The Anacortes Planning Commission on Oct. 22 unanimously recommended that the City Council adopt the proposed 2025 Comprehensive Plan periodic update development regulation amendments and accompanying zoning map changes after staff presentation and commissioner deliberations.

Planning Manager Libby Grage told commissioners the packet included the formal draft and a new right-hand column summarizing additional staff recommendations developed after the draft went to public comment. "I am Libby Grage, Planning Manager in the Planning, Community and Economic Development Department," Grage said in introducing the staff presentation and the proposed amendments.

The commission spent most of the meeting reviewing and debating a long list of technical and policy changes. Commissioners discussed, among other items, minimum lot-size and form-and-intensity standards for Old Town and several residential zones; whether to formalize a permitted status for "single-family small lot" housing in Old Town; how minimum lot sizes for duplexes should change from current code; clarifying which code definition the city will use for "affordable housing"; whether to add the word "planned" to the active-transportation exhibit map; and an exception for Jay Avenue (20th Street/Second to Ninth) where staff currently recommends sharrows rather than a separated bike lane.

Major items the commission included in its recommendation to council, as stated during the motion, are:
- Update references to the city's affordable-housing definition so 19.42.050.D.3.a refers to the definition in AMC 19.12 (the code's definitions chapter) and correct related references.
- Amend the density chart (AMC table 19.42.0.020) by removing the optional smaller-duplex-lot alternatives that followed an "or" in the draft (i.e., eliminate dual minimum-lot-size options for duplexes where those "or" alternatives appeared).
- Retain a permitted status for "single-family small lot" housing in the Old Town zone, and direct that associated form-and-intensity standards (minimum lot sizes and related tables) be adjusted for internal consistency if council approves the change.
- Add the word "Planned" to the title of Exhibit A (the active transportation network map) to make clear the map shows a planned network, not only built facilities.
- Request a review of the Jay Avenue collector-arterial exception (between 20th/Second and 20th/Ninth) in light of a Transpo memo dated Sept. 25, 2025, and direct that the Public Works Director consider implementing one of the memo's options for on-street bicycle facilities.
- Amend the procedures table (AMC 19.20.03.1) and related text to clarify decision-making and local-appeal procedures for certain permit types (including shoreline substantial development permits), reflecting the commission's and staff's earlier discussion that some permit appeals proceed directly to the Shoreline Hearings Board rather than through a separate local appeal.

Commissioners also asked staff to reconcile cross-references where the draft had inconsistent definitions (for example, a housing bonus provision that referenced an older, section-specific definition for "affordable housing") and to clarify where separation distances (for example, a proposed 1,000-foot separation for assisted-living facilities in the R3 zone) apply only within a particular zoning designation.

The motion to send the draft and those additional, commission-identified changes to City Council was moved and seconded during the meeting. In a roll-call vote the commission recorded four votes in favor (Commissioner Mills, Commissioner Ryan, Commissioner Martin and Commissioner Stoneman), none opposed and no abstentions; the motion passed. The commission's packet noted the formal public comment period on the draft closed the day of the meeting at 3 p.m., and staff had forwarded written comments received that day to commissioners.

The commission's recommendation transmits the draft development regulations, staff's additional recommended edits, and the commission's own amendments and clarifications to City Council for final consideration. Council will receive the recommendation and may amend, adopt or return items to the commission during its legislative review process.

Votes at a glance:
- Motion: "Recommend that the City Council adopt the proposed development regulation amendments and official zoning map amendments with the additional staff recommended statements shown in the tables below, as well as the amendments identified by the Planning Commission tonight." (moved during the meeting; seconded)
- Vote: 4-0-0 (Mills: yes; Ryan: yes; Martin: yes; Stoneman: yes)
- Outcome: Approved (recommendation forwarded to City Council)

Next steps: The commission forwarded its recommendation and the draft code changes to the City Council. Council will consider the package on its legislative schedule; staff advised that some items will require related changes in the comprehensive plan or other code sections if council elects to adopt them. The commission also asked staff to bring back clarified cross-references and any technical cleanups needed to make the draft internally consistent before council action.

Sources: staff presentation and docket materials presented by Libby Grage (Planning Manager), staff memoranda and the Transpo memo dated Sept. 25, 2025, as discussed on the record at the Oct. 22, 2025 Planning Commission meeting.