Title: MRSC - Growth Management Act
Headings: Growth Management Act
Growth Management Act
Overview
GMA Goals
( RCW 36.70A.020)
Who is Required to Plan Under GMA?
Natural Resource Lands and Critical Areas
Comprehensive Plans
Mandatory Comp Plan Elements
( RCW 36.70A.070)
Optional Comp Plan Elements
Urban Growth Areas and Accommodating Future Growth
Growth Management Hearings Board
Recommended Resources

Content: Comprehensive plans also must be coordinated with adjacent and overlapping jurisdictions and must be updated every 8 years, with optional annual updates. For more information, see our page on Comprehensive Planning. Urban Growth Areas and Accommodating Future Growth
Under the GMA, the state Office of Financial Management (OFM) develops population projections for the state and each county. Each "fully planning" county is then mandated to determine, in consultation with cities, where that growth should be directed to occur. Once these growth projections are adopted, then the county and cities are to use them in their comprehensive planning processes and make sure that their plans can accommodate the projected level of growth ( RCW 36.70A.115 ). The state’s Buildable Lands program has designated the counties of Clark, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston, as being counties that have to collect data about their development trends and undertake “reasonable measures” to show how they will be able to accommodate the expected amount of future development. Part of a county’s long-range planning process involves identifying urban growth areas (UGAs), areas where “urban growth shall be encouraged and outside of which growth can occur only if it is not urban in nature” ( RCW 36.70A.110 ). Counties are responsible for designating, expanding, and reducing UGA boundaries, although they are required to consult with the cities in their determinations. Based on OFM population projections, UGAs and zoning densities within them should be set to permit urban growth that is projected to occur in the county or city over the next 20 years, although they can provide additional capacity to accommodate a “reasonable land market supply factor” ( RCW 36.70A.110 (2)). There are some limitations on UGAs, including limits in floodplain areas and in national historic reserves.