A comprehensive plan is a broad statement of the community’s values and vision for its future. It is a policy road map that directs the orderly and coordinated physical development of the City for the next 20 years. It anticipates change and provides guidance for action to address and manage that change. The Anacortes Comprehensive Plan is specifically intended to sustain the city’s unique and vibrant maritime waterfront character and identity.

The Plan encompasses topics that address the physical, social and economic health of the City. A comprehensive plan takes a long-range perspective. For this reason, guidance is intentionally general, providing broad direction, but not prescribing specific implementation measures or regulatory actions. The Plan is also a living document, adaptable to evolving conditions and offering a framework for the consideration of policy changes.

The Anacortes Comprehensive Plan looks forward to 2036, provides a vision for the future, identifies goals and policies to achieve that vision, creates a basis for the City’s regulations and guides future decision-making.

This plan builds on the City’s 2012 Comprehensive Plan, responds to community needs and fulfills the Washington Growth Management (GMA) requirements for periodic review. It also conforms to Skagit County’s Countywide Planning Policies.

This website will provide up-to-date information on the process of the plan as it unfolds, and will list all opportunities available for the public to provide input.