Preliminary working drafts of Freeland’s subarea plan have been posted for review and comment at http://islandcounty2036.org/resources/freeland-subarea-plan/. The subarea plan was last updated in 2011. The 2016 update, conducted by Island County’s Planning Commission, consists of several chapters covering scope and history, land use, natural resources, open and civic space, capital facilities, utilities, transportation, economic development and housing. The drafts are still being actively worked on and do not include final updated maps and tables. They are intended for early review of text changes and gap identification, according to notes on the update.

Under the state’s Growth Management Act, Freeland, a non-municipal urban growth area, must be sized adequately to accommodate urban population and employment growth projected for the next 20 years and cannot be larger than necessary. Island County conducted a buildable lands analysis for each of the county’s urban growth areas (Freeland, Langley, Oak Harbor and Coupeville) to determine whether Freeland’s urban growth area boundaries need to be adjusted before the final adoption of its comprehensive plan. Freeland was found to be oversized and required a boundary adjustment to reduce its size.

The 2016 update goals include updating formatting and renumbering to match the comprehensive plan, removing duplicate text throughout and reorganization of content, updating data and analysis to current conditions and 2036 projections, updating content to reflect the county’s goals, policies, codes, laws and recently updated planning policies as well as the revised urban growth area boundary and sewer information.