Vancouver, WA  ̶  Capping three years of work, the Board of County Councilors Tuesday adopted a plan that will guide growth in Clark County over the next 20 years.

The 435-page Comprehensive Growth Management Plan final update now goes to the state Department of Commerce. By law, Clark County is required to complete the updated plan by June 30, 2016.

On Tuesday, June 28, the council will consider an adopting ordinance reflecting their decisions on the update. The county will issue a notice of adoption of the comprehensive plan update, which begins a 60-day appeal period. Appeals are submitted to the Growth Management Hearings Board.

The council approved the plan after seven hours of public comment and discussion among the five council members.

Highlights of the plan include:

• Expanding Battle Ground’s urban growth area by approximately 80 acres at the northwest corner of Northeast 219th Street and Northeast 92nd Avenue west to Northeast 87th Avenue.
• Expanding La Center’s urban growth area by approximately 56.7 acres at the northeast quadrant of Interstate 5 and Northwest La Center Road and by 17 acres for a school site at Northwest Bolen Street and Northwest 14th Avenue.
• Expanding Ridgefield’s urban growth area by approximately 111 acres near Northeast 279th Street and Northeast 45th Avenue.
• Reducing rural minimum lot sizes for: agricultural land from 20 acres to 10 acres; forest land from 40 acres to 20 acres; and residential land from 20 acres to 10 acres.

The growth management plan update covers the 20-year period ending in 2035, when the population is projected to be 562,207 and 91,200 more people will be employed in

Clark County. Currently, the county’s population is approximately 450,000.

By state law, the update must include a capital facilities plan that outlines the public facilities, such as roads, needed to support the additional population and how they will be financed. The county’s update calls for builders and developers to pay higher park, school and traffic impact fees. School impact fees are sent to the appropriate school district, while park and traffic impact fees go to county park and road projects.

The Growth Management Act requires state and local governments to manage growth by identifying and protecting critical areas and natural resource lands, designating urban growth areas, preparing comprehensive plans, and implementing them through capital investments and development regulations.

The act applies only to Washington’s quickly growing counties.

For more information on the plan and update process, please go to https://www.clark.wa.gov/community-planning/plan-adoption

CONTACT
Oliver Orjiako
Director
Community Planning
(360) 397-2280 ext. 4112
oliver.orjiako@clark.wa.gov