News From Your Friends

What’s on our Radar – Week of September 22nd, 2025

• Last week:
  

• • There was a joint retreat with Clark County and the cities on the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Update. Important notes:
    

• • • The agricultural lands study was noted as a “wild card”, with Councilor Yung stating, “I really hope you guys are working on a Plan B” in reference to Ridgefield and La Center, who are pushing for the destruction of agricultural land for their cities’ proposed urban growth area expansions.
      

• • • Chair Marshall stated, “You need to accommodate the numbers that have been allocated…and if you’re bringing in more land than what is needed, then that would be an issue.” She also stressed looking at things through the lens of the Growth Management Act (GMA) and what is [legally] defensible. This was in reference to what Community Planning staff told the council the week prior, stating in no uncertain terms that Ridgefield had exceeded their population allocations and that they had been informed by the county about it. Planner Jose Alvarez stated, “Ridgefield, for their housing, they’re double what they need in some instances—there is no question…They’re well over and they know that.”
      

• • • Vancouver City Councilmember, Erik Paulsen, stressed the importance of planning choices being grounded in GMA requirements and being data-driven. He reminded the cities that other cities in Washington State are currently having their Comp Plans legally challenged.
      

• • • Mayor Matt Cole of Ridgefield insisted on protecting their community’s “identity” in the planning process.
      

• • • Representation for Washougal expressed their frustration with the delay in getting the Comp Plan completed on time and stressed their wish that it not be delayed further, noting concerns about access to state grants.
      

• • • You can watch the full meeting here: 91725 Comp Plan Update Discussion with Cities and/or read more detailed notes from the League of Women Voters’ Observer Corps here: https://lwvclarkcounty.org/content.aspx?page_id=2507&club_id=160612&item_id=5126&pst=29445
  • There was a work session on the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process. There was brief discussion regarding the Pacificorp powerline proposal. You can watch it here: 91725 WS State Environmental Policy Act SEPA
  • There was a work session on the Parks Fee Program Update and Fund Recovery Plan, related to the Sustainable Parks and Nature discussion about addressing the severe parks deficit in Clark County. You can watch it here:
    91725 WS Sustainable Future Parks and Nature
  • At Council Time, there was discussion of the DNR Trust Lands Tour that happened last week. Tonya Enger of Save Clark County Forests, who attended the tour, provided important testimony regarding this visit. Policy Analyst, Jordan Boege, also provided an overview of the visit with some following Council discussion. We encourage you to watch Tonya’s testimony at the very beginning, as well as the further discussion at about 40 minutes into the Council Time meeting here: 09172025 Council Time
    

• This week
  
  • There is a Clark County Council meeting at 10am on Tuesday, September 23rd. Agenda items of note:
    

• • • Open Public Comment: opportunity to testify on any topic.
      

• • • There is a public hearing to extend the suspension of the annual comprehensive plan amendment cycle to match the delay in the completion of the Comprehensive Plan Update.
      

• • • There is a public hearing regarding amendments to plans to administer the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), which are two federal grant programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
      

• • • There is a public hearing for approving the updated Clark County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan.
      

• • On Wednesday, September 24th after the Board of Health meeting (starting at 8:30am) there will be two work sessions, including one on the County Manager Performance Evaluation Process. The draft process can be reviewed here: https://clark.wa.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/2025-09/092425-ws_county-manager-performance-review-process.pdf

  • On Wednesday, September 24th at 1pm is Council Time. Agenda items of note:
    • DNR Trust Lands Transfer for 135 acres of Camp Bonneville. Our understanding is this is a welcome and long overdue planned transfer to county ownership.
      

• • Deep dive into the week’s meeting agenda, including how to participate, here:
    https://clark.wa.gov/councilors/clark-county-council-meetings

• Commission/advisory board meetings this week:
  • Wednesday, September 24th, 2025, at 6 p.m. is an Agricultural Advisory Commission meeting. Meeting information and the online participation link are posted on the commission’s meetings page here: https://clark.wa.gov/community-planning/agricultural-advisory-commission-meetings

• • Tuesday, September 23rd at 6pm is a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting. More information here: https://clark.wa.gov/community-planning/meeting-information-0

• Other happenings:
  

• • SAVE THE DATE for Ag Study Workshop: The county is holding two workshops to provide information about the study and gather public feedback. The first workshop is scheduled for 5:30-8 pm Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the Battle Ground Community Center, 912 E Main St. More information on the second workshop will be shared soon. Registration for the workshop is encouraged at https://bit.ly/2025CPAgReg.
    

• • Public resource: Reminder about a great public resource! FOCC’s own Jackie Lane tracks Clark County’s land use activities in a publicly available document here, so be sure to bookmark it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10cpQ2gWr86wLyIlRvhgI9eRF8aesDYIZ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108071388396855006181&rtpof=true&sd=true

See you next week!
FOCC Community Outreach