action on Yelm Joint Plan Update (will be combined with all other Comprehensive Plan amendments for the once-a-year amendment to the Comprehensive Plan)

The proposed amendment relates to Strategic Initiatives #6: Proactively shape a strong, diverse economy that provides equitable access to opportunity; #9: Support environmental health and climate stabilization, and #7: Balance development with the preservation of the county’s rural character, natural areas, and open spaces.