Elements Of The Week: Economic Development & Clinton Subarea Plan

Island County released draft elements for the Comprehensive Plan on December 10, 2025, and is holding short workshops on each draft element now through the close of the public comment period on February 9, 2026. Each week during the comment period, WEAN will post a blog outlining the workshop topics from the past week, the presentations given by the county, the comments WEAN has officially submitted to Island County, and our key takeaways from the elements reviewed that week. 

The public comment deadline is 4:30 pm on February 9, 2026.

This past week, the Board of Island County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Planning Commission both met to discuss the Economic Development element and the Clinton Subarea Plan. The BOCC also took time during their workshop session on February 4 to discuss the Deer Lagoon Management Plan, a community-led management plan written by Whidbey Audubon member Carlos Andersen to protect Deer Lagoon Preserve. We were glad to hear the BOCC discussing options for proceeding with thoughtful management of Deer Lagoon, an Audubon-designated Important Bird Area (IBA), and recognizing the importance of setting a Comprehensive Planning goal to develop a data-informed framework for the management of all County-owned open space classified as preserves.

Participants from WEAN's Finding Your Civic Voice workshop also gave public comment together at the Board of Island County Commissioners' meeting on February 3 on affordable housing, rural character, and slowing down to make our roads safer for wildlife. Congratulations to our participants, including one who spoke in public for the very first time!

Video of Planning Commission Workshop 2/04/26.

WEAN Executive Director Marnie Jackson gives public comment as a private resident.

WEAN's Clinton Subarea Plan Takeaways

• Local needs, local knowledge, and known critical areas need to be integrated into this subarea plan. It is imperative that the document correct misnamed creeks, properly characterize road thoroughfares, and accurately assess the presence of critical areas in Clinton, particularly known wetlands, streams, and creeks currently omitted from the draft. The consultant hired to write this plan mischaracterizes Clinton in several places, including misnaming our major arterial roads, calling well-known Old Clinton Creek an “unnamed stream”, and failing completely to identify fish-bearing Orr Creek. 
• Don’t repeat Freeland’s mistakes. We already have a non-municipal urban growth area (NMUGA) that hasn’t grown as outlined in the decades-old Freeland Subarea Plan. While the Clinton Subarea Plan identifies the need for a sewer and storm drain study (Policy LU 3.3), it states that the study is "anticipated to be complete within 10 years." Where is the septic/septic alternative infrastructure funding in the 6-year CIP? Without a dedicated funding source and a clear 6-year timeline, the proposed densities of this subarea plan are legally "aspirational."
• Amend the opening premise to reflect the current reality rather than a dream, and then plan concretely. The subarea plan opens by describing Clinton as a "vibrant, walkable, mixed-use rural community," which is a description of a future vision rather than a factual account of current conditions. We can plan for a vibrant future through more listening and more proactive protection of what is most important to local residents—correctly identifying and protecting the critical areas such as the streams that run through, under, and around Clinton while enhancing natural health and beauty; zoning and budgeting for infrastructure that supports mixed use, denser development where it belongs; incentivizing affordable and mixed-income housing; and lobbying to Washington State to make 525 slower, safer, and more walkable where it passes through this rural “downtown”.

WEAN's Economic Dev Takeaways

• Language in the element is dismissive of Indigenous presence. We observe that the opening sentence of the Economic Development element is profoundly dismissive of Indigenous presence on our islands since time immemorial and dismissive of indigenous economies rooted in relationship and place that long predate settler colonialism. 
• An economic valuation of ecosystem services is needed. We would like to elevate Commissioner Johnson’s request for an economic study of the ecosystem services provided by Island County's ecosystems. 
• Give the public a chance to properly review the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy within the context of Comprehensive Planning. We were surprised to learn that the reason the Economic Development element is so sparse (a mere 5 pages) is that the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) will be dropped into the plan. While CEDS had its own public comment process, during its drafting, it was not made clear that one of this document's deliverables would be inclusion in the County's Comprehensive Plan. If included as a key element of the Comp Plan, it should be easily accessible and identifiable on the county's Comprehensive Planning website for public review during this public comment period.
• Our agricultural economy needs to be regenerative and resilient. When focusing on agriculture, ensure it is viewed through a regenerative lens for climate resilience. 
  

WEAN's Overarching Takeaways

The County needs more time to refine the current draft, and the public needs more time to further review a refined draft. The County’s public participation plan promised phases for “shaping," “refining," and “finalizing” the Comprehensive Plan. Despite the release of limited material (spreadsheets and the Clinton Sub Area Element) on May 30, 2025, the public had its very first opportunity to view a full preliminary draft on December 10, 2025. The current public comment period and the staff’s integration of the public’s input should culminate in the release of a “refined” draft. That, too, should be followed by a minimum 60-day public comment period so that feedback from the Board of County Commissioners, the Planning Commission, and the public can be assessed, integrated, and reflected back to the community through transparent edits and refinements in the next draft. After incorporating those public comments, the county could then appropriately release a “finalized” draft for public hearings before the Board of County Commissioners and the Planning Commission, before submission to the State of Washington for adoption. 

According to planning staff, Island County plans to submit a "final" plan for state adoption in April 2026. The current timeline doesn’t align with the statutory requirements of the process, including the state's mandate for early and continuous public engagement. Island County staff needs time to incorporate feedback received during the public comment period ending today, February 9, and the public needs ample time to review a refined draft, comment on it, and hold public hearings on the final draft of the plan. To do all of that properly, it will take more time than we are currently being given.

Submit Your Public Comment

Submit your comments to Island County on the Economic Development element and the Clinton Subarea Plan by no later than 4:30 pm on February 9, 2026.

Include the following language in your written comments to make sure they are included in the official record:

"Please include these comments in the official public record regarding the [insert element] of the 2025 Comprehensive Plan update. These comments are submitted pursuant to the public participation requirements of the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A). I request that these comments be included in the final record of adoption and that I be notified of all future hearings, work sessions, and final actions regarding this matter."

Written comments can be submitted:

• Via the comment forms on the Island County 2045 website under the "Draft Comprehensive Plan" and "Draft Code" tabs.
• Via email: CompPlan@islandcountywa.gov.
• Via mail: Planning & Community Development, 1 NE 7th St, Coupeville, WA 98239.

Verbal comments can be submitted:

• At any Planning Commission meeting (in person or online)
• At Board Tuesday Regular meetings (in person or online)

See the Island County Agenda Center for upcoming meeting information.