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PARTICIPATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION
Future Vision for Redmond: Participation and Implementation
Redmond is an effective, responsive local government that responds to and anticipates the changing needs of the community. Many citizens actively participate in Redmond’s planning process and system improvements, and their preferences are incorporated so that Redmond continues to be the community desired by its citizens.
In 2022, Redmond citizens describe their community as one that is complete, offering a wide range of services, opportunities and amenities. It’s a community that has gracefully accommodated growth and change, while ensuring that Redmond’s high quality of life, cherished natural features, distinct places, and character are not overwhelmed. It’s a place where people are friendly, diversity and innovation are embraced, and action is taken to achieve community objectives. It’s a place that is home to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, which contributes to the richness of the City’s culture.
Achieving a balance between accommodating growth and preserving Redmond’s unique features and livability was challenging, but over the past 20 years through the clear, shared direction contained in the Comprehensive Plan, the vision has taken shape, and throughout Redmond the results are apparent.
A. Public Participation
B. Consistency
C. Plan Amendments
D. Development Review
E. Implementation and Monitoring
A. Public Participation
Broad-based community participation is essential to maintaining an effective and useful Comprehensive Plan for the future. Redmond has a long tradition of public involvement in planning processes, and the Comprehensive Plan is based on extensive public involvement.
However, public participation in Comprehensive Plan updates is just part of the process. The community also must be involved as the Plan is implemented, including opportunities to review proposed updates to regulations and functional plans, as well as to review public and private projects. Different levels of involvement are appropriate at various stages of Plan preparation and implementation.
Value public participation, and promote broad-based involvement by members of the Redmond community in the update and implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, as well as in other issues and opportunities of significance to the City.
Provide opportunities for public review of plans, regulations, and development proposals while tailoring the review approach and specific issues to the appropriate stage of plan preparation and implementation.
Treat all members of the public fairly, and respect and consider all citizen input as an important component of the planning and implementation process.
Promote as part of Comprehensive Plan updates and implementation a culture of dialogue and partnership among residents, property owners, the business community, organizations, other interested citizens, and City officials.
Ensure that public involvement opportunities, particularly for Comprehensive Plan updates and significant implementation actions, support the following:
♦ Respect the diversity of the Redmond community and provide opportunities for all members of the community and other interested citizens to participate;
♦ Use a wide variety of types of announcements and outreach methods, such as RCTV, web, non-City media, mailings, flyers, and signs;
♦ Use existing community groups and other organizations, as feasible;
♦ Encourage active public participation at the initial stages of the process, as well as throughout the process;
♦ Provide communications that are clear, timely, and broadly distributed; and
♦ Promote mutual understanding of issues, options, concerns, and preferences.
Enable citizens to learn more about local government and promote public discussion of community issues through use of techniques such as educational materials, workshops, and special programs.
Facilitate citizen access to information concerning Redmond City Government, such as meeting times and related documents for City Council, boards and commissions; opportunities for public input; the Comprehensive Plan; the Community Development Guide and other implementing measures; and project updates. Provide access to this information via the City’s website, as feasible.
Use all public involvement and communication options at the City’s disposal, such as websites; surveys; workshops, open houses and other meetings; and citizen advisory groups.
Evaluate the effectiveness of public involvement methods, and take action as needed to improve them.
B. Consistency
The Growth Management Act requires local governments to make decisions on planning activities, including development regulations and functional plans, as well as the capital budget in a manner that conforms with and supports their comprehensive plans. Redmond’s development regulations, such as zoning and subdivision standards, are included in the Community Development Guide. The City has adopted several functional plans, such as the General Sewer Plan, the Water System Plan, and the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is also implemented through more specific or management plans which address policies related to a particular geography or topic in more detail, such as the Downtown Strategic Plan or an economic vitality strategy. In addition, the City implements the Comprehensive Plan through provisions in the Municipal Code, such as those dealing with wellhead protection or building construction.
The Growth Management Act also requires consistency among all the elements of a comprehensive plan. While the City takes steps to ensure this consistency, sometimes conflicts and questions of priority arise in the implementation of policies. In deciding these conflicts and questions, the City needs to carry out the adopted community goals for how Redmond should look and feel over the next 20 years.
Maintain a Comprehensive Plan that embodies broad community agreement on the future vision for Redmond and carries out the City’s local, regional, and Statewide responsibilities.
Ensure that development regulations, functional plans, budgets, and other implementing measures and actions are consistent with and reinforce the Comprehensive Plan.
Resolve any conflicts that arise when applying Comprehensive Plan policies or implementing measures in a manner that supports the goals for Redmond in the Comprehensive Plan, and considers the City’s intent in establishing a policy or regulation.
Use the following guidelines for resolving conflicts within the Comprehensive Plan, or conflicts between the Comprehensive Plan and Community Development Guide, and other functional plans in use by the City:
♦ If there are conflicts within the Comprehensive Plan, base decisions on the map or policy that most specifically addresses the issue.
♦ If there are conflicts between the Comprehensive Land Use Plan Map and the land use designation policies, base decisions on the Land Use Plan Map.
♦ If there are conflicts between the Comprehensive Plan and the Community Development Guide or functional plans, base decisions on the Comprehensive Plan.
C. Plan Amendments
Redmond’s Comprehensive Plan is long-term; it looks out over the next 20 years. Plans take this long-range perspective so the community can prepare clear goals on how they would like the community to develop. This gives members of the community the opportunity to review opportunities and issues in a broad context.
While a long-term perspective is important, a plan must be periodically reviewed to ensure it reflects the best available information, current community views, and changing circumstances. For this reason, the Growth Management Act requires regular review and evaluation of plans. The Growth Management Act also provides that local governments must consider amendments to a comprehensive plan not more than once a year to avoid piecemeal erosion of the plan’s integrity.
Establish the docket for any proposed amendments to the Redmond Comprehensive Plan once a year, considering the Plan amendments as a package in order to better evaluate their cumulative impact. Recognize the need for emergency amendments may require modification to this process.
Conduct a major Comprehensive Plan review no less frequently than once every five years. Analyze the opportunities and issues facing the City, review changes in State law, complete a thorough review of existing policies, and update the Plan and implementing measures as needed.
Take the following considerations, as applicable, into account as part of City decisions on applications for amendments to the Comprehensive Plan:
♦ Consistency with the Growth Management Act, the Procedural Criteria, VISION 2020 or its successor, and the Countywide Planning Policies;
♦ Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan, including the preferred land use pattern in the Land Use Element;
♦ The capability of the land for development including the prevalence of sensitive areas;
♦ The capacity of public facilities and services, and whether public facilities and services can be provided cost-effectively at the proposed density/intensity;
♦ Whether the proposed land use designations or uses are compatible with nearby land use designations or uses;
♦ If the amendment proposes a change in allowed uses in an area, the need for the land uses which would be allowed and whether the change would result in the loss of capacity to accommodate other needed uses, especially whether the proposed change complies with Policy HO-16, the City’s policy of no-net loss of housing capacity;
♦ Potential general impacts to the natural environment, such as impacts to critical areas and other natural resources;
♦ Potential general economic impacts, such as impacts for business, residents, property owners, or City Government; and
♦ For issues that have been considered within the last four annual updates, whether there has been a change in circumstances that makes the proposed amendment appropriate or whether the amendment is needed to remedy a mistake.
Update development regulations concurrently with Comprehensive Plan amendments or, where a major revision to the Comprehensive Plan is adopted, update development regulations within one year of the Comprehensive Plan amendment.
Update any other applicable City code provisions directly following a Comprehensive Plan amendment or, where a major revision to the Comprehensive Plan is adopted, within one year of Comprehensive Plan amendment.
Update functional plans to make them consistent with the Comprehensive Plan within two years, when amendments to the Comprehensive Plans are adopted that affect a functional plan.
D. Development Review
The administrative policies below guide how Redmond should implement the Comprehensive Plan policies to meet community goals in cooperation with the public and private sector. Time is a critical factor in financing development projects. Promoting predictability and clarity as part of development review, and reducing the time needed to receive final approval from the City, can translate into savings to the applicant and, eventually, to those who live or work in the development. Predictability and clarity in the development review process are also important for the community as a whole so that residents and businesses can have confidence regarding the potential nature of future development and redevelopment in Redmond.
Major or potentially controversial projects can benefit from consulting with neighbors early in the process. Early involvement can often lead to project design that more successfully meets goals for both the applicant and neighbors. Undertaking this process before substantial sums have been spent on detailed design can reduce costs and expedite approvals.
Prepare and maintain development regulations that implement Redmond’s Comprehensive Plan and include all significant development requirements. Ensure that the development regulations are clearly written, avoid duplicative or inconsistent requirements, and can be efficiently and effectively carried out.
Ensure that Redmond’s development review process provides applicants and the community a high degree of certainty and clarity in timelines and standards.
Review and make decisions on development applications in a timely and predictable manner.
Ask applicants to carry out the following responsibilities during the development review process:
♦ Use processes for early review of proposals, such as pre-application conferences, where appropriate to the scale and nature of the proposal;
♦ Involve the community early in the design process in a manner appropriate to the scale and nature of the proposal;
♦ Provide project information appropriate to the level of review as soon as possible; and
♦ Respond to requests for information and review comments in a timely manner.
Provide community involvement assistance, on a time-available basis, to applicants proposing major or potentially controversial projects, as follows:
♦ Help identify interested parties who should be contacted and involved in the review process;
♦ Participate actively in the community review process if the project is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan or could have a significant benefit to the City; and
♦ Establish an agreement in advance with the applicant for reimbursement of costs if substantial staff time will be devoted to the community review process.
Allow voluntary, concurrent development review and permit processing where appropriate.
Base land use decisions, conditions, and performance guarantee requirements on clearly written and objective standards.
Establish in the Community Development Guide a reasonable time period during which approved development permits remain valid to enable an applicant to complete a project while ensuring new development regulations will apply if a project does not proceed in a timely manner.
E. Implementation and Monitoring
Achieving the values and goals held by people in the community for how Redmond should look and feel depends on taking action. Similar to many family budgets, while there are not sufficient resources to accomplish all of the strategies simultaneously, the City can make progress on carrying out the Comprehensive Plan by identifying priorities. Successful implementation of the Plan also depends on evaluating the actions taken to determine if they are meeting community goals. Finally, implementing the Comprehensive Plan requires the cooperation of and partnerships among the private sector, the public, the City of Redmond, and other local, State, and federal agencies.
The City’s action strategy and monitoring program for the Comprehensive Plan will be a “management plan” that provides a framework for accomplishing these objectives. Similar to a functional plan, this “management plan” will be guided by the policies below and contain the details for this program.
Develop and adopt by reference as a management plan an action strategy that identifies short (zero to two years), mid-range (two to five years), and long-range (five to 10 years) priorities needed to implement the Comprehensive Plan. Such priorities may include new programs, regulatory updates, or capital investments needed to carry out adopted policies.
Encourage establishment of public-private partnerships that help to implement the Comprehensive Plan and provide community benefit.
Monitor implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, including actions taken and progress made toward implementation through actions such as private development, budget decisions, and facility improvements.
Establish benchmarks and a program for measuring the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Plan as implemented.
Seek extensive community participation in evaluating the effectiveness of the Comprehensive Plan.
Prepare implementation reports identifying progress in carrying out the Comprehensive Plan and effectiveness in achieving community goals. As part of the report, identify progress in carrying out the Comprehensive Plan, success in achieving community goals, and any suggested amendments needed to meet community goals. Coordinate completion of the reports so that any information important to the review of the Comprehensive Plan is available prior to the annual Comprehensive Plan amendment and, every five years, the major Comprehensive Plan review.
