2003/03/26 Council Agenda Packet

4 • tem #1: Staff Report for City Council March 26, 2003 Background: In 1995, Snohomish County established urban growth boundaries in an effort to contain urban development in concentrated areas,rather than allow it to spread over the rural countryside. The Growth Management Act required most counties to establish urban growth areas (UGA) "within which urban growth shall be encouraged and outside of which growth can occur only if it is not urban in nature." Rural areas would be appropriately zoned and major roads and utilities provided in urban areas. The 1995 Snohomish County General Policy Plan used the projected twenty-year population until 2012 and urban growth areas were established to accommodate most of that growth to the year 2012. Part of the projected growth was allocated to the existing cities. Everett was given 20,154 new residents as our share of the County's twenty-year growth and a large proportion of it has been accommodated. Counties must review their urban growth areas and densities every ten years to keep current. The review is now in progress. The State Office of Financial Management(OFM) has provided twenty-year population projections for Snohomish County until 2025. This time there is a range of populations to consider from low, middle, to high projections. It is the County's job to figure out where this new growth will occur between cities and unincorporated areas. If population cannot be accommodated within existing UGAs then UGA boundaries may have to expand. In preparation for this effort and to conform to State Law, the cities and Snohomish County have been working together to measure our"buildable lands"capacity for additional growth. This capacity effort looked at how we have done in the accommodation of growth from 1992 to 2000 based on the 2012 projection. The Challenge: Everett and Snohomish County are beginning a ten-year update of their Comprehensive Plans. The County is responsible for accommodating future growth and must coordinate its plan with the plans of its 20 cities. It must also address UGA expansion and other issues. The following population projections were made by OFM. 2025 Projections—for Snohomish County: 618,600—2002 population 1,062,903—high growth (+72% growth) 929,314—intermediate (+50%growth) 795,725—low growth (+29%growth) Most new growth is targeted to occur in urban areas. The following is a summary of the current population distribution in Snohomish County: Snohomish County—Population Distribution: 37%live in cities in the Southwest Urban Growth Area(SWUGA) kj 24%live in unincorporated portions of the SWUGA S:\DKoenig\City Council\City Council 2025 population staff report.doc 1