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, Grow 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
- 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)
Grants
In 2024, 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).
Where did funding go?
This map provides information about the pilot program’s grant recipients, including the name and description of each. Numbers indicate the number of recipients in each county.
This list reflects the same data that is presented in the interactive map.
Clallam County
- Futurewise: $100,000
- North Olympic Land Trust: $55,000
- Port Angeles Waterfront District: $45,000
Clark County
- Fourth Plain Forward: $100,000
- Native American Youth and Family Center: $100,000
- Odyssey World International Education Services: $100,000
- Southwest Washington Equity Coalition: $99,440
- Washington Conservation Action Education Fund: $98,659
- NAACP OF Vancouver, WA Branch 1139-B: $71,255
- Vietnamese Community of Clark County: $50,000
Island County
- Camano Island Post No. 207, The American Legion: $100,000
- Goosefoot Community Fund: $76,717
Jefferson County
- Bayside Housing and Services: $45,000
- Community Wellness Project: $90,000
Mason County
- Mason County Climate Justice: $100,000
- United Way of Mason County : $55,000
San Juan County
- Friends of the San Juans: $90,000
- Island Stewards: $90,000
Skagit County
- Helping Hands food bank of Sedro-Woolley: $100,000
- Community Action of Skagit County: $90,000
- Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County (EDASC): $65,000
Thurston County
- Thurston Climate Action Team: $98,912
Whatcom County
- RE Sources: $100,000
- Scholar Fund: $100,000
- Washington Family Engagement: $95,000
- Vamos Outdoors Project: $90,000
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.