Washougal council to repeal revitalization resolution

The Washougal City Council plans to do away with a resolution pledging its commitment to revitalize downtown. But Mayor Sean Guard said the move does not mean the city is backing out if its promise to give the area a face-lift.

Instead, he said, repealing the resolution will remove restrictions on commercial businesses trying to locate in Washougal.

The resolution was passed in September 2005, when the city had placed a strong emphasis on rejuvenating the downtown area. To encourage downtown business growth, the city committed, by resolution, to not rezone industrial and residential land for commercial uses anywhere outside of the downtown area.

Since the resolution’s passage, the city has missed opportunities to bring commercial businesses to Washougal because of the restrictions, Guard said. That, he said, is why the council is moving forward to repeal the resolution.

“To me, it’s one of those no-brainers,” Guard said. “Why would you forsake the rest of the city for one small area?”

The council will accept public testimony on the issue at its meeting March 15.

As part of its commitment to revitalize downtown, the city planned two phases of upgrades. The work included expanding Reflection Park, burying utility lines, installing lights, sprucing up storefronts and landscaping. The first phase of work — on A, B and C streets from 15th to 18th streets — was completed in 2007, said Jeff Guard, who served as mayor when the resolution was passed. Jeff Guard is Sean Guard’s older brother.

The second phase, which was to extend the work from 18th Street to at least 20th Street, was never done, Jeff Guard said. Planning for the second phase was supposed to begin as soon as ground broke on phase one, but the project never moved forward, he said.

Jeff Guard was replaced by former Mayor Stacee Sellers before construction began in 2006.

The result, Jeff Guard said, is a downtown area that looks half remodeled. Some downtown business owners in the phase-two area consider themselves “old-town” downtown and refer to the revitalized area as “new-town” downtown, Jeff Guard said.

“They feel like, ‘We got left out,’” he said of business owners. “And I don’t blame them.”

Sean Guard said the city made a pledge to the business and property owners to revitalize all of downtown and he intends to fulfill the commitment. But, he said, doing so may take time and require several stages and will depend on funding.

Jeff Guard said he supports the council’s decision to repeal the current resolution.

“We used that as a quite recognizable statement that we were going to focus on downtown,” Jeff Guard said. “It was never meant to be a forever type of thing.”

Jeff Guard said the change will encourage business growth in other areas of town, such as E Street, which was always intended to be a commercial corridor.

A few commercial businesses have inquired about moving to Washougal but needed plots of land larger than downtown could accommodate, according to the city. As a result of the policy, one business’ rezone request was denied and two other businesses did not submit applications.

Sean Guard said repealing the resolution is one way the city can become more business-friendly.

“We’re not giving up on downtown,” he said. “But we also have to give attention to other parts of town as well.”