Overview and FAQs

The City is working together with community members (you!) to create Our Vancouver, an updated comprehensive plan that will guide the city’s growth and development over the next 20 years.

The City of Vancouver’s Comprehensive Plan provides the overall long-term vision and policy direction to manage the built and natural environment in Vancouver and provide necessary public facilities to achieve our shared vision. As demographic changes, market conditions, community priorities and other factors have shifted since the comprehensive plan was last updated in 2011, it’s necessary to re-imagine the existing growth strategy through the comprehensive plan update. As part of this, Our Vancouver will need to plan for at least 38,000 additional housing units (about 44% more than we have now) over the next 20 years to maintain our community’s livability and affordability.

The updated Comprehensive Plan will include the following chapters:

• Community Feel and Vision
• Land use and Development
• Housing
• Equity and Inclusion
• Climate, Environment, Community Health, Sustainability, and Resiliency
• Economic Opportunity
• Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Community Well-being
• Transportation and Mobility
• Infrastructure, Public Facilities and Services, and Utilities
• Implementation

It will also be updated to comply with recent state legislation.

The City of Vancouver is required by the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) to conduct a periodic review of the Comprehensive Plan. Updating the Comprehensive Plan now will bring the City up to date with recent changes to state law to address state-wide housing and climate needs, land use changes, population growth projections, and housing projections to meet the needs of a growing population. The plan update will also inform the City’s decisions about land use, housing, public facilities, parks and open space, economic development, historic preservation, community design, and environmental considerations.

Washington’s Growth Management Act requires the City to adopt an updated plan and changes to its zoning code by December 31, 2025. Requirements set by the Growth Management Act include:

• Update the existing Comprehensive Plan with community members
• Develop a strategy for implementing the updated Comprehensive Plan
• Revise the City’s rules about how land and buildings look and are used (Title 20 of the Vancouver Municipal Code) so that they align with the goals and policies in the updated Comprehensive Plan
• Assess how the updated comprehensive plan will impact the environment via the State-required Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process

While the Comprehensive Plan is a foundational policy document for the City, there are several related planning efforts. Some of these plans are adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan by reference. All efforts play a significant role in how Vancouver will continue to grow and help identify the values that will guide us in the future.

Adopted as part of the Comprehensive Plan by Reference

• Transportation System Plan
• Subarea and District Plans
• Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Comprehensive Plan

Related Efforts

• Strategic Plan
• Climate Action Framework
• Reside Vancouver – Anti Displacement Strategy
• Homelessness response efforts, including Safe Stay Communities
• Urban Forestry Management Plan

Related Efforts from Outside Entities

• Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (IBRP)
• Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council’s (RTC) Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)
• C-Tran’s Transit Development Plan (TDP)

Community input is essential in the planning process to create a vision that reflects our community’s priorities and aspirations, and to craft policies that will help make the vision a reality.

The City realizes our community is changing and new policies are needed to plan for future growth, provide housing options, increase access to local services, upgrade infrastructure to support growth, address climate considerations, and provide opportunities for an equitable future.

The Our Vancouver Public Involvement Plan describes how community input is integrated in our planning processes and will be incorporated in the final Comprehensive Plan. You can also look through the Phase 1: Visioning - Engagement Summary to learn about how we're incorporating your input from the visioning phase into the process. 

View all our Past Community Events and City Council / Planning Commission Meetings:

Housing has been a big topic in our engagement with the community. New housing production in Vancouver is not meeting our current needs, especially for people experiencing lower incomes. 

Our Vancouver will update the ways that the City regulates certain types of buildings and structures and where they are allowed to be built in the land use and development code. This includes where housing can be located, how it’s designed, where new businesses can be located, how limited land resources are used, and how they are balanced with protection of the natural environment.

Clark County needs at least 116,000 more units of housing over the next 20 years. The City of Vancouver is planning for at least 38,000 housing units through 2045. Currently, there are 206,000 units in the county and 87,000 housing units citywide.  

Clark County’s housing market is the most constrained area of the state, and housing production hasn’t kept pace with household formation.

• The Housing Action Plan establishes housing action as a Citywide priority.

Learn more about the housing need in Vancouver by reviewing our Housing and Land Use fact sheet.

New state level changes, including House Bills 1110 and 1220, allow for more middle housing and require cities to plan for more housing.

• Washington’s Growth Management Act requires the City to adopt an updated plan and changes to its zoning code by June 30, 2025.
• House Bill 1110 (Middle Housing) requires cities like Vancouver to allow for a broader range of housing types.
  
  

• Cities must allow at least 4 dwelling units per lot on all lots, up to six dwelling units per lot if within ¼ mile of a major transit stop, and 6 dwelling units per lot if two are affordable.
• House Bill 1337 (Accessory Dwelling Units) allows for the construction of at least two Accessory Dwelling Units per lot in districts that allow single family homes.

Learn more by watching the Housing Forum recording, reviewing the meeting presentation, or checking out the housing legislation fact sheet.

Housing has been a big topic in our engagement with the community. Here's what we've heard:

• Need for affordable housing and how to make sure housing stays affordable over time
• Importance of having multiple types of housing available
• Questions about more density in single-family neighborhoods and need to be thoughtful in design when mixing densities
• Need to make sure there is sufficient infrastructure (water, sewer, public services, parking) to support more housing
• Desire for more homeownership opportunities and how middle housing and ADUs could advance this
• Concerns about displacement with new developments, and how we will focus on using anti-displacement strategies to guide our decisions

Check back often to learn about upcoming events, surveys and opportunities for your voice to be heard!

The community vision statement describes how community members want Vancouver to look and feel in the future and establishes the foundation for the goals and policies of the Comprehensive Plan:

“Vancouver is an equitable and prosperous community, which ensures that all residents, businesses and organizations benefit from the growth and advancement we make together. Vancouver will be recognized for our quality of life, as evidenced by affordable housing in vibrant, safe and walkable neighborhoods, access to jobs and economic opportunity for all, and leading-edge efforts to address climate change.”

Community Input

The City conducted a robust visioning process, which engaged more than 1,000 community members between June 2022 and February 2023. Since then, staff have engaged more than 1,200 additional community members through one-on-one and small group conversations, Council Community Forums, online engagement and tabling at community events.

During this process, community members were asked about their hopes, needs and concerns, and their big ideas for the future of Vancouver. Some of the most frequently mentioned topics were:

• public safety,
• economic opportunity (jobs, business development and growth),
• housing affordability, houselessness, and preventing displacement,
• community and neighborhood connections (between places and between people), and
• climate change and resiliency.

Draft Vision Statement 

A draft vision statement was created based on this input.

Public Comment Period

Additional Refinements were made after the draft was shared on this webpage for a four-week comment period and reviewed with Community Partners

Final Vision Statement

The Vision Statement is part of the project’s Goals Framework, which was endorsed by City Council at the December 18, 2023 meeting.

The Vision Statement and Goals Framework is being used to develop policies for each Comprehensive Plan chapter, which outline more specific actions and initiatives the City will take in the future.

An outline of the timeframe for advancing key policies over the next 20 years will be documented in an implementation matrix.