Community Council Town Plan "Needs You!"
Don't miss your chance to help steer our island's development with intentionality and care, enhancing our lives while preserving the qualities we love about Vashon Island.
Wednesday, April 19th, 2023
Dear Vashon Loop Readers and Substack Subscribers,
We’re posting this “public service announcement” here, because our next paper issue comes out after the May 1st Deadline! So, spread the word to fellow islanders! Interested in serving? Please complete this online application no later than Monday, May 1, 2023.
V-MCC Community Council Town Plan Committee “Needs You!”
Since its formation in 1976 at the request of then County Executive John Spellman the Vashon-Maury Community Council has assisted King County in planning and zoning Vashon Island. The 1984 Vashon Comprehensive Plan and the 1994-96 Vashon Town Plan were developed by committees of the Community Council with the financial and technical assistance of King County. Extensive community involvement and cooperation with King County planners have led to widespread acceptance of these plans, and we now intend to initiate changes to the Vashon Town Plan in a similar fashion.
The Vashon-Maury Community Council has recently established a Vashon Town Plan Committee to address changes needed to the 1994-96 Vashon Town Plan to better enable affordable housing while retaining the rural character of the Town of Vashon. These changes will be made by amending the Special District Overlay and P-Suffix conditions of the 2017 Vashon Subarea Plan during the 2024 King County Comprehensive Plan Update process. The V-MCC Executive Board has adopted the following Charter for the Town Plan Committee:
The Vashon Town Plan of 1994 (VTP) was developed by the VMICC Town Plan Committee with assistance from King County and was adopted in 1996 as a subarea plan of the King County Comprehensive Plan. Although the VTP has largely achieved its intent to reinforce Vashon’s traditional rural town character, as well as the 1986 Vashon Community Plan’s goal of maintaining the town’s rural character, the VTP has not been very successful in addressing the community’s desire to provide more affordable housing and to enable people to walk to work.
The purpose of the 2023-4 V-MCC Vashon Town Plan Committee is to work with King County to modify the VTP to enable more affordable housing while maintaining the town’s rural character. These modifications are intended to be adopted as part of King County’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update.
In order to form a 12 to 15 person Town Plan Committee that will appropriately represent the varied interests, disciplines and needs of Vashon-Maury residents we have created the following online application: APPLY HERE!
We are looking for volunteers who:
- Reflect the diversity of the island and our region;
- Have an interest in the long-term quality of the Vashon-Maury Island community;
- Can participate openly, collaboratively, and creatively with group members whose views may be different from their own;
- Have a commitment to ensuring that underrepresented populations have opportunities to participate in the planning effort; and
- Can support the planning process by attending regularly and supporting other community outreach efforts.
Note: You do not need to be a member of the Community Council to serve, but you do need to be a resident of the Island.
