Growth Management Monitoring Programs

Contents

• Introduction
• Washington Regional or Local Government Monitoring Reports
• Monitoring Reports from Regional or Local Governments in Other States
• Monitoring Reports from Interest Groups or Nonprofit Organizations
• Land Supply Monitoring
• Related MRSC Pages
• GMA Plan/Development Regulations Updates
• Growth Management and Planning Interlocal Agreements

Introduction

Cities and counties must review and update GMA comprehensive plans, development and regulations and the adequacy of urban growth areas periodically to ensure consistency with state statutes. A growth management monitoring program can help local jurisdictions track where growth is going and how well various pieces of the growth management program are working. Information from the monitoring program can help cities and counties to fine tune plan policies and development regulations to better achieve growth management goals. The following examples of growth management monitoring programs from Washington and other states are available online:

Washington Regional or Local Government Monitoring Reports

• Puget Sound Milestones Monitoring Reports - Puget Sound Regional Council program to monitor progress toward achieving regional vision
• Clack County
  • Comprehensive Growth Management Plan Monitoring - Plan monitoring, buildable lands (supply) reports, and other annual monitoring reports
  • Comprehensive Growth Management Plan Implementation 2009 Monitoring Report ()
• Vancouver Comprehensive Plan Implementation Monitoring Report for 2007 and 2008 ()
• King County Growth Report - Web-based successor to annual growth reports - Annual reports on land use, economics, transportation and affordable housing, and King County Annual Growth Reports 1998 - 2008 and Buildable Lands Reports
• King County Benchmark Program
• Snohomish County Growth Monitoring Reports, and Snohomish County Tomorrow Reports - Including Housing and Buildable Lands reports
• Seattle Reports on Growth, 2003 and 2000
• Spokane County Comprehensive Plan - Appendix B: Performance Measurement, and Spokane County Performance Measurement Report (), 2002
• Department of Commerce Buildable Lands Program - Evaluation of adequacy of residential, commercial and industrial land supply to meet growth needs projected in plans of six counties; includes links to annual reports from the counties

Monitoring Reports from Regional or Local Governments in Other States

• Portland Metro 2040 Performance Measures - Provides links to the excellent “2004 Performance Measures Report: An evaluation of 2040 growth management policies and implementation” and to an executive summary; uses a number of indicators to measure performance policy by policy, Portland Metro
• Regional Comprehensive Plan Performance Monitoring (Overview) - Includes 2009 Annual Performance Monitoring Report, and Establishing a Baseline for Performance Monitoring, 2006, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)
• Howard County, MD 2009 General Plan Monitoring Report () - Describes the County’s achievements on various indicators outlined in the 2000 General Plan
• A Decade of Smart Growth Management: Lancaster County (PA) Growth Tracking Report (), 1993-2003 - Brief, well-illustrated report highlights key aspects of county growth, and Measure Up Lancaster (), 2006 - Community indicators
• Ft. Collins, CO City Plan Monitoring Project (), 1997 - 2007 and Compass of Larimer County - Growth Management and Land Use - Tracks certain growth indicators such as new residential units and miles of road by area from 2005 - 2009
• Evaluation and Appraisal Reports, Broward County FL - Florida local governments are required to prepare an Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) of their adopted Comprehensive Plan every seven (7) years.
  • Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR 2011)
  • Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR 2004) ()
• Orange County Comprehensive Plan Ch. 13 () - Monitoring Procedures
• Arizona Growing Smarter Oversight Council - The Oversight Council is charged with monitoring the effectiveness of its growth management statutes and with suggesting improvements, and Arizona Smart Growth Card - A tool for local government self-assessment
• Chula Vista, CA Growth Management Oversight Commission - Citizen Commission monitors impacts of growth and recommends corrective action. Threshold standards (quality of life indicators) used to measure city performance at providing important city services.
• Vancouver, B.C. Livable Region Strategic Plan - Includes 2005 Annual Report
• Vancouver, B.C. Urban Residential Growth Patterns 1982 - 2006, and Residential Development Capacity, 2006, and Regional Development Monthly Indicators

Monitoring Reports from Interest Groups or Nonprofit Organizations

• Get Smart Washington: Managing Growth in the New Millennium (), Futurewise, 06/2000 - This report notes shortcomings of GMA from an organization that promotes growth management
• The Growth Management Act (GMA) After More than 10 Years: Another Look & A Response to Criticisms (), Futurewise, 2002 - This report addresses a number of criticisms that are leveled at the Growth Management Act. A Power Point summary is also available.
• Evaluation of Local Implementation of the Washington State Growth Management Act for the National Association of Realtors, Douglas R. Porter, The Growth Management Institute, 03/2005 - This report notes the shortcomings of GMA (development community perspective).

Land Supply Monitoring

• Seattle Shoreline Master Program Update: Comparison of Land Supply and Demand for Water-Dependent and Water-Related Uses, city of Seattle, prepared by Property Counselors, 12/2009
• Estimating and Analyzing Land Supply Development Capacity (Working Paper) The Case of Southeast Seattle, Anne Vernez Moudon, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 05/2001
• Methods for Evaluating Commercial and Industrial Land Sufficiency: A Recommendation for Oregon Communities - Final Report, Advisory Committee on Commercial and Industrial Development, by Otak, Incorporated ECONorthwest, 2002
• Market Demand Analysis Report for the Citywide Industrial Lands Inventory and Assessment (), Portland Development Commission, by ECONorthwest, 2003
• Monitoring Land and Housing Markets: An Essential Tool for Smart Growth (), Gerrit J. Knaap, National Center for Housing and the Environment, University of Maryland, 01/2004 - This article describes how communities can develop a land monitoring system to track local land and housing market information. Such information is essential to planners and policymakers in efforts to adjust and improve the practice of urban growth management.
• Land Supply and Infrastructure Capacity Monitoring for Smart Urban Growth (), Gerrit J. Knaap, and Terry Moore, Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy working paper, 2000
• Metro's Regional Land Information System: The Virtual Key to Portland’s Growth Management Success (), Richard Bolen, Gerrit Knaap, and Ethan Seltzer, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy working paper, 2003
• The Land Market Monitoring National Demonstration Project, National Center for Housing and the Environment, University of Maryland
• Estimating Residential Development Capacity: A Guidebook for Analysis and Implementation in Maryland (), Maryland Department of Planning, and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 08/2005
• Land Market Monitoring - Relevant Publications, from the National Center for Housing and the Environment, University of Maryland Website
• Development Capacity Task Force, State of Maryland - Guidebook, models and guidelines for estimating development capacity and 2004 Final Report
• Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Urban Land Supply Study, Metropolitan Council, 2001
• Growth Watch: Monitoring Austin's (TX) Growth and Development - Tracks subdivision, site plan and permit activity
• Models and Guidelines Summary: Development Capacity Analyses (), Maryland Department of Planning
• Demand for Commercial, Industrial and Residential Land in Sutter County (CA), 2007-2030 ()
• Buildable Lands, Washington Department of Commerce Website - Includes information about Washington’s programs and links to county programs in the Puget Sound area
• Monitoring Land Supply with Geographic Information Systems: Theory, Practice, and Parcel-Based Approaches, Anne Vernez Moudon (Editor), Michael Hubner (Editor), New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 05/2000 - Abstract and order form from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy