Proposed revisions to Island County’s countywide planning policies will have a minimal impact on Langley’s current draft comprehensive plan, but will include a few name changes.

City Planner Brigid Reynolds told the Langley City Council that the proposed revisions include map amendments for the revised overlay designations of lands in the joint planning area, as well as changes to the countywide planning policies. It also includes amendments to the county’s buildable lands analysis methodology, which is expected to provide clarity for future planning and take into account the difference between communities across the country, Reynolds said.

The county adopted its countywide planning policies in November 2015, followed by its comprehensive plan in December 2016. Both documents reaffirmed the joint planning area and established land designation overlays and policies to guide future planning, according to city documents.

The amendments made by the county fulfilled several objectives, from aligning with the Revised Code of Washington and the Washington Administrative Code to incorporating conditions that more accurately reflect “sub-regional realities in the population projection methodology and buildable lands analysis.”

One of the proposed amendments includes renaming Langley’s “Potential Growth Area” to “Priority Growth Area.” The change clarifies the hierarchy of lands that can be designated as Urban Growth Area, Reynolds said. The amendments also establish new criteria to assist with identifying lands for inclusion or exclusion in the joint planning area and adds evaluation criteria to guide review of countywide population projections.

The amendments also provide more accurate methodology to reflect specifics to the area, such as household size based on a local average and not island-wide.