Comprehensive Plan Update: August 2025
In the last newsletter, we let you know about yet another delay with the Comprehensive Plan update, which calls into question compliance with state law (and therefore access to much-needed grants and low-interest loans), the potential to lose 519 acres of prime agricultural land in Ridgefield and La Center, and the devastating impacts of more unnecessary suburban sprawl. You can get caught up here: https://friendsofclarkcounty.org/clark-county-comprehensive-plan-update-the-latest-developments/
The county recently contracted with a consultant to complete the agricultural lands study within the timeline set by the council. Four companies submitted bids for the project; one was disqualified due to an incomplete application. The contract was awarded to ECONorthwest, a firm with prior experience working with the county on projects such as the Housing Options Study and Action Plan. In their proposal, ECONorthwest indicated that they could not meet the original timeline, which led the council to further extend the Comp Plan submission deadline. The consultant has set November 4 as the completion date for the agricultural lands study. This updated timeline means that Clark County is overdue on the legally-mandated deadline for the Comp Plan update submission to the WA Department of Commerce; the county will miss its year-end due date by a whopping SIX months!
The new Comp Plan calendar can be found here: 2025_Project-Timeline_Review_2025-0723 .xlsx .
While we know what the risks are, we are unsure at this time what the consequences to the county will ultimately be. We anticipate that the delay will cause some cities to also delay making changes to their plan until the plan is submitted and approved.
- There are a couple of positive notes, however:
The decision not to pursue SMOs (Surface Mining Overlay requests) within the Comp Plan process still stands. - A group of 13 community-based organizations representing underserved communities within Clark County advocated to the council and won the inclusion of food security as a factor to consider in the agricultural lands study.
County staff continue providing work sessions to the Planning Commission and Clark County Council as parts of the Comp Plan are ready for review. As part of this process, Community Planning presented to the Planning Commission the public feedback that came in during their Comp Plan workshop comment period. The results show that the people are with FOCC when it comes to the preservation of agricultural land, climate action, preventing unnecessary urban growth area expansions, complying with state law, and more!
The calendar of the upcoming meetings we know about can be found here: County land use related stuff calendar
Useful links:
Comp Plan update pages: 2025 Update | Clark County
Planning Commission meetings and materials: Planning Commission Hearings and Meeting Notes | Clark County
Clark County Council meetings: Clark County Council Meetings | Clark County