The Clark County Council is ready to repeal a 2022 ordinance that added surface mining zoning to 330 acres in the Chelatchie Bluff area. The ordinance, which the council upheld in 2024, has left the county out of compliance with the state Growth Management Act.
“It would be in my interest to try to get in compliance as soon as possible and not challenge it any further,” Councilor Matt Little said during Wednesday’s council meeting.
The council needs to make a decision now that a March 10 unanimous ruling from the Washington Court of Appeals upheld a 2023 ruling by the state Growth Management Hearings Board. The board found that the county “improperly chose to defer a more in-depth review of impacts of the surface mining overlay until the project stage, despite the higher level of detail provided by the applicant.”
The zoning request was filed by Granite Construction, which is leasing the land from BRP LLC, a subsidiary of Texas-based Natural Resource Partners.
The county planning commission will hold a work session on the ordinance April 3. The commission’s recommendation and staff report on the ordinance will then come back before the council for a decision.
Oliver Orjiako, director of Clark County’s community planning department, told the council Wednesday that the planning commission needs guidance from the council on how to proceed. The council could amend or repeal the ordinance, or it could leave it in place and appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
“We did want to make sure that council had the opportunity to provide that clear direction on our path forward so that we can start moving forward with that process,” Orjiako told the council.
Chris Cook, deputy prosecuting attorney, said the council will need to make a decision soon as the deadline to appeal the appellate court ruling is April 9.
Cook said appealing the ruling is “a very iffy proposition.” The state Supreme Court doesn’t take most cases, and when it does, it usually affirms the lower court, Cook said.
Councilor Glen Yung said he, too, is ready to move on but still had reservations. When Granite Construction filed its application for the mining zoning, the county determined the request did not need a detailed environmental analysis until the company sought a conditional use permit. The hearings board disagreed, stating an environmental analysis should be done at the earliest point possible when environmental impacts are likely.
“I’m concerned about the unintended consequences of this decision. I believe it will lead to a situation where we will now receive surface mine overlay requests with absolutely zero information attached because any information provided to us will need to be studied, and it’s expensive to do that,” Yung said. “I think the natural outcome of that is going to be that we have less information available to us when we make those decisions.”
Shari Phiel: shari.phiel@columbian.com; 360-562-6317; @Shari_Phiel
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