Clark County Council works on zoning map

Although Clark County missed the state’s Dec. 31 deadline for updating its 20-year growth plan, the county council started the new year with a pair of work sessions aimed at moving the project forward.

The second is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the sixth floor hearing room at the Public Service Center at 1300 Franklin St., Vancouver.

With forecasts for population and job growth already finalized, the county must still approve a preferred alternative zoning map that includes urban growth boundary changes and site-specific zoning requests, and also meets the state’s new housing requirements by income level. The council also must approve a final environmental impact statement and remaining growth plan elements addressing capital facilities, utilities, parks and recreation, and climate change.

The plan update is now expected to wrap up by June 30, although Council Chair Sue Marshall said there could be a wrinkle in meeting that deadline, too.

She expects a tangle over agricultural lands. In order to consider requests from the cities to rezone farm lands for residential, commercial or industrial use, a process called dedesignation, the county had to complete a state-required agricultural lands study.

Councilor Glen Yung said he has reservations about the criteria used to reach the study’s findings.

“There are 13 criteria, and there are either two or three of them that are like black-and-white decisions; either this land can be considered for dedesignation or it can’t,” Yung said. “The council should’ve been involved in the decision-making process as to which criteria were looked at and to what degree.”

Now, Yung said, the council has a completed study, which does contain valuable information but less information than he thinks should have been presented. Yung said he hopes to work with planning staff on a more in-depth look at some of the criteria.

Marshall said she is “very confident” the agricultural land study’s findings are accurate, even though previous resource studies have taken far longer to complete — years instead of months. Past studies took so long because of community engagement efforts, involvement of the county’s agricultural commission and check-ins with the council that couldn’t be accommodated this time, she said.

The city of Ridgefield has submitted several requests to change land zoned for agriculture to make it available for other uses.

Despite the study finding that nearly all of the currently zoned farmlands are still economically viable for agriculture and of statewide importance, based on soil quality, tax status and parcel size, Ridgefield officials said the city needs those lands to meet housing and jobs requirements and demand.

Marshall said weighing the needs and best interests of the county, its cities and residents is quite a challenge. She said she is looking at all of the information available and using all the tools available to do what’s best for the county as a whole but also limit the loss of agricultural land to urban growth.

“I’ve seen the impact of that over time. I think, mainly, I would like us to come as close as possible to complying with state law because in the past, when we have not, things drug out for multiple years,” Marshall said. “I have to look out for the interest of the county as a whole because the liability for this falls heavily on the county.”