Instructions to the Committees
(approved by Council June 7, 2006)

General Considerations

Framework

State law provides the framework for creating and amending comprehensive plans. The basic elements of that framework, as it applies to Langley, are that:

• The CPG is responsible for making recommendations to the city council on potential amendments to the comp plan;
• The city council is responsible for providing policy direction to the CPG and eventually deciding (potentially with modifications) on the recommendations that come from the CPG.

In addition, the whole process must be open and public. RCW 36.70A.140 (part of the Growth Management Act, or GMA) states that:

"[Cities planning under GMA] shall establish and broadly disseminate to the public a public participation program identifying procedures providing for early and continuous public participation in the development and amendment of comprehensive land use plans and development regulations implementing such plans. The procedures shall provide for broad dissemination of proposals and alternatives, opportunity for written comments, public meetings after effective notice, provision for open discussion, communication programs, information services, and consideration of and response to public comments." (emphasis added)

For more on the framework provided by State law, see 'Planning and zoning in code cities' (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=35A.63) and 'Growth Management' (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.70A)

The role and functioning of the committee

The mission common to each CPG committee is to learn, evaluate, and communicate. The output from most committees will be in the form of proposals -- at first, recommending the consideration of a few conceptual options for addressing comp-plan-related issues; later, recommending specific language to be included in the comp plan.

The council will give each committee a topic area to investigate and issues to address. Some of the committees will be focused on particular sections ('elements') of the comp plan while others will deal with topics that may impact more than one comp plan element or provide useful background.

Learning phase
After the committees are formed, the first step for each committee will be to learn:

• What is the current on-the-ground status for its topic area and issues
• How are its topic area and issues addressed in the present comp plan
• What are currently viewed as 'best practices' for dealing with its issues

During this learning process the committees will have the support of the Executive Team to help them find the information they need, and to work smoothly and effectively. They can also turn to the council for any policy-related clarification they need.

Option selection phase
Once the committee has a better understanding of its issues and has found a good set of 'best practices' that address them, the next step is to narrow down the possible options based on the committee's sense of the best fit for Langley. This may include proposing new options as well as adapting 'best practices' from elsewhere.

The goal at this stage is to prepare a set of options, describable in fairly broad conceptual terms, which can be presented to council and to the public. However, before taking these options to council, the committee chair will bring the options to the Integration Committee for comments from the other committee chairs.

After incorporating the feedback from the other committee chairs, the committee will prepare a public presentation to be given at a council meeting. This presentation should describe the various options considered by the committee for addressing its issues. The committee may recommend one or more options but in any case there need to be "proposals and alternatives" presented. The council, whose role it is to hold the big picture and eventually decide on the policies, will indicate its priorities among the options presented and thereby provide policy direction to the committee for its next steps.

Drafting phase
With guidance from the council as to which options to develop further, the committees will translate these preferred options into specific goals, policies, and (if applicable) maps to be included in the comp plan. The committees will have the help of professional planners in translating the concepts into appropriate comp-plan language.

General vision and values to guide the work

Perhaps one of the most central things we can say about Langley is that it is a small-town community that the people who live here love. This love is expressed in many ways including high levels of community service (such as being a member of the CPG). It is a place that when you are here, you feel home. We want these qualities to be maintained and strengthened.

State and Federal laws give various rights to property owners and business owners (regardless of whether they are also residents), but within that framework, State law gives the decision-making power for the comprehensive plan to the council as representatives of the resident citizens. In keeping with this, when you consider any option to address some issue, ask yourself, "How does this affect the long-term common good of the people who already live here, or who will live here?"

For example, in looking at the marina, the fundamental question is not what is best for boaters, but what is best for Langley's residents. In an enlightened sense, the residents may very well want a marina that works well for boaters, but always within a framework of what works well for the town as a whole. In a similar way, the fundamental question for economic development policies is not what is best for businesses, but what is best for residents. Again, in an enlightened sense, residents have an interest in having successful businesses as one aspect of a healthy community, but the interests of the businesses need to fit within the framework of the overall long-term common good of the whole community.

Whatever your committee's topic or issues may be, keep the long-term common interests of the resident citizens fundamental and you will keep your piece in balance with the whole.

Specific Considerations For Each Committee

Land Use

Territory
This committee deals with the Land Use Element (or section) in the comp plan, which deals mostly with the questions of what types of uses and mix of uses (residential, commercial, open space, light industrial, etc.) can occur in what places.

Issues
Priority issues for completion in 2006 are:

• Inclusion of subarea planning in the comp plan
• Consideration of rezoning of the area at the eastern edge of the city between Edgecliff and Sandy Point

Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• How might residential zones allow more internal diversity within each neighborhood in such things as lot sizes, housing types, and open space?
• Should there be more non-residential zoning in the undeveloped areas of the city, and if so, types of zones and where?
• What are the alternatives to the current concentric-circle approach to residential density (most dense in the center, least dense on the outskirts) and how might these alternatives apply to Langley?

Housing

Territory
This committee deals with the Housing Element in the comp plan, which is mostly concerned with making sure there is an adequate supply and diversity of housing in Langley. This committee will begin its work with the help of Donna Keeler who has already started researching Langley's housing.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What are the best ways to increase housing affordability in Langley?

Transportation

Territory
This committee deals with the Transportation Element in the comp plan, which deals with motorized (e.g. cars) and non-motorized (e.g. pedestrians) means of getting around land, water, and air.

Issues
Priority issue for completion in 2006 is:

• Inclusion of a stronger pedestrian component in the comp plan, including an updated map of potential trails.

Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What might Langley's future overall circulation network (motorized and non-motorized) be like?
• How best to reduce private car use within Langley?
• What are the best approaches for dealing with parking in Langley?

Economic Development

Territory
This committee will be creating an Economic Development Element for the comp plan. Its territory includes the total economy of Langley. This includes the income that comes from out of town to households (e.g. retirement benefits, commuter wages, investment income), the visible businesses on First and Second Streets, the low-profile locally-based 'knowledge' businesses with national and international markets (like Lindsay Communications, Travel Unusual, the Giraffe Heroes Project, and Many Rivers), the many home occupations, and the offices along the entry roads of Camano and Third.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What are the various facets of Langley's economy, both inflow and outflow?
• What directions for the economy make sense to encourage in terms of the overall vision and direction for the community, and how best could this be done?
• What 'leaks' (energy costs, mortgage interest, etc.) could be reduced through greater efficiency and/or greater localization, and how best could this be done?

Parks and Open Space

Territory
This committee will contribute to the Parks, Open Space, and Waterfront Element in the comp plan. Parks and open space include everything from public spaces where people can gather and play, to trails, to protected natural areas like wetlands.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What are the various purposes that parks and open spaces serve, and which of those purposes are underserved in Langley now?
• What are the best strategies for maintaining large open space areas in the city?
• What are the best strategies for preserving smaller areas of open space in neighborhoods as they develop?

Waterfront

Territory
This committee will contribute to the Parks, Open Space, and Waterfront Element in the comp plan. Its geographic territory is the area from The Inn At Langley, across Waterfront Park and the north side of First Street, around to the Marina and Phil Simon Park. It includes the marina.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What are the possibilities for the future of the north side of First Street?
• What is the appropriate scale for the marina relative to the whole of Langley?
• How best can the waterfront become a connected whole?

Demographics

Territory
This is about people, and particularly about different demographic groups such as age or income groups. The committee will both gather data about these groups and look at the needs and interests of different groups.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What demographic groups are underrepresented in Langley today (such as people under 50) and why?
• If the community wanted to do more to attract these underrepresented groups, what would be the best ways of doing so for each such group?
• How can city policy best support achieving the demographic balance the community wants?

Arts, Culture and Education

Territory
This is a broad but interconnected territory that includes artistic activity (creating), the enjoyment of art (as in the presence of art around the community), and all forms of learning. It includes institutions like WICA and the Whidbey Children's Theater. Within 'education' it includes the informal as well as the formal, ongoing adult learning as well as learning for children.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What roles do artistic, cultural, and educational activities play in Langley now?
• How might these roles change in the future?
• How can city policy best support artistic, cultural, and educational activities in the community?

Watersheds and Bluffs

Territory
Our watersheds and bluffs are our major natural landscape features. This committee will focus on understanding and protecting these features.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• How, in specific terms, does rainwater travel above and below ground in our watersheds?
• How much rainwater reaches the aquifers that provide the city's water and where does it get through to the deeper levels? (Useful for understanding both recharge and potential contamination.)
• What are the best strategies for protecting the bluffs?

Energy

Territory
This covers all forms of energy use (heating & cooling, hot water, transportation, electricity, etc.) throughout the community. The committee will begin by working closely with the ICLEI Energy Conservation and Climate Protection Project during the summer of 2006.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What types and amounts of energy are used by the community?
• What options are available to reduce energy use and/or increase local energy production?
• How can city policy best support more sustainable and resilient energy use in the community?

Food and Agriculture

Territory
This covers local food production (in gardens and small farms), processing, and distribution (in stores and farmers' markets). The committee will look at these in the context of changes for food availability that may be coming in association with rising oil prices and climate change.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• Where does Langley's food come from?
• What potential is there for increasing local food production?
• How can city policy best support more sustainable and resilient food availability in the community?

Regional Relations

Territory
This committee will consider the various relationships between the community within the city limits of Langley and its regional context. That context includes the area covered by the watersheds that include Langley, the 'trafficsheds' that connect into Langley, the 98260 zip code, South Whidbey in general, Island County, and the Puget Sound/Straits of Georgia/Straits of Juan de Fuca bioregion.

Issues
Issues to be explored through 2007 include:

• What, from a planning perspective, are the important considerations about our regional context that we need to be aware of?
• What are the issues involved in expanding the city to include more of the 98260 zip code area?