Walla Walla County, Port of Walla Walla begin joint planning for 2026 comprehensive plan update; Burbank subarea, utilities and SEPA scoping highlighted

Walla Walla, Wash. — County and Port officials opened a joint workshop Tuesday to begin the required 2026 periodic update of Walla Walla County’s comprehensive plan, focusing discussion on growth targets, housing needs, and infrastructure constraints in unincorporated urban areas such as Burbank and the county’s industrial urban area.

Clay White, a land‑use planner with Kimley‑Horn and Associates, told county and port commissioners the update “is planning for the next 20 years of population, housing, and jobs within unincorporated Walla Walla County,” and described the project schedule, public‑engagement plan and the county’s legal deadlines under the Growth Management Act.

The workshop centered on three linked tasks: allocating population, housing and employment growth to the county and its cities for a 2046 horizon; matching that growth to capital facilities (water, sewer, transportation and other services); and reviewing whether targeted subarea planning and a project‑level SEPA approach would speed private development and reduce uncertainty for prospective industrial and residential projects.

“One of the greatest successes I’ve seen in communities is where you work together. You pool resources,” White said, explaining that the county will complete discovery work (housing needs assessment and land‑capacity analysis), draft policy changes this summer, and scope an environmental impact statement this spring with a draft EIS aimed for late 2025 and a final EIS in winter 2026 so the commission can consider plan amendments thereafter.

Lauren Prentice, director of the…