The Growth Management Act requires community engagement in local planning. These resources advance meaningful community engagement and participation of vulnerable populations and overburdened communities in local comprehensive planning.
Community engagement in comprehensive planning
Communities in Washington plan for their future through a formal process known as comprehensive planning.
Commerce produced the video and other resources on this page to help community organizations more meaningfully engage with the comprehensive planning process and elevate local input.
Plan Together, Grow Together toolkit
Local voices belong at the center of planning conversations, but it isn’t always clear how to get involved. Commerce produced the “Plan Together, Growth Together” toolkit to help community organizations learn about the comprehensive planning process.
Graphic novel: Plan Together, Grow Together
A short, illustrated story that describes the comprehensive planning process and highlights opportunities where community voices can make an impact.
Workbook for community-based organizations
A step-by-step guide on how to engage in local comprehensive planning efforts.
Capacity-building resources
- Short Course on Local Planning
- Video on comprehensive planning basics (YouTube)
- Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington – Growth Management Act resource page (MSRC.org)
- League of Women Voter’s of Washington – The Growth Management Act of Washington State: Successes and Challenges (PDF) – Contains examples of community-based organizations influencing land use decisions (see page 24)
- MRSC Equitable Community Engagement in Comprehensive Plan Updates (MSRC.org)
- MRSC Equity and Engagement in Climate Response (MSRC.org)
- MRSC Community Engagement Resources (MSRC.org)
- Commerce’s Intermediate Planning Guidance – Section 2 (5 pages, 2024) (PDF)
- Association of Washington Cities – Equity Resource Guide (PDF) (Note: See Chapter on Housing)
- American Planning Association’s Equity in Zoning Policy Guide (2023) (PDF)
- American Planning Association’s Planning for Equity Policy Guide (2019) (PDF)
- Puget Sound Regional Council Equitable Engagement for Comprehensive Plans (2022) (PDF)
- American Planning Association’s Equity Diversity Inclusion (Planning.org)
The Department of Commerce awarded about $2 million in Climate Commitment Act funds to 24 community-based organizations to support their participation in local land use comprehensive planning within Washington cities and counties. The first round of funding was launched as a pilot program in 2024, and prioritized CBOs that are located within a jurisdiction with a 2025 periodic update deadline. This program to recruit, support, and provide funding directly to community-based organizations in order to represent the interests of communities that have experienced the greatest environmental and health burdens throughout the state aligns with the recommendations for addressing structural barriers to community engagement in the Environmental Justice Task Force: Recommendations for Prioritizing EJ in Washington State Government (October 2020). For more information on the state’s periodic update process as a requirement of the Growth Management Act, please explore facts sheets available on the GMA Laws and Rules and periodic update training pages of our website.
- Attend local meetings focused on the comprehensive plan update or organize their own;
- Meet with city staff and elected officials
- Participate in focus groups or advisory boards
- Other related activities
Climate support from Commerce is provided with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.