Transparency for Anacortes Residents

Understanding the Anacortes Comprehensive Plan

Smart Growth Anacortes is a community nonprofit dedicated to sharing information about planning and growth issues that affect our city. We believe informed citizens and open public participation are essential to thoughtful community planning.

The City of Anacortes adopted its 2025 Comprehensive Plan in December 2025. After reviewing the plan and participating in the public process, several questions and concerns were raised about how the plan was developed and how certain policies may affect our community. As part of this effort, Ian Munce and I (Bill Turner) have submitted comments over the past several months and have filed four appeals that will be reviewed this year by the Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB).

This website was created to provide residents with access to the information we have gathered throughout this process. Here you will find letters submitted to City Council, documents related to the Comprehensive Plan, and updates regarding the appeals currently under review.

We believe strong public participation is an important part of the planning process, as outlined in Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act and the Growth Management Act. By sharing this information, we hope to help residents better understand the issues and encourage respectful community discussion.

We welcome your comments and encourage you to share this information with others who may be interested. An informed and engaged community is at the heart of effective planning.