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| Strategy for Making Shoreline Sustainable
Balance all of the needs and desires of all the people in a comprehensive way.
The Shoreline Planning Department has projected that Shoreline will be required to absorb
10,000 more residents in the next 20 years as a result of the WA State Growth Management Act
attempt to preserve forest and farmland and build density in Urban Growth Areas.
The good news is King County is ahead of previous density goals.
The bad news is this growth has occurred at the expense of the natural and social
environment. Pollution of our Puget Sound has increased.
See the State of Puget Sound We have lost fish, trees, bio-diversity.
There is less of a a sense of community that enables neighbors to trust each other.
We have paid more money for heath care, criminal justice / public safety; that is for
police, courts and jails while our local economy has lost jobs.
The Washington State Growth Management Act requires natural, social and built environment be developed concurrently with new housing for increased population.
The citizens of Shoreline wrote the Shoreline Comprehensive Plan with this guiding principal:
"achieve balance in the City’s development the Framework Goals
must be viewed as a whole and not one pursued to the exclusion
of others"
Through a series of more than 300 activities held in 1996-1998 (meetings, open houses,
surveys and discussions), Shoreline’s citizens, the Planning Commission, and the City
Council refined the City Council’s Vision Statements into the Comprehensive Plan’s
Framework Goals. These Framework Goals provide the overall policy foundation for the
Comprehensive Plan and support the City Council’s vision. When implemented, the
Framework Goals are intended to preserve the best qualities of Shoreline’s neighborhoods
today and protect the City’s future.
Framework Goals FG
FG1: Accommodate anticipated levels of growth and enhance the quality of
life within the City of Shoreline.
FG2: Promote quality building and development that is compatible with the
surrounding environment.
FG3: Support diverse and affordable housing opportunities which provide for
Shoreline’s population growth.
FG4: Pursue a strong and diverse economy and assure economic development that
complements neighborhood character.
FG5: Protect the natural environment and preserve environmentally critical
areas.
FG6: Promote improvements to human services.
FG7: Assure effective and efficient public investment for quality public services,
facilities,and utilities.
FG8: Improve multi-modal transportation systems which provide for Shoreline’s
present and future population.
FG9: Provide for wide involvement in community planning decisions.
Other groups define sustainable growth in terms of our sense of wellbeing.
What is Wellbeing? from
Australia Contrary to our culture wellbeing is not obtained by buying more stuff.
Notes
What is a Comprehensive Plan?
A comprehensive plan indicates how a community envisions its future and sets forth strategies for achieving the desired vision. A plan has three characteristics. First, it is comprehensive: The plan encompasses all the geographic and functional elements that have a bearing on the community's physical development. Second, it is general: The plan summarizes the major policies and proposals of the city, but does not usually indicate specific locations or establish detailed regulations. Third, it is long range: The plan looks beyond the current pressing issues confronting the community, to the community's future.
What is the Economic Development Strategy
2006-2011 City of Shoreline Economic Development Plan
The economic vitality of Shoreline is critical to the health and
future of the City of Shoreline and its citizens. We measure
this vitality in large part by expanding the diverse and
economically healthy opportunities within Shoreline to live,
learn, shop, play, work, own a business, and invest. Vitality
also is measured by the balance and growth of revenue to city
government, because it is necessary that the economy generate
an adequate level of financial resources to local government,
in order that local government can better provide essential
public infrastructure, public safety, and municipal services.
Nothing in this plan should be construed as endorsing concepts
that would impair or detract from the values that currently
make Shoreline great, such as its quality, livable neighborhoods
and the educational system.
What is the Environmental Sustainability Strategy
A standard definition of sustainability is meeting the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs, while working to regenerate
and restore the environment where it has been damaged by past
practices. Towards this end, a major goal of creating and
implementing the Shoreline Sustainability Strategy is so
future generations of local residents will have the resources
and means to live at least as well as, and preferably better
than, people today.
Because this scope is so broad, and the universe of "sustainability" so vast, the City opted to propose a strategy that provides overarching direction for future efforts through the delineation of guiding principles, focus areas, new tools, available resources, and an evaluation of existing programs and staff capacity to implement more ambitious projects. This is different than drafting a plan which would lay out a specific workload or timeline for particular programs and endeavors. It provides the flexibility for the Council and staff to work to evaluate innovative ideas and prioritize their implementation based on cost analysis and funding availability, leveraging of partnerships, and staff capacity as opportunities arise and political will dictates.
Comprehensive Housing StrategyComprehensive Housing Strategy
The range of housing types and styles which will be needed to accommodate the mix of residents we anticipate wishing to live in Shoreline will be somewhat different from the housing choices that predominate today. After a year of study and discussion of these topics, the Citizen Advisory Committee determined that to best ensure future vitality of the community, housing choice and affordability must be expanded. The committee concluded that the best way to achieve this is to define and retain important elements of neighborhood character and to engage the community in understanding the need for broader housing choice and in defining how to accommodate new or different housing styles within the community. If these criteria are met, the committee believes that well-designed projects can add density, enhance affordability and foster amenities, while still complementing existing neighborhood character.
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