• Population: 2,575.
• Must see: La Center Bottoms wildlife site, Sternwheeler Park, cardrooms.
• Website: http://www.ci.lacenter.wa.us.
As it heads into its second century, La Center has found a niche as a cute, friendly bedroom community. Even so, city officials are eyeing an annexation that would pave the way to a more diversified tax base.
Approval of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s application to move 152 acres into trust and develop a casino near the La Center Interstate 5 junction is also sure to mean changes for the small city.
The city’s public services are kept well-fed by taxes on the four nontribal cardrooms that came to town in the 1980s. Today, the cardrooms account for nearly 75 percent of the city’s general revenue. But with the city’s ability to provide basic services relying so heavily on the success of the cardrooms, and the future of those cardrooms now in question with the pending casino, officials are looking for ways to bring new businesses to the area.
• Population: 2,575.
• Must see: La Center Bottoms wildlife site, Sternwheeler Park, cardrooms.
• Website: <a href="http://www.ci.lacenter.wa.us">http://www.ci.lacenter.wa.us</a>.
One option on the horizon is the city’s plan to annex about 350 acres in its urban growth area. The move would stretch the 2,575-resident city to Interstate 5, adding about 100 to 150 residents and allowing for industrial business development along the corridor.
The current annexation plan does not include 575 acres of land at the I-5 junction because inclusion of the land is being disputed in court. In May 2008, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruled the county violated state law in allowing the agricultural land to be developed and removed from the city’s urban growth area. The issue is now before the state Court of Appeals.
In December 2010, the Bureau of Indian Affairs made a ruling the Cowlitz Tribe had waited eight years to hear. The tribe got the OK to build a $510 million casino-hotel complex on a reservation near La Center. County officials, nontribal cardroom owners and the Grand Ronde Tribe, which runs Spirit Mountain Casino 60 miles southwest of Portland, have vowed to fight the decision. Legal action could push construction of the Cowlitz casino back several years.
Officials in La Center are still meeting with the city’s attorney to try to determine how the city should move forward.
Prior to the BIA decision, the city council decided to open the lines of communications with the tribe, an effort some council members hope will help to build a government-to-government relationship. The decision sparked concern among one council member and some city residents who worried the discussions would lead to negotiations regarding the casino.
Throughout the year, the city hosts numerous community events, including movie nights in Sternwheeler Park, the annual Our Days Festival and the Christmas festival and tree lighting. The biggest event for the small city in 2010 occurred in August when it hosted the American Veterans Traveling Tribute and Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall replica. The four-day event drew hundreds to the community from cities across the region.
Generally speaking, life in La Center is quiet and happy, with some of Clark County’s lowest crime rates and property taxes.
