Welcome to Smart Growth Anacortes
Topics
We focus on all key planning issues facing the City of Anacortes — Public Participation, Forest Lands, Affordable Living and Housing, Critical Areas, the Comprehensive Plan, and other topics that shape the future of our community. We aim to make complex issues clear and accessible and give you a forum to express your opinions.
In addition to providing information, our website offers several places where community members can share their perspectives. You’ll find opportunities to submit comments on individual topic pages, respond to issue summaries, and participate in open‑ended community discussions. We want your voice to be part of the conversation, wherever you feel most comfortable engaging.
Join us in the conversation. Your insights and experiences help shape a more informed and thoughtful future for Anacortes.
Who We Are
Smart Growth Anacortes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping residents better understand the city planning, development, and growth policies that shape our community. Our mission is to provide an open forum where residents can access relevant information, share educational materials, and engage in respectful online discussion about Anacortes’ future and current city growth issues. We also work to ensure accountability by challenging city practices, when appropriate, through legal channels to confirm compliance with all Federal, State, County, and City laws, regulations, and ordinances, and to promote the use of best-available science and modern engagement practices.
This website was created to share information and encourage community engagement. Public participation plays an important role in planning decisions, and Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act highlights the importance of ongoing public involvement when developing policies such as a Comprehensive Plan. We believe there are opportunities to improve how information and meeting records are shared with the public so that citizens can more easily follow the process.
Here you will find our letters to City Council, materials related to the Comprehensive Plan, and updates on the appeals currently underway. Our goal is simply to provide information, encourage respectful discussion, and support meaningful community participation.
An informed and engaged community is at the heart of the Growth Management Act.

