Jefferson County, WA Sets a Course for 2045 With Comprehensive Plan Update
County officials begin tackling their plan for the county’s growth, particularly in the Urban Growth Areas of Irondale and Port Townsend.
News by Rachael Nutting
JEFFERSON COUNTY, WA — Jefferson County is currently engaged in a pivotal planning effort that will shape its growth, economy and character for the next generation. The 2025 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update, a state-mandated 10-year review, has been officially extended into 2026, with a final adoption deadline of June 30, 2026.
This strategic delay allows the county to concentrate resources on this foundational document while deferring the annual cycle for site-specific amendments to 2027, ensuring a clearer and more efficient public process.
The comprehensive plan serves as the county's guiding policy for managing growth under Washington's Growth Management Act. The current update process aims to address long-standing challenges while preserving community values. Recent discussions among the Board of County Commissioners underscore the urgency of this work, as they rated "secure and affordable housing" a deficient 2 out of 10 and identified pressing needs in healthcare access, career pathways and critical infrastructure.
A central technical task of the update is distributing the county's projected population growth through 2045. Based on a medium growth projection from the state, planners must decide how to distribute new residents across Urban Growth Areas like Port Townsend and Port Hadlock, within Master Planned Resorts such as Port Ludlow and throughout the county's rural landscapes. This allocation directly influences decisions on future housing, transportation, and utility investments. Urban growth goals and policies within the drafted plan focus on two Urban Growth Areas (UGAs).
Port Townsend UGA
The overarching goal is to direct growth into the City of Port Townsend first. The unincorporated UGA, including Jefferson County outside of city limits, is a secondary reserve and development there must be "consistent with and support" the city's own plan. The plan emphasizes that urban-level services, particularly water and sewer, must be available to support new development.
Concurrently, the City of Port Townsend conducted its own coordinated 10-year update, supported by over $725,000 in state grants. The city's public outreach campaign, despite featuring over 70 community events that some residents found inadequate, offers a model of engagement that informs the wider county effort. The intertwined nature of these plans highlights the regional cooperation needed to tackle shared issues like housing, transportation, and economic resilience.
Irondale & Port Hadlock UGA
This area is identified as the "primary focal point for growth" in east Jefferson County. Its policies are designed to create a "compact, walkable, mixed-use community". The most critical policy explicitly ties all urban growth and density to the construction of a sewer system, stating it "shall not occur in advance of necessary urban governmental services, particularly sewer."
The plan is organized into thematic elements, including land use, housing, capital facilities, and economic development. A significant update is the integration of climate change planning, a requirement under Washington's House Bill 1181, which is being led by specialized consultants on the project team.
As the deadline approaches, the updated Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan will seek to balance diverse perspectives, fiscal realities and state mandates. It needs to answer complex questions about economic development, environmental stewardship and community well-being.
Public participation is a legal requirement and a cornerstone of the process. The Jefferson County Planning Commission plays a key role, holding public hearings and formulating recommendations for the Board of County Commissioners, which holds the final legislative authority.
The Department of Community Development encourages residents to submit detailed written comments focused on specific goals and policies within the draft plan, as this format typically yields the most actionable feedback. The first full public draft of the updated plan is available for review on the county's website here:
Email comments to: 2025compplan@co.jefferson.wa.us
Comp Plan Participation Guidelines: https://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/1826/24030/Comp-Plan-Participation-Guidelines
