Amending the Comprehensive Plan

Please call Community Development planning staff before submitting an application for a Comprehensive Plan map amendment at (360) 754-4180. Applications often take over a year for the public process, including multiple public hearings and public meetings, to be completed. See the Fee Schedule for the most recent fee rates for applications for amendments. 

Comprehensive Plan Amendment Application

Rezone Application 

Annual Consideration of Amendments

Proposed amendments to the comprehensive plan are considered no more than once per year, as required by the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA). All proposals are considered at the same time so the cumulative effect of the various proposals can be determined.  However, State law does allow some amendments to be made outside of the normal annual amendment cycle. These include actions such as subarea planning or emergency amendments, for which there are criteria.

Who can initiate changes?

Comprehensive plan text amendments can be initiated by the City Council or Planning Commission. Property owners, residents, or government agencies can request text amendments for annual consideration by the Planning Commission and City Council. It is at the discretion of the City Council to choose not to review text amendments.

Comprehensive plan map amendments can be requested for docketing by government agencies and property owners for their own property. It is at the discretion of the City Council to choose not to review map amendments.

Timelines

Proposals to amend the comprehensive plan shall be submitted to the Community Development Department no later than the first Monday in December of each year.  Proposed amendments to the Joint Plan covering land outside city limits and within the Tumwater Urban Growth Area must be submitted to Thurston County by the first Monday in August of each year.

Review Criteria

Proposed amendments will be reviewed for consistency with criteria described in Chapter 18.60 of the Tumwater Municipal Code (TMC) and State law.  These criteria in the TMC are provided below.

1. All amendments to this comprehensive plan must conform with the requirements of the Washington State Growth Management Act, Chapter 36.70A RCW.
   
   
2. Amendments should be evaluated for internal consistency within this plan, and for consistency with the County-Wide Planning Policies, related plans, and the comprehensive plans of Thurston county or cities which have common borders with Tumwater.
   
   
3. Whether conditions in the area for which a comprehensive plan change/zoning amendment is requested have changed or are changing to such a degree that it is in the public interest to encourage a redevelopment, or change in land use for the area.
   
   
4. Whether the proposed comprehensive plan change/zoning amendment is necessary in order to provide land for a community-related use which was not anticipated at the time of the adoption of the comprehensive plan, and that such comprehensive plan change will be consistent with the policies of the Washington State Growth Management Act.