Land Use

This chapter evaluates impacts of the four alternatives on land use in the central Puget Sound region. This chapter also provides mitigation measures for potential impacts on land use. Potential land use impacts include changes to land use plans and policies and to existing land use patterns. Population, employment and housing are discussed in Chapter 5.1.

VISION 2020 includes policies and provisions that address a range of land use issues, including resource lands, rural areas, urban growth areas, and contiguous and orderly development. The VISION and its proposed update will provide a regionwide framework for local, county and regional planning. To that end, the VISION is the foundation for an overarching strategy for enhancing mobility and protecting valuable rural and resource lands from urban sprawl through compact regional growth.

• Urban Land. VISION 2020 calls for focusing growth and development within the region’s urban growth areas. In addition, regional growth centers are to be designated as locations of higher intensity residential and employment development. These centers are to be connected by an efficient transportation system with high-capacity transit.
• Rural Land. The VISION calls for the preservation of rural character, open space, recreation, non-designated resource lands, scenic and historic areas, and small-scale farming, forestry, and cottage industries. "Rural lands primarily contain a mix of low-density residential development, agriculture, forests, open space and natural areas, as well as recreation uses. Counties, small towns, cities and activity areas provide limited public services to rural residents. They buffer large resource areas and accommodate small-scale farming, forestry, and cottage industries as well as other natural-resource based activities." (1995 VISION 2020 Update, page 33.)
• Natural Resource Land and Critical Areas. VISION 2020 calls for preserving the region’s resource lands for their natural, economic, and ecological value. The VISION also calls for protecting critical areas as environmentally significant lands, recognizing that their protection contributes to health, safety, and the well-being of the region.