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: Counties and cities are required to include the best available science in developing policies and development regulations to protect the functions and values of critical areas ( RCW 36.70A.172 ). For more information, see our page on Critical Areas or the Department of Commerce's page on Critical Areas, including its useful Critical Areas Handbook. Comprehensive Plans
The GMA establishes the primacy of the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is the centerpiece of local planning and articulates a series of goals, objectives, policies, actions, and standards that are intended to guide day-to-day decisions be elected officials and local government staff. The GMA lays out the following mandatory and optional comprehensive elements: Mandatory Comp Plan Elements
( RCW 36.70A.070)
Land Use
Housing
Capital Facilities Plan
Utilities
Rural Development (counties only)
Transportation
Ports (mandatory for cities with annual maritime port revenues exceeding $60 million, RCW 36.70A.085)
Optional Comp Plan Elements
Economic Development*
Parks and Recreation*
Conservation ( RCW 36.70A.080)
Solar Energy ( RCW 36.70A.080)
Recreation ( RCW 36.70A.080)
Subarea Plans (neighborhoods, rural villages, urban growth areas, tribal areas, etc.) Ports (optional for cities with annual maritime port revenues of $20 million to $60 million, RCW 36.70A.085)
*These elements are listed as mandatory in RCW 36.70A.070 (7) and (8), but they are actually optional because funds have not been appropriated to help pay for preparing them, per RCW 36.70A.070 (9). While all of these elements are important, the land use element sets the direction of future growth in a community and is usually depicted as a future land use map. The future land use map, which is policy-oriented, is then implemented in large part by the official zoning map, a regulatory tool. Comprehensive plans must also address "essential public facilities" that are typically difficult to site, such as airports, educational facilities, transportation facilities, and correctional facilities.