Table of Contents

Built Environment and Health

Addressing health, equity, displacement, and racial, social, and environmental justice is a guiding principle for the county's comprehensive plan (Chapter 1, Part III). Chapter 2, Part II discusses the promotion of public health for all and supports a variety of land uses. A variety of goals are listed for different land uses and address aspects of health, safety, accessibility, equity, social connectivity, affordable housing, transportation, development, and green infrastructure. 

Food Systems

This county's comprehensive plan integrates support for healthy food, food access, and agricultural protection and production throughout its plan. The plan supports the development of a food-innovation district to promote affordable and healthy food (Policy U-234). The plan encourages the creation of community gardens, farmers markets, and produce stands to increase food accessibility (Policy R-321). Policies related to food and agriculture can be found in the Agriculture and the Food System section (R-783,R-784, R785, R-786, R-787, R-788). 

Social Equity

The county’s comprehensive plan features addressing health, equity, displacement, and racial, social, and environmental justice as its fifth guiding principle. It identifies the equity challenges that were exacerbated by the Urban Growth Area adopted in 1994 and proposes strategies for addressing these challenges in each chapter.

Solar Energy

Chapter 9: Services, Facilities, and Utilities of the county's comprehensive plan discusses the benefits and current barriers to solar energy use, including a lack of solar siting requirements, solar access protections, and flexible development standards for solar energy systems (p. 9-28).

While Chapter 5: Environment of this plan includes commentary and policies that are broadly supportive of all types of renewable energy technologies, Chapter 9 includes two policies related specifically to solar energy use. The first of these policies states that the county encourages solar energy use, solar siting, the use of active and passive solar technologies, the protection of solar access, and the allocation of outside funding to support solar access. (Policy F-518). The second policy states that the county should consider passive and active solar energy systems in all county facilities and that these systems should be interconnected with local utilities when a cost-benefit analysis shows net benefits (Policy F-519).

Transfer of Development Rights

The county’s comprehensive plan encourages the use of transfer of development rights as the preferred approach to managing rural areas, natural resource lands, and also urban growth areas (Chapter 3, Part VI). TDR objectives support the protection of forestry, farming, habitat, parks or open space. The comprehensive plan covers TDR program framework that includes sending and receiving sites and a TDR bank. King County’s TDR program is considered one of the most successful in the nation.