Camas North Shore: ‘Growth will happen here, so we have to manage it the best we can’

Public weighs in on latest zoning maps; city estimates area northeast of Lacamas Lake will accommodate 8K residents, 1.4K jobs

By Kelly Moyer
August 25, 2022 11:45 am
Latest News, News

Camas Engineering Manager James Carothers (right) discusses maps showing possible zoning changes in the city's North Shore area, located northeast of Lacamas Lake, during an open house at Lacamas Lake Lodge on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. (Kelly Moyer/Post-Record)

As Camas city officials inch closer to implementing policies that will shape the look and feel of Camas’ North Shore area — while staying true to the eight-point North Shore Vision approved by the Camas City Council in the fall of 2020 — community members continue to weigh in on what they would like to see in the mostly undeveloped, 800-acre, mixed-use area located off the northeast section of Camas’ Lacamas Lake.

Around 50 Camas community members turned out to the city’s in-person North Shore Open House on Wednesday, Aug. 17, to give input on the land-use and transportation concepts, design guidelines and zoning designations that, if approved by the Camas City Council, will reshape the future of the North Shore, an area predicted to someday accommodate more than 8,100 residents and create nearly 1,400 new jobs.

“A lot of the feedback was based on transportation — from people who have lived along the corridor (along Northeast Everett Street) for a while and have seen it change over the past 10 to 15 years,” Camas Planning Manager Robert Maul said about the Aug. 17 open house.

Maul said he has tried to let people know the city has a plan for accommodating growth in the North Shore in its transportation master plan.

“We’ve already planned for that,” Maul said, referring to the future increase in traffic along Route 500 (Everett Street).

Other people were interested in seeing the area’s proposed mix of residential, commercial, open space, parks and light industrial zones.

The “preferred concept” shown at the Aug. 17 open house showed parks and open spaces along Lacamas Lake, abutting a mix of lower- and higher-density residential areas and small commercial centers. The area’s employers would be located on the North Shore’s northern edge “to take advantage of flatter land and provide contiguous space.”

Plans presented on Aug. 17 also showed:

“A centrally located commercial and mixed-use area with central plaza connecting to Legacy Lands … to provide a gateway from the recreational areas to the commercial core;
having higher-density residential and mixed-use near the Legacy Lands (to) help address some of the parking demand and access needs of the Legacy Lands, which will be a regional draw;
trails located throughout the subarea (to) connect different uses, provide opportunities for recreation and promote walkability;
including areas throughout (North Shore) for single- and multi-family housing (to) provide an opportunity for different housing choices, including a variety of sizes and types (of housing); and
clustering compatible uses (to) promote walkability.”

The draft preferred concept could still change depending on what city staff and consultants gathered at the Aug. 17 open house and through the city’s online North Shore Phase II survey available Aug. 17-24.

“The map we saw (at the open house) will still change,” Maul said. “We’ll probably have some lower densities in some areas out there … we are at a phase now where we may make a couple tweaks to the map.”

Maul said the city recently received estimates of how many jobs might be created in the North Shore’s mixed-use, commercial and business park areas.

Taking into account that the 206 acres of wetlands in the area will not develop due to state, federal and local regulations, the planners estimated there will be 409 acres of developable land in the North Shore, including:

121 acres for lower-density residential housing;
81 acres for higher-density residential housing;
77 acres for parks and open space;
67 acres for mixed-use residential/commercial developments;
41 acres for business parks;
13 acres for schools; and
9 acres for commercial uses

The city’s latest job estimates predict this blend of uses would create 1,399 new jobs: 817 jobs in the business park zones, 177 jobs in the commercial zones and 405 jobs in the mixed-use area.

Subarea plans also show the North Shore will be able to accommodate an estimated 3,032 housing units for approximately 8,100 residents.

North Shore ‘vision’ takes shape

Annexed into the city limits in 2010, the North Shore, with its mix of agricultural land, undeveloped parcels and lakefront property, seemed destined to become a mix of residential homes, commercial businesses and industrial zones.

City officials decided in 2019 to begin a subarea planning process in the North Shore in the hopes that the area would grow in a more sustainable way that might benefit future Camas residents.

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As Camas’ former head planner, Sarah Fox, told city officials in 2020, subarea planning in the North Shore would allow Camas “to plan for what (it) wants in the area instead of just reacting to development.”

Of the 800 acres included in the North Shore, 270 acres are publicly owned and the remainder are owned by private individuals.

In April 2020, the city of Camas purchased 87 acres north of Lacamas Lake in a move that, according to Columbia Land Trust, “caps a 30-year conservation effort to create a trail around the lake, establishing a significant regional recreation attraction.”

The city plans to protect the lakeside “Legacy Lands” acreage from development and preserve it as open space, the lake trail and parks land.

“With the purchase of the Legacy Lands, which were already zoned residential, we had to find those (residential zones) elsewhere (in North Shore),” Maul explained.

According to the city’s North Shore site on its Engage Camas website: “While current uses are primarily agriculture and single-family residences, most of the subarea is in private ownership and the area is anticipated to experience substantial growth over the next 20 years.”

The state’s Growth Management Act (GMA) requires fast-growing cities like Camas to develop comprehensive plans to manage their growth and to meet 13 goals related to reducing sprawl, providing affordable housing and opportunities for economic development, preserving open spaces and historic buildings, protecting the environment and properly managing shorelines.

“We’ve been working with folks, working through the GMA and … have done a lot of public outreach,” Maul said. “When we asked folks, ‘What are your thoughts for this area?’ we got everything from ‘Do nothing’ to ‘Hey, I’d love to see some nice development in the area.'”

The city approved the North Shore Vision Statement in September 2020.

The “North Shore Vision” highlights the community’s wish to:

protect the area’s natural environment, lake shores and tree groves;
plan a network of green spaces and recreational opportunities;
cluster uses for a more walkable community;
provide a variety of housing options, including some more affordable housing;
site industrial parks and commercial centers to the north side of the North Shore, away from the lake;
favor small businesses, including restaurants, cafes and grocery stores that would serve the residents and employees in the North Shore;
plan for needed schools and infrastructure;
ensure adequate roads, schools and utilities are in place before development occurs;
“strive to maintain Camas’ small-town feel;” and
have phased, sustainable growth.

Next steps include city council workshops, public hearings

Maul said the goal is to have the North Shore subarea map — with its new zones and transportation corridors — adopted by the end of the year. Then, city officials can work on adopting a new chapter of the city’s municipal code with new design standards, setbacks and other code changes that would help North Shore look more unique and stand apart from other areas in Camas.

“The goal is to have the map adopted by the end of the year and then we can work on code changes into the first quarter of next year,” Maul said. “That’s the fun stuff, and we will still have consultants helping with that. They have so much expertise in other jurisdictions and have seen the evolutions of these concepts in other places, so they might have some ideas for us that they’ve seen in the Puget Sound or eastern Oregon … that might work (in the North Shore).”

The city also needs to delve into its plans for the Legacy Lands along the lake, Maul said, and that will mean bringing city staff from Camas’ parks and recreation and planning departments together.

“There were some general ideas in the PROS Plan,” Maul said, referring to the city’s recently adopted update to its Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan. “And there has been some visioning for the land, but that’s more aspirational.”

Anything related to the land’s future trail system, parks, sports fields and open spaces still needs to be worked out by city staff, the community and Camas officials, Maul said.

The city’s timeline for the North Shore subarea plan adoption shows the Camas City Council could adopt the plan in October or November of this year.

Maul said he will meet with the subarea consultants and members of the community and stakeholders committees to “debrief” and “make some additional refinements” to the preferred concept before bringing the map through the city’s legislative process, which will include workshops at the planning commission and city council levels, as well as public hearings.

“So there will still be plenty of time for folks to participate,” Maul said. “We’re really appreciative of the engagement we’ve had so far with this entire process. We know growth is challenging … but growth will happen here, so we have to manage it the best we can.”

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