The ad hoc Committee of the Growth Management Policy Board met for a special working session in preparation for major actions to be considered in September.

The session began with a discuss on several outstanding issues that have been raised in various forums at which there have been briefings on the update work currently underway. These issues relate primarily to scenarios that were developed for an initial phase of analysis of various ways in which 1.6 million additional people might be accommodated in the four-county region by the year 2040. There have been questions about how the scenarios relate to local planning efforts, how the scenario analysis might be used in designing a more limited number of alternatives for more rigorous analysis in the next phase of the project, and how issues such as the urban growth area boundary and jobs/housing balance might be addressed.

By and large the Committee concurred with recommendations that were worked on with the Council's Regional Staff Committee. The ad hoc group suggested that as much outreach as possible with localities in the four-county region would be important to ensure that local officials understand the purpose of the alternatives analysis, as well as the overall objectives of the VISION 2020 +20 Update. The recommendations reviewed by the Committee will be presented to the entire Policy Board at its next meeting on August 25th.

For more information, contact Norman Abbott at 206-464-7134 or nabbott@psrc.org.

The Ad Hoc Committee discussed the proposed alternatives that were developed out of the eight growth scenarios produced by the sketch planning tool Index Paint the Region. These alternatives are simplified and designed to raise questions and elicit public comment. The preferred alternative will likely be a hybrid of the studied alternatives.

The four proposed alternatives are:

1. No Action. Extend current adopted comprehensive plans and growth targets to the year 2040. Index showed that this alternative kept population and employment more evenly distributed among the geographies and four counties than current conditions, but also shows the most amount of growth in the unincorporated urban growth area and the rural areas.
2. Metropolitan Cities. Focuses majority of growth into metropolitan cities and core suburban cities. This alternative doubles the amount of currently planned growth in the cities and maintains the outlying areas as they are today.
3. Larger Cities. Focuses the majority of growth into the region's larger suburban cities. This alternative shows the currently planned growth in the metropolitan cities, doubles the amount of planned growth in suburban cities and leaves the outlying areas similar to as they are today.
4. Smaller Cities. Disperses growth throughout the urban growth area, primarily focusing growth in smaller suburban cities and the unincorporated urban growth area. This alternative has the most growth in the outlying area. The smaller cities grow considerably while the metropolitan cities stay as they are today.

These alternatives and the issues they raise will be brought to the Growth Management Policy Board at its August 25 meeting for further consideration. Action will not be considered until September 8, 2005.

For more information, contact Norman Abbott at 206-464-7134 or nabbott@psrc.org.

The Ad Hoc Committee reviewed the revisions made to the Housing Issue Paper based on the input received at the last few Board meetings and recommended that the Growth Management Policy Board take action to proceed to include the recommendations contained within the paper be included in the VISION 2020 + 20 Update.

Key revisions include: