City of Bonney Lake

Comprehensive Plan

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Bonney Lake 2035

In 1990, the state of Washington passed legislation commonly referred to as the "Growth Management Act (GMA) which was codified as Chapter 36.70A RCW." The GMA required cities to have a comprehensive plan guide the development consistent with the goals established in the legislation: encouraging urban growth, reducing sprawl, promoting efficient transportation, ensuring availability of affordable housing and promoting a variety of housing types and residential densities, encouraging economic development, protecting property rights, processing permits in a timely and predictable manner, maintaining natural resource industries, retaining open space and recreation opportunities, protecting the environment, ensuring public participation and coordination between adjacent jurisdictions, providing adequate public facilities and services, preserving sites of historical and archaeological significance, and achieving the goals and polices of the Shoreline Management Act set forth in RCW 90.58.020. While all the goals of the Growth Management Act should be pursued in local Comprehensive Plans, it is up to each community to determine how to best balance these goals.

Bonney Lake 2035, serves as the City's comprehensive plan to meet the mandatory requirement and is the City's official statement concerning the City's vision for future growth and development. Bonney Lake 2035 identifies goals, policies, and strategies for maintaining the health, welfare, and quality of life of Bonney Lake's residents.

Citizens wanting to affect the future of their physical community should get involved in this long-range planning process. The City has many opportunities for citizens to do so. If one waits until a particular development activity occurs, or fails to occur, it is generally too late to change the outcome. Comprehensive plans take a long time to set in place and a long time to implement. Amending the Plan consumes time on the part of all participants in the process, but the long-term outcome can be very rewarding. The City considers citizen-initiated Comprehensive Plan amendments on odd-numbered years.

For more information contact staff in the Planning and Building Division.

Below are links to the most current version of the chapters of the comprehensive plan in PDF format.

Use the Table of Contents to help navigate the elements of the Comprehensive Plan.

Copies of the Comprehensive Plan are available to view at the Justice & Municipal Center. Contact the City at 253-862-8602 to request copies of the full plan or specific elements.

The Introduction provides information on the plan's background, how to use the plan, strategic outcomes, regional growth strategy, and comparable cities.

The Community Development Element establishes the policy framework that will shape the physical development of Bonney Lake and fulfills the requirements that local comprehensive plans address land use and housing. The City chose to address these two topics into one element due to the significant inter-relatedness of these issues. The Community Development Element will guide the City toward being a sustainable suburb with a land use pattern that consumes less energy; is less dependent on automobiles; supports local businesses; promotes public health; and is inclusive of persons of all ages, income levels, and physical capabilities.

Cultural arts and historic resources are essential to the quality of life, spirit, vitality, health, and well-being of a City. The Cultural Arts and Heritage Element demonstrates the City's commitment to the promotion of cultural arts and preservation of historic resources. These resources enrich the daily lives of all the City’s residents by providing a deeper understanding, tolerance, and respect for diverse communities. As Bonney Lake and the Puget Sound region grow and change, it is vital to preserve Bonney Lake’s beautiful natural surroundings, promote the arts, and protect historic resources in order to maintain and enhance the quality of life the residents of Bonney Lake have grown to expect.

Economic vitality is an expanded view of economic development. The Economic Vitality Element looks to improve the economic well-being of the entire community by protecting the environment, providing a healthy economy, encouraging employment opportunities, improving the socioeconomic opportunities for citizens, expanding the local tax base, facilitating economic opportunity, and encouraging the efficient use of land.

The Community Mobility Element addresses the movement of people and goods in and around Bonney Lake. The Element recognizes that the primary form of mobility in the City will be by automobile in the near future, while planning for the long-term by establishing policies for expanding transportation choices, reducing dependence on single passenger automobiles, improving public transit options, and making it easier to walk and bicycle in the City.

The Element looks beyond the transportation infrastructure and covers broader issues related to the connections between Bonney Lake and the region, the way that transportation shapes Bonney Lake’s form and identity, and how mobility options improve the health and well-being of Bonney Lake residents. The Element also looks at accessibility, or the ease of reaching various destinations in the City, and the barriers to travel for persons of varying physical needs.

One of the more challenging aspects in managing growth is ensuring that needed public facilities and services are available when growth occurs. The implementation of the Community Facilities and Services Element will ensure the development of needed public facilities and services in a timely and orderly fashion.

Facilities and services that provide infrastructure necessary to support basic life needs such as water and sanitary sewer are addressed in the Utilities section of the Element. Parks, recreation, and open space facilities and needs are addressed in the Parks and Recreation Section of the Element. This Community Facilities and Services Element also incorporates and serves as a reference to all of the various capital facility plans, comprehensive plans, capital improvement and investment programs, capital budgets, inventories, and studies that together represent the planning and financing mechanisms required to serve the needs of Bonney Lake, which includes the City's Comprehensive Sewer System Plan, the City's Comprehensive Water System Plan, and the City's Stormwater Comprehensive Plan.

The Sewer System Plan is available to download in sections:

Appendices

The Water System Plan is is available to download in sections:

Maps:

Maps

Appendices:

The Watershed Protection Plan is a holistic approach to preserving and protecting water quality and habitat while facilitating economic development, promoting healthy lifestyles, and accommodating growth in targeted areas of the City. This plan received the 2019 Smart Community Judges' Merit Award.

Watershed Protection Plan Appendices

The purpose of the Environmental Stewardship Element is to provide a framework to guide decision making in regards to the conservation, management, and utilization of Bonney Lake’s natural resources. The topics in this element overlap with other elements in the Comprehensive Plan including the Community Development, Public Facilities and Services, and Community Mobility Elements. However, the Environmental Stewardship Element distinguishes itself by being primarily oriented to the conservation of natural resources, including air and water quality protection, greenhouse gas reduction, and energy conservation.

The Shoreline Element includes policies to protect the public interest associated with the shorelines of the state, to preserve the public’s opportunity to access the shorelines of the state, to protect the functions of shorelines, to promote the restoration of impaired ecological functions, and to protect private property rights.

The Implementation Element provides guidance for maintaining accountability, monitoring activities, creating appropriate development regulations and procedures, and involving the community in implementation of Bonney Lake 2035. The Element provides implementation actions and performance measures for each of the elements Bonney Lake 2035 to ensure that decision making related to development review, future long-range planning activities and capital improvements are consistent with those goals and policies.

The Eastown Subarea Plan serves as a guide for future development of the area, addresses needed improvements to access and circulation, and provides a clear vision for establishment of Eastown as a unique and attractive area.

This appendix features images of the ten historical markers within the City of Bonney Lake, include the Skystone and the Old City Hall.

This appendix is an analysis using the 4k Travel Model that attempts to predict future travel behavior. These forecasts help inform the Community Mobility Element.

The Centers Plan replaces previous subarea plans and defines a unified vision for focused growth within three centers: Lake Tapps, Downtown, and Midtown. This plan defines guiding principles that were developed from community input and guide development decisions within the City.

Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday
9:00 - 4:00
Fridays
By Appointment Only

Contact:
Planning & Building Division

Location:
Public Services Center
21719 96th ST E
Buckley, WA 98321

Mailing:
City of Bonney Lake
Attn: Planning Department
21719 96th ST E
Buckley, WA 98321

Phone: 253-447-4356

Inspection Line: 253-447-4357

Fax: 253-862-1116