It’s the beginning of the end for the Clark County Comprehensive Growth Management Plan update, as the council prepares to issue its final decisions on the remaining chapters of the 20-year growth plan.
Now, the county faces the adoption of a capital facilities plan, which will outline how to pay for the plan in the coming years. County managers are projecting a multimillion-dollar funding shortfall when it comes to adequately funding transportation services.
The Clark County Council and Planning Commission will hold a series of meetings over the next month and a half to deliberate and make its final decisions on the county’s growth management plan, which creates a plan for how and where Clark County will accommodate its population growth over the next 20 years.
The council adopted its zoning plan in March, creating a plan that according to the Final Environmental Impact Statement will create about 8,024 new parcels across Clark County. Over the course of years, those lots will need to have access to services such as water, electricity, transportation and public services.
Public Meetings
• What: The Clark County council and Clark County Planning Commission will have a series of joint and separate public hearings over the next few weeks to discuss the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan update.
• Where: All meetings will be at the Public Service Center, Sixth Floor, 1300 Franklin St., Vancouver.
• When:
6:30 p.m. Thursday: Joint public hearing on entire plan update, including environmental impact statement.
6:30 p.m. May 24: Joint public hearing on entire plan update, including environmental impact statement.
6:30 p.m. June 2: Planning Commission deliberations.
10 a.m. June 21: Clark County council deliberations.
To Learn More
To view the remaining Comprehensive Growth Management Plan update materials, visit
clark.wa.gov/community-planning/plan-adoption
Most significant in the county’s capital facilities plan is the challenge of paying for transportation improvements, according to county documents. Over the course of 20 years, Clark County projects a $158.1 million shortage. The plan predicts the county will need to spend $691.2 million on transportation to implement the preferred alternative.
“The revenue shortage for funding the needed transportation improvements in 20 years is the most significant shortfall,” said Matt Hermen, a planner at Clark County.
Hermen went on to say that the Growth Management Hearings Board, which hears appeals on county comprehensive plans, has consistently required that estimates for revenues meet the estimated expenses for 20-year planning periods, or else “a reassessment of the land-use plan would be required.”
What that means for county policy remains to be seen, and will likely be debated in the coming weeks. County Chair Marc Boldt, no party preference, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Hermen noted, however, that the county’s six-year transportation improvement plan, which lists high-priority projects for Clark County, is funded.
The county kicks off its series of meetings Thursday with a joint public hearing of the Clark County council and planning commission at 6:30 p.m. The two boards will only hear public testimony, and will not have deliberations.
The county council is slated to make its final decision on the growth plan on June 21, nine days in advance of the Commerce Department’s June 30 deadline to submit the plan.
