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Council agrees to analyze Columbia Business Center as potential regional activity center in comp plan review
Summary
Councilors directed staff to include the Columbia Business Center in environmental analysis of an alternative land-use possibility, while members cautioned that the Interstate Bridge Replacement and job‑land preservation should factor into any future change.
City planning staff will analyze a developer request to consider the Columbia Business Center (CBC) as a regional activity center in the city’s comprehensive-plan environmental review, the Vancouver City Council agreed Monday.
Rebecca (planning staff) told council the request from Killion Pacific and its ownership group asks that roughly 220 acres—generally south of the BNSF line, west of Marina Parkway and east of Columbia Shores—be analyzed under possibility B as a regional activity center instead of its current heavy-industrial designation. Staff said analyzing the change through the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) would not decide the land use; it would provide the data council needs to weigh alternatives.
“Analyzing it doesn't make any decision,” Rebecca said. “It just says you will get information through our environmental process that looks at impacts of a potential change as well as those of keeping it as it is.”
Council concerns and context: Several councilors said the request merits study but urged caution. Councilor Paulson said the site is one of the remaining employment land parcels and stressed the need for assurances that any change would preserve family‑wage jobs or produce comparable economic value. He recommended a master plan or development agreement to secure job outcomes if the designation changes.
Mayor Pro Tem and other councilors raised a second consideration: the Columbia Business Center sits near the planned Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) project. Councilors asked staff to coordinate analysis with IBR negotiations and to involve aviation stakeholders because the airspace near Pearson Field is narrowing with taller buildings.
Next steps: Staff will include the CBC scenario in the environmental analysis for possibility B and return to council with DEIS results and options. The staff recommendation presented to council was to include the site in possibility B to widen the range of alternatives analyzed.
Ending: Councilors did not vote on an immediate land-use change; they agreed to study the CBC under the DEIS so the council will have impact analysis before selecting a preferred map.
