Countywide Planning Policies
Planning and Development Services
Under the Washington state Growth Management Act (GMA), Skagit County, and the cities and towns within the county, have established a collaborative process for the adoption of countywide planning policies (CPPs), modifications to urban growth areas, and allocating growth in population and employment across the county. CPPs provide a countywide framework by which the county, city and town comprehensive plans are developed and adopted.
The 2002 Framework Agreement (Framework Agreement) was executed by Skagit County; the Town of La Conner; and the cities of Anacortes, Burlington, Mount Vernon, and Sedro-Woolley. The Town of Hamilton signed onto the agreement in 2014, the Town of Concrete signed onto the agreement in 2017 and the Town of Lyman signed onto the agreement in 2018. The Framework Agreement includes provisions and procedures to address the collaborative requirement for planning at the regional level through GMA.
The Framework Agreement replaces an earlier agreement, from 1992, that had been used to originally establish countywide planning policies in Skagit County after GMA was signed into law. The 1992 agreement led to the first set of CPPs that year, with a subsequent amendment in 1996.
Click below for the most recently adopted Countywide Planning Policies, adopted March 25, 2025:
