News From Your Friends

What’s on our Radar – Week of January 12th, 2026

January 12, 2026 in General

REGISTER for Bridging the Gap: Funding Our Parks and Trails. Our first forum of 2026 will be on Thursday, January 22nd from 5 – 6:30 pm.

Go straight to registering and secure your spot here.

More information here.

Have a question about parks for our panelists? Email info@friendsofclarkcounty.org to submit your question for the forum!

📣 Your Future, Your Voice: Call to Action for the Clark County Joint Hearing on the Preferred Alternative for the Comp Plan Update this Thursday, January 15th. Help us advocate for a sustainable future balancing growth, the preservation of prime agricultural land, and meaningful climate action in Clark County. Check out our Call to Action here.

 

  • Last week:
    • There was a regular Clark County Council meeting on Tuesday. Items of note (relevant to FOCC’s work):

      • Sue Marshall was re-elected Chair and Glen Yung re-elected Co-Chair.
      • The Council passed a resolution to impose a councilmatic (“councilmatic” meaning no public vote is required) Sales and Use tax of .01% for housing and related services, which we understand was supported by local affordable housing advocates. More information here.
      • Deep dive into all the agenda items with notes from the League of Women Voters’ Observer Corps here.

    • There was a Comp Plan Overview work session where the Clark County Council was briefed on details for the joint hearing the following day. You can review the recording here, read the League of Women Voters’ detailed notes here, and find the meeting materials here:
    • The joint hearing with the Clark County Council and Planning Commission on the Preferred Alternative for the Comp Plan Update took place. Notes:

      • Staff did a short presentation and then the cities were each allotted 10 minutes to present their proposals.
      • There was a short amount of time left for public comment, and the joint hearing was continued to this Thursday, January 15th at 6:30pm for more public testimony. Be sure to follow through on our Call to Action as we need ALL HANDS ON DECK for the future of Clark County!
      • Full meeting recording available here.

    • Council Time. Items of note:

      • Councilors signed up for their board assignments.
      • Councilors Little and Yung are looking for another Comp Plan work session on the Agricultural Lands Study, density analysis, and site specific requests for the Comp Plan Update.
      • Detailed notes from the League of Women Voters’ Observer Corps here (scroll down).

    • There was a very interesting Development and Engineering Advisory Board (DEAB) meeting. See notes from the League of Women Voters’ Observer Core here.

  • This week:

    • Wednesday, January 14th at 9am there are two Clark County Council work sessions:

      • Work session with Washington State Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove regarding the Department of Natural Resource’s Forest Trust Land Management. This is the publicly available work session (although no public comment is allowed) that the county held Upthegrove to a while ago that has finally been scheduled (many sales of Clark County legacy forests later). If you have any questions for Dave Upthegrove, you should send them to jordan.boege@clark.wa.gov and Chair Sue Marshall, sue.marshall@clark.wa.gov as soon as possible.
      • Following the first work session, there will be another on the 2026 Stormwater Code and Manual Update.

    • Wednesday, January 14th at 1pm is Council Time. Items of note:
    • Thursday, January 15th at 6:30pm is the continued joint hearing on the Preferred Alternative for the Comp Plan Update. Help us advocate for a sustainable future balancing growth, the preservation of prime agricultural land, and meaningful climate action in Clark County. Check out our Call to Action here.

      • Meeting materials here.
      • Recommendation from the Agricultural Advisory Commission here.
  • Other Clark County advisory board/commission meetings:
    • Monday, January 12th (TODAY) at 4pm is a Railroad Advisory Board meeting, in which they will discuss whether to approve a letter opposing SB 5820, a bill introduced by Senator Adrian Cortes (D-18), that fixes a serious problem created by SB 5517 in 2017 related to irresponsible railroad expansion, known as Freight Rail Dependent Uses (FRDU).
    • Tuesday, January 13th at 4pm is a Parks Advisory Board meeting. More information here.

  • Other happenings:
    • This weekend is a Friends of Central Vancouver (FOCV) meeting. From their announcement:

      When: Saturday, January 17th, 2026 Location: Cascade Presbyterian Church, 9503 NE 86th Street, Vancouver, WA 98662 Time: 6:30 PM. Join us to discuss critical issues impacting our neighborhoods near the Short Line Railroad and new developments. Topics include:

      SB 5820: Protecting Resource Lands from Development. Senator Adrian E. Cortes (D-18) has introduced SB 5820, which repeals harmful provisions from SB 5517 (2017) that allowed development on resource lands and critical areas adjacent to the Short Line Railroad in Clark County. This bill removes language added by rail-industry lobbyists, prohibits FRDU overlays on agricultural, mineral, or forest resource lands, and requires Clark County to comply with the Growth Management Act to protect and conserve these lands-like every other county.

      We’ll review the bill handout showing the changes, watch a video from Senator Cortes explaining its benefits for Clark County, and encourage community support. With the 2026 legislative session only 60 days long, now’s the time to act: Write short, heartfelt letters to legislators in Olympia and Clark County urging passage of the bill as written.

See you next week!
FOCC Community Outreach

 

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