Washougal City Council opts for land use that keeps boundaries

The Washougal City Council has selected a land use map that will play an integral role in the city’s growth over the next 20 years.

On April 14, the council approved the adoption of the “Alternative 1” map, which largely maintains existing zoning throughout the city and assumes development within Washougal’s Town Center district will be 60 percent residential and 40 percent employment.

“This alternative promotes a mix of uses in the Town Center and along the waterfront, with emphasis on housing in these areas,” according to a report by the city’s consultant, DOWL, an engineering firm based in Vancouver.

According to the city’s resolution, the council chose to not expand the city’s adopted Urban Growth Area because the expected jump in population through 2045 can be accommodated within the existing city limits.

“We’re not expanding our boundaries,” Washougal Community Development Director Mitch Kneipp said earlier this year. “We’re not looking to make big, huge land grabs.”

Washougal Mayor David Stuebe expressed his preference for the Alternative 1 map during the council’s workshop March 24.

“We’ve been investing in our downtown — in our library, in our community center, our downtown revitalization project,” Stuebe said in March. “I really like Alternative 1 because (it focuses on) where we’ve been investing our money.”

On April 8, the Washougal Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the Alternative 1 map.

As part of its strategic plan update process, the city developed two land use alternative plans. Each was designed to meet Washington State Growth Management Act requirements that show the city of Washougal must plan for growth over the next 20 years that will accommodate an additional 6,724 residents, 3,735 new housing units, and between 2,100 and 2,500 new jobs. At least 1,961 of the city’s future housing units must also be affordable for residents who earn less than 80 percent of the area’s median income of $94,400.

The city’s updated comprehensive planning policies, which are due to the state by the end of this year, also must include ways to create more housing for lower- and middle-income earners, and meet a new state law allowing up to two accessory dwelling units per residential lot, according to a city staff report.

“The really interesting part is going to be how all those numbers are going to be achieved and what sorts of tools that the city can use to achieve them,” Councilor Michelle Wagner said at the April 14 meeting. “It’s just getting interesting now, I’d say.”

A second map option known as “Alternative 2,” which the council rejected, included zoning that was, according to the DOWL report, “largely consistent with Alternative 1,” with the exception of a portion of the city’s Northeast Urban Growth Area, where a mixed-use center would have included medium-density single-family housing, multifamily housing and commercial zoning.

Community feedback

Before deciding between the two maps, city leaders reached out to residents to gauge their preference, launching a survey in October that collected input from 109 residents on issues such as economic growth, housing and transportation; hosting a “Comprehensive Plan Carnival” at the Port of Camas-Washougal in November that drew 210 attendees; holding an open house in February at the Washougal Community Center, which drew 82 attendees; and soliciting online comments between Feb. 24 to March 12, which received 73 responses.

The city noted that 39 of the online participants chose the Alternative 1 map, while 14 preferred Alternative 2 and 20 had no preference. Residents praised the Alternative 1 map for its focus on growth in areas with existing infrastructure and services, plans to utilize the city’s downtown and waterfront areas to create a “vibrant community hub,” and limitations on dense development near the city’s borders to help preserve Washougal’s “small-town feel.”

“I’m just really happy that we had significant turnout at the event at the community center, and that responses were taken into account,” Wagner said. “The public really had a say in the choice.”

For more information about the city’s comprehensive plan update, visit cityofwashougal.us/791/Onward-Comprehensive-Plan-Update.