The subcomittees working on developing recommendations to help guide development on Vashon over the next decade have completed their work and will present their recommendations to the full Community Advisory Group for consideration next week.

The effort is part of the King County-led process to create a Community Service Area Plan for the island, replacing the previous Town Plan, which dates back to the 1990s. The process has been underway since spring, and while there were subcommittees attending to a variety of matters pertaining to Vashon and Maury Islands, issues related to affordable housing and land use drew the most attention and created the most controversy.

Last week, in the final meeting of the Land Use/ Housing/Community Health subcommittee, the most substantial recommendation the group made was to expand the affordable housing incentives already in place within King County code and apply those to much of Vashon’s Rural Town area as a Special District Overlay. Per that evening’s conversation and county documents, this overlay would allow any developer of a residential project that contains only affordable units to build more units than the current zoning allows for. Specifically, within a designated area of Rural Town, it calls for allowing any parcel zoned R-4 or higher (four units or more per acre) to be developed at a maximum of 18 units per acre as long as all units are intended for those who earn 80 percent and below of the area’s median income. The provisions would also be effective for parcels zoned as commercial business.

King County planner Bradley Clark, who is leading the process, said this recommendation is a compromise regarding some of the issues in front of the subcommittee.

“I am really pleased with where the group came to,” he added. “I think it was bumpy, and there may still be disagreements as we move ahead into the larger group.”

Chris Szala, who heads Vashon HouseHold — the island’s nonprofit housing developer — said he believes the measure is a step forward and may enable his agency to build additional housing for low and moderate-income islanders, including those who make up much of the island’s work force.

“This provides more density for 100 percent affordable housing and gives more flexibility in how to structure a project,” he said following the meeting.

He noted that the new overlay, if it is included in the final plan, would mean that before building a multi-family housing project, Vashon HouseHold and other developers would not have to go through the typical rezone process, which can add $25,000 to $100,000 to a project and take a considerable amount of time.

Szala, who has worked in the affordable housing field for many years, said he would have opted to take bolder action at this point, but indicated the plan will be reviewed in eight years, and islanders will be able to evaluate then if progress has been made.

“Maybe we can take bolder steps in the future,” he added.

While several islanders expressed concern during recent months that the subcommittee would make changes that would encourage too much development on Vashon, putting stress on Water District 19 and jeopardizing Vashon’s rural nature, Szala has disagreed with this assessment all along. At last week’s meeting, he addressed the issue directly.

“I’ll put $5,000 on the table that no private developer is going to come in and grab that land to create 100 percent affordable housing,” he said.

Conversely, islander Frank Jackson, who was active in developing an alternate plan for creating affordable housing that Martin Baker presented to the subcommittee last month, said he believes the action the group took is better than some other ideas its members had discussed previously. However, he said he remains worried about unintended consequences for the island’s water and other natural resources. He added that he cares about the issue of affordable housing, but disagrees with the approach the group has taken, including the recent recommendation regarding the overlay.

“It opens the door to things that weren’t possible before,” he said. “I don’t think it is the way to go about it.”

Also regarding increasing affordable housing on Vashon, the subcommittee is encouraging King County to look at relaxing some of its requirements around accessory dwelling units — sometimes also called mother-in-law apartments — and to increase incentives for them in upcoming code amendments.

The subcommittee, as part of its land use focus, will also put forth a marijuana-related decision for the full Community Advisory Group to make a determination on next week. In particular, it wants the group to discuss the possibility of not allowing marijuana retail businesses in Vashon Town. This would be a departure from King County code, which allows the establishments in areas that are zoned as commercial business.

Subcommittee member Kirsten Frandsen raised the issue of the appropriateness of marijuana businesses in Vashon’s town because of the island’s high rate of youth marijuana use. The subcommittee did not reach consensus on the issue, but requested that the full Community Advisory Group discuss it.

Additionally, the full advisory group will weigh several recommendations from other subcommittees that have been working quietly since spring. County documents show those recommendations span from agriculture and art to transportation and wastewater. Specific recommendations include, for example, that King County develop a suite of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for the island; that the county seek opportunities to evaluate the possible expansion of water taxi service to the island and that the county perform an island-wide study of septic systems, consider the effects of sea-level rise and evaluate the need for community or other wastewater systems.

The meeting on Jan. 24 — scheduled for 6 p.m. at The Land Trust Building — is open to the public, but is a working meeting for the committee. The county’s Clark said he did not believe community comment would be allowed. However, he stressed that the county does want islanders’ feedback and will make an interactive draft of the proposed vision, policies and actions available online this week. Islanders will be able to comment directly on the document and read other people’s comments as well. Additional meetings coming up include a public meeting in February dedicated to housing issues as well as one in March regarding a draft of the Community Service Plan; neither meeting has been scheduled yet.

The final version of the plan is slated to be completed by June 1. It will be folded into the county’s Comprehensive Plan, which will guide King County’s future development and capital improvement decisions.