Cowlitz County approves preliminary plat for Whiskey Flats subdivision with staff conditions

The Cowlitz County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve the preliminary plat for Whiskey Flats, a 20-lot, 3.6-acre cottage-housing subdivision near Gassman Road and West Side Highway in unincorporated Cowlitz County, during its May meeting.

The approval follows a planning commission public hearing and a split recommendation: the planning commission voted 4-2 to recommend approval without granting a requested waiver on maximum unit size, while county staff recommended allowing a modification that would let up to one‑third of the units have up to 1,400 square feet of habitable space rather than the county's 1,200-square-foot cap. Planning staff presented the project as using the county's cottage-housing provisions to allow attached single‑family units on individual lots with private yards.

Adam Trimble, planning manager, summarized the competing recommendations and the modification request: "the developer requested a modification to go up to 1,400 square feet for a third of those 20 units, and staff was recommending approval of that." After discussion about septic, road design and other conditions, a commissioner moved to approve the preliminary subdivision plat "with the staff recommended waiver request," and the motion passed.

Why it matters: the approval clears a key early regulatory step for…