Our vision for the City of Gig Harbor is a community that is well planned and comprised of identifiable residential and business neighborhoods that are safe, secure and have access to high quality municipal services and amenities.  Pedestrian, bicycle, vehicular, and police service systems enable people to move safely between neighborhoods, work places, shopping, and other destinations.  The economic base emphasizes professional employment and business opportunities.   The community develops partnership of citizens, city government, business and education, and fosters meaningful involvement and civil exchange of ideas.  The community preserves and develops an integrated system of natural features, open space, recreational and cultural opportunities.  Also, the community develops and preserves its natural and historical assets, while adapting to a changing environment.  This community’s government is responsive to the needs of its citizens and serves as a steward of public resources and confidence.

Comprehensive planning leads to regional coordination. The City of Gig Harbor Comprehensive Plan defines goals for Transportation, Parks, Economic Development, Sewer, Water, and more.

The 1994 City of Gig Harbor Comprehensive Plan outlines growth management goals for the next 20 years within the city’s urban area for the following areas: transportation, parks, economic development, sewer, water, land use, community design, environment, housing, essential public facilities, utilities, capital facilities and shoreline management. This plan is the city’s blueprint for the future through the formal acceptance of both Pierce County and the State of Washington. The city’s Comprehensive Plan references far more specific and extensive documents, planning elements such as the Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Comprehensive Sewer Plan, Comprehensive Water Plan, and Comprehensive Parks Plan. These plans are being updated in 2001. One new comprehensive plan that will be reviewed in this update– the Comprehensive Storm Water Plan.

Current Regional Efforts

The city attended the 1997 Sewer Advisory Committee for Pierce County, encouraging the committee to consider the city’s Urban Growth Area as the sole source of sewer on the Gig Harbor Peninsula. In certain limited situations related to school, fire district, sewer district, or other municipal or quasi-municipal needs, which benefit the health, safety or welfare of the city and/or county citizens, extension of sewer beyond urban growth area boundaries is possible at the sole discretion of the City Council. No sewer amenities are planned by Pierce County for the defined rural area of the Gig Harbor Peninsula.

In 1997, Pierce County agreed to a process to update land use provisions specific to the Gig Harbor Peninsula both inside and outside the urban growth area. This area was one of only two growth areas to receive this attention, the other being the South Hill of Puyallup. City and county have coordinated extensively and successfully during this process. In 2001, rural and urban area recommendations are nearly adopted by Pierce County.